Stepping out of the dense forest, Proton entered the hidden clearing with the nervous thug trailing behind him. He stopped in front of the disguised squad leader and, without a word, handed over a sleek black card loaded with exactly three hundred million pokedollars.
Enzo glanced at the balance, and for a brief moment, irritation flickered across his mind. Ratchet owed twenty million to a single man. Just thinking about it made him wonder how someone as ugly and rat-faced as he had even managed that in the first place. Still, his expression remained perfectly neutral as he slipped the card into his pocket.
The thug immediately dropped to his knees.
"Thank you, boss—thank you! I swear, I can be useful! Just give me a chance to work for you!"
Looking down at the pathetic figure groveling in the dirt, Enzo felt only disgust. Ratchet was repulsive to look at, but beneath the miserable display, there was obvious value. A man like that could be made useful.
"This deal was only the beginning," Enzo said, his voice steady and absolute. "If you do exactly what I tell you from now on, you'll clear every last one of your debts."
Ratchet's head shot up at once. Hope washed over his face so completely that it erased the despair from moments earlier. He nodded again and again, almost frantically.
Satisfied with the man's immediate submission, Enzo decided to test him.
"Where's the best place around here to spend a large amount of dirty money?" he asked.
Ratchet forced a nervous smile. "There are a few good brothels in Motostoke… and some in Spikemuth too…"
Enzo said nothing. He merely turned his eyes toward Ronnie.
That was enough.
Ronnie stepped forward and drove a heavy punch straight into Ratchet's belly. The thug crashed onto the ground with a cry, clutching his stomach. Enzo calmly crouched beside him, his tone quiet enough to be far more threatening than a shout.
"I'm not looking for whores," he said. "I'm looking for a real black market. Somewhere I can buy things that aren't usually sold in the open."
Ratchet spat blood onto the grass and winced. "Y-You should've said that from the start…"
Enzo tilted his head slightly.
"Do I look like someone who needs to visit a brothel?"
Ratchet looked up at him—and hesitated.
It only lasted a few seconds, but it was already too long.
Ronnie's boot slammed into his stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. Ratchet folded in on himself, choking and gasping as he curled into the dirt.
"N-No! No, I didn't mean it like that!" he cried out in panic. "I know a place! A real underground market near Spikemuth! I'll take you there right now!"
Leaving Anna and Viper behind to guard the hidden camp, while Ronnie stayed behind to watch over the meditating Onix, Enzo and Proton followed Ratchet toward the rough outskirts of Spikemuth.
The thug led them through a maze of narrow, filthy alleys until they arrived at a hidden stall tucked between crumbling walls. Behind the counter stood a fat, ugly vendor with greasy hair and a face twisted by irritation. The moment he spotted Ratchet, his expression darkened.
"You've got some nerve showing your face here, you fucking rat," the man spat, glaring at the trembling thug.
Before Ratchet could shrink any further into himself, Enzo stepped forward and met the vendor's gaze.
"I'm here to settle his debt," he said, his voice calm and even.
The vendor let out a scornful snort and leaned across the stained counter.
"And who exactly are you supposed to be?" he asked.
Without a word, Enzo reached into his pocket and flashed his silver Squad Leader badge just enough for the merchant alone to see the Team Rocket insignia.
"I wasn't aware asking for names was standard practice in Galar's underground," Enzo said coldly.
The vendor froze.
The sneer vanished from his face almost instantly. Even this far from Kanto, anyone involved in black market dealings knew what Team Rocket meant. If you wanted to move serious merchandise through Kanto, you dealt with them—or you didn't deal at all. Realizing exactly who he was standing in front of, the merchant swallowed his pride.
"His debt is five million," the vendor muttered, all his earlier arrogance gone.
Enzo turned his head and glanced at Ratchet, only to find the man trying to make some pathetic, innocent expression.
It only made him look more like the filthy rat he resembled. Suppressing the urge to drive his fist into the thug's mouth, Enzo pulled out the black card and tapped it against the payment terminal.
The transfer went through.
"Good," Enzo said, slipping the card back into his pocket. His gaze returned to the merchant. "Now show me what you have."
The vendor gave a silent nod and stepped away from the filthy counter, motioning for the trio to follow him into a cramped backroom overflowing with poorly sorted merchandise.
The place was a mess, shelves stacked unevenly, crates left half-open, and dust clinging to nearly every surface. With a thick finger, the merchant pointed toward a shadowed corner where several large plastic bins sat piled together.
