The next morning,
Knock!
Knock!
Aya instantly opened her eyes and found herself in an unfamiliar room. With her long years of training, she quickly jumped from the bed and took a few needles hidden inside her hair.
"Who is it?"
"I'm Mr. Hisoka's student. He asked me to wake you up."
There was a muffled voice outside the door.
Phew!
She breathed a sigh of relief at that. She had almost forgotten about what happened last night.
"Okay, we'll be there in a minute!" she replied loudly.
Then, she looked at her niece sleeping beside her and gave her a little nudge.
"Janine, get up!"
"Go away. I want to sleep," Janine covered her head with the quilt.
Aya shook her head helplessly as she stared at her niece with her hands on her hips. She had to admit that her niece was a much better ninja than her, but she often overslept. Even her brother can't do anything about it.
"Girl, wake up! Aren't you afraid that guy will kick you out of the gym? How will we be able to spy on him later?" she said angrily.
"I'm up! I'm up!"
Janine quickly got up from her bed and went to change her clothes.
...
Ran was in her workout clothes as she stood in front of the two female ninjas that broke into their gym last night.
"Good morning. I'm Ran. It's nice to meet you," she extended her hand to them.
"Hello! I'm Janine. This is my Aunt, Aya," Janine accepted her hand happily.
While Aya merely nodded in greeting.
Ran smiled at them and took a piece of paper from her pocket.
"Mr. Hisoka had just left the gym earlier. Before leaving, he had left some tasks for you guys. You must complete them by today," she looked at them seriously.
"What kind of tasks are we going to do?"
Janine took the paper from her as she and Aya looked at it carefully.
Task 1: Clean the pond in the garden.
Task 2: Trim the flowers.
Task 3: Clean the gym.
Task 4: Prepare lunch.
Task 5: ...
"..."
Her shoulder shook in anger as she finished reading the paper. She wished she could tear this paper to shreds and beat that guy to a pulp.
'Is he making fun of us?' they both thought.
Ran didn't know why Hisoka gave them many tasks. After being with Hisoka for some time, she learned that it was better for her to follow along with whatever he was doing. Don't ask too many questions.
"So, where do we start?"
Aya and Janine looked at each with a sigh and turned to Ran.
Although they were unwilling to do this kind of stuff, they could only swallow their grievance and finish them as soon as possible.
Hopefully, they will be able to join his gym after this.
...
"Hisoka, where did you get these?" Ryoichi said in shock.
The table in front of him is full of Dusk Stones. There are at least a hundred of them by his estimate.
Dusk Stone is rarely found in Kanto. Most of the stones sold in the market came from other regions and are of lower quality.
On the other hand, the ones in front of him are of excellent quality. The energy contained in each evolution stone varies depending on its quality. When a Pokemon used a higher-quality evolution stone, their strength after evolution would improve greatly.
"I pick them up during my mission," Hisoka replied calmly, sipping his coffee.
"Hm?"
Ryoichi seemed to guess something.
"Did you get them in Stone Town? I heard an ancient battlefield was discovered there a few days ago."
"Yeah. but keep it a secret for me, will you?"
"No problem! You can trust me!" he patted his chest confidently.
Hisoka nodded and put his cup down. Then, he looked at Ryoichi and said, "Look. Can you do me a favor? Do you have any ways to sell them?"
He pointed to the Dusk Stones on the table.
It was hard for him to sell them without catching any attention. Not to mention in such a large amount. It was better for him to find a middleman to sell for him. And Ryoichi was his best bet at this time.
After he said that, Ryoichi fell silent. Apparently, he was thinking of something.
Then, Hisoka smiled and said, "I can give a share of the profit. How about that?"
Ryoichi pricked up his ears.
"How much?" he looked at him curiously.
Hisoka thought for a moment before saying, "Fifteen percent. That's the max I can give you."
He held out his hand to him.
"Deal!"
Ryoichi agreed and shook his hand.
"By the way, how are you going to sell all of them, if you don't mind me asking?" Hisoka inquired.
"Well. Do you remember my old boss, Matthias? His family specialized in Ghost-type Pokemon. They might be interested in these Dusk Stones. Besides, many wealthy families like to keep a large number of high-quality evolution stones. They are hard currency everywhere," Ryoichi explained patiently.
"Give me three days. I'll contact Matthias and see if he's interested."
Hisoka nodded and said, "Just take your time. I'm not in a hurry. But there's one more thing. Could you ask him if he has something called a Prism Scale for sale?"
"Prism Scale?" Ryoichi rubbed his chin.
"Never heard of that, but I'll ask."
Hisoka truly didn't have high hope for that. Not many people in Kanto knew about the Prism Scale. He was just trying his luck.
After the matter was settled, he left Dark City and went to Celadon City to pick up his Chansey.
The only thing he could do now was to wait. As long as the Dusk Stones were sold, he would have the fund to buy the evolution items for Feebas and Rhydon.
After taking care of Feebas for a long time, she had truly changed compared to before. He still remembered when he met her at Cerulean Gym four months ago. She was timid and had trouble trusting others.
He felt that she was ready to evolve. The only missing piece right now was the Prism Scale.
