BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1135: Trade Pokémon
Chapter 1135: Trade Pokémon
The employer had commissioned the task to get a Pokémon for his family. While Abra was rare, it wasn\'t irreplaceable. Couldn\'t he just get a different Pokémon? Why was he so determined, knowing full well Harley was still angry and likely to refuse him?
"Who knows!" Harley, still fuming from the exchange, answered grumpily.
Yuga didn\'t think too much about it. Whatever the reason was, it wasn\'t his business anyway.
On their way to Harley\'s house, Yuga asked, "Since you\'re not planning to submit Abra as the task reward, what are you going to do with it now?"
"Oh yeah, what should I do with it?" Harley, hearing this, seemed a bit unsure himself.
Little Max chimed in from the side, "Why don\'t you just train it yourself, Harley?" Despite his young age, Max knew how valuable an Abra was.
"Train it myself?" Harley curled his lip. "I\'d rather not."
It wasn\'t just that Psychic-type Pokémon were notoriously difficult to train; Harley also didn\'t like Abra\'s style. He preferred Pokémon like Cacturne and Banette—those suited him better.
"Why not? Abra\'s great!" Max asked, confused. He personally liked Abra a lot.
May overheard this and knocked him on the head. "Why are you asking so many questions? Mind your own business!"
"I was just curious! Am I not allowed to ask?" Max held his head and teared up, looking pitiful.
Yuga chuckled at Max\'s reaction before turning back to Harley and saying, "If you\'re really not sure how to handle Abra, I have two suggestions."
Harley asked, "What are they? Tell me."
"First, you can sell Abra to me. Once we check its potential at the Pokémon Center, I\'ll pay you based on its market value." Since Abra had green potential, it would be worth more than what Harley would have earned from his original task reward.
Hearing this suggestion, Harley\'s eyes lit up. He liked the sound of that idea—he could really use some money right now!
"And what\'s the second suggestion?" Harley asked, not rushing to make a decision.
"The second suggestion is a trade. If you have a specific Pokémon in mind that you want to raise, and I happen to have it, you can trade Abra for it. If there\'s a difference in value, we\'ll settle that separately."
Harley thought this suggestion sounded good too. He had been thinking about raising a new Pokémon, though he hadn\'t decided which one yet.
The reason he was eager to earn money was so that, once he figured out what he wanted, he\'d already have the funds prepared. He was hoping to buy a Pokémon he truly liked this time, but powerful, easy-to-train Pokémon didn\'t come cheap.
"How about we check Abra\'s potential at the Pokémon Center first?" Yuga suggested, seeing Harley deep in thought. Although Yuga had already assessed Abra\'s potential using his Insight ability, Harley didn\'t know that yet.
"Let\'s head to the Pokémon Center first," Harley agreed with a nod. No matter which option he chose, Abra\'s potential would need to be assessed.
So, the group changed course and made their way to the Pokémon Center.
The results came out quickly, and upon learning that Abra had green potential, Harley felt that all the frustration he endured was worth it!
"Mr. Shimizu, I want to trade Abra for another Pokémon, but I haven\'t decided which one yet. Do you have any recommendations?" After thinking for a while, Harley decided to go with the second suggestion.
"Do you have any specific requirements?" Yuga wasn\'t surprised by Harley\'s choice. He had plenty of good Pokémon, but Harley needed to decide what type he was looking for.
After a moment of thought, Harley replied, "A Dark-type Pokémon, or one with a strong, smart personality." In truth, Harley wanted to say "ferocious and cunning," but if he\'d said that out loud, Yuga might have given him a strange look.
Even though Harley didn\'t explicitly say it, Yuga had a pretty good idea of the type he wanted.
For Dark-types, Yuga could recommend Murkrow, Vullaby, or Houndour. For ferocious and cunning Pokémon, there were options like Seviper, Arbok, and Carvanha.
Yuga listed these potential options, but Harley couldn\'t decide after thinking it over for a while. He felt that Murkrow, Houndour, and Vullaby all suited him, but something still didn\'t seem quite right.
Seeing Harley hesitate for so long, Yuga suddenly remembered something and asked, "What do you think about a Tsareena?" For some reason, Yuga felt that a Tsareena with the Queenly Majesty ability would suit Harley perfectly.