"That's what I've got at the moment," he said.
Ignoring the man, Enzo walked straight to the containers and crouched beside them. At first glance, they looked like nothing more than heaps of worthless rubble, but he had already learned that the most valuable things were often buried beneath the trash. He reached into the first bin and began sorting through the stones by hand.
It did not take long to prove him right.
Beneath a layer of common gravel, Enzo uncovered several rare berries that had been carelessly thrown in with the rocks.
In the next bin, his fingers brushed against something smooth and oddly shaped. He pulled out a King's Rock, then immediately spotted an Oval Stone resting just beneath it. Without hesitation, he added both to the growing pile at his side before continuing his search. A few Everstones turned up soon after, half-hidden among chunks of dull mineral that would have fooled anyone without patience.
By the time he reached the last bin, Enzo's expectations had already risen—and this time, the find was even better.
His hand closed around something sharp.
When he pulled it free, the dim light caught along the curved edges of a Razor Claw. A faint smile touched his lips. Items like this were not easy to come by, and certainly not in a dump like this. He set it aside with the others and continued searching, more carefully now.
That was when he noticed it.
Nestled between cracked stones and scraps of worthless debris was a jagged fragment giving off the faintest pink glow. Enzo's eyes narrowed the moment he saw it. There was no mistaking that shape.
A Wishing Star.
He picked it up slowly, turning the fragment between his fingers as quiet satisfaction stirred inside him. Right now, most people would see nothing more than an unusual rock. But Enzo knew better. In a few years, Chairman Rose would become obsessed with gathering as many Wishing Stars as possible. When that time came, pieces like this would become far more valuable than they appeared now.
Anything tied to future leverage was worth collecting.
Once he was finished, Enzo gathered the rare items together and placed them on the counter. The vendor's eyes immediately lit up. He had clearly assumed the young man was ignorant and, after a quick glance at the pile, named a price of one hundred thousand without the slightest shame, hoping to squeeze as much money out of him as possible.
In truth, even at that price, Enzo would still be walking away with a massive victory.
Still, there was no reason to let the man think he had the upper hand.
"Ninety thousand," Enzo said flatly.
The vendor hesitated for barely a second before nodding with far too much ease, which only confirmed Enzo's suspicion that the man would have gladly sold everything for less. Even so, Enzo did not care.
For what he was getting, ninety thousand was already an absurdly good deal.
Without wasting another word, he paid and swept the items off the counter, leaving the merchant satisfied and Enzo even more so.
Stepping away from the cluttered counter, the vendor pointed toward a row of rusty cages where several Pokémon sat with dull, lifeless eyes. Enzo barely spared them a second glance before shaking his head in disgust.
There was no spirit in them, no edge, no value beyond being miserable creatures waiting to be bought by fools.
"I'm not interested in trash," he said flatly. "If you have real quality, price isn't an issue."
That was all the encouragement the fat merchant needed. Greed flickered across his face at once, and he quickly led the trio deeper into the building, past a reinforced door and into a hidden warehouse watched over by armed thugs.
The moment Enzo stepped inside, he felt the difference.
This was where the real merchandise was kept.
The cages here held Pokémon with fire still burning in their eyes—creatures that snarled, fought, and hurled themselves against the bars with pride and fury rather than lifeless resignation.
They were prisoners, but they had not been broken. Their bodies were full of tension, their gazes sharp, their presence brimming with vitality.
As Enzo's digital interface swept across the warehouse, line after line of data appeared before his eyes. Deep Green potential. Deep Green potential. Deep Green potential.
A smile almost tugged at his lips.
Even in a place like this, quality still existed.
Then his eyes settled on one particular cage.
Inside it sat a Purrloin, small and elegant, its posture straight and proud. Unlike the others, it didn't thrash or lash out. It simply stared back at him, utterly fearless, as if Enzo himself wasn't worth fearing.
Activating the system, Enzo saw exactly what he had hoped for: the feline possessed Deep Green potential, and among its observations, one trait stood out clearly—an exceptionally high level of pride.
Enzo's smile became real this time.
Anna needed another Pokémon. More importantly, she needed something capable of protecting her, and this Dark-type fit her perfectly. This one had attitude, talent, and enough pride that, once linked through the system, it would never allow itself to fail its trainer so easily.
It was a perfect match.
"How much for this one?" Enzo asked, pointing toward the purple cat.
The merchant's eyes gleamed. He rubbed his thick hands together and immediately put on the expression of a man pretending to part with treasure.
