=Chapter 51, The Pokeblack Market=
*Jacob to Arky*
*I'm not sure if you'd like or approve of what I'm about to do Arky, but I have no choice… Coral was taken from me, and the only way I can save her, is if I go to the Pokeblack Market. She's depending on me to save her, she got herself hurt trying to keep me safe even while she was being captured, she's done a lot for me, I have to try and help her Arky!*
*Right now I'm away from the others, taking the time to write to you before we all go under cover. Zarak, the Hunter who helped us and we helped back around Route 116, is helping us get into the Pokeblack Market to look for Coral, as well as an Arcanine and Lopunny.*
*Segan would stick out too much down there, so he's elected to remain behind, and Sara insisted on remaining with me in case she needed to protect me. Since she would stick out even more than Segan, the best we can do is have her concealed by a large and heavy cloak, so nobody can recognize her.*
*As for me and Karen, we were each given masks to use to hide our faces, and told to leave our bags and wear new outfits to avoid being recognize. Our clothes aren't exactly the best fitting, just second hand clothes bought from a thrift market, but they would do to hide us and keep anyone from seeing us as normal trainers.*
*The Pokeblack market… I had expected it to be somewhere so obscure, somewhere no normal person would ever want to go. You could only imagine my surprise when I discovered it was literally, seven blocks to the left of Lilycove City's Mega Mall Store!*
*How do they keep it secret with everyone passing by it every day?*
(Jacob's PoV)
"So how much longer do we wait?" He asked quietly as they all pretended to be 'lounging' around at the street corner.
"Yea… its past 'midnight' for Mew's sake!" Karen muttered bitterly, pretending to 'smoke' by using a lollipop as a prop in her mouth. "I'm lucky my mom doesn't see me like this, I'd have a LOT to explain…"
"You're about to enter the underground kids, getting grounded is hardly something to be worried about." Zarak said nonchalantly, using a collar to disguise the tracker on his neck. "Alright… get ready kids. Listen up, before we go in, you should know a few things… don't talk to anyone you don't know, unless you have business with them. So, unless you plan on buying something, don't talk to anyone… or you might give yourselves away. People who go down there know full well they are buying illegal items, and they aren't keen on letting anyone know who they are or what they are buying, and a couple of 'honest trainers' aren't welcomed."
(Uh… Jacob?) Sara asked him, causing him to look up at her in her heavy robe.
She was extremely strange looking with her entire body concealed by the 'blanket' they took and turned into a robe to hide her. Zarak informed them that nobody lets their Pokemon wander outside of their Pokeball in the Pokeblack Market, unless they are 'selling them'. She also had a mask to cover her face, in case anyone noticed her and got too close for comfort.
(This is very uncomfortable Jacob… when can I take it off?) She asked politely.
"As soon as we find Coral and can get her out, then you can remove it." He said assuredly.
(Just so you know Jacob… if at the first sign of trouble… I sense your life is threatened down there… for any reason…) She said to him, inching closer and slipping her hand out and placing it over her heart. (I will throw off my cover, and protect you… even if I must teleport you out… before we locate Coral. I… can't help it… my instincts demand I protect you at all cost.)
*Just… try not to… until we locate Coral.* He thought privately. *Please… she's depending on us Sara.*
(I know… but… no matter what, I will protect you…) She repeated, before concealing her arm again.
"Alright… it's time." Zarak said suddenly, standing straight and walking nonchalantly toward a normal looking house.
They all followed behind him, both he and Karen reaching into their stained hoodies to grab their masks.
As they reached the house, Zarak walked around to the side of the house where a garage was, and casually leaned against it, nodding to them to do the same. They nodded and leaned against it, Sara being careful not to let her robe slip or reveal who she was. For several minutes, they simply leaned against the door before he whistled, giving them the signal to put on their masks.
They slipped their masks on and he casually tapped his fingers on the door behind him, then stood up straight, and they followed his example.
The garage door rattled open and they turned around and walked in, seeing a normal looking garage. There was even a small car with the keys still in the ignition sitting inside, with piles of boxes, some empty and some containing junk.
*This is the entrance to the Pokeblack Market?* He thought privately as the door rattled shut, but with no sign of anyone else in the room besides them.
