Chapter 35: Trade Shop
Slithering out of his egg, a small snake crawled out of his previous home of an egg. It had a white stomach, which was harnessed atop a blue body. Her large nose stuck out of her face, and two aerodynamic ears flaked off of the sides of her head. Eli already knew what her name was going to be: Buddy. He bent over to see eye to eye with the small Pokemon. It cried its name out loudly and curled up into a ball inside Eli's clutches. Eli reached into his backpack to pull out his PokeDex and look up the information on his newly hatched Pokemon. According to the database, the Pokemon that Eli had just acquired was a Dratini. It was a pure dragon type, but it was able to swim with superb skill. Dratini wrapped around Eli's arm, and the duo walked into the Pokemon Center.
Heads turned rapidly as Eli walked in to the Pokemon Center with his newly hatched Dratini. Eli handed the newborn Pokemon to Nurse Joy, who took the Pokemon into the back room for a moment to give it the necessary treatment to balance its health. Nurse Joy told Eli that the treatment would take a while, so he may as well head over to the Trade Shop to kill some time. After thanking Nurse Joy, Eli walked out of the sliding glass doors of the Pokemon Center and navigated the labyrinth of the city to find the Trade Shop. The building was one of the largest in town- large windows flanked the side of the building while reinforced steel constructed the skeleton of the tower. Eli swung open the heavy metal door and walked into the Trade Shop.
While Eli came to the Trade Shop with no intention to trade, he was introduced to the idea by the overwhelming excitement of the setting. A large, octagonal room was inset into the floor of the main room. Hanging over the room was a jumbotron with current trades flashing by. Current offers also had their own section of the board, and Eli noticed that someone was requesting a Larvitar. Intrigued, Eli descended down the steps of the inset area and found the man who was demanding a Larvitar. The man was wearing a slick, black suit that was a good contrast to his red and blue striped tie. Black glasses were wrapped around his bony face, and he greeted Eli with a firm handshake. The two business partners found a table together and began negotiating.
"Hello. My name is Clark Howard. I am an executive for Eclipse Enterprises. I am looking for a Larvitar for a project at work, and I do have some good Pokemon to offer in return. I assume that since you are sitting here in front of me, that you do have a Larvitar. May I please see it?" questioned the man in the black suit. Eli released the rocky Pokemon from his Ultra Ball as the Pokemon landed on the ground. Mr. Howard looked at the Pokemon and smiled, before returning his attention to Eli. "Very well. I am glad I have finally found someone with a Pokemon this strong. I have two other Pokemon to offer you for this Larvitar. The first is a Hitmonlee," offered Clark Howard. Eli pulled out his PokeDex and looked up Hitmonlee. It was a fighting type that utilized its long legs and strong feet to blast through opponents. While this Pokemon was good fighter who would make a difference on Eli's team, there were better options to be viewed. Clark could see the distaste on Eli's face, so he cut in with his next option. "Or, I also could trade you this Kadabra. It is an interesting Pokemon, so I would be weary with this one," warned Mr. Howard. Again, Eli reverted to his PokeDex to get a taste of what this Pokemon was like. It was a pure psychic type, and it would blow away Hitmonlee in a fight. Kadabra's psychic powers were strong enough to level opponents without breaking a sweat. As an added bonus, the Pokemon would evolve when it was traded- so Eli would acquire an Alakazam instead of a Kadabra.
"I'll take the Kadabra please," responded Eli. The man grinned and happily handed him the Pokeball containing the psychic Pokemon. Eli smiled, but then looked down at Larvitar. Larvitar looked sad, but Eli kneeled down to calm him down. "It will all be OK Larvitar. Even though you weren't with me for that long, it was a great experience with you on my team. I'm sure that Mr. Howard will treat you very well, and that you will be a very strong Pokemon one day. You have a lot of fun ahead of you, so go run at it full speed, OK?" choked Eli, who was struggling to hold back tears. Eli kissed Larvitar on his rocky forehead, as he returned him to his Pokeball. His red silhouette was still engraved in his mind, as he had lost and found a friend at the same moment. Eli thanked Clark Howard for the help, and walked back to the Pokemon Center.
When Eli arrived at the Pokemon Center, he was informed that his Dratini had successfully been brought into the Pokemon world healthy. Eli smiled at this news, before venturing over to the Pokemart to gather supplies for the upcoming gym battle. As soon as Eli arrived at the Pokemart, the owner of the shop recognized him as the one who had won the Neon City Tournament. He praised Eli to no end, before finally giving him a discount on the items in the store. Scanning the shelves of the store, Eli picked out a handful of items that would aid him on his journey. The first was an item called charcoal. It boosted the power of fire type moves, and it would be instrumental if Eli would defeat Colby without a death. Next, Eli found an item that went by the name of a quick claw. This item would boost the speed of the Pokemon wielding it, so it benefited slower Pokemon. Going for the unorthodox approach, Eli would give this item to Golbat. The quick claw would let Golbat be faster then any normal competitor that would challenge them Finally, Eli picked up five red bandanas which, which he would tie around each member of his team. Bulbasaur's bandana would be tied around his bulb, Arcanine's around his furry neck, Golbat's around his feet, but Eli chose not to tie the bandana around Dratini or Alakazam yet. All of the Pokemon who had bandanas had proven themselves in battle, while Dratini and Alakazam had not yet. Finally, Eli paid for his items and began to walk back to the gym.
End of Chapter 35