Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

The outdoor gear shop was well-stocked, with far more variety than what Reiji had in his own space backpack. There were plenty of items he didn't even own yet.

"Young man, what are you looking for? Heading out to sea? Mountain trekking? Cave exploring?"

"Boss, do you have stab-resistant clothing?" Reiji's eyes scanned the wall of outdoor gear before turning toward the old man. He wasn't sure if the store carried what he needed.

"You came to the right place, kid. We've got stab-proof jackets, pants, long-sleeve tees, shorts, backpacks—full-body stab-resistant sets. Whatever kind you want, we've got it."

"Bring me a set to check out. All black. Size for someone around 170 cm tall," Reiji said. The sample clothing hanging on the wall wasn't black, so he had no idea if the shop had what he wanted in that color.

"You want the top-tier stuff, or something a little more affordable?"

"The best, obviously," Reiji replied. This wasn't something he was willing to cheap out on—his life might depend on it.

If the quality turned out to be garbage and he ended up getting stabbed to death, it'd be too late for regrets.

"Got it. Wait here, kid." The white-bearded shop owner crouched down and rummaged around for a bit, then pulled out a black outdoor set—long-sleeve tee, pants, even underwear—all black, and non-reflective under the lights.

Reiji immediately reached out to touch it. The material felt cold—probably comfortable to wear in summer.

The long-sleeve tee was form-fitting, soft, breathable, sweat-absorbent. V-neck, too. Reiji liked the look and feel of it.

But none of that mattered if it wasn't stab-resistant.

He pulled out the dagger from his belt, startling the old man.

The shopkeeper jumped back, hugging his arms. "Hey! What are you doing? If you're here to rob me, Officer Jenny's gonna haul you off!"

"You said it's stab-proof, right? If it really is, I'll buy it. If not, I'll report you to Officer Jenny for selling fakes."

Reiji sneered inwardly at the old man's act. What was with the dramatics? Did he think only he could call Officer Jenny?

"Oh no no, don't do that, kid! If you want to test it, use this set." The old man knew he couldn't fool this one. He quickly grabbed the sample set from the counter and swapped in a fresh, real one from underneath.

"This one's legit. Go ahead and stab it. If you pierce it, it's free."

"You said it," Reiji smirked, gripping the dagger tightly.

"I won't go back on my word—but if you stab it, you're buying it!" the old man snapped, puffing his beard and glaring. Just because he was old didn't mean he'd take an insult to his honor lying down.

"Sure, I'll buy it… unless you price it at something like a hundred grand," Reiji joked, then reached out to touch the tee again.

The moment his hand made contact, he could tell the texture was different. That roughness—he'd felt it before, on Sharpedo's skin.

He turned the tee inside out—the inner layer was smooth. Then he touched the jacket and pants: soft, waterproof, but the internal material was concealed.

He'd know soon enough if it worked.

If it really was stab-proof, then this set must be made from a material similar to Sharpedo hide.

"This guy's got some serious stuff. To think he can get ahold of something like this and even sell it openly... Is he not afraid of an Officer Jenny crackdown?" Reiji thought, but kept it to himself.

Noticing the change in Reiji's expression, the old man guessed he'd figured something out. This kid was clearly a seasoned survivalist. He'd better tread carefully—wouldn't want to piss him off.

"This set is made of soft stab-resistant fabric. It's good for blades but not impact or shock. Normally just the outer jacket runs 10,000 Pokédollars, but I'll give you all four pieces for 70,000. How's that sound?"

"I'll decide after testing. What if it's another fake?" Reiji narrowed his eyes. He wasn't trusting this guy just yet.

That first set was clearly bait. If he hadn't pulled out his knife, he might've gotten scammed.

"Fine, fine. Test away," the old man waved him off.

Reiji raised his dagger and methodically stabbed every piece—jacket, pants, long-sleeve tee, even the underwear—once each. He didn't want any corners cut.

Thunk, thunk, thunk...

When he lifted the garments, there were no punctures through the wooden counter beneath—except under the underwear. A tiny knife tip had pushed through—but calling it a "puncture" wasn't accurate. More like a dent from impact. The rainproof coating was damaged, but the main fabric held.

That was good enough. Its job was stab protection, not impact resistance.

Satisfied, Reiji nodded. "Not bad. But 70,000 is steep. I'd buy it for 30,000."

Now came the fun part—bargaining. One of Reiji's favorite hobbies in his past life, once he came out of his shell.

"No way, kid. This is stab-resistant gear! Thirty grand won't even get you a normal outer layer. Lowest I can go is 66,000. And these pieces are full of stab marks—I can't resell them."

"Fine, I'll pay 60,000—but throw in a short-sleeve tee and a pair of shorts," Reiji offered. He figured the old man had a point.