"That one?" he said. "That one's a special case. I was actually considering keeping it for testing. Truth be told, it may even have Blue potential. I shouldn't be letting it go at all… but if you insist, I can part with it for one hundred thousand."
Enzo almost laughed.
The man was lying through his teeth, trying to bait him with exaggerated praise and an inflated price. But the funny part was that even at one hundred thousand, this would still have been an enormous win.
Still, there was no reason to let the merchant think he could toy with him.
"One hundred thousand," the vendor said, rubbing his hands together. "For a specimen like this, that's already generous."
Enzo let out a quiet laugh.
"That thing hasn't even been tested yet," he said. "The most I'll give you is sixty thousand."
The merchant's expression immediately soured.
"That's impossible," he snapped. "Eighty thousand is the absolute lowest I can go."
"Then forget it."
Enzo turned on his heel as if the discussion had already ended.
"Wait, wait—don't be like that," the vendor called after him, his tone quickly softening. "Give me something better."
Enzo stopped, then glanced back over his shoulder.
"Sixty-five thousand," he said flatly. "That's my last offer. Take it or leave it."
The merchant did not hesitate.
"Sixty-five thousand. Deal."
He moved at once, hurrying toward the cage before Enzo could change his mind.
As the man unlocked it, Enzo remained expressionless, though he already knew the truth. Even at sixty-five thousand, he had still paid more than the Purrloin was actually worth on the open black market. At most, a Pokémon like this should have sold for around forty thousand.
Still, it was not a bad deal.
With the system, he could raise its potential to Light Blue, and once that happened, the cat's value would jump to somewhere around seventy or even eighty thousand. Considering that, the purchase was more than acceptable.
With the Purrloin secured, Enzo did not leave the warehouse right away.
Instead, he kept walking past the rows of cages, his eyes moving from one prisoner to the next while the system quietly fed him information in the corner of his vision.
Enzo scanned the dark warehouse searching for specific creatures to hoard.
Knowing the upcoming official typing announcement would make Fairy types incredibly expensive, motivated to secure cheap investments right now.
Scanning the dusty enclosures, he found two Cleffa possessing Green potential alongside a Cutiefly showing Light Green.
Moving down the aisle, his eyes caught an Impidimp holding Green potential, prompting him to buy the entire group for a fraction of their future value.
Watching the young leader purchase multiple unwanted creatures thrilled the fat vendor, making him smile greedily while finalizing the large sale.
Slapping Ratchet hard on the back, the merchant offered a ten percent discount for bringing such a great client next time.
"Thank you, can I use that discount for myself?" Ratchet asked, rubbing his hands together with a hopeful grin.
"Not a chance, kid, that discount is only for the client," the vendor laughed, looking Ratchet up and down with pure disdain.
Leaving the underground market, the trio navigated the rugged streets heading back toward the forest. Stepping out of the dirty alleys, Proton looked at the new items resting in the hands of his boss.
"Are we planning to buy more?" Proton asked, raising an eyebrow at the weak-looking catches.
"The more the better," Enzo replied, walking back toward the hidden camp with a dark smirk.
By the time they arrived back at the hidden camp, Ronnie was still seated in the grass, faithfully watching over the meditating Onix.
Leaving the grunt to his task, Enzo turned his attention elsewhere and approached Anna, who was resting near the military tent.
As he walked, he slipped a specific Poké Ball from his pocket and quietly opened his system interface. With a few hidden commands, he injected the virus into the newly captured Purrloin. A moment later, the system updated before his eyes.
Light Blue potential.
A satisfied glint passed through Enzo's eyes before he closed the interface and held the ball out to Anna.
"I got you something," he said.
The instant she took it, a system prompt appeared in Enzo's vision, asking whether he wished to transfer the artificial link between the Pokémon and its designated trainer. He accepted without hesitation.
Anna pressed the button.
A flash of red light burst across the grass, and the Purrloin emerged with elegant pride, landing lightly before them. It stood tall despite its small size, its posture straight, its sharp eyes fixed on Anna with a serious, almost judgmental look.
There was no fear in it, no uncertainty—only a quiet, stubborn dignity that made it seem far more mature than its size suggested.
Anna's face lit up immediately.
"Oh my God, it's so cute! Thank you so much!" she said, crouching down with a bright smile as she looked at the proud little feline.
The Purrloin did not melt under the attention. It simply kept staring at her with the same composed expression, as though carefully deciding whether she was worthy of it.
Enzo allowed himself the faintest smile.