(Jacob… I sense many minds below us…) Sara said privately. (Many thoughts…)
Just as she said that, the floor beneath them began shaking, and both he and Karen looked around to see the floor they were standing on beginning to sink into the ground. The ground began to melt as they went deeper and deeper underground, slowly shifting from dirt, held in place by several pillars which kept the elevator they were on from breaking the delicate wall around them.
Eventually though, dirt became concrete and steel, and ten minutes after they began their descent they broke through into a massive open space. He had enough time to look below at a huge sea of tents and wooden stands, all of it fit within the small space of a very small Pokemon Stadium. It was barely large enough for over a thousand or so people to cram into, and all of it surrounding a large open pit in the very center of the massive underground chamber. What was more surprising was that it was lit by a series of light bulbs, all of which were being powered and charged by a single Pokemon.
A Magnezone was floating high above the sea of tents and pit, powering all the lights which were strung around the room, providing light for everything and everyone below.
The Magnezone watched them descend with a piercing glare, as if suspicious of who they were and why they were taking the elevator, but ignored them after a few moments.
"That poor Magnezone…" Karen said quietly.
"Don't pity it, that thing is actually a sentinel, watching for suspicious intruders like undercover cops." Zarak muttered. "Keeping the lights on is just something it does because there aren't any other Electric types here capable of doing the job for as long."
"How are we going to find Coral down there…" Jacob whispered quietly as they descended.
"Well, if she would be anywhere, she'd be in the 'exotic' section of the PBM, where they keep Pokemon to be auctioned." He replied. "They'd probably be watching her until it's time to sell her, then they'll move her to the auction room. Most likely she's in a cell block underneath, so we'll never reach her there or bust her out without being noticed… our best chance would be to wait until the auction and try to buy her…"
(She is here Jacob…) Sara whispered to him privately. (I sense her and she is scared, but she is here at least.)
*Can you talk to her, tell her we're coming?* He asked her hopefully.
(No… there are too many minds for her to hear me, too many competing thoughts.) She said sadly. (If we get closer perhaps, but from here no.)
Minutes later the elevator stopped and they could walk out into the sea of tents. There were a lot of people wearing cloaks, masks, some people even wearing bedsheets and talking through voice disguisers. Every conversation he heard as Zarak led the way were quick, direct and to the point.
Someone asked if they had something, how much was it, how low would they go, and if they were interested in making a deal or not.
As they walked through the tents and stands, walking past people who did all they could to avoid making eye contact, Jacob looked around at the various items for sale.
"Wow… they have some nice sales…" Karen commented quietly as they passed by a few.
Most stands were selling items he could find in any local Pokemart, various potion bottles, supplies, random pieces of equipment, but every stand or so there were some rare or expensive items he saw.
One store was selling a massive 'seven-man tent' for one third the price it would have fetched in a normal store. Another stand was selling bikes and motorized vehicles, some of them looking like they had come fresh out of a mechanic's shop and obviously stolen.
But just as they were approaching a section of the market labeled 'Exotic Items – Auctionable or Up Front Purchases', he saw something that truly made him sick and want to do something.
Two stands to the side of the 'Exotic Items' section, were selling Pokemon in cages. In some of the cages he saw Pokemon like a Jolteon, a Ponyta, a Growlithe, a Riolu and even a Miltank on display with various price tags on them. Yet in one of the cages was a Grovyle, a 'female' Grovyle by the looks of it, glancing at them as they walked by with a sad and desperate look on her face.
Her green skin color had blotches of yellow, her eyes looked like they had been beaten slightly, and her leaf bladed arms were extremely dull to the point where they couldn't even cut butter.
"Keep moving…" Zarak whispered quickly, noticing Jacob staring at the Grovyle. "We don't have time to 'linger'."
"You can't…" Jacob began saying before he felt psychic energy silencing his mouth.
Sara was using her powers to keep him quiet, and forcibly pushed him forward to prevent him from arguing.
(Forgive me but he's right… there's nothing we can do right now without exposing ourselves…) Sara whispered quietly to him, but he felt her emotions deeply.
She hated the scene, she was saddened and riddled with hatred at the sight of her fellow Pokemon being kept in such conditions. She wanted nothing more than to fling off her cloak, unleash her psychic energy and free every single Pokemon around her. But as Jacob realized as well, if she did that, they'd never make it out in one piece.
He didn't have Suicune with him to help them, and his and Karen's Pokemon wouldn't be able to get them out while also being able to rescue Coral and the Lopunny they also came to rescue.
"How much for that Grovyle!" Karen demanded in a gruff and very un-Karen like voice.
