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In the end, what made Sato change his mind wasn't Tanya's coaxing, nor her beauty—but a lump of black clay sealed inside a glass jar.
At first glance, the black lump looked no different from ordinary soil. But under the dim light of night, even the naked eye could catch a faint purple shimmer slowly flowing across its surface.
Yes, after running it through the system's appraisal function, Sato could confirm it without a doubt—this was the Toxic Essence he had once acquired from a Muk.
The only difference was that the one now before him was slightly larger than the one he had obtained before—around 30g.
From the system's analysis, Sato had learned that Toxic Essence was the key ingredient in crafting the Poison-type treasure item, Black Sludge. With 100g of Toxic Essence, plus a few auxiliary materials, one could create a Poison Pearl—a priceless item.
Originally, Sato had hoped to exchange his piece of Toxic Essence for some Poison-type training knowledge from Janine.
Unfortunately, he had quickly realized that Janine was not someone one could communicate with in any normal way, and so he'd given up on the idea.
As a result, he had assumed that the Toxic Essence in his possession would end up collecting dust in storage long-term. But now, upon seeing the 30g chunk of Toxic Essence in Tanya's hand, a spark reignited in Sato's mind.
He currently had about 25g himself. If he added Tanya's 30g, that would make 55g total—meaning he was now very likely to gather enough to eventually craft Black Sludge.
'Just 45g more. If I had a Black Sludge, both Crobat and Arbok would experience a massive power-up. Especially Arbok—its biggest weakness, endurance during the Three-Pattern Strategy, would be dramatically improved.'
Staring at the treasure Tanya had reluctantly produced, Sato's eyes locked onto it, and he couldn't help the flood of thoughts that followed.
"It looks like Mr. Sato recognizes this item. Yes, it's a 31g piece of Toxic Essence—used to craft the Poison-type treasure Black Sludge. I believe its value is more than enough to restore our friendship," Tanya said with a dazzling smile.
Her observational skills were sharp. Though Sato kept a calm and indifferent expression, the eyes were the window to the soul. She'd seen the flicker in his gaze—he was clearly interested. So she smiled sweetly as she pushed forward.
"I'm interested," Sato said simply. "So, go on—name your price."
He smiled, seeing there was no use in pretending. She'd seen right through his aloof act. Instead of playing games, he handed the ball over to Tanya—let her make the first offer.
Tanya's eyes lit up at his words—but quickly fell into troubled contemplation.
The value of Toxic Essence was self-evident. This was a rare material that money alone couldn't buy. If she traded it for only 50 medium-grade PokeBlocks, the loss would be astronomical.
But Tanya also knew that value was never absolute. In this current situation, Sato's PokeBlocks were practically life-saving items. Their worth had skyrocketed manyfold.
It was like water in a desert—usually worthless, but during life-or-death moments, priceless.
Plus, these PokeBlocks could very well be the deciding factor in upcoming matches. Quality recovery items could significantly raise a trainer's win rate.
And Tanya knew exactly how effective Sato's PokeBlocks were. They were the best recovery items she'd ever seen. In her opinion, they had played a huge role in Sato's rapid growth.
But perhaps because she knew how vital the PokeBlocks were, she found it hard to ask for too many. From the way Sato had acted earlier, it was obvious he wasn't interested in supplying his rivals.
After all, they were still competitors. Who knew when they might face each other in the tournament? Giving a future opponent a boost was foolish.
Yes, Toxic Essence was rare. But right now, it was like oil in the desert—valuable, sure, but not nearly as life-saving as water.
"…How about 1000?" Tanya finally asked with a deep breath, her voice sweet as ever.
But the moment the words left her mouth, her smile froze.
Because Sato immediately looked away from the Toxic Essence and turned to stare at her like she was an idiot.
"…Then 500! No less! I'm already losing a ton here!" Tanya bit her lip and glared at him, holding up five fingers with a small, rough hand.
To her dismay, Sato simply held up two fingers—shamelessly.
Two or three minutes later, Tanya—clearly in a foul mood—stormed off clutching a colorful pouch of PokeBlocks. Her pretty face twisted with frustration and clenched teeth.
After an intense round of haggling, she had been forced to accept Sato's tyrannical offer—trading her 31g of Toxic Essence for just 300 medium-grade PokeBlocks.
Without a doubt, Tanya had taken a catastrophic loss. A complete explosion of value, as if her trade had spontaneously combusted on the spot.
The atmosphere on the beach was quiet and heavy. With only a few lamps—mostly kerosene lanterns—lighting the area, even their soft conversation managed to attract attention from the surrounding Team Rocket members.
Especially when some of them recognized the Toxic Essence in Tanya's hand—and watched her storm off holding a pouch with a dark expression. Curious glances quickly began to circle the two of them.
Still, both Sato and Tanya had performed impressively during the long-distance flight challenge, earning the respect of many on the beach.
So even though people were curious about what Tanya had traded for, no one dared to approach and question the clearly irate and powerful female trainer.
That said, a few sharp-eyed observers did notice her feeding some of the PokeBlocks to her Pidgeot shortly after—and were stunned by how quickly its stamina recovered.
It didn't take a genius to figure it out. Tanya had traded for some kind of high-efficiency recovery item for Pokémon.
And based on the results they saw, it worked far better than any standard supply they had on hand.
All at once, the nearby Team Rocket members turned blazing eyes toward Sato.
As for Sato himself—he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and a tight clench in his seat.