Shiro sat against a tree, holding Rookidee in one hand as he tried to massage it.

  He had no idea how to properly massage a Pokémon or where to apply pressure, but he adjusted his teique based on Rookidee’s reas, doing his best to relieve its fatigue.

  "Rooki~"

  Rookidee let out a soft chirp, closing its eyes in fort as Shiro’s fingers worked over the muscles beh its blue feathers.

  At first, he had pressed too hard or in the wrong pces, causing Rookidee slight disfort, but now he had gotten the hang of it.

  Ohe massage was dohe two of them ate some dry rations before preparing to move on.

  Shiro was eager to reach Hammerlocke. He o find a job ale into a retively stable life.

  He had only been in Gar for a few days, and the stant battles and rough travel had left him exhausted.

  Right now, all he wanted roper bed, one where he could sleep uninterrupted until he naturally woke up

  Route 9 had two branches leading in different dires. Oh to the west led to Route 9 Tunnel, while the northern path led to Circhester.

  Circhester was far too cold. Covered in snow and ice, it was a harsh pce for both training and survival. Shiro ruled it out without hesitation.

  As he walked toward Route 9 Tunnel, he often spotted trainers standirees or lurking iall grass, tossing Poké Balls.

  Most of them were trainers affiliated with the League. Regardless of their professions, their training and battles were funded by League subsidies, allowing them to move freely.

  Shiro avoided them whenever possible, steering clear of any iions.

  These trainers were far strohan him, at the very least, they were at the Intermediate level. On top of that, they were also responsible for testing challengers who aimed to take on the Gym challenge.

  The Gar region’s Gym challenge system was very different from those in ions.

  Normally, all it took to ehe League Tour was an official League ID or sometimes not even that. As long as a trainer defeated eight Gyms and collected the badges, they could participate.

  But in Gar, things were different. Just to challehe Gyms, a trainer needed a Letter of Endorsement. Whether from the League President, the Champion, ym Leader, at least one of them had to vouch for the challenger. Without it, there was no ce of peting iour.

  This system ost lower-css trainers from rising through the ranks. Even if someone had the strength, they couldn’t challehe Gyms ain reition.

  That was why many powerful trainers from Gar’s lower levels ended up leaving for ions.

  Shiro nning to do the same.

  Once he found a way to support himself in Hammerlocke, he would focus entirely on training his Pokémon. When Rookidee evolved into Corviknight, giving him a reliable means of prote, he would set out to travel and pete in tours outside of Gar.

  Here, if you didn’t have the right es, you had no future.

  ‘There isn’t even an anization like Team Rocket here, just Team Yell, a group that doesn’t know what it wants to be.’

  Starting out in Gar was the worst possible luck.

  "Ugh..."

  With that thought, Shiro silently made his way through the trees, avoiding the main road and the many League trainers scattered along the route.

  Official battles involved wagers, winning against them would earn him League money. But Shiro wasn’t strong enough to win, so avoiding them was the smarter choice.

  ‘Up ahead is Route 9 Tunnel. I o check if I pass through directly, or if I'll have to find another way around.’

  Just as he was thinking about it, a raspy voice called out from the depths of the forest:

  "Oh... Hehehe... Hey, kid. You don’t have an ID, do you? Want to make a trade?"

  Shiro stopped in his tracks and turo face the source of the voice. He hadn't noticed anyone hiding there earlier, and even Rookidee hadn't detected anything.

  Though Shiro had identified the location, it was hard to spot the figure unless he looked closely.

  At that moment, the voice’s owner suddenly flickered and appeared right in front of him.

  ‘Teleportation!’

  Shiro immediately reized the distinctive psychic move.

  In the world of Pokémon, some humans with special talents could awaken and train psychic abilities. They could use psychic moves, even doing things that psychion themselves couldn’t.

  "Heh, you're not that surprised. Seems like you’ve seen a bit." the figure said, his face hidden under a dark red hood, his entire body cloaked in a long robe.

  He then asked, "Kid, want to trade something?"

  "Who are you?" Shiro asked, taking a step back.

  In pces like this, it wouldn't be surprising if someone died. The psychic user before him was definitely stronger, and if he wao kill him and take his things...

  "Kid, you’re w too much." The hooded man’s voice was sharp, and he added, "I’m a traveling mert affiliated with the bck market in Hammerlocke. I value credibility. Even if you had a fortune on you, I wouldn't kill or rob.”

  " you hear my thoughts?" Shiro asked, more focused on that than on the man’s credibility.

  "Of course. That’s sychic powers are for. We even unicate through telepathy, though it’s unnecessary." the hooded man admitted, then tinued, "Pokémon, Pokéblocks, evolution stones... whatever you need, I get it for you."

  At his words, Shiro’s eyes shifted. He realized the usefulness of this psychic ability for the traveling mert.

  It seemed that all these underground market merts possessed psychic powers, allowing them to transpoods over long distances. Wherever these merts were, it was like aire bck market.

  It was incredibly ve, but also expensive. Shiro wondered who had the resources to build aire supply line.

  "Oh? Kid, let me tell you something. The person in charge is the great Chairman Rose!" The hooded man said, raising his arms in praise.

  Rose was the current President of the Gar region's League and the Chairman of the rgest corporation in the region, Macro ost panies in Gar were likely affiliated with Macro os.

  "It’s not quite that exaggerated, but almost." the hooded man added, hearing Shiro’s thoughts.

  He then asked, "So, kid, do you want to buy something? Or sell something? Some Pokémon only be obtained by us..." Pointing at the four Pokémon Shiro had taken from Rabby.

  Pokémon usually stayed iheir Poké Balls. Uhe ball’s switch en, they couldn’t escape uhey were exceptionally strong.

  However, some trainers keep the switches open so that their Pokémon decide to e out at any time. In such cases, the boween the Pokémon and the trainer is very strong, built on mutual trust.

  The four Poké Balls from Rabby were all locked, preventing him from releasing the Pokémon in time during a crucial moment.

  The four Pokémon Shiro had acquired were Intermediate-level Dottler, Scraggy, Thievul and an Advanced-level Noctowl.

  **

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