He had an important battle in a month. In the face of two veteran gym leaders, Koga and Erika, he didn't dare to be careless.
The Protector required for Rhydon's evolution also had to be prepared. He was quite talented, and there was still a lot of potentials to be tapped. He wasn't in a hurry to evolve at this moment.
Protector was a product of some special kind of rocks and metals. It could only be found in the mountainous region. The closest one to him right now was Cinnabar Island.
Thankfully, it wasn't as rare as Prism Scale. But after it was known that Rhydon could evolve once more, he believed the price of a Protector would shoot up like a rocket.
Rhydon is a large Pokemon with outstanding strength, a favorite of many trainers. Giovanni, the gym leader of Viridian City, even had a Rhydon as one of his main Pokemon.
If he managed to evolve Feebas and Rhydon, his strength would improve massively. He would also have a higher chance of winning against Koga and Erika later.
...
"I'm tired!"
Janine and Aya sat on the floor with a thud. Their whole body was aching in pain after finishing the tasks given by Hisoka.
Clap!
Clap!
"Congratulations to the two of you for completing the assessment task of Dark Gym. I will announce that you two have officially become gym trainers."
They quickly turned around and saw Hisoka clapping his hands.
"This is the uniform of Dark Gym. Every gym trainer must wear it. Go change your clothes now," he handed them two sets of uniforms.
A flash of annoyance flashed in their eyes. But in the end, they took them reluctantly and went to their room to change.
Looking at them leaving away, Ran finally couldn't hold her doubt any longer and approached Hisoka.
"Hisoka, why do you want to take them in? They don't look sincere at all," she asked, puzzled.
He smiled slightly and said, "I know that. Both of them come from Fuchsia Gym to spy on us."
"Then, why did you let them in?" she looked at him in shock.
"Don't worry about that. I have my own plan," he waved his hand, waving off her concern.
In fact, he really didn't care if they got his Pokemon information. Anything could happen in just a month.
...
"Prism Scale?"
Matthias could be seen on the screen. He looked a bit more muscular with a slight tan compared to the last time Ryoichi saw him.
'Perhaps due to the special forces training?' he thought absentmindedly.
"Ryoichi? Ryoichi!"
"Ah! Yes! Sorry, my bad. It's a heart-shaped scale that shines in rainbow colors," Ryoichi showed the picture in his hand.
Matthias squinted his eyes and tilted his head slightly. He leaned back and put a hand on his chin, thinking.
"I think I have seen this somewhere. Wait! I'll ask my family if they have any impression."
Ryoichi and Matthias had a good relationship in private. The two had known each other for quite some time. After graduating from school, they both went to work as League officers.
Ryoichi waited for a few minutes before seeing Matthias appear on the screen with a box in his hand.
"Ah, you're lucky. My uncle found this thing in Hoenn during his travels a few years ago."
After saying that, he opened the box and took out a scale that looked similar to the one in the picture.
"Yes! That's the one!" Ryoichi said excitedly.
"Good! I'll deliver it soon. It should take about a week for it to arrive," Matthias replied.
"As for the Dusk Stones. I'll send someone to collect them from you."
...
A Pigeot was flying in the sky. It was wearing a postman hat and a small bag strapped across its chest. There were a few words on the bag that read "Pidgeot Post Co."
Pidgeot Post Co. is a postal service company. It operated in Kanto and Johto. Generally, the company would use Pidgeotto to deliver the parcels. But the customer can also pay a premium service for a Pidgeot delivery.
This was also more secure compared to Pidgeotto.
Then, the bird dived toward the ground before slowing its descent. It landed in front of a building and knocked on the door with its beak.
Hisoka, who was training the Poochyena, heard the knock and went to open the door. When he opened it, he saw a Pidgeot standing in front of him.
He quickly took out a slip from his pocket and showed it to the bird Pokemon.
"Here you go."
Chirp!
The bird nodded and opened its bag using its beak. Then, it grabbed a small package box and handed it to him.
Chirp!
The Pigeot let out a cry and flew to the sky, quickly disappearing from view.
After that, Hisoka went inside and closed the door behind him. Then, he opened the package and saw a beautiful scale lying quietly inside the box.
'It's time for her to evolve,' he thought in excitement.
Yesterday, Ryoichi told him that the stones were already sold for a total of three million dollars. And luckily for him, Matthias did have a Prism Scale with him. He was quite grateful to Ryoichi for helping him get this thing.
Then, he quickly went to his house to prepare some items for Feebas evolution.
"Feebas! Come out!"
Hisoka called out as he stood next to the pool with Kirlia.
Feebas jumped out of the water and went into his arms happily.
"Are you ready for the big day?" he stroked her head fondly.
He had already told her about the Prism Scale yesterday, so she could prepare herself.
Wiggle!
She wiggled in his arms excitedly.
"Haha! I'm very happy too," he laughed.
Then, he looked at Kirlia and said, "Let's get ready, Kirlia."
Kirlia nodded and placed a blue urn on the ground. She gathered some sticks and lit them on fire. Then, she put them inside the urn.
Slowly, smoke started coming out of the urn as a refreshing smell entered their nose. It reminded them of the sea. The urn was a Sea Incense he made from the Mental Herbs he got during the mission in Stone Town.
...