When it came to strong personalities, Tsareena certainly fit the bill. Those with the Queenly Majesty ability even had a bit of a sadistic trait. They were the ideal partner for trainers with a masochistic streak—getting stomped on by a Tsareena was likely the highest pleasure for such trainers.
"Tsareena?" Harley asked, surprised. He didn\'t know much about this particular Pokémon.
So Yuga carefully explained what Tsareena was like. Aside from its fitting personality, being a pure Grass-type made Tsareena easier to train and maintain. From a financial standpoint, Tsareena would be a good fit for Harley, given its lower upkeep costs.
After hearing the explanation, Harley made up his mind on the spot. "I\'ll choose Tsareena."
Once the decision was made, Harley handed Abra\'s Poké Ball to Yuga. Yuga then called home from the Pokémon Center, asking Audino to send over a Bounsweet.
To ensure that Bounsweet would evolve into a Tsareena with the Queenly Majesty ability, Yuga specifically asked Audino to send over a Bounsweet with the Oblivious ability.
Bounsweet had three potential abilities: Leaf Guard, Oblivious, and the hidden ability Sweet Veil.
If Bounsweet had the Leaf Guard or Sweet Veil abilities, these wouldn\'t change when it evolved. However, if it had the Oblivious ability, it would transform into Queenly Majesty upon evolving from Steenee into Tsareena.
Abilities have different effects on each Pokémon. For example, Pokémon with the Gluttony ability have bigger appetites, those with the Guts ability have stronger willpower, Pokémon with the Honey Gather ability are better at producing honey, those with the Justified ability have a stronger sense of justice, and Pokémon with the Keen Eye ability have sharper vision... Similarly, Pokémon with the Oblivious ability and those with the Queenly Majesty ability will have completely different personalities.
A Steenee with the Oblivious ability will undergo a dramatic personality change when it evolves into a Tsareena with the Queenly Majesty ability. It\'s like transforming from a sweet princess into a regal queen.
"Bounsweet, Bounsweet."
As Harley watched the bouncing, adorable Bounsweet on the ground, he couldn\'t help but feel that something was off. Could this soft and cute Bounsweet really evolve into the Tsareena Yuga described? Harley was skeptical: "I don\'t believe it!"
The market value of a Bounsweet couldn\'t compare to that of an Abra, not even accounting for regional differences. Therefore, Yuga compensated Harley with a bit of extra money, though it wasn\'t much.
After leaving the Pokémon Center, Yuga and the others headed directly to Harley\'s house.
Harley\'s home was located in an ordinary residential area in the southern part of Aromatic City. He had bought the house with his own efforts after leaving the orphanage. Yuga found Harley\'s story quite inspiring.
Most of the time, Harley wasn\'t home much, either participating in competitions or completing tasks to earn money.
To thank Yuga for helping him solve the issue of what to do with Abra, Harley personally cooked a lavish dinner at his house for Yuga, May, and Max.
Harley, having lived alone for many years, had become quite skilled in the kitchen. May, the foodie, was thoroughly satisfied and couldn\'t help but look at Harley in a new light.
You really can\'t judge someone by just one side. While Harley had an odd personality, was vengeful, and had many hidden schemes, he also knew how to show gratitude and loyalty. Overall, he was a very complex person.
At Harley\'s house, May and Max finally had a good night\'s sleep. They hadn\'t been able to rest well or eat properly in days due to the whole Manaphy situation.
Yuga, on the other hand, was quite used to this kind of life. Sleeping at Harley\'s house didn\'t feel much different from sleeping on the ghost ship. There was a bed, blankets, shelter from the wind and rain—most people traveling in the wild didn\'t have such luxuries.
The next morning, Harley woke up early. After preparing breakfast for his guests, he headed to the task center alone.
Life had to go on, and with a new Pokémon, Harley needed to take on more tasks to earn money.
Not long after Yuga and the others finished breakfast, Harley came back, cursing up a storm. It turned out that the same employer had found him again, persistently asking him to sell Abra, clinging to him like an annoying pest.
Of course, Harley refused. Besides, Abra wasn\'t even in his possession anymore. However, he didn\'t mention that he had sold it to Yuga. If the employer shifted his attention to Yuga, that would really be a case of repaying kindness with betrayal.