"Take good care of it," he said. "When it evolves, it'll become one of your most valuable weapons."
He knew the artificial bond would do the rest. No matter how proud the Purrloin was, once that link settled in place, it would not allow harm to come to her so easily.
Leaving Anna to admire her new partner, Enzo turned his back and headed toward the container.
Inside, Hypno was among the stored supplies. Without wasting words, Enzo handed over the newly acquired Poké Balls and instructed the psychic Pokémon to put them away with the rest of their growing stock. Hypno silently obeyed, taking the Poké Balls and moving to store them inside.
Proton watched the process in silence for a moment before glancing back at Enzo.
"What do we do now, boss?" he asked.
Enzo's eyes shifted toward the distance, calm and unreadable.
"Now," he said, "we wait… and we train."
Proton raised an eyebrow, and Enzo continued without looking at him.
"Froakie is already level twelve, and Sprigatito has reached level fourteen. It won't be long before they evolve. We need to be ready for that."
Proton gave a slow nod, understanding immediately.
"So we train them now," he said.
Enzo nodded once. "Exactly."
There was a brief pause before Proton spoke again.
"Ronnie's Litten hasn't been doing much," he pointed out. "He hasn't left Onix's side."
Enzo did not seem bothered by that at all.
"Then Litten can train with us," he said. "If it evolves, we'll let Ronnie know after. He doesn't need to be there for it."
Proton nodded again, then turned and headed off to speak with Ronnie and collect the Fire-type.
And so, the next few days passed in training, and the results came faster than expected.
The first to evolve, surprisingly enough, was Ronnie's Litten.
Despite spending most of its time away from its trainer, training alongside the others was enough to push it over the edge. In a burst of heat and light, the small Fire-type shed its weaker form and emerged as a Torracat, leaner, fiercer, and far more dangerous than before.
Not long after that, Proton's Sprigatito followed.
The majestic Grass-type evolved into a Floragato, its body becoming taller and more agile, its once cute demeanor sharpening into something far more elegant and deadly. Proton had looked more than satisfied seeing the transformation, but the one who took it the hardest was Enzo's Froakie.
Seeing both of the others evolve before him nearly drove the Water-type mad with jealousy.
From that moment on, Froakie trained like a Pokémon possessed. It pushed itself past its limits, refused to rest, and fought until its small body trembled with exhaustion. And in less than a day after Floragato's evolution, the pressure finally paid off.
Wrapped in the familiar glow of evolution, Froakie's body stretched and changed, leaving behind its smaller form and emerging as a Frogadier.
Once the excitement had settled, Enzo quietly checked their updated statuses through the system.
[ SYSTEM SCAN — TARGET IDENTIFIED ]
Specimen: Floragato
Level: 16
Potential: LIGHT BLUE
Ability: Overgrow
Typing: Grass
Moves Detected: Magical Leaf, Bite, Quick Attack, Hone Claws...
Obs: "Agility growth: high."
[ SYSTEM SCAN — TARGET IDENTIFIED ]
Specimen: Torracat
Level: 17
Potential: LIGHT BLUE
Ability: Blaze
Typing: Fire
Moves Detected: Ember, Bite, Double Kick, Lick...
Obs: "Combat temperament: fierce."
And finally—
[ SYSTEM SCAN — TARGET IDENTIFIED ]
Specimen: Frogadier
Level: 16
Potential: DEEP GREEN
Ability: Torrent
Typing: Water
Moves Detected: Water Pulse, Quick Attack, Smokescreen, Lick...
Obs: "Competitive drive: extreme. High agility. Temperament: mischievous but attentive. Training response: fast—especially under disciplined leadership."
The results were good. Very good.
Still, Enzo's attention lingered on Frogadier's status screen for a moment longer than the others. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Buddy, you finally made it to Deep Green," he said quietly. "Let's give you the boost you need."
Opening his interface, Enzo activated the virus and injected it into Frogadier without delay. The update came almost instantly.
[ VIRUS ACTIVE ]
A second later, the potential line shifted.
LIGHT BLUE.
Frogadier stiffened as the change spread through its body. The frog could feel it immediately—its strength rising, its body growing lighter, sharper, more responsive than before. But that was not all. Along with the increase in power came the familiar deepening of its bond with Enzo, the invisible connection between trainer and Pokémon tightening even further.
Frogadier looked up at him, its eyes shining with clear gratitude.
Enzo smiled. "Much better."