That one jacket in the clothing store earlier had been priced at 8,800 already—almost 10,000. Even though T-shirts were cheaper, this was stab-resistant gear—underwear included.

"How about 64,000, and I'll toss in the short-sleeve and shorts? Deal?" the old man countered, trying to squeeze out a bit more profit.

"1,000 max," Reiji said, holding up a finger. That'd make it 61,000 total.

"63,000 and I'll patch up the holes for you. Let me earn a little something here, kid. I'm just an old man trying to feed his family…"

"Fine. Patch them," Reiji agreed, ending the haggling.

Six garments—jacket, long pants, shorts, long-sleeve tee, short-sleeve tee, and boxers. Even at 63,000 Pokédollars, that came out to about 10,500 per piece.

Even the underwear, as stab-resistant as it was, didn't feel worth 10K. Probably used less material than the other items. But oh well.

The old man patched the garments using a foot-powered sewing machine in front of Reiji. He stitched black-on-black, neatly sealing every tear. If you didn't look closely, you'd think it was part of the design.

"Looks good. Give me the other two items. Here's 63,000," Reiji said, handing over the money and stashing the gear in his new space backpack. He could change back at the hotel later.

"Hang on, kid…" The old man rummaged around again, producing a pair of shorts and a short-sleeve tee.

But when Reiji reached for them, he noticed the man twitch and pull the garments back.

"Ah—sorry, wrong ones! I'm getting forgetful in my old age," the man chuckled awkwardly, then resumed digging through the pile.

This time, he brought out the real ones.

Reiji stabbed both items with his dagger to confirm—no punctures. Satisfied, he took them and dropped the money on the counter.

"Boss, aren't you afraid of running into a short-tempered Trainer?" Reiji asked casually.

This guy had tried to scam him twice. Even Reiji's patience was wearing thin. If he hadn't been so cautious, he might've really gotten played.

"Ahaha, you're joking, right? I sell outdoor gear, kid. Anything else you need?" the old man deflected with a grin, refusing to admit to anything.

But inside, he was sweating bullets. This kid was too cautious.

He'd thought for sure Reiji wouldn't check the second time. No way he'd suspect two fake sets in a row, right? Wrong. The kid stabbed them too.

Still, he kept smiling. As long as Reiji was still spending money, he was a customer—his bread and butter.

"Show me your stab-resistant gloves and backpack. Black," Reiji tapped the counter.

He didn't care how this guy ran his business. As long as he stayed careful, it wasn't his problem. But with shady tactics like this, the old man would go out of business sooner or later.

"Sure thing. One moment." This time, the man didn't mess around. He brought out the real products immediately.

"How much for the backpack and gloves?" Reiji examined the backpack. It felt similar to the space one he'd bought earlier—but this one was stab-proof.

"100-cubic backpack, 40,000. Fingerless stab-proof gloves, 5,000…"

"Hmm." Reiji looked it over, then returned the backpack. "Not interested. But the gloves… 2,000, and I'll consider it."

"This is a good backpack, kid. If you don't like the style, I've got others…" the old man tried to persuade him.

"Sell it for 20,000?" Reiji countered.

"Uhh… no. Lowest is 30,000. I'm just trying to scrape by, you know…"

Seeing that Reiji already had two backpacks, the old man dropped the price a little.

"Forget the backpack. Let's talk gloves," Reiji said.

He really liked these black fingerless gloves. Only the first knuckles of his thumb and index finger were exposed, and the back of the hand was armored.

He'd tested it earlier—stab-proof and cut-resistant. The material was probably the same ultra-dense synthetic fiber used in the six garments. Strong stuff, probably made from Pokémon materials.

"Alright, kid…" the old man sighed, putting the backpack away. No way was he letting that go for 20K—it could practically serve as a shield.

"The gloves—3,000 Pokédollars."

"2,500. Take it or leave it," Reiji offered. He wasn't about to haggle over a few hundred coins. In his past life, maybe. But now?

"Deal. They're yours," the old man relented. The price was still within his acceptable margin.

Reiji handed over 2,500 Pokédollars and left the outdoor shop.

Truthfully, he had planned to buy two full sets of stab-resistant clothing, but this shopkeeper was too shady. Plus, his funds were getting low. He had to save some for later.

Once he unloaded the hunter's black market stash, he'd be rolling in cash. Then he could buy out the whole department store if he wanted.

He browsed the rest of the first floor, but didn't see anything that caught his eye.

Aside from clothing stores for all ages, this floor also had jewelry shops, cosmetics, bike stores, furniture, electronics, toy shops, watch dealers, fishing rods, eyewear, leather goods...

The whole floor was focused on apparel and household goods. Nothing worth lingering for.

Time to head to the second floor.

That's where the shops for Pokémon food and related supplies were...

(To be continued)

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