After receiving Lance's message, August finally felt at ease.
He had full confidence in Lance's abilities.
Before, Lance might have been unaware, but now that he knew Team Rocket had infiltrated Indigo Pteau, it was only a matter of time before he purged them all.
So, you want to keep watching me, huh? Just wait, I'll make sure you regret it.
He mentally added Team Rocket to his bcklist.
Then, August started considering his next move.
The investigation… wasn't urgent.
This was a big case—it wouldn't be solved in a day or two.
Plus, he had just been tailed by a Team Rocket agent. He wasn't sure how many more eyes were still on him, so heading straight to Vermilion Port for his investigation would be far too risky.
…Maybe he should take a quick detour to Stone Town first?
Teach that internet troll who mocked him online a lesson—let them know that the internet isn't some wless nd.
Just as he was contempting his next move, his phone buzzed.
It was another message from Lance.
[I spoke with Steven. He's very interested in your formu. There's a Kanto-Hoenn Exchange Conference in a month—he'll be attending in person to negotiate. He also agreed to leak the news to the media in advance to solidify your 'researcher' identity.]
[But just Steven alone might not be enough, so I also reached out to Professor Oak. If you have time, you should visit Pallet Town and meet him—he'll help patch up any loopholes in your cover.]
August hadn't expected such efficiency from Lance.
It had barely been a few hours, and he had already secured Steven's involvement and gotten Professor Oak on board?
Clearly, Team Rocket's growing audacity was putting a lot of pressure on Lance.
Steven personally coming to negotiate was also a surprise.
August had assumed Devon Corp. would send a corporate team—he never expected the Devon heir himself to show up.
Was it because of Lance?
Or… was his Pokéblock formu really that valuable?
Regardless of the reason, August mentally took note of the favor.
[Got it. Thanks!]
After replying to Lance, August quickly made up his mind.
His next steps:
Visit Pallet Town to meet Professor Oak and establish credibility.
Head to Mt. Moon to gather rare ores—a gift for Steven.
Perfect.
Leaning back, he rested his head on Gardevoir's p.
"Gardevoir, cuddles."
---
Inside Viridian Forest
"Dratini, use [Thunder Wave]!"
"Mi-chuu~!"
Dratini's tiny antennae crackled, releasing golden sparks that engulfed the Pidgey mid-flight.
The Pidgey froze in the air for a second before its body seized up, paralyzed. It plummeted to the ground, dazed.
Before it could recover, Dratini sprang forward like a coiled spring—
BAM!
A [Dragon Tail] sent Pidgey flying, knocking it out cold.
With the battle won, Dratini happily slithered back into August's arms, rubbing against him for praise.
"Nicely done, Dratini!"
August fed it a Pokéblock to replenish its energy, then approached the unconscious Pidgey.
Using [Viridian Power], he healed its injuries and removed the paralysis.
The moment Pidgey woke up, it panicked and flew off.
August chuckled.
Since entering Viridian Forest, he and Dratini had defeated 23 wild Pokémon.
At this point, they had fought almost every common Pokémon in the forest, helping Dratini gain valuable battle experience.
Too bad I couldn't provoke a swarm of Beedrill to test Dratini and Bagon's limits.
He had tried multiple times to invade Beedrill territory…
Yet, for some reason, none of them had attacked.
It was probably due to [Viridian Power]—the wild Pokémon seemed reluctant to fight him, even when he entered their nesting areas.
Because of this, his 'fishing for Beedrill' pn completely failed.
Since group-based Pokémon weren't aggressive toward him, he didn't want to disturb their ecosystem.
So instead, he had to hunt down lone Pokémon, force them into battles, then heal and release them afterward.
Forget it. I'll just battle trainers from now on.
Sure, fighting wild Pokémon helped him refine his Viridian abilities…
But it was way too inefficient.
Battling trainers was much more rewarding—
They heal their own Pokémon.
He gets prize money.
Objectively the better deal.
Recalling Dratini, August looked ahead—
Pallet Town was just up ahead!
---
Originally known as White Town, it was renamed Pallet Town in honor of Professor Oak's great-great-grandfather, Oak Masara, for his achievements as a Pokémon Trainer.
Walking through Pallet Town, August could feel the harmony between humans and nature.
But after years of living in a nature reserve, he felt… indifferent.
Honestly, he preferred the bustling Goldenrod City these days.
No matter how beautiful a ndscape is, if you see it too often, it gets boring.
As he was lost in thought, a figure caught his eye.
A brown-haired girl in a bck dress was jogging towards him from the other end of the road.
"Hm?"
August narrowed his eyes.
That outfit looked… familiar.
But before he could get a closer look, the girl hurried past him and darted straight into Viridian Forest.
If I'm not mistaken… that was Blue.
Now that he thought about it—
Bck dress. Brown hair. Shoulder bag.
Every detail matched the image in his memory.
At this point, August was completely confused about what kind of Pokémon world he was in.
If he looked at Kaiser from the Safari Zone and Lance, it seemed like the anime timeline.
But then Lt. Surge's involvement with Team Rocket made him reconsider.
And now… a Pokémon Adventures (Special) protagonist had appeared.
How was he supposed to make sense of this world?
…
Well, whatever.
There was a strange beauty in this mixed-up world.
And honestly?
"It's getting more and more interesting."
---
T/N: even though in english transtions Blue's name is Green the actual name is Blue! most likely because she has squirtle with Red being Red (charmander), blue being Green because (bulbasaur) im guessing
(image here when I remember to put it here)
u can see blue underneath the green LMAO
