“You bet I'm excited!” Lindon gasped as he took the final few steps up to Iki Town, “A little more training and Slowpoke is going to win a gym challenge!”
Cashe turned away from the welcoming square of the town to look at Lindon. He had temporarily forgotten he was there. Lindon was flushed and dripping with sweat, his hair damp and tangled, but he had a big grin on his face.
“Yeah, it's definitely exciting,” Cashe agreed. He could feel the subtle tension in the air, could see it in the way the trainers moved around the courtyard. ”Come on, let’s go find a place to stay and a Pokemon Center. It will be good to finally have a proper shower again.”
They moved through Iki Town looking for a place to stay. With a bit of help from one of the locals they were given directions, and they made their way to a tall building about a block from the local Pokemon Center. Iki Town was not large enough to have special residences set aside for trainers participating in the Alolan Circuit, but most of the town’s visitors were trainers, so there was more than enough room for them. They found a three bedroom suite to share and took turns taking long, relaxing showers in the room’s single bathroom.
The shower was a bit tricky for Cashe, with his broken arm and instruction not to get his cast wet, but he managed, relieved to finally be free from the dirt of the road. Looking in the mirror, he was surprised to see how tanned he was. He was diligent in applying sunscreen throughout the month-long trip and never got burned, but his head and arms were especially dark compared to his torso, even with the time he spent at the beach during his Nurse enforced rest on Route 2.
After the showers they made their way to the Pokemon Center. Cashe checked in with the Nurses there, confirming that he was now fully recovered from his concussion. The Nurse Joy he saw warned him to be extra careful with his head - another severe knock could leave him with brain damage that would last the rest of his life.
All three of them also dropped off their pokemon at the Centers. With spending so much time on the road, all of their pokemon were exhausted and deserved the pampering the Pokemon Center would give them, not to mention they would get a full checkup and refresh for their upcoming gym battles.
“Where to now?” Cashe said as they left the Pokemon Center. The streets were surprisingly busy for the middle of the day, and not with active workers, but with people simply enjoying their day. Maybe having a town centered around a Gym resulted in people having strange schedules. Or maybe it was the weekend. Cashe didn’t actually know. He had lost track of the days during their trip. “Should we schedule a gym challenge or is there something else that either of you want to do first?”
“I don’t think we need to sign up right away,” Lindon said, “We just got here. We should see the practice area first and watch a battle or two in the gym so we can see how tough it will be.”
“If we sign up we don’t have to schedule our battles right away,” Emilia said, “And we have lots of time to keep on schedule since our next gym is just a ferry ride from Hau’oli.”
“I still want to see a battle before signing up,” Lindon said.
“We can do that,” Emilia agreed, “But I promised to show Cashe a trading post the next time we were in a place with one, and I want to do that first.”
“This little town has a trading post?” Cashe said, glancing around as if it might walk by him.
“It has a gym; it definitely has a trading post,” Emilia said, “It’s just a matter of finding it.”
***
Trading post was not a modern or accurate term. Trading hall would be much more appropriate, at least from what Cashe saw. The building was on the upper plateau of Iki Town, on the same level as the Gym but on the opposite side, separated from each other by a half hour walk.
The hall was a massive, single storey, warehouse-like building that stretched all along the edge of the elevated plateau. Inside, the ceilings were high, at least fifty feet, giving the hall a palatial feel. The hall was brightly lit, with tile floors that almost sparkled in the light. A few Jennys patrolled the area, keeping an eye out for trouble.
Along the back of the trading hall, a long series of pens were set up, each with their own signage, displaying the breeders who owned each pen. Some pens were filled with pokemon that jumped around playfully, flaring tails and wings in such a manner that Cashe was sure it could not be accidental. They were showing off for potential customers, no pokemon could actually be contained by the low, wooden fences. Other pens were empty, with only a lone breeder standing in front of them. Each pen had a single transfer station set up outside of it, usually beside the breeder attending the pen. They looked similar to the PCs from the games, large bulky computers with a display and keyboard attached directly to the computer’s frame.
The hall was bustling, almost crowded despite its size. Cashe didn’t think there were enough people in the town to fill the hall like this. He saw lines forming around certain breeders, with others looking on with thinly veiled envy.
