Everyone else is having a good time among each other and it’s hard to leave the Glaceon all to herself, especially since she saved the team. “I’ll go with you. I think I can learn a thing or two from you, being new to this world and all,” You say. “You can learn something from her alright” said Penelope. You notice the newly evolved eevee look around a little nervously for a second, “my sister is a nerd” the larger eevee comments. Catria exhales just a little deeper than usual, “We got a good haul in so it might take us a while. I want our team to get the best we can out of these crystals. We might take all night. Are you sure you want to come?” she asks you.
You nod again, “I don’t want to leave you alone. I feel like the six of us are more than a team. We’re like a family after what we’ve been through and I’m not going to leave one of us alone.” The two of you gather your treasure and start heading for the door. Penelope jokes, “Don’t worry Sota, we won’t say too many bad things about you while you’re gone.” “We won’t say anything bad about you” Norm butts in annoyedly.
When the two of you close the door the sun is setting and the air is cool. You start travelling toward the town made obvious in the dark to even a newcomer like you thanks to the torches lighting the path. Catria breaks the silence, “Those five should have plenty to talk about. My sisters can tell everyone how we formed the team, Norm and Leo can fill the absol in on how they found you and I’m sure he can tell them everything he knows about the days you were a human. They’ll be exhausted before we get back.” You nod, “Today was pretty exhausting. This nice stroll is a good change of pace.”
As you look at your teammate, you notice she has grown a few inches taller since she first evolved, “I don’t mean to intrude, but have you grown a bit?” “Oh, that’s possible” Catria declared with a small blush, “As those corrupted pokemon are, uh, getting getting absorbed by my body I’ll add their power to mine. Some slight growth is is to be expected.” You take a long enough look at her belly to notice it churn its hefty meal. She notices you watching, “Go ahead! I don’t mind, really.” You hypnotically watch more ripples and waves of her stomach processing its meal.
You and your glaceon partner make it to the quiet town at night. She leads the way, “we’re almost at the trading house. It actually opens in the evening when adventurers return from their journey. I’m glad you decided to come even if you are new to this. Being next to a partner helps me look professional and a professional won’t get haggled down. They need these crystals to satisfy predators so we can use that as a tool. Just let me do most of the talking and if you’re asked anything try to sound intelligent. They’ll be likely to give us a good share if I have a strong silent partner and that’s easily you. Eve is too shy and Penelope is, as you know, hot-headed. We need as much money out of these as possible so I really need your help negotiating.”
You follow the ice type eevee as she opens the door to the auction house and casually walks in. There are multiple booths housing a trader. You can see trades of all sorts involved. The building is also littered with signs saying “Crystals Needed! Will Pay Handsomely!” Catria whispers to you, “see that Persian over there? He’s our dealer. We’ve been buying and selling through him for a while.” His booth is pretty busy and the two of you are stuck in line for a bit. “It looks like a lot of teams took the opportunity of high demand tonight” the pale blue fox remarks. As you are waiting in line, Catria’s eyes wander around, but stop at you multiple times. This is a professional area so she tries to hide it, but can’t help herself. You’re fixed on all the new sites of trading and all the items being placed on the shelves of booths, but you still give her enough attention to notice. Luckily, everyone else seems busy at the moment.
Your wait in line is finally over. Your glaceon partner walks up to the merchant, “We got a pretty big haul in tonight. Big and all different kinds.” She lays all the colorful crystals on his table, leaving him wide eyed for just a moment. He keeps his cool again, “Ah, Catria not only did you get a good haul, but you evolved! And your partner there, he isn’t one of your sisters; his size and demeanor tell me so. You must have had a great day in spite of this chaos with the stolen crystals and all that.” “I’ve had my ups and downs” she replies “believe me, getting these was not easy.” One thing you notice is there is a crystal missing, a blue one in particular. Why isn’t she selling it? “You know the drill, it’s time for a price. How much do you want out of them?” “As you might notice, these are pretty out of stock at the moment and we even have some rare ones. I know as well as you do how much the blue ones go for. Not only are they rare, but the predators that like them will buy them right up. How about 15000 pokedollars?”
“Woah woah, my friend! Evolution got to your head? You know I don’t carry that much money. I’ll be broke until I sell these things” the Persian counters “How about 8000 pokedollars?” “You know you’ll make money on these even with my offer” she retorts “14000 pokedollars” “10000 pokedollars” the merchant insists “and if you ask for more money I’ll drop my offer back down.”
Your partner pauses for a minute, looking pretty nervous. “Well…” the Persian says impatiently. This might be your chance to make an offer.