He, Sara and Zarak turned to watch as Karen pointed at the Grovyle while staring at the shop owner, who glanced up from his magazine he was reading at the cage before responding.
"Six hundred, she's worthless for anything else besides…"
"Deal." She said, and dropped the money from her pocket onto the stand, and walked over to the cage.
The shopkeeper nodded and lazily tossed the key to the cage to her before returning to his magazine. Karen snatched the keys expertly and beckoned Jacob and Sara to her.
"Here, your better with grass types, you take her, consider her my very early birthday present for you." She muttered hastily before he could respond. "Better we take her than something happens to her, we can't save em all, but at least we can save 'her'."
He glanced at Karen and whispered, "Thanks…"
"Don't mention it, besides that's all the money I got… I'm flat broke." She muttered quietly, stepping out of the way and letting Jacob and Sara sit in front of the cage.
He slowly unlocked the cage and opened it so that the Grovyle could walk out, but instead of walking out the Grovyle shuddered and backed up further into the cage, afraid of him and the heavily robed 'Sara' next to him, who both had their masks on to avoid being spotted.
"Hey, it's okay, come on… we're going to get you out of here!" He whispered quickly, wanting to convince the Grovyle to get her out and away before anyone got suspicious of them.
The Grovyle shook her head and tried to cram herself further into the cage's corner, as far away from him as possible.
(You can trust us little one… my trainer is a 'good' human…) Sarah whispered calmly to them both, taking a daring risk by raising her hood just enough to psychically move her mask aside, so that the Grovyle could see her true face and warm smile. (We are here to rescue you… and our friend…)
Thinking quickly, he pulled out from his pocket a single Pokeblock, one of Segan's that he'd made to help convince the Lopunny to trust them if they found it. He quickly held it out to the Grovyle who stared at the Pokeblock, carefully took it and licked it, before eating it swiftly. She looked back up at him with a look that expressed such gratitude, so much 'joy', that it made Jacob cry slightly.
He had to do everything to avoid from patting the Grovyle on the back as she crawled out of the cage and hugged his legs, sobbing slightly as she did.
(She is grateful to us Jacob… I told her we can't comfort her without exposing ourselves… but she is 'eternally' grateful to us…) Sara said as they both stood up, and Jacob walked behind Zarak and Karen, with the Grovyle walking alongside them.
They entered the new section of the Market and saw that it was more open than the others, with several chairs arrayed before a platform, which featured a pulley and levers atop of it, as well as an open space in the center. There were already people sitting there in the seats, some quietly examining something in their hands, others glancing around every so often at those around them.
"Alright you two, take a seat, I'm going down to try and find our Milotic friend and the Lopunny." Zarak said quietly. "And remember… no talking to 'anyone' until I'm back…"
"Got it 'dad'…" Karen grunted, taking a seat in the back with him and Sara and their new Grovyle friend.
While they waited, he took the chance to pick up the Grovyle to see how she was doing health wise.
"How do you feel?" He asked, gently feeling the Grovyle's head and softly touching the yellow blotches on her skin.
"Gro… vyle…" She whispered tiredly, which Sara swiftly translated. (Tired… and in pain…)
"Poor thing, you must have been beaten badly by some Pokemon or so to receive these bruises…" He said quietly, wishing he could treat her even a little bit, but lacking his medicine which was still in his bag.
"Gro… vyle… vly Gro!" She muttered even more sadly. (It wasn't… a Pokemon… it was a human!"
"What?" He asked, astonished that a Human could do this to a Grovyle.
He knew how strong and how fast a Grovyle was, having Harold as his starter. His Harold was extremely fast, extremely strong, he knew nothing 'he' could ever do would ever put so much as a small bruise onto his starter's skin even back then. He could have wailed on his starter for days and not so much as a 'tiny bruise' would ever appear.
(Jacob… I can read her mind… she has no protection against me…) Sara whispered sadly. (It's not that I don't want to… but she has no training, none whatsoever… She was born into this life, to be abused and sold… the things they did to her, are too horrible for even 'I' to speak or imagine. All I can say… is what little we have done for her now, is truly a blessing for her.)
Jacob wanted to ask what they did to the Grovyle, but from the way the Grovyle hugged his body, curled into him and how thin her limbs felt, as if she were just barely more than bone and skin, told him that he was far better off not knowing what had befallen the poor 'starter' that Karen had given him.
