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Sato continued walking through the underground passage for about ten minutes, and the previously narrow path gradually transformed into a broader road. The path he was on felt like a small stream merging into a larger river.
For the first three minutes or so, Sato had been descending a series of stairs. After that, the path started to level out. By calculating that each step was about 20 centimeters high, Sato mentally estimated that he had walked down more than 4,000 steps, which meant he was now more than 800 meters underground.
As he progressed from a smaller path to a larger one, Sato began encountering others dressed similarly to him.
Clearly, these people, dressed just like Sato, were members of Team Rocket. However, they had entered the Saffron City black market through different routes, indicating that Team Rocket controlled multiple ways of accessing the black market. The path Sato had taken was merely one of many.
The members of Team Rocket were all extremely cold and wary of one another. During their journey, everyone kept silent and maintained a certain distance, as if they wanted no interaction at all.
Noticing this, Sato wisely abandoned any thoughts of making small talk. Like the others, he walked in silence, keeping a safe distance as they traveled through the dim and quiet underground passage.
Besides the Team Rocket members, Sato also saw many native inhabitants living in the passage. The ceiling was nearly covered with Zubat and Golbat.
At this point, Sato noticed that the cloak and mask he wore were proving their worth. In the dimly lit passage, the "R" symbol on his attire emitted a blood-red glow.
The greedy eyes of the bloodthirsty bats changed instantly to fear upon seeing the glowing red "R," and they dared not attack Sato or the other passersby.
After walking for about ten more minutes, the passage ahead began to brighten, indicating that their destination—the Saffron City black market—was close.
As they neared the entrance, Sato spotted a team of nearly a hundred Team Rocket grunts stationed there. Leading them was a member dressed in a captain's uniform.
These Team Rocket members guarding the entrance were undoubtedly the elite. Each of them look extremely menacing, and the Pokémon by their sides—each a snarling Houndoom—were just as fierce.
The Team Rocket captain at the front was like a savage beast, his cold, malicious gaze scanning every member who approached the entrance.
Clearly, these guards were the final checkpoint of Team Rocket's entrance process. In front of these intimidating sentinels, every approaching Team Rocket member obediently followed the rules.
Every Team Rocket member, including Sato, had to undergo an inspection at the entrance. The inspection was simple: remove the mask and present their Team Rocket watch.
From his position further back in line, Sato keenly observed that after each inspection, the guards handed every member a numbered token, and no two numbers were the same.
Sato also noticed something interesting: some people would discreetly slip some money into the guards' hands during the inspection. As a result, these people would receive tokens with numbers closer to the front of the line.
For those who didn't bribe the guards, the guards didn't cause any trouble—they just handed them tokens with higher numbers.
Finally, Sato realized something odd about this entrance: he had been waiting in line for a while, but he hadn't seen anyone come out of the entrance. It seemed to function as a one-way passage.
"It seems that no matter where you go, greasing the wheels is essential. If you're not sharp enough, you might never make it back to the surface," Sato quietly sighed after observing the situation.
Just like the old lady who guided him to the underground entrance, this place also required a little 'offering.' If someone failed to play by the rules, they could easily get tricked by the guards at the entrance.
For example, if Sato hadn't given the old lady a bit of a reward before arriving, he probably wouldn't have received the cloak, mask, or the advice to wear a Team Rocket uniform.
Without proper preparation, Sato could have easily fallen victim to the other Team Rocket members he encountered, who would have been more than happy to take out an unprepared outsider.
Even if he wasn't attacked by the Team Rocket members, the swarm of Zubat living in the underground tunnels would have pounced on him, treating him as a tasty meal.
There were three inspection lines, so the process moved quickly. It didn't take long for Sato's turn to arrive. He wisely removed his mask and presented his Team Rocket watch. In his right hand, which wore the watch, he also held a stack of PokeDollars worth 20,000.
The Team Rocket grunt inspecting him immediately softened his cold expression, expertly pocketing the money. He routinely placed Sato's Team Rocket watch into a nearby identity-checking machine. When the screen confirmed that the image matched Sato, the guard handed him a token engraved with the number 3.
"First time at Saffron City's black market, huh? Well, this isn't actually the black market yet—this is just Team Rocket's teleportation transfer station. Head to Room 3 and show your token. The Alakazam inside will teleport you to our base in the black market. Remember, the token is key—the teleporting Pokémon only recognizes the numbers on them," the guard whispered as he handed Sato the token.
"Thanks for the heads-up, brother," Sato replied quietly, nodding as he accepted the token. He then walked through the passage into the entrance ahead.
Just as the guard had said, beyond the entrance wasn't the Saffron City black market, but rather a spacious and well-lit underground space—the teleportation transfer station.
In this underground area, there were numerous small rooms, each equipped with a Psychic-type Pokémon capable of using the Teleport move.
Once Team Rocket members presented their tokens to the Psychic Pokémon, the Pokémon would instantly teleport them, disappearing from the room for a few seconds before reappearing.
Inside the transfer station, many other Team Rocket members like Sato were lined up in front of these numbered rooms, waiting to be teleported according to their token numbers.
From what Sato observed, he could finally appreciate the advantage of spending money. The rooms with lower numbers were clearly more efficient than those with higher numbers, as the latter all had long lines of people waiting.
The reason for this was largely due to the strength of the Psychic-type Pokémon in each room. The lower-numbered rooms had stronger Pokémon, while the higher-numbered rooms had weaker ones.
For example, the Alakazam that was assigned to teleport Sato was level 43. Its Teleport move had been honed to perfection, allowing it to transport 20 to 30 people within a single minute with almost no rest.
It's important to note that using Teleport consumes a Psychic Pokémon's stamina. The stronger the Pokémon, the more frequently they can use Teleport.
Due to stamina issues, the Psychic Pokémon in the higher-numbered rooms needed much more time to rest between teleports. They could barely handle one teleport before needing to rest for at least ten minutes before using Teleport again.
In less than a minute, Sato received the teleportation service from Alakazam. After verifying his token, the spoon in Alakazam's hand spun, its eyes glowing with a blue light. Then, in a flash, Sato vanished from Room 3.