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After purchasing a large quantity of raw berries, Sato took the business card and left the female vendor's stall, heading toward another berry stall.
It was well-known that Oran Berries don't taste that great in the world of Pokémon, mainly because they have a mix of various flavors. Due to this, while Pokémon would eat these berries, they generally won't do so often—they prefered to seek out berries that suited their taste.
If Sato used only Oran Berries as the main ingredient for making PokeBlocks, the result would likely carry the same mixed bitter flavors, which could cause Zubat to dislike eating them.
As players of the game know, Zubat's final evolution into Crobat required a high level of friendship with it's Trainer.
With this in mind, Sato had to ensure that Zubat liked the PokeBlocks he was going to make, and it would be best if the blocks could even increase their bond. To achieve this, Sato planned to flavor the PokeBlocks to appeal to Zubat's tastes.
Typically, there are five berries used to adjust the flavor of PokeBlocks: the spicy Tamato Berry, the dry Bluk Berry, the sweet Nanab Berry, the bitter Wepear Berry, and the sour Pinap Berry.
Sweet, spicy, bitter, sour—there's always a flavor that a Pokémon will enjoy.
The stall Sato was heading toward was the only one in the entire public market that sold all five of these flavor-adjusting berries. These berries were slightly more expensive compared to the regular berries.
Sato found it unfortunate that the prices at this berry stall weren't as good as the previous one, with the vendor selling them at 2 points each, just 1 point less than the price in the point exchange system.
When Sato arrived at the stall, he immediately picked out one of each of the five flavoring berries and set them beside him. The male vendor at the stall gave Sato a casual glance but didn't seem to mind his strange behavior.
"Come on out, Zubat. Take a look at these five berries and see which one you like," Sato said, releasing Zubat and letting it choose its preferred berry flavor.
Zubat quietly perched on Sato's right shoulder, then, following Sato's instructions, flew down to the neatly arranged line of five flavoring berries.
Zubat sniffed each one in turn before eventually opening its mouth wide and devouring the sweet Nanab Berry in a few bites.
"Looks like your Pokémon likes sweet things. Nanab Berries are 2 points each. If you buy 100 of them, I'll give you the one your Pokemon just ate for free and I'll also hook you up with a discount of 20%. What do you..."
Before the vendor could finish, Zubat immediately turned to the spicy Tamato Berry and quickly devoured that one too.
"That one doesn't count, right? If so, I'll purchase 50 of each. And don't forget the 20% discount as well," Sato said with a smile, catching the vendor a bit off guard.
In the end, Sato spent 160 points to buy 50 each of the Nanab Berries and Tamato Berries.
"You really seem to like sweet and spicy flavors, huh? Don't worry, I'll make sure to get more delicious treats like this for you in the future. Alright, rest up in your PokéBall for now," Sato said as he gently patted Zubat on his right shoulder before returning it to its PokéBall.
"Zzz-zzz~" Zubat let out a contented cry as it obediently returned to the PokéBall in a flash of red light.
It's worth mentioning that after Sato acquired six Great Balls from Team Rocket, he replaced Zubat's original PokéBall with a Great Ball, effectively moving Zubat from a modest home to a luxurious mansion.
As a result, Zubat was very satisfied with its new residence, which further increased its bond with Sato. (Meowth, who had almost been captured before, once mentioned that a standard PokéBall was quite comfortable, so it was needless to say how much better a higher quality ball would be.)
After collecting the last of the ingredients needed to make PokeBlocks, Sato promptly headed toward the area containing the Berry Mixer (which had been modified from the previous PokeBlock set).
According to the information provided by Baron, the Berry Mixer was located in the Mission Hall, situated in the central area of Team Rocket's underground base in Pewter City, not far from the public market.
The Mission Hall, as the name suggests, was where uncompleted missions were taken and completed missions were submitted. In Team Rocket, personnel were roughly divided into two categories: logistical support and combat personnel.
Logistical support members were permanent staff and generally had daily missions. In gaming terms, they had to complete daily tasks to earn their rest periods.
Combat personnel, on the other hand, had two types of missions: assigned missions and freelance missions. Generally, as long as combat personnel completed their two mandatory assigned missions each month, they had the rest of the time as free time.
During this free time, they could choose to rest or take on freelance missions for additional points.
It's also important to note that the criteria for transitioning between these two roles were different. Logistical support members could apply to become combat personnel at any time, whereas combat personnel could only apply to switch to logistical roles if they were severely injured or had served for a certain number of years.
Following the signs along the way, Sato quickly arrived at the Mission Hall of Team Rocket's underground base in Pewter City.
The Mission Hall wasn't very large—about the size of a basketball court—shaped in an oval. The most prominent feature was the task pillars located at the center, massive stone columns covered with a multitude of freelance mission notices.
As it was nearing 2 PM, the busiest time of day, there were very few people with free time, so the number of combat personnel in the Mission Hall was limited (who enjoys constantly taking risks? It's better to use their time to enhance their strength with the points they've earned). Most of them were gathered together in various task groups.
These task groups moved in and out of the Mission Hall in an orderly fashion—some were there to submit tasks, others to take on new ones, and some had completed one while picking up another. Their commonality was the back-and-forth between the task pillars and the submission counters.
In addition to these groups, there were a few solitary figures who exuded a strong aura of danger, often accompanied by a small Pokémon that remained highly alert to their surroundings. Many in the task groups instinctively kept their distance from these individuals.
The lone figures were indifferent to everything around them; after submitting or accepting a task, they would quickly replenish their supplies at the stations on either side of the hall and leave without leaving a trace.
Maintaining his usual calm demeanor, Sato walked through the Mission Hall, observing the people around him and scanning for the target of his visit.
Eventually, Sato found what he was looking for at the supply station on the far left side of the hall—a neglected Berry Mixer stood lonely in a corner, awaiting his attention.