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After a brief feeling of being spun around, Sato opened his eyes to find himself lying on the floor of a brightly lit small room. The Alakazam that had been with him was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing the familiar "R" symbol on the door in front of him, Sato felt reassured. He knew that Alakazam had successfully teleported him to Team Rocket's base in the Saffron City black market.
"So this is what teleporting feels like... It's really uncomfortable," Sato thought as he stood up, still feeling dizzy. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear the lingering disorientation.
A few minutes later, he finally shook off the aftereffects of the teleportation and pushed open the door to leave the small room.
As soon as he stepped outside, Sato was greeted by the sight of a massive stone pillar, so large that it would take seven or eight people to wrap their arms around it. Atop the pillar was a large, eye-catching sign—a detailed map of the Saffron City black market.
Using this map, Sato got a rough understanding of the market's layout. The Saffron City black market was enormous, covering an area about half the size of the city itself—roughly equivalent to a small town.
The market was divided into four main regions:
The first region was the Pokémon Items Special Zone, located in the northern part of the market. This area was filled with stores set up by various factions and corporations. Buyers could purchase all sorts of equipment and items sold by these groups.
The second region was the Pokémon Special Zone, situated in the southeast. As the name suggests, this was the place for buying and selling Pokémon. It was mostly controlled by Pokémon hunter organizations, and one could find Pokémon from all over the world here.
The third region was the Free Trade Zone, located in the southwest. This area was open to all visitors of the black market, where anyone could trade freely as long as they paid a protection fee. Currently, this zone was split between two major powers: Team Rocket and the Golden Gang, the strongest local gang in Saffron City. However, the map showed that Team Rocket already controlled 60% of the Free Trade Zone.
The fourth region was the Auction Zone, located at the center of the black market. Various auction houses were scattered here, with the largest one positioned at the very center. While this auction house used to be under the control of the Golden Gang, it was now in the hands of Team Rocket. From the map, it was clear that Team Rocket had taken control of over half of the auction houses in the market.
The map itself was color-coded in red, yellow, and green. Red represented Team Rocket, yellow stood for the Golden Gang, and green indicated areas controlled by Pokémon hunter organizations.
Looking at the map, it was evident that the red areas dominated most of the black market, with Team Rocket's influence heavily permeating all four regions.
"From the distribution of power on this map, it's clear that Team Rocket is already in control of most of the Saffron City black market. No wonder they are destined to dominate both the Kanto and Johto regions in the future. With such a massive money-making machine as the black market, it's no surprise they'll grow even stronger," Sato thought, impressed by the red areas that seemed to engulf the entire market.
At this point, it was clear that Team Rocket was primarily led by Giovanni. His mother, the original leader of Team Rocket, had fully handed over the reins to him.
Under Giovanni's leadership, Team Rocket's influence had grown rapidly. The major criminal organizations in the Kanto region were already feeling the pressure of Team Rocket's dominance and were starting to fall in line.
Looking at the map, it was also apparent that the Golden Gang, which once controlled the black market, was struggling to survive under Team Rocket's growing influence. It wouldn't be long before Team Rocket completely swallowed up the Golden Gang.
After spending about ten minutes relying on his excellent memory to commit the map on the stone pillar to mind, Sato followed some of the other Team Rocket members who had also just exited the teleportation rooms and began to leave the one-way teleportation hall.
The Team Rocket base was quite large and heavily fortified. After leaving the hall, there was another identity check, and after passing, they were issued a new set of cloaks and masks. They were instructed that wearing these items was mandatory while outside in the Saffron City black market.
The new cloak and mask weren't much different from what Sato had been wearing, except that the "R" symbol on them had changed from red to gold.
Once Sato completed the series of checks, he followed the signs in the base's corridors and smoothly exited the base, beginning his exploration of the Saffron City black market.
Perhaps because it was still morning, the black market wasn't very lively. In fact, the market only really came to life after dark, reaching its peak activity in the early hours of the morning.
There weren't many people walking on the wide streets, and those who were had appearances similar to Sato's, wearing cloaks and masks. Very few showed their real faces in the market.
Due to the sheer size of the Saffron City black market, moving from one area to another on foot would take a lot of time. To make traveling easier, rental bicycles were available along the roadsides, and for those who didn't want to exert any effort, Pokémon taxis offered by the various factions could be used.
Most people who came to the black market had a specific purpose, so they didn't want to waste time walking. However, they also didn't want to draw too much attention, so the majority opted to rent or purchase a bicycle to get around.
Sato wasn't someone who liked to stand out. His goal in coming to the Saffron City black market was to find a Ditto to enhance his survival skills, so the less attention he drew, the better.
Following the example of most others, Sato rented a high-speed bicycle (the kind that moves extremely fast, like in the games) and started riding along the wide streets.
Along the way, Sato encountered many non-Team Rocket individuals. Anyone walking around in the Saffron City black market was undoubtedly a strong Trainer, and Sato could feel a sense of pressure just from being near some of them.
However, in this environment, which felt like being surrounded by a pack of wolves, Sato didn't feel much fear. His Team Rocket uniform was his biggest shield here.
In the Saffron City black market, Team Rocket was unquestionably one of the dominant forces. Even in this lawless zone, members of Team Rocket were relatively safe as they roamed the market.
Seeing Sato in his conspicuous Team Rocket uniform, no one dared to provoke him. They all knew that Team Rocket members were highly active in the Saffron City black market.
Anyone foolish enough to attack a Team Rocket member here would be declaring war against all the Team Rocket members in the black market. To maintain their dominant position, every Team Rocket member would stop at nothing to retaliate.
The Team Rocket base in the Saffron City black market was located at the intersection between the Pokémon Special Zone and the Free Trade Zone, not too far from the Pokémon Special Zone.
Relying on the map he had memorized, Sato took a shortcut and, after a brief ride, successfully arrived at the entrance of the Pokémon Special Zone.