บท 61: Chapter 61
After a delightful dinner, the four of them spent the rest of their time exploring the Pokemon Center and making plans for tomorrow.
The girls excitedly went to sleep and woke up early to have the daily lessons in the Fitness Studio. Just like how it had been for the last few days, they did not see Aizen until late in the morning.
Misty and Leaf were informed by Anira that her brother was busy training his Psychic Powers. Though they were curious about his training, they did not try to pry into it or disturb him. They just missed having him at the breakfast table with them.
After their lesson in the Studio, and briefly meeting up with Aizen, they joined the daily Pokemon Trainer Lessons that Nurse Joy of the Center personally gave. It was there that they learned that she was an accomplished Trainer.
Joy had won Grand Festival in both Johto and Unova and even won the Orange League Challenge of the famous Orange Islands before pursuing the studies to become a Pokemon Doctor as per the tradition of her family. She had quite a fan base that regularly attended her lessons. She was welcomed in the class by loud cheering and she showed them how an accomplished Coordinator handled such a situation with grace and confidence.
Joy's lessons mostly revolved around Pokemon Health and Behaviour, but she did help the Trainers who had questions related to Pokemon Battles as well. And to the glee of the Trainers, she informed them a great deal about the latest technology available in the markets.
The Trainer's Lesson ended at noon, and the girls headed to the Trading Center where Aizen was supposed to be at.
Misty frowned when she saw him going through the Request List as well as the details of the listed Pokemon available for trade. She had not been too vocal about her thoughts, but she did not really like the idea of Pokemon Trading.
"Found anything interesting?" Anira smiled at her brother as she came to stand by his side.
"There are a lot of interesting Pokemon available for Trading." Aizen nodded to her and showed her the list of Pokemon he had marked his interest in. "See for yourself."
Anira and Leaf happily went through it. There were several Shinx, Pawniard, Hippopotas, and Bergmite among others that Aizen had marked. And it was quite fun to go through their details and terms of transactions.
"Are you going to get one?" Misty narrowed her eyes at him.
"No." He shook his head. "I will get them myself when I travel through those regions."
She smiled at his reply and nodded to him.
"I can't understand how people can just Trade away their Pokemon. It just doesn't seem right to me."
Aizen smiled at her words and nudged her nose.
"I can understand why you feel that way, as I share the same sentiments, but know that Pokemon Trading is not necessarily bad."
"And why is that so?" She put her fists on her waist and glared at him.
"Not all Trainers can afford their journey through other Regions. And not all Trainers have money to feed the Team they are trying to assemble." He simply said and allowed his words to sink into her mind before continuing. "And so, people can trade in Pokemon to acquire their desired Pokemon that they would otherwise have not been able to get themselves. For example, someone from Kanto can offer a Nidoran for a Skorupi that is mostly found in Sinnoh. That's why there is the Request List, where Trainers list their desired Pokemon and can be contacted by someone who would be interested in what they are offering in return. You should know that Pokemon Trading is also a partial source of income for younger Trainers." As soon as he said the last sentence, Misty's mood soured. "The Government makes sure that the Trainers can not make it their primary business as you can only trade one Pokemon every month. The Pokedex is closely monitored, and as you are well aware, a Trainer can not capture more than three Pokemon of the same species in their lifetime, unless it is for reasons accepted by the authorities or if they have the right Privileges. It eliminates the possibility of any Trainer capturing herds of Pokemon to trade them."
"Are you really trying to justify capturing wild Pokémon with the sole intention of selling them?" She harshly questioned, but Aizen only chuckled under her piercing glare.
"Trading System was introduced to tackle the Black Markets that were prevalent a couple of decades ago. With this system, Trainers can now officially trade Pokemon and keep away from the Poachers. I won't say that the system is not flawed, but the fact is that it did manage to lessen the influence of Black Markets." He informed her. "Now, if a Trainer happens to come across a Pokemon in the wild that he did not necessarily need on his Team, but saw it listed on the Request List, he can capture it to trade it for what was offered. It could be money or a Pokemon that he needed on his Team. Isn't it better than to sell something in the Black Market when you are short on money?" He smiled at her. "What you fail to realise is that the money Trainers can earn from winning Gym Battles, Contests, and small-scale tournaments is simply not enough for an aspiring Trainer that comes from a humble background. They need money to become better and to properly take care of their Pokemon."
She could not refute his words and turned to look sideways, crossing her arms on her chest, seemingly not happy at him for pointing out that she was privileged.
Leaf and Anira giggled at her reaction, and then focused their attention back on the Request Lists. Aizen joined them as well, answering their questions and giving them information on some Pokemon that Leaf was unfamiliar with.
At some point, Misty's mood lightened a little and she joined them, scrolling through the lists.
The more she went through the lists, she developed an interest in several Pokemon. The interest was not enough to make her give in and make her own Request, but she could no longer deny the allure of easily acquiring a Pokemon from a faraway region. Well, most girls enjoyed Window Shopping, and she was no different.
Leaf and Misty learned a lot about Pokemon Trading and its rules. There were quite a few of them, but most revolved around certain A-Class Pokemon that were forbidden in trading.
Pokemon that were considered S-Class threats were not allowed at all on the Trade Market. Among other Pokemon that could not be traded were the ones that were declared endangered by the Authorities. And Trainers were not allowed to trade their Starters at all.
Before lunch, Aizen pulled Leaf aside, and to her confusion, handed her a very small device of some sort.
"What's this?" She eyed it curiously and asked.
"It's a device that protects your mind from Psychic Powers." He informed her and then picked the device from her hand and turned her to look sideways.
The hazel-eyed girl blushed a little when he tucked the strands of her hair behind her ear and placed the device there. She felt a brief tingling sensation when he activated it, but other than that, she could not even sense if it was there or not. To make sure that it was still there, she traced the area with her fingers to find it.
"You are not giving these to Anira and Misty?"
"Anira does not need them. Her mind is a natural fortress against Psychic Powers. But I will be getting her one as well, just in case. Misty will get one too." He smiled at her and then rubbed the head of the Flower Fairy nestling in her hair.
"Bebe..." The little Pokemon loved his ministration and cooed.
Leaf stuck her tongue at Misty and Anira when they quietly asked about what Aizen wanted as soon as she took her seat. This prompted them to pester her to tell them what it was about, and the hazel-eyed girl loved every moment of their agitation. She eventually informed them and even showed them the device hidden behind her ear.
Aizen did not bother with their discussions and focused on the things on his hand. He was almost done with his meal when he felt Metagross send him a signal. He knew that it was nothing serious, and patiently finished his lunch before excusing himself away from the girls.
"What is it?" He asked as soon as Dexter teleported to his side inside the training field.
"Meta..." The Psychic-Tank showed him what he found, and the Orayen Prince was glad that he finally got a chance to execute his plans for a certain trio.
"Let's go." He nodded to his Pokemon and teleported away with it.
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