However, Li Xiang, who was beside Wen Qi, appeared completely at ease, clearly not a first-time visitor here. Though similar in age to Wen Qi, he had likely been brought here by his family many times before, and familiarity had bred comfort.
In the underground black market, most vendors sold wild Pokémon they had caught themselves. These Pokémon were mostly not juveniles, as adult ones couldn’t be sold to breeding facilities. Novice trainers wouldn’t choose these adult Pokémon as their starters either, since it hindered building trust. Thus, the majority ended up traded here. There were also some selling baby Pokémon and Pokémon Eggs, but these were either of dubious origin or clearly poor quality. In truth, within this black market environment, even originally high-quality Pokémon, if subjected to long-term abuse, would lose their spirit—so much so that even professional testing machines couldn’t detect their former potential. Good traits would gradually fade without a proper living environment.
Wen Qi noticed that the Pokémon here were either lifeless with hollow eyes, clearly tormented for so long their spirit had shattered—making them nearly impossible to tame even if bought—or freshly captured, still spirited and fierce, hostile to everyone. These latter ones, with their spirit intact, were actually easier to win over. Watching the Pokémon in their cages, Wen Qi felt a heavy heart, but what could one person alone do to change such things? Where there’s demand, there’s trade, and where there’s trade, this black market exists. Even if it were shut down, it would reappear before long. Wen Qi could only push such thoughts aside, at most buying any good Pokémon he saw and caring for them properly—that was all he could manage.
Just then, Li Xiang said to Wen Qi, “Wen Qi, the auction starts in two hours. We can look around first. Do you want to browse alone, or together?”
Wen Qi thought for a moment and replied, “I’ll go alone. If we find something valuable together, it’d be awkward to split. But first, tell me the rules of the black market.”
Li Xiang agreed that Wen Qi had a point—browsing together could lead to the issues Wen Qi mentioned and might draw unwanted attention. He then explained the black market’s rules to Wen Qi.
There were only a few rules. First, you couldn’t interrupt someone else’s price negotiation. Second, if you asked about an item’s price and then haggled, you had to buy it—no endless bargaining without a purchase. Third, no fighting in the black market; disputes were settled by calling an admin or heading to the battle platform. Fourth, once a deal was done, it was final—neither party could back out, regardless of profit or loss.
That was basically it. After hearing Li Xiang’s explanation, Wen Qi agreed to meet at the auction entrance in two hours, then took his Furret and disappeared into the crowd.
Though Wen Qi couldn’t bear to see Pokémon in such a miserable state, he was powerless for now and could only continue his slow inspection. As he looked around, the black market lived up to its reputation—the sheer number of fakes was staggering. Imagine a stall owner pointing at a Pidgey with reddish feathers, loudly hawking it as yellow-quality. This Pidgey had been meticulously groomed and dressed, looking its best among the scruffy Pokémon; anyone unfamiliar would assume it had good potential. But in Wen Qi’s system, it was only red-quality. Most others in the cages were red or orange, and even the few yellow ones showed little promise for training.
As Wen Qi strolled along, despite the many Pokémon stalls, high-quality ones were scarce—mostly deep yellow at best, which held no appeal for him. Occasionally, he spotted a green-quality one, but either the price was exorbitant or the Pokémon was too old to train.
At that point, Wen Qi stopped at a stall selling Pokémon Eggs. This wasn’t a gambling spot; each area was clearly labeled by species—here were Pidgey eggs, there Zubat eggs, and over there Poliwag eggs. The owner had sorted them but didn’t mark their quality, so prices varied by type. Wen Qi paused not because of any rare species, but because among a pile of Zubat eggs, he spotted an unusual one: a Noibat Egg. If it had been an ordinary Noibat Egg, Wen Qi wouldn’t have stopped, let alone felt excited. Noibat required level 48 to evolve, and if its quality wasn’t green, it would never evolve, making it pointless to train. Though Noibat was a Dragon-type Pokémon, unlike pseudo-legendary Dragon-types that started at green quality and could always reach their final form, Noibat’s quality varied wildly. In many regions, people thought Noibat couldn’t evolve at all.
But this Noibat Egg Wen Qi found was cyan-quality. He had no idea how it ended up among the Zubat eggs—probably mistaken for one since both lived in dark caves. Calmly, Wen Qi paid 50,000 and walked off with the egg, drawing no attention. Others were buying too, so he blended in and left without a fuss. Once in a corner, he couldn’t help but laugh quietly, keeping it low-key in the black market. He slipped the egg into his small world when no one was looking, finally relaxing.
Wen Qi felt that even if he found nothing else at the black market, this Noibat Egg alone was a huge win—worth tens of millions at least. He hadn’t forgotten his plan to sell some energy cubes he’d made earlier. So he searched for a larger energy cube shop and walked in.
A staff member approached to assist, asking what he wanted to buy. Using his psychic powers to slightly alter his voice, Wen Qi said, “I have some energy cubes to sell. Do you buy them here?”
The staffer, used to such situations, said nothing and led Wen Qi to a back door, gesturing for him to enter. Wen Qi stepped in without hesitation and saw a middle-aged man waiting, clearly aware of his purpose.