After venting his frustration, Yuga asked, puzzled, "What\'s the deal with that guy? Why is he so fixated on Abra? Wouldn\'t it be easier to just pick another Pokémon?"
"Who knows!" Harley replied, gulping down a large glass of water to soothe his dry throat. "Anyway, I\'ve accepted a new task and will be leaving Aromatic City for a while. Once I\'m gone, let\'s see if he can find me!"
Even though New Year\'s was approaching, it didn\'t mean much to Harley, who had been living alone for so long. Earning money was more appealing to him, and there was a good chance he wouldn\'t return to Aromatic City during the holidays.
"Oh, by the way, when are you guys leaving?" Harley suddenly asked.
Before Yuga could respond, Harley\'s communicator started beeping. Harley picked it up and saw that the call was from the Aromatic City Police Department.
The police were calling to express their gratitude for Yuga\'s earlier tip. Since they didn\'t have Yuga\'s contact information, they called the "local" Harley instead.
It turned out that the interrogation results for the three people who had been arrested were now in. There was indeed something seriously wrong with them.
As it turned out, it was Harley\'s former employer who had given them that high-tech prison device. These three individuals had been working for him the whole time, secretly using the technology to capture numerous Pokémon, and they had even stolen Pokémon from other trainers.
According to their statements, this employer seemed to be doing something nefarious with the Pokémon they captured, though these hired hands didn\'t know exactly what it was, as they were just following orders for money.
After receiving this call, Harley learned that the employer had been arrested by the police shortly after Harley left the task center.
"Hah, serves him right! That\'s what you get for doing shady business!" After hanging up, Harley cursed with a cold expression.
"Since the guy\'s been caught, don\'t get worked up over it. It\'s not worth it," Yuga advised, feeling impressed by how quickly the Aromatic City police had wrapped things up—arresting the culprit one day and getting results the next morning.
Meanwhile, at a villa in the eastern district of Aromatic City, Officer Jenny was leading a team in a thorough search. This was the employer\'s residence.
The employer\'s wife, children, and house staff had been rounded up and were being watched by the police, though they still had no idea what was happening.
"Search every corner!" Officer Jenny shouted, commanding the officers as she led her Arcanine through the villa.
About an hour later, an officer with a Luxray ran over to her, shouting, "Captain, we found something!"
Officer Jenny followed the officer to a hidden study and asked, "Is it here?"
The officer nodded silently.
Luxray\'s eyes had x-ray vision, which allowed it to detect the hidden features of the room.
Once inside the study, Officer Jenny and her team quickly found a concealed chamber with Luxray\'s help. However, the chamber was already empty, leaving only a lingering smell of blood in the air.
According to the employer\'s confession, this chamber had been a makeshift lab where the captured Pokémon were processed. However, whoever had been there was now long gone.
The officer and his Luxray carefully searched the chamber, but aside from some discarded machinery, there was nothing else to be found.
"Captain, there\'s nothing here. They must have fled after catching wind of the situation."
Officer Jenny stepped out of the study with her Arcanine and gave the order, "Search for them! They can\'t have gotten far!"
With that, the entire Aromatic City police force sprang into action.
Meanwhile, Yuga and his group were purchasing supplies for their journey and said their goodbyes to Harley. They planned to leave Aromatic City immediately.
After Yuga and the others left, Harley packed up his things and prepared to leave the city as well. Even though his employer had been caught, Harley still had tasks to complete—he didn\'t have time to lounge around at home.
As Yuga, May, and Max left Aromatic City, they noticed the city was under lockdown. There were not only police officers patrolling the streets with their Pokémon, but even passersby like them were being questioned.
Due to Yuga\'s special status, many of the police recognized him, so they didn\'t have much trouble and were able to leave the city smoothly.
Outside the city, Yuga noticed that there were also police officers patrolling the outskirts, likely searching for someone. However, Yuga didn\'t interfere and simply led May and Max back to the ghost ship.
Yuga\'s ghost ship was docked in a forest outside Aromatic City. With a group of Ghost-type Pokémon, including Mismagius, keeping watch, it would be hard for anyone to find it.
As soon as they returned to the ship, a Haunter floated over to Yuga, babbling away. Yuga was surprised and asked, "You\'re saying you captured two suspicious people?"