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Sato left. After getting into a taxi, he departed from the Pokemon Center, and about ten minutes later, he arrived at the eastern district of Saffron City, coming from the city's bus station.
Yesterday, Sato had already obtained flight information from Nurse Joy regarding planes departing from Saffron City to Hoenn's Slateport City. According to Nurse Joy's detailed description, flights from Saffron City to Slateport City were available daily.
However, recently, the Hoenn region had been experiencing typhoon weather, forcing most flights from Saffron City to Hoenn to be canceled in recent days.
There wasn't much that could be done about it. It was midsummer, and Hoenn, being in a tropical area, frequently experienced typhoon conditions during this time of year.
Typically, typhoons didn't last long; the quickest ones would end in two or three days, while the longest might take a week.
Sato had also connected to the Pokemon Center's public network through his laptop to check online. Sure enough, the Hoenn region had been facing typhoon weather recently, and some coastal cities were experiencing flooding, including Slateport City.
As a result of this natural disaster, Sato had no choice but to stay in Saffron City for a while, waiting for the typhoon in Hoenn to pass before he could board a flight from Saffron City to Slateport.
"Well, I can use this time to explore Saffron City and see if I can gain something useful. After all, Saffron is known as the city of battles, and it's a good place to hone my skills. But before that, I need to improve my survival skills." Sato thought quietly as he stepped out of the taxi and paid the driver, watching the bustling streets.
Sato's primary goal now was to enhance his strength. The fastest way to do that was to obtain rare pokemon items to quickly boost his pokemon's battle power, and the quickest way to get those rare items was to buy them.
Now that Sato had a solid source of income from selling PokeBlocks, he had the opportunity to purchase these rare pokemon items with large sums of money. But unfortunately, Saffron City was a mixed bag of people and factions, and with his current abilities, if he exposed his capability to produce PokeBlocks and make a lot of money, he'd be doomed.
Therefore, Sato needed to quickly improve his survival skills; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to safely earn money by selling PokeBlocks.
How could he maximize his survival skills when his strength couldn't be significantly improved in the short term? After thinking seriously about it last night, Sato came up with a solution: disguise.
By creating one or more false identities to bear the risks, his own safety would naturally increase.
And the key component that would allow Sato to create one or more fake identities was something he had long wanted to try obtaining: a Ditto.
Back when he was at the Rocket Team base in Pewter City, Sato had considered purchasing a Ditto, but for various reasons, the plan was shelved. Now, however, the conditions to acquire a Ditto were practically in place.
Saffron City was the most economically prosperous city in the Kanto region, and its prosperity wasn't just maintained by surface-level activities. The largest underground trading market in Kanto, also known as the Black Market, was located here and was a vital part of what sustained Saffron's prosperity.
As the largest underground market in Kanto, the Saffron Black Market offered an incredibly diverse range of goods. Whether it was rare pokemon items or rare pokemon themselves, it could be said that everything one could want was available there.
As long as you have enough money in your pocket, there's a good chance you'll be able to buy what you want here. However, the underground market is a lawless place. Without some strength, revealing your wealth carelessly could easily cost you your life.
Sato's current destination was the Saffron City Black Market, where he planned to purchase a Ditto with decent potential to further enhance his survival skills.
Although Ditto is rare, that's only under normal circumstances. In the Black Market, which gathers the most Pokemon hunters in Kanto, it's not so rare anymore. Even pseudo-legendary Pokemon occasionally show up here.
The problem Sato faced now was that, as someone from out of town, he didn't know the exact location of the Black Market in Saffron City. However, he had a solution to this. Since he didn't know, he could simply ask around.
At this point, his identity as a low-ranking Rocket Grunt became crucial. Team Rocket, being the most powerful underground force in Kanto, naturally had a strong grip on Saffron City's underworld.
In Saffron, there were many shops and companies controlled by Team Rocket. The staff in these places were all Rocket members, and typically, there would be lookouts discreetly stationed outside these businesses.
These lookouts were the people Sato needed to find. Besides acting as sentries, they also handled contact and information exchange with Rocket members from other regions.
Therefore, if Sato could find these people, they would be able to give him the exact location of the Saffron City Black Market.
Sato walked along the bustling street, looking every bit like an out-of-town trainer who had just arrived in Saffron City. As he walked, he wore a look of amazement at the beautifully decorated shops around him, playing the part of a country bumpkin who had just come to the city.
To the locals of Saffron City, people like Sato were nothing new. When they saw his "bumpkin" behavior, most of them gave a slight smile, with a hint of disdain in their eyes, feeling a sense of superiority.
Sato, of course, clearly sensed the numerous scornful gazes from the surrounding crowd, but he didn't care at all. He continued his bumpkin act while secretly observing the shops and their surroundings.
After some effort, Sato finally found what he was looking for near a game corner located close to a crossroads.
At the entrance of an alley next to a shop near the game corner, a ragged beggar sat on a wooden crate, begging for money. The beggar appeared to be slouching lazily, but his eyes, hidden under a worn hat, were keenly watching the passersby.
Sato also noticed that the beggar's right wrist was much paler than the rest of his skin, indicating that he regularly wore something on that wrist.
But the most important clue was the dirty, broken bowl the beggar was using to collect money. It was identical to the bowls Sato had frequently used in the cafeteria of the Pewter City Rocket base, with a very abstract "R" engraved on the surface.
With these two observations, it wasn't difficult for Sato to deduce that this "poor beggar" was, in fact, the contact he had been looking for.