Fifteen minutes later Zarak returned, and he grunted as he sat down.
"Found her, she's going to be among those sold off in 'A Block'." He said quietly, pretending to be stretching as he motioned them to lean closer to him. "There aren't a lot of them being sold today, so we're fortunate."
"What about the Lopunny?" Karen demanded.
"She's right here…" Zarak whispered quietly, tapping his belt and showing them a new Pokeball among the three he had before.
"Where was the Lopunny, and how did you find her?" Jacob asked.
"She was in 'D Block'…" Zarak said even more quietly, and his tone said to drop the subject. "Don't ask what 'D Block' is, you're better off not knowing!"
While they waited for the 'Auction' to begin, Zarak decided to leave for a few minutes, and when he returned he came back with some 'quality' Pokefood for the Grovyle, as well as some medicine. "It's out of my pocket, so don't worry about charging me for it." He said.
Jacob tried to tend to the Grovyle without being too noticeable, having Sara use her powers to get anyone who paid them attention to suddenly look at a random sound they heard beneath their chair. Everyone's paranoia at being noticed worked to their advantage, as anyone who stopped looking at them, never looked at them again.
Then suddenly someone walked onto the platform, pulled out a mic and declared in a loud voice. "Welcome one and all, today's auction block is for those found in 'A Block'!" The man said, while wearing a patterned suit and white blocker glasses which also concealed his face somewhat. "We have two fine specimens for offer today, perfect for anyone interested in battling or breeding, up first… item one!"
In the center of the platform, a rope lowered and began to lift something from beneath the floor. Seconds after, in a steel cage wired for electrical charges and much too small to properly contain her, was Coral the Milotic, struggling to break free.
"Coral…" Jacob whispered, seeing his Milotic struggling and unable to fight because of a restriction collar placed on her.
"Item one, a Milotic, beautiful and female, excellent IV's and according our experts has a modest nature… and is already fully trained for battle!" The auctioneer called out, even as Coral growled at him. "Perfect for those wanting to breed her, or even use her in battle, a fine catch for any person… we will start the opening bid at one thousand!"
"One Thousand!" Someone shouted in the front.
"Five Thousand!" A woman shouted, raising her auction stick.
"Seven thousand!" A man shouted halfway.
"Ten Thousand!" Jacob yelled.
At the sound of his voice, Coral stopped struggling and looked at the crowd. Their eyes met, and he instantly knew that 'she' knew, he was there to rescue her. She nodded in understanding and waited for him to win her freedom.
"Oh-ho, it seems the high bidder has won the affection of our 'wild catch'… guess she knows where the money goes!" The Auctioneer said. "I have ten thousand, do I hear eleven thousand?"
"Twelve Thousand!" The woman from before yelled.
"Fifteen Thousand!" Jacob said instantly.
"Hey… that's my pay your paying with…" Zarak muttered, before Karen smashed his foot with her own.
"And that's our 'friend' we're saving, stuff it!" She said through very gritted teeth.
"Sixteen…" The Woman tried saying, but Jacob was too fast.
"Twenty Thousand!" He yelled.
He glanced around and saw that nobody else had raised their hands. He only had fifty thousand from their savings after battles and matches for prize money, he couldn't afford to go beyond that. Thinking that he had won, he began to get up, but moments later…
"Thirty Thousand~!" A snide voice remarked loudly.
He looked behind to see a man wearing a very frilly suit, a top hat, and a masquerade mask behind the entire array of chairs. Next to him was a heavily robed individual who also kept their face hidden behind a mask like Sara.
"I have thirty thousand, do I hear a higher bid?" The auctioneer asked.
"Thirty-one thou…" Jacob began saying, but was interrupted by the new arrival.
"Fifty Thousand!" The masked man said, lazily holding up his hand.
"I have fifty thousand do I hear a higher bid?"
"I…" He began saying, as he felt all his strength fleeing him.
"Fine then, you want a higher bid, I bid one hundred thousand!" The man said, chuckling as he raised his hand again and began walking toward the platform, his partner behind him.
"I… have… one hundred thousand, do I hear a higher bid?" The auctioneer asked incredulously.
"B… I…." He tried saying, unable to comprehend what had just happened, what was happening before him.
He wanted to run up to the platform and just bust Coral out, but he was in too much shock to realize what was happening before his eyes.
