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The Soothe Bell was quite a valuable item for Sato at this point. Currently, he had both Golbat and Pichu in his team—two Pokémon that required a high level of friendship in order to evolve.
If he could get his hands on this item, the evolution process for both of them would significantly accelerate.
Of course, as far as Golbat was concerned, the Soothe Bell was already losing its relevance.
That was because Sato had recently noticed signs that Golbat was on the verge of evolving. The occasional flashes of white light that appeared around it were the best evidence of that.
Sato figured that Golbat only needed a final trigger to evolve—very likely just a single battle (a level-up). Even without a battle, given a bit more time, Golbat would soon evolve into Crobat naturally.
Crobat boasted a base stat total of 535—higher than the final forms of some starter Pokémon.
As long as nothing went wrong, once it evolved, it would experience a massive leap in strength, solidifying its position as the second strongest in Sato's team.
What's more, Crobat had a base Speed stat of 130, putting it among the fastest Pokémon out there. Very few Pokémon could compete with it in terms of speed.
Combined with its now more powerful Supersonic, as well as moves like Taunt, Haze, and Mean Look, Crobat would become Sato's most reliable scout and disruptor.
As long as Crobat was on the field, it would be incredibly difficult for an opponent to sweep the battlefield using setup moves—or even recall their Pokémon with a PokeBall.
Most importantly, Crobat would become Sato's best flying mount.
With its incredible speed and four wings, Crobat's endurance would far outclass what it had as a Golbat, easily allowing it to carry Sato over long distances.
In short, once Golbat evolved into Crobat, both Sato's combat prowess and survivability would see a significant boost.
Right now, however, the Soothe Bell would mainly be used for Pichu.
Pichu had been personally hatched by Sato, so their initial bond was already quite good—but not good enough for it to evolve into Pikachu right away.
Though Pichu had excellent potential, its base stats limited it. No matter how talented it was, there was only so much it could do in its current form.
Only by evolving into Pikachu and receiving the Mutated Thunder Orb Sato had in his possession would its battle power truly reach the level of a top-tier Pokémon.
Indeed, evolution was the key to Pichu's strength. And to accelerate that evolution, the Soothe Bell was a perfect tool.
If Sato's guess was right, Daisy had used a Soothe Bell to rapidly increase her bond with her Buneary, allowing it to evolve into Lopunny.
"Excuse me, what price do I need to pay in order to acquire this Soothe Bell?"
Sato stepped up to the stall displaying the item and addressed the vendor—a figure completely wrapped in a loose black hooded cloak.
The seller was also wearing a fox mask, completely concealing their identity within the black market.
In truth, Sato was dressed similarly, also wearing a black cloak. The only difference was that he had on a Ditto-mimicked human skin mask instead of a fox mask.
"Team Rocket?"
The mysterious seller didn't respond with a price right away. Instead, a man who had been standing behind Sato suddenly stepped forward and whispered something in the seller's ear. The seller then released a Weavile before replying with a cold tone.
Hearing the question and sensing the Weavile's openly hostile gaze, Sato's eyes narrowed. A bad feeling crept into his heart.
"That's right."
He glanced at the person who had been tailing him earlier—a member of the Sea Serpent Gang—and quickly understood. It seemed his identity had already been exposed, so Sato decided to be honest.
In fact, after learning that the people here held strong prejudice against Team Rocket members, Sato had already hidden anything that might give away his affiliation.
What he hadn't expected was for one of the local underground forces to go out of their way to expose him.
Judging from the seller's tone and line of questioning, it was obvious they deeply hated Team Rocket.
As expected, the mysterious seller's hostility was confirmed. After getting Sato's direct answer, he immediately gave him a cold glare and waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly.
"That's quite the rash way of doing business, don't you think? I have no past grudges with you, nor any recent conflicts. Even if other Rocket members may have wronged you, surely it's unfair to dump their sins on me. I merely want to purchase your Soothe Bell, nothing more. It's a clean transaction—money for goods. Are you really going to turn down money that comes to your doorstep?"
Though anger flashed in Sato's eyes at the seller's attitude, he noticed several hostile gazes from nearby individuals directed at him. Suppressing his frustration, he smiled calmly and spoke.
By this point, Sato had essentially given up hope of buying the item. What he was now focusing on was how to safely leave the area. Still, he made one last attempt.
After all, this was a rare chance. The Soothe Bell was a highly valuable item among Pokémon trainers. Even within Team Rocket's internal point-exchange system, it only ever appeared as an image—never in stock.
Unfortunately, even after such polite persuasion, the seller's stance remained unchanged.
In fact, his attitude worsened. He began cursing Sato outright, as if the two of them had some kind of deep-seated hatred.
"So I really did underestimate just how unwelcome Team Rocket is around here. What exactly did those guys do to earn this level of loathing? This is basically hatred at this point… Looks like I've been caught in the crossfire for no reason."
Seeing the seller's aggressive behavior, Sato knew the deal was off the table. While disappointed, he also couldn't help but feel both curious and helpless about what Team Rocket had done in this area.
There was nothing he could do. Since the seller refused to sell—and this was their turf, after all—Sato was outnumbered and outgunned. No matter how upset he was, he had no choice but to let it go.
Under the sneering stares of the hostile vendors nearby, Sato left with a dark expression.
Seeing that Sato, unlike the previous Rocket members, didn't try to rob the item by force and instead simply walked away, the seller's eyes flashed with disappointment.
"Hmph, so you're with Team Rocket, and clearly not weak either. That probably means you're one of their rising stars. Then you can pay the price for those psychic-type thieves who stole from me. So what if you're Team Rocket? My treasure can't be stolen without someone making up for it."
As the mysterious vendor watched Sato's retreating figure, a cold gleam appeared in his eyes.
After saying a few words to a nearby Sea Serpent Gang member, he quickly packed up his stall and set off with his Weavile in the direction Sato had gone.
Several other hostile vendors from earlier also began moving with him.
At the same time, a slender figure who had been leaning silently in the shadows nearby quietly slipped away as well.