Kanto Region, Vermilion City, harbor.
Wearing casual clothes and a simple disguise, Sato and Lance arrived at the early morning fish market by the harbor of Vermilion City.
The pungent smell of fish filled the air. Fishermen shouting to sell their catch surrounded them on all sides. What little coolness remained from the morning breeze had long been swept away by the bustling crowd.
"Lance, why are we here…?"
Seeing that no one around was paying attention to them, Sato casually asked Lance.
"To 'catch' a few people."
Lance's answer was short and to the point. He then pretended to be curious and walked over to a vendor surrounded by onlookers.
"Wow! I've never seen an eel this big before!"
"Same here! It's the first time I've caught one like this. Look at that wide-open mouth. If it bites you, it could snap a finger clean off!"
The vendor was a man in his forties. His dark, sun-dried skin clearly came from years of exposure to the wind and sun.
Though he was just a regular fisherman, compared to the other vendors, he was pretty good at talking.
The growing crowd, guided by the vendor's chatter, started to believe that such a large "eel" was indeed rare and valuable.
Within just a few minutes, someone offered a high price and bought the "eel". The vendor even managed to sell more seafood off the excitement.
Once the excitement calmed down, the crowd gradually began to disperse.
Lance gave Sato a subtle signal with his eyes. Then his entire demeanor suddenly changed. Though he didn't do anything in particular, he now looked like an honest, soft-spoken middle-aged man.
Seeing this, Sato also "suppressed" his presence, hunching his shoulders slightly and silently following behind Lance.
To anyone nearby, they looked just like a pair of unlucky brothers, both single and dissatisfied with life.
Lance approached the stall with his hands in his pockets and stared intently at the seafood, but said nothing about buying.
The vendor, still beaming as he finished counting his money, noticed Lance standing there hesitantly but not purchasing anything. He finally couldn't help but speak up.
"Hey boss, what are you buying? Everything here's fresh off the boat. You won't find stuff this good at other stalls!"
"It's all freshly caught?"
"All of it!"
"That big, thick eel just now… you caught that one too?"
"Of course! My fishing skills are among the best around here. Ask anyone in the area!"
Hearing Lance praise the size of his "eel", the vendor stopped being annoyed. After all, his fishing skills were the one thing he could genuinely brag about.
"You're amazing, boss!"
"Hahaha, you flatter me~ Go ahead, take your pick, I'll get you the best one!"
The vendor was clearly delighted by the praise, but he still brought the conversation back to business every few lines.
Lance, sensing the timing was right, pretended to sneak a glance around and urged Sato to lean in closer.
"Here's the thing, boss… my younger brother here might be a bit older now, but he still wants to try raising a Pokémon. Seeing how you caught that fierce eel…"
"I don't know what you two are talking about, but if you're not buying… SCRAM! Don't get in the way of my business!"
Halfway through Lance's sentence, the vendor already figured out what he was getting at and immediately tried to shoo them away.
But Lance wasn't fazed. He grabbed the vendor's sleeve tightly and whispered urgently, "…Anything but Magikarp! We brought our life savings here!"
"..." The vendor was clearly stunned, but after a moment of hesitation, he shoved them off with some effort.
"I've still got business to run. I need to sell all this stuff by 2 p.m. I can't just waste time chatting with you guys."
Lance's eyes lit up, pretending to catch on to the vendor's implication. He immediately responded, "Got it, got it. My brother and I will be back at 2 p.m. sharp. We won't interfere with your business, boss."
As he spoke, Lance quickly pulled Sato away from the stall.
The vendor's hand, still in the air from being grabbed, hadn't even lowered yet. His face was frozen in confusion.
What he meant was: if you two brothers buy out all the fish on my stall, then I can take you to get some Pokémon, right?
'Tch, no wonder they're doing so poorly… Turns out they're actually dumb!'
The vendor cursed inwardly, then dejectedly returned to selling his seafood.
'Let's see how hard I scam you two fools this afternoon!'
---◓---
Meanwhile, Sato and Lance had slipped into a secluded corner, and as soon as they stopped, Lance burst out laughing.
"Tahaha[1]¹! That vendor is probably cursing us out for being idiots right about now."
"So, Lance, is that vendor a poacher?" Sato, not easily amused, cut straight to the serious topic.
"If it were just him, we wouldn't even need Independent Investigators. According to our informants and the League's covert investigations, there's a full poaching ring operating out of this harbor.
They have no bottom line. Intact Pokémon are sold off quickly and cheaply. The ones that are seriously injured or don't have market value are dissected on the spot.
Their energy organs go to factories, the meat to luxury hotels and restaurants, and the remaining waste is burned without a trace."
Sato fell silent. Clearly, this criminal group didn't see Pokémon as intelligent beings. They caught and butchered them at will, completely devoid of ethics.
"So this afternoon, we're going to follow the trail through that vendor and bust the whole operation?" Sato confirmed.
"Exactly. You acted pretty well just now too, like a poor, single, middle-aged guy with no future~"
"Mmh! Right back at you."
---◓---
Time flew by, and 2 p.m. came quickly. The vendor had already sold all his seafood and was just waiting for Sato and Lance to show up.
But even after waiting a while, the two were nowhere to be seen. Not until 2:15 did they finally arrive, looking like they had just rushed over, this time with a bulging leather pouch in hand.
In an instant, the vendor's impatience vanished. Still pretending to be calm, he nodded and said, "Didn't think you'd actually come back."
"Yep, we're here. Had to prepare a few things, you know how it is, haha!" Lance patted the pouch and quickly tucked it back into his coat like he was afraid it might get snatched.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it~ Follow me."
The vendor didn't hesitate anymore. He had planned to ask more questions about their identity, but the sight of that pouch made him focus on only one thing… MONEY.
He began leading the way, zigzagging through the harbor, and soon brought them to an unremarkable residential building.
"Keep quiet once you're inside. Just point at the one you like. Don't disturb the others… resting."
Lance and Sato both nodded obediently and followed the vendor inside, feigning careful behavior.
Inside the dim room, a few large, murky aquariums held four nearly lifeless Pokémon.
Two Goldeen, one Staryu, and one Shellder.
And yet, even with this meager quality and quantity, they would still attract flocks of ordinary citizens who'd never owned a Pokémon in their lives…
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¹.Lance on Pokemon Masters
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🅿️🅰️✝️🆁 🅴🅾️🅽 / 🅁🄾🄼🄴🄻🄾🄵🄵
[1] Lance on Pokemon Masters