“Holy crap,” Cashe breathed, “I thought it would be a couple of stalls and a single transfer station.”
Emilia grinned, “Wait until you see the ones in a proper city. You only see the biggest or the smallest breeders in a place like this. Viridian has one that is like this but six storeys tall. You can find breeders there who will trade you pokemon you’ve never even heard of.”
“Crazy,” Cashe shook his head and nudged Lindon in the side, “You’ve been pretty quiet. First time as well?”
Lindon shook his head, “My dad brought me to the trading post in Vermillion a lot when we were looking for my starter. I just…” Lindon trailed off, his gaze shifting to a breeder and a pen that had no pokemon on display.
Cashe followed his gaze and grinned. The pen was one of the few that had more than one person attending it. The pen was largely ignored by the crowd, its sign proclaiming it ‘Eggspert Breeding’. A teenager stood at the stall. He was watching the crowds pass by, his looks of envy at the more popular pens less veiled than most. He had bright blue eyes, sandy brown hair, and a nervous demeanor, but Cashe doubted it was he who captured Lindon’s attention. Beside the young man stood a younger woman, around Lindon’s age. She was surely related to the young man standing at the pen, as she had the same eyes and hair as the older teen, but was looking around the hall in fascination rather than nervous envy. She was also incredibly pretty.
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“You know,” Emilia said, noticing what had grabbed Lindon’s attention at the same time as Cashe did, “Cashe and I were going to check out Sterling pens since we were given a special pass by Clarence. Why don’t you scout a couple of the lesser known breeders and see if they have anything good? Do you want us to check for any pokemon at Sterling’s?”
“What?” Lindon said, tearing his eyes off of the pretty girl, “Um, yeah. Uh, Munchlax. And Timburr.”
“Okay,” Cashe said, “Anything else?” Lindon didn’t answer, already walking off towards the young breeders at Eggspert Breeding. “I guess that’s a no.”
Emilia smiled, “And I thought you were lying when you said he finally realized girls existed.”
“What?” Cashe shook his head and turned to walk the length of the hall, “Didn’t you see the way he noticed Sasha Firesong’s dress at that party?”
“Everybody noticed that dress,” Emilia shook her hand, “You would have to be blind not to. But he didn’t look twice at Ashley, and she is almost as pretty as that girl.”
“Well, it's been a month,” Cashe shrugged, “Maybe he just really like blue eyes or something.”
They continued the length of the hall, walking for a few minutes until they came to a pen with a sign labeled ‘Sterling Pokemon Farms’. A man was walking away from it with a disappointed expression on his face as a bored, middle aged woman with silver hair watched him go.
She noticed their approach and raised an eyebrow as she recognized them.
“If you’re not on the list, I can’t help you, even if you are an Oak,” she said by way of greeting. Her voice had a pleasant drawl to it.
“We were told a good word would be put in for us,” Cashe said, “not sure what that means exactly, but…”
“You met someone from the family?” The woman said. She stepped forward and uncrossed her arms, offering a hand to shake, “Kasey Sterling. Pleased to meet ya.”
“Cashe,” Cashe shook her hand.
“Emilia.”
“Oh, I know,” Kasey said with a laugh, “Good breeders keep up with the pokemon scene, ya know? Can’t keep pace with the trends if we don’t.” She put her hands on her hips and looked between the pair of them, “So who’d you meet and how can I help ya?”
“We met someone named Clarence,” Emilia said, “He was something of a trouble child, according to him.”
“What? Cousin Clare is in the region?” Kasey said in surprise, “He will be in trouble if he doesn’t stop by and say hello. I haven’t seen him since he was a baby.”
“I was impressed with his Sneasel,” Cashe said with a leading tone.
“Ah!” Kasey pointed at him and winked, “Gotcha. Let’s see,” Kasey waved a hand and led them over to the transfer station where she booted up the PC and began to flick through windows on the screen, “Trouble with Sneasel is they are only found in dangerous areas of the world,” Kasey said, conversationally.
“Yeah, we came across that problem when we looked into catching one for ourselves,” Cashe said.
“It hikes the price up on them for sure,” Kasey said. She found the window she was looking for and gestured for Cashe to take a look. It was a list of Sneasel, including Hisuian Sneasel, with move pools, strengths and weaknesses, and temperament all shown for his convenience. It also included the prices.
