Having failed to find suitable opponents and then running into a horde of Aron, Sato's training today was far from smooth. In the end, he could only rush back to the Pokémon Center before the tide came in.
After handing the badly injured Umbreon over to Nurse Joy, Sato waited alone in the lobby while Joseph and Mark returned to their room to prepare dinner.
Sato was scrolling through News about various recent events across different regions to pass the time.
But then a nearby conversation quietly caught his attention. He turned toward the voices, it was Nurse Joy and a female Trainer he didn't recognize.
"Big sis Joy, I'll leave my partners in your care," the female Trainer said with a cheerful smile. She seemed quite familiar with the Joy of the Dewford Island Pokémon Center.
"Of course! Just wait patiently for a bit. How did your expedition go this time?" Joy asked casually as she worked.
"The route is almost fully mapped out. I might even be able to cross Dewford Island tomorrow!"
"Well, congrats in advance. But still, be careful," Nurse Joy said gently.
"Mm-hmm! I've been careful to avoid the strong Pokémon. Once more people pass through, there won't be many wild Pokémon left anyway." The female Trainer spoke proudly.
"That's great. We'll be waiting for your good news."
"Um, sorry to bother but..."
"AHH! …Who are you?!"
Sato suddenly stepped forward, startling the female Trainer.
"Sorry, I just overheard you mention strong wild Pokémon nearby. I'm very interested… could you tell me more details?" Sato apologized first, then got straight to the point.
"Kid, how long have you been a Trainer?" The female Trainer wasn't offended and simply bent down curiously.
"A year and a half."
"Huh? Still just a newbie, huh? kid, you should stick to Granite Cave. That suits your level." She laughed and tried to pinch Sato's cheek, but of course, that wasn't going to happen.
"Ahem, Haruna… this young man here happens to be the youngest Gym Leader in the League. You should, uh... watch your behavior a little," Joy reminded her awkwardly. 'Who just walks up and pinches people's cheeks?'
This was totally taking advantage!
"Huh? You're messing with me, right, big sis Joy? This little brat- I mean, this handsome young boy?" The Trainer, apparently named Haruna, quickly corrected herself just in time to avoid blurting out the truth.
But there was no way Sato didn't catch it; he silently regretted being so impulsive. He could've just asked Joy directly in a bit.
"Sato, let me introduce you. This is Haruna Asuka, a Level 2 Ranger with the League. She's currently in charge of route surveying work on Dewford Island."
"Haruna, this is the Gym Leader of Shadownight Town in the Johto Region. He's currently traveling and training in the Hoenn Region."
"A Ranger? Route surveying?"
"If a Gym Leader is out on a journey, what happens to the Gym?"
They spoke at the same time, each asking the question on their mind.
Sato didn't have anything to hide and explained that the Gym was still under construction.
"Oh, there was a serious earthquake at the Dewford Island center recently. A section of the road connecting east port and west port was completely destroyed. I'm now responsible for finding a temporary replacement route."
After learning that Sato was a Gym Leader, Haruna's eyes sparkled, and she didn't hold back any of her intel. She spilled everything in one go.
"So we should avoid the stronger wild Pokémon?" Sato asked directly.
"Not just the strong ones, but also those that are overly curious, numerous, or destructive. We avoid them all."
"Oh, that does sound troublesome."
"Of course it is. But I've already mapped out most of the issues… just one last problem remains," Haruna said, seemingly hinting at something.
"What problem?" Sato played along. If he guessed correctly, it had to be…
"I have one optimal route, but there's a very powerful Claydol guarding the area nearby," Haruna jumped in immediately.
"What level is that Claydol?"
"Peak Elite, near Pseudo-Elite Four¹. And more importantly: it has subordinates!"
"Subordinates? Not just wild companions?"
"Exactly. That Claydol commands three Pokémon: a Medicham, a Tropius, and a Grumpig. Every day, they're either out looking for the finest, softest sand to give Claydol sand baths, or searching for gourmet food… It's exhausting…" Haruna said with deep resentment.
Unlike ten years later when Pokémon populations would decline outside cities, the forests in this era still harbored massive numbers of wild Pokémon. Incidents of Pokémon attacking cities still happened frequently.
Rangers of this time actually worked to maintain ecological balance between forests and wild Pokémon; preventing the Pokémon from overpopulating the forest and overburdening the environment, which could lead to city raids.
That's why Rangers often stirred up conflicts between Pokémon groups.
Unlike in the future, where the League would set up designated preserves and assign Rangers to protect nearly extinct or rare species. Here, according to Haruna's description, this Claydol had actually organized a whole group of Pokémon.
While the numbers weren't large yet, for human cities, it was clearly a bad sign.
"But from what I'm hearing, isn't dealing with that Claydol exactly the job of a Ranger like you?" Sato said with arms crossed and a teasing look.
"No way! My job is to handle the temporary route! Got it? Claydol just happened to get in the way. If I can solve both at once, all the better…" Haruna's tone softened by the end, her guilt showing.
"I see. Then I wish you success in solving that troublesome problem soon and getting east port and west port reconnected. Miss Joy, is my Umbreon ready yet?"
"Yes, it's ready. I'll bring it to you now," Joy said, laughing helplessly.
Taking the Poké Ball from Joy, Sato gave her a nod of thanks, then turned to Haruna with an innocent wave of his right hand.
"Bye-bye~?"
"H-HEY! Didn't you hear anything I said?" Haruna shouted angrily, hands on her hips.
"I heard you. You ran into a problem but will solve it tomorrow. I wish you success."
"When did I ever say that?!" Haruna was furious, then suddenly realized that the brat had overheard her bluffing in front of "big sis Joy".
"Now I remember. I'm off then," Sato nodded and turned again.
"Aaaah! Leader, wait…" Haruna cried out pitifully.
"Eugh~ can you speak normally?" Sato turned back, his skin crawling.
Haruna: m9(｀д)!!
Haruna held back her anger and slowly said, "Leader Sato, as a fellow League partner, please help me deal with that Claydol. I'm begging you."
"Oh, so that's what this is about? Sure, I'll help," Sato said with sudden clarity and nodded decisively.
Haruna, internally: (｀⊿)… o(o ≡òó))—o
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¹.Here's the thing… Weavile's in this stage now, but earlier it was mentioned as Near Pseudo-Elite Four. So I've decided to just call it Peak Elite for simplicity. But don't worry, the first time a Pokémon hits that "Near" stage, I'll make sure to mention it… you know, just to keep the chaos to a minimum.