He reached down and gently patted the frog on the head, earning a pleased reaction from the newly strengthened Pokémon.
Even so, none of it compared to what was about to happen next.
Over the next few days, Enzo and Proton continued visiting black markets across the area, searching for more Fairy-types to add to their growing stockpile. But with each trip, the pattern became more obvious.
They were finding fewer and fewer of them.
And when they did find any, the prices were no longer as low as before.
It was a subtle shift, but an unmistakable one. Other people had started moving too. Whether through rumors, stolen information, or simple instinct, word was clearly spreading through the underground.
More traders were beginning to realize.
Which meant the information was already leaking.
By the time the official announcement came, prices would explode completely.
Even so, they kept buying whatever worthwhile Fairy-types they could still find before the window closed entirely.
Then, a few days later, Enzo was ripped out of sleep by a distant scream.
He shot upright inside his tent, instantly alert. A second cry followed, louder this time, filled with so much excitement that there was no mistaking whose voice it was.
"HE EVOLVED! HE EVOLVED! ENZO, GET OUT HERE!"
Throwing the flap aside, Enzo stepped out of the tent and immediately followed the shouting. The morning air was cold against his skin, but the sight waiting for him made him forget that entirely.
Where Onix had once stood, a monstrous steel serpent now towered over the camp.
Its body was no longer made of rough stone, but of massive interlocked segments of dark metal, each one harder and more imposing than the last. Its sheer size was overwhelming, its steel body reflecting the dim morning light in cold, brutal flashes. The old Onix had already been impressive, but this…
This was something else entirely.
A Steelix.
Ronnie stood nearby, almost shaking with excitement, pointing at his partner like a child who had just discovered treasure.
"Look at him!" Ronnie shouted. "Look at how huge he is! He's so damn strong now!"
The newly evolved Steelix let out a deep metallic roar, its presence alone enough to make the ground feel smaller beneath it. There was pride in the way it carried itself, power in every movement of its enormous frame.
Enzo's eyes narrowed as he activated the system.
The result appeared a moment later.
[ SYSTEM SCAN — TARGET IDENTIFIED ]
Specimen: Steelix (VIRUS ACTIVE)
Level: 40
Potential: DEEP GREEN
Ability: Rock Head
Typing: Steel / Ground
Moves Detected: Iron Tail, Rock Slide, Dig, Screech...
Obs: "Connection link with trainer: exceptionally high."
A faint flicker of satisfaction crossed his face. The old Onix had only possessed Green potential, but after evolving, its ceiling had risen even higher. That alone would have been worth noticing.
But then Enzo saw something else.
A new observation line had appeared beneath the usual data.
Possesses an exceptionally high connection link with its trainer.
Enzo's gaze lingered on that line for a second longer than the others.
Now that… was interesting.
Seeing the newly added observation line, Enzo's eyes narrowed slightly before a slow smile formed on his face.
An exceptionally high connection link with its trainer.
Well, well…
Enzo turned slightly and called out, "Sableye, bring me the bag with the stones."
A ripple of shadow stirred beside him.
Moments later, Sableye materialized from the darkness, its gem-like eyes gleaming as it dragged the sack forward before placing it into Enzo's feet.
Enzo took it without wasting a word, then opened the bag and searched through the contents until his fingers closed around a smooth Key Stone.
He pulled it out and placed it in Ronnie's hand. Ronnie blinked and looked down at it in confusion. "What is this? Wait, is this for him to eat?" Enzo stared at him for a second.
"No," he said flatly. "Do not let him eat it. That one is for you, just hold onto it." Ronnie frowned, even more confused than before, but he still closed his fingers around the Key Stone anyway.
Then Enzo reached back into the sack and pulled out two different Mega Stones. Holding them both up in front of Steelix, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Steelix," he said, his tone calm and firm. "Come here. Look at these two and choose the one you feel drawn to."
The massive Steelix lowered its head, its glowing eyes shifting first toward Ronnie, then toward Enzo, and finally toward the two stones in Enzo's hands. For a brief moment, it simply stared.
Then it moved.
Without hesitation, the giant serpent leaned toward the stone on the left.
Enzo's grin widened instantly.
He let out a low laugh and glanced sideways at Ronnie.
"You lucky son of a bitch," he said.
Ronnie blinked, still completely lost, clutching the Key Stone in his hand while looking between Enzo, Steelix, and the two strange rocks as if none of it made sense.
Enzo, meanwhile, was already enjoying himself.
"Get ready," he said, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. "You're about to see something cool."