“Three hundred thousand pokedollars?” Cashe said, unable to keep the incredulous tone from his voice. That was the lowest, for a Sneasel that was labeled as ‘difficult to train’.
“It’s a fair price,” Kasey said, “Our pokemon are top of the line, with preferred moves like Ice Shard bred in.”
Cashe checked his pokedex. He barely had one hundred thousand pokedollars, even after his great placement at the True Rookie Tournament. Now he understood why trainers were always depicted as battle fanatics.
“There’s no mark up because the name is Sterling?” Emilia said, skeptical. She crossed her arms, “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Oh, there might be some,” Kasey admitted easily. “Tell you what, for a friend of the family, I’ll include a Razor Claw with it. On us. Get that Weavile extra quick.”
“Razor Claws aren’t rare or expensive,” Emilia said, shaking her head, “We could find one in most marts. Heck, we could find one walking down the street if there are enough flying pokemon around. Most breeders would include that with the price in the first place.”
Cashe blinked as he realized what was going on here. Emilia was negotiating the price. He assumed it was fixed.
Kasey held up her hands, and grinned, “Okay, missy. Easy there. I didn’t mean to offend. Tell you what, I’ll take a quarter off for him if he agrees to use us as his exclusive breeders for five years. And that discount won’t be just for Sneasel, that will be for all pokemon.” Kasey looked at Cashe and winked, “What do you say, handsome?”
“A quarter, like twenty five percent?” Cashe said.
“Exactly-”
Emilia held up a hand interrupting Kasey and stopping Cashe before he could respond, “We can’t guarantee exclusivity for either of us,” Emilia said, “And that’s a low ball offer. My sister gets fifty percent.”
“And she’s a famous Ranger, not a Third Circuit rookie,” Kasey said, “Don’t think you can get the royal treatment for your no name boyfriend just because your name happens to be Oak.”
“Two hundred thousand, Razor Claw included, and we get to choose the Sneasel. None of this ‘difficult to train’ nonsense,” Emilia said, pointing to the lowest cost Sneasel on the screen.
“I can’t do all that for nothing,” Kasey said, waving off the offer, “There’s only so much ingratiating we can do for the Oaks.”
“My name is not Oak, it’s Cashe.” Cashe spoke up, drawing Kasey’s attention to him, “And I am not some Third Circuit rookie.” He took a step forward, drawing level with Emilia and meeting Kasey’s eyes, “People call me Blood Money. You’ve heard of me.”
A slow smile spread over Kasey’s face and her pupils dilated, “There he is,” her voice was almost a whisper, all traces of drawl gone, “I was wondering if the rumors were true.” Louder she said, “It doesn’t matter. That price for one of our Sneasel is practically at cost. I need more.”
Cashe narrowed his eyes at her, “I will tell people where I got my Sneasel when they ask. And I’ll consider coming back.”
“If they ask,” Kasey snorted.
Cashe’s only response was to raise an eyebrow.
Seeing her act wasn’t working Kasey let out a defeated breath, “Fine. But you say you paid full price and it was a great deal if anyone seriously asks. I’m not cutting the prices in half for everyone who looks my way.”
“Deal.” Cashe held out his hand and Kasey shook it, grinning.
“I'll put in the transfer request,” she said, turning back to the transfer station.
“Damn, Cashe,” Emilia slowly bit her lip and broke into a sultry smile, “Didn’t expect that.”
“Deals used to be part of my job,” Cashe said.
“Because I’m certain you don’t have two hundred thousand pokedollars,” Emilia continued, her smile turning wry, “How are you going to pay for it?”
Cashe blanched, “I-”
“Relax, I’m teasing,” Emilia laughed and poked him in the arm, “I wouldn’t have suggested the price if I wasn’t going to spot you. How much can you cover?”
“Half,” Cashe muttered, glancing again at his pokedex. It wouldn’t leave him with much, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity, “And thanks. Really.”
“No worries,” Emilia said, her smile turning much more genuine, “I still feel like I owe you for the Mega Stone.”
“That was a gift. And a twentieth of the price.”
“Well, it’s a long journey.” Emilia said, “You’ll have plenty of time to get me back.”
*****