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Though Vanna had an animal-like instinct, her mind was pure and straightforward. She didn't have as many schemes and suspicions running through her head as Sato did.
To her, the Reverse Dragon Scale was just something her 'mother' had casually given her—something that hadn't shown any use even after carrying it around for so long.
Now, as she saw the pile of shiny objects in the box, her attention and thought process were completely consumed by the glittering gold coins and the rainbow-colored gemstones. After a moment of mental math, she immediately felt like she had struck a great deal.
"Sure, sure! You're such a good person!"
So when Sato offered the whole box of shiny things in exchange for the Reverse Dragon Scale, Vanna, who looked like a total little money-grubber, didn't think twice. She eagerly nodded and agreed to the deal.
Before Sato could even respond, Vanna had already snatched the entire chest of treasures out of his hands and tossed the Reverse Dragon Scale from the ground stall over to him. Clutching the box tightly like she was terrified he might take it back, she held onto it like her life depended on it.
The moment the Reverse Dragon Scale was in hand, Sato didn't spare her another glance. He immediately stored it in his storage equipment. Then, flashing a faint smile at Vanna, who looked like she was guarding against a thief, he turned with his Swampert and quickly vanished from her sight.
Seconds later, Sato was already strolling along hundreds of meters away from Vanna's stall, relaxed and at ease.
He had used Ditto to disguise himself again, now appearing like a different passerby. Wearing a Team Rocket uniform, he blended perfectly into the crowd of identically dressed members.
Even if Vanna regretted the trade now, tracking him down would be far from easy. Not that it mattered—Sato had no intention of returning what was already in his hands. If he couldn't win a fight, he'd just run.
Trading a box of gold and jewels for the priceless Reverse Dragon Scale—Sato was in a fantastic mood. Even though he tried to suppress it, the slight upturn of his lips betrayed his satisfaction.
"Didn't think it'd be that easy to get this lucky break. As expected—know your enemy and you'll never be defeated. Vanna's weakness is shiny things. She's almost half a dragon so I might be able to use her in the future to obtain other rare items beneficial for raising Dragon-type Pokemon. Not to mention those Electrowood leaves… I got so caught up buying the Reverse Dragon Scale I completely forgot about that ingredient…"
Feeling pleased, Sato began scheming once more, plotting how to extract even more benefits from Vanna in the future.
Unfortunately, that good mood didn't last long. Not long after leaving the internal trading market, while walking back to his temporary dorm along a secluded path, he ran into someone who made his skin crawl.
That's right—the one who unsettled him so much was none other than the drag queen Ranka, whom he had previously seen once.
For reasons unknown, this flamboyantly dressed drag queen had stopped him on the street.
Sato didn't want anything to do with this person. No matter how good Ranka looked, once he'd discovered his/her true gender, Sato had already made up his mind to stay away from them to protect his rear. To him, Ranka was simply troublesome.
Not everyone was comfortable with being around someone dressed like a drag queen, especially Sato, who'd been raised in a rural village in this world. It did not help that Sato instinctively felt that this person was extremely dangerous and definitely not the friendly type.
"Do you need something? If not, move aside."
Suddenly stopped like this, Sato naturally wasn't going to be polite. His expression darkened as he coldly asked. At the same time, his hand casually moved to the PokeBelt at his waist.
Glancing around, Sato was shocked to find that the area was completely deserted—and beyond that, it was also a blind spot for surveillance cameras. Clearly, this person hadn't chosen this location with good intentions.
His wariness instantly skyrocketed. The faint joy in his eyes vanished, replaced with a cold, sharp gleam. He stared intently at the drag queen before him, who was still smiling radiantly, ready to strike the moment anything suspicious happened.
"Don't be so tense, Mr. Sato. My name is Ranka. I just wanted to become friends with you."
Seeing Sato's immediate vigilance, Ranka mentally raised his evaluation of him a little. Still, he maintained that same dazzling smile and spoke in a soft, androgynous voice.
As a trusted subordinate of Athena—one of the three major faction leaders within Team Rocket—Ranka naturally had access to intelligence far beyond the average member. It hadn't taken much for him to obtain Sato's profile and those of most other participants in this stage of the tournament.
However, Sato's true identity was top secret—only a handful of people close to Giovanni knew it. So the information Ranka had obtained was just the outdated one that labeled Sato as a nobody with no background.
Therefore, in Ranka's eyes, Sato was just a low-level grunt with a bit of skill but no connections. Naturally, he felt nothing but contempt for such a "mud-footed" commoner.
But now, facing Sato's poised and commanding presence and sharp reactions, even Ranka had to reevaluate him and reign in some of that condescension.
As he spoke, Ranka didn't forget to try and seduce Sato, winking flirtatiously several times.
This time, he had swapped his previous black dress for a flowing sky-blue gown and wrapped a lace scarf around his neck to conceal his most obvious male features.
To be honest, if Sato hadn't discovered Ranka's secret before, he would never have believed that the soft-voiced beauty before him was a man.
But now that he knew the truth, watching Ranka try so hard to seduce him just made Sato clench his rear even tighter.
"So that's how it is… Brother Ranka, it's an honor to make the acquaintance of someone as strong as yourself—ranking at the top among this batch of recruits. But it's getting late, and we're heading to the mysterious island tomorrow, so I think I'll turn in early."
Suppressing his reaction, Sato forced a thin smile and replied in a bland tone.
Of course, despite his words, his eyes remained icy and alert, fully focused on the person in front of him.
Ranka could tell right away that Sato knew both his "true" gender and his real identity. The dazzling smile on his face froze slightly as he thought of all the useless flirting he'd just done in front of him.
"No rush, no rush. We're not departing until noon tomorrow, after all. Mr. Sato, since we're friends now, I'll get straight to the point—I came here to ask if you'd be willing to hand over the item you just got from Miss Vanna. Of course, in return, you'd gain my friendship and my guarantee that you'll pass this tournament smoothly."
Still, Ranka had nerves of steel—the kind of person who dared to shatter social gender norms. He quickly brushed off the awkward moment and returned to smiling as he laid out his actual reason for coming.
The truth was, Ranka had been eyeing that Reverse Dragon Scale at Vanna's stall for quite some time.
After all, he had a Hydreigon—a pseudo-legendary Dragon-type Pokémon. Naturally, he had done a great deal of work to study how to raise such Pokémon, so he immediately recognized the value of that scale.
Vanna's status within Team Rocket was equal to Ranka's, and her strength actually surpassed his. That made it impossible for Ranka to coerce her by force or threat. He had no choice but to try bartering with her.
Unfortunately, Vanna's trading habits were far too eccentric, and someone like Ranka couldn't fool her eyes.
And Vanna, raised by Dragons, was extremely blunt and straightforward. She wasn't as tolerant or accepting as Sato and the others and didn't have as many considerations. She was visibly and verbally disgusted by Ranka's gender-bending ways and she flat-out refused to trade and even called him a disgusting pervert.
Of course, this absolutely enraged Ranka, but there was nothing he could do. In both status and strength, he had no edge over her and had to swallow his pride and walk away.
What he hadn't expected, however, was that shortly after he left, this "nobody" Team Rocket grunt named Sato would trade a box of shiny trinkets for the Reverse Dragon Scale.
That changed everything.
Ranka couldn't handle Vanna—but he was confident he could handle someone like Sato. Despite Sato's impressive record—repelling a pseudo Elite-Four level Gyarados at sea—Ranka didn't take it too seriously.
He believed that if he just flashed his credentials and dangled some benefits, Sato would fall in line like every other grunt who wanted to curry favor.