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Seeing the person he was looking for, Sato wasted no ti and approached imdiately. Naturally, he made it look like he was just a kind-hearted passerby giving so money to the poor beggar.
The beggar slled awful, reeking of sweat. As a result, unless a good Samaritan approached to give alms, most people avoided him, so Sato was the only person near the beggar at this mont.
"Where is the entrance to the Saffron City Black Market?" Sato placed 100 PokeDollars in the beggar's bowl with the hand wearing his Team Rocket watch and quietly asked.
The beggar had already noticed Sato from afar, and as he approached, a hint of caution flickered in the beggar's eyes. However, upon seeing the Team Rocket watch Sato deliberately displayed, the sharpness in the beggar's eyes softened significantly.
"1,000," the beggar replied. Despite recognizing Sato as one of his own, the Rocket Grunt disguised as a beggar didn't imdiately give the answer but instead stated the price.
Sato wasn't surprised by the beggar's bargaining. Without hesitation, he pulled out nine more 100-dollar bills from his pocket and placed them on top of the bowl. The beggar didn't delay either, softly providing Sato with a location and the na of a shop.
After getting the information he wanted, Sato turned and walked away without a second thought, blending into the crowd and quickly disappearing from the beggar's sight.
The night before, Sato had downloaded a detailed map of Saffron City using his laptop, but due to waking up early for morning training, he hadn't morized it completely. The na of the place and the shop the beggar had ntioned didn't ring any bells.
However, Sato wasn't worried. Even if he didn't know, there were professionals who definitely would. That's right, those professionals were taxi drivers.
A good taxi driver must be able to take passengers to any corner of the city accurately, so knowing the city's routes was essential for them.
Sato hailed a taxi by the side of the road and, after telling the driver where he wanted to go, the driver imdiately knew the route.
In about ten minutes, the taxi driver successfully brought Sato to a general store located in the outer eastern part of the city. The na of the store matched exactly what the beggar had said.
Upon seeing the store, Sato was convinced that the beggar hadn't lied to him. The store looked strikingly similar to the Rocket Team contact point he had discovered in Pewter City.
It was similarly small, similarly rundown, and the surrounding comrcial street was just as desolate, with only a few shops still open. The rest had signs saying "For Lease" on their doors. The only difference was that this shop was run by an old woman instead of an old man.
After paying the taxi fare, Sato got out of the car and slowly walked toward the general store. His arrival imdiately caught the attention of the old woman, who had been dozing off in the shop.
"Looking to buy sothing? My stock may not be much, but the quality is guaranteed," the old woman said, getting up from her chair and moving to the counter when she saw Sato approaching.
"I'm afraid what I want isn't sothing you sell. But could you tell where I might find a place that offers good items?" Sato responded directly, showing the Team Rocket watch on his wrist with a smile.
The old woman finally noticed the Team Rocket watch on Sato's right wrist, but her wariness didn't completely dissipate. In fact, her expression beca even more serious. She quickly retrieved a tablet with a slot from a hidden compartnt under the counter and placed it in front of Sato.
At the sa ti, a few elderly shopkeepers from the nearby stores, who had also woken up at so point, were now glaring at Sato with a watchful eye. Each of them clutched a PokéBall, marked with the engraved "R" symbol.
Despite the hostile stares from the old woman and the other elders, Sato remained unbothered. In front of them, he calmly removed his Team Rocket watch and inserted it into the slot on the tablet in front of him.
Once the Team Rocket watch seamlessly clicked into the slot, the tablet imdiately displayed so of Sato's personal details. Although the information wasn't too detailed, a clear image of Sato in his Team Rocket grunt uniform appeared on the screen.
"From Pewter City, huh? That's quite the distance. Follow , young man," the old woman said, finally relaxing her guard after glancing at the information on the tablet. She returned the watch to Sato, her expression now neutral.
At that mont, the other elderly shopkeepers returned to their earlier sleepy states, lounging lazily in their chairs as the atmosphere around the street reverted to its earlier peaceful calm.
Sato put his Team Rocket watch back on without a word and followed the old woman into the general store. She led him all the way to the restroom in the back.
To Sato's surprise, the old woman forcefully turned the toilet, revealing a secret underground passage leading to an unknown destination.
"Go ahead. This is one of the tunnels Team Rocket controls that leads directly to the Saffron City Black Market. Soone will et you at the exit," the old woman said, her face still expressionless.
After delivering this ssage, she began to turn and leave.
"Thank you for showing the way, ma'am. Please accept this as a token of my gratitude." Sato nodded and pulled out a stack of bills worth 10,000 PokeDollars, offering them to the old woman just as she was turning away.
His gesture stopped her in her tracks. A daisy-like smile spread across her once-expressionless face, and with practiced ease, she quickly pocketed the money in the blink of an eye. Her swift movents made it clear she had done this before.
"You're quite generous, young man. Here, take this cloak and mask. Rember to wear them when you go down there, and it would be wise to put on your uniform too. It'll help you avoid any misunderstandings later." The old woman handed Sato a black cloak with a large red "R" symbol and a pale mask similarly engraved, all while smiling kindly.
"Thank you for the advice, ma'am," Sato said, smiling as he accepted the cloak and mask.
The two then turned away from each other, and as they did, their smiles vanished, replaced by the sa neutral expressions as before, each going their separate ways.
After entering the underground passage, the door behind Sato shut, and dim lights began flickering on one by one, illuminating the tunnel.
Sato quickly changed into his Team Rocket uniform, then donned the black cloak and pale mask. He descended the stairs ahead, stepping deeper into the underworld.
Indeed, the Saffron City Black Market was hidden beneath the city itself.
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