"Oh very well, if you must…" The masked man said with an enormous chuckle, now halfway to the platform. "ONE MILLION, Cold Hard Cash, and not a single Pokedollar more!"
Jacob could only watch as Coral stared in shock, as both comprehended what was happening.
He had just lost Coral.
"No…" He whispered in shock.
"ONE MILLION GOING ONCE!"
"No…" He said, both he and Sara unable to think properly as they watched Coral's future fly out of their control.
"ONE MILLION GOING 'TWICE'!"
They couldn't stop it from happening, Sara couldn't reveal herself or what their plan was. They were surrounded, if 'anyone' recognized them, they'd be blackmailed or worse. Jacob wanted to try and shout out a number, a ridiculous number, to try and win Coral's freedom… but he knew he had 'nothing' worth that much aside from his Keystone.
And it was useless to anyone else besides him, and therefore worthless as far as having a monetary value.
Then…
"SOLD, for One Million!" The auctioneer yelled happily.
Coral on the other hand was far from happy, as she watched the masked person walk forward toward her with a huge grin on his face. She was in shock that Jacob was unable to save her… unable to rescue her, and that even now… could not stop this stranger from taking her away from him.
"Wait he can't take her… even if she has that collar she doesn't have to listen to him!" Karen said quickly. "You have her Pokeball, as long as we still have that then they can't contain her outside of that cage!"
Hearing that gave him hope, as he did indeed still have Coral's Luxury Ball on his belt. If he could somehow get alone with her, he could simply call her into it, and slip out without anyone noticing.
"Well, now that I've 'bought' you…" The Masked person said with a humorous chuckle. "All I have to do is 'take you with me' in this…"
Then he pulled out a Pokeball from his pocket, a Purple Pokeball with the letter 'S' on it.
Coral's eyes widened in shock at seeing the Snag Ball, and tried to wiggle away, but was unable to because of how little space was in the cage.
The stranger lightly tossed the Snag Ball at her, and she watched in horror as it tried to break through her Pokeball barrier's defense, but was knocked away thanks to Electra's modifications to it.
The air crackled with electrical charges for the briefest of moments, before the ball fell to the ground, shorted out and broken,
Coral, Jacob and Sara breathed a sigh of relief, which was quickly short lived moments later.
"I see that one was 'faulty'… oh well, it's a good thing they had a 'two for one' sale in the market! It's also good that these things were dirt cheap!" He said with a chuckle, and pulled a second Snag Ball out before lightly tossing it.
Coral and Jacob stared wide eyed as the ball was tossed toward her, watched it break through her Pokeball barrier, and opened to pull her inside via a red beam.
It fell to the ground and shook once… then twice…
Then a third and final time…
-Ping-
And with that sound, Coral the Milotic… was 'snagged' away from Jacob…
"Goody goody… I caught a Milotic…" He said, before walking away from everyone, leaving Jacob open mouthed and in shock.
Just as he walked off though, Zarak had somehow managed to sneak away from them while they weren't looking and was somehow walking back toward them from the opposite side.
"Oh, excuse me my good sir!" He said in a very high pitched tone, accidentally bumping the masked man in the shoulder.
"Whatever." He sneered back, walking past him.
His hooded friend glanced back at Zarak for a moment, before turning away and walking on.
But Jacob didn't care how or why Zarak was over there, all he cared about… was Coral. "No… Coral…" He whispered silently, falling back into his seat in shock.
It felt like a piece of him had been ripped away, like he had a stitch or so in his chest… his heart was beating very fast… and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "This… is a dream…" He muttered. "It has to be…"
"Up next… Item number two!"
He glanced up to see the next Pokemon, a serperior with a feminine appearance, but MUCH older than any Pokemon he had ever seen besides Missy. It had deep wrinkles, its green coloring was faded to a light yellow, and its eyes were very old looking. It was about as old as Coral was young.
"This lovely Serperior is of great stock, very well aged and comes with a fair IV spread, as well as perfectly trained, and with a 'Timid' nature according to our experts. Who will start the opening bid at five hundred?"
Everyone booed and began walking away, getting up and leaving at seeing the Serperior, who stared out at the crowd with a sad and depressed look in its eyes.
"Anyone, anyone, I'll take two fifty, come on, two fifty… a hundred, give me an offer people!" The auctioneer asked hopefully.
Jacob was dead inside though, but cried silently as he raised his hand and pitifully called out…
"One Hundred… and not a single Pokedollar more…"