Pokémon: Starting From Zero as a Legendary Pokémon Chapter 8 8: Victini, Move Out!

"Bini~"

"Lilligant~~"

With Victini perched on his head and Lilligant's hand in his own, Sora Kenji stepped onto the port of Kitakami.

Calling it a port was generous—it was really just a docking point for boats.

First, it had to be clarified that Kitakami was not an island, but a peninsula.

Located at the northwest corner of Canalave City, it was separated from the main body of the Sinnoh region by a vast stretch of dense mountain forest.

In this era, there were no direct bus routes crossing those mountains from Sinnoh to Kitakami.

The only way to get there was to take a boat from Canalave—and then transfer to a bus at the port to reach Kitakami itself.

"Phew… finally made it onto the bus."

Sitting on the bus bound for Kitakami, Sora Kenji placed his backpack on his knees and let out a sigh of relief.

Who would have thought that even after arriving at the port, he still had to walk such a long distance just to reach the bus stop?

"Lilligant~"

Sensing his fatigue, Lilligant released a soothing fragrance that cald her trainer's mind.

"Thanks, Lilligant."

Sora Kenji gently patted her beside him.

As for Victini, the little one was flying outside the bus window, waving energetically at him.

"Bini bini~"

A small pouch hung at her waist, filled with snacks Sora Kenji had prepared so she could replenish her strength whenever needed.

"Alright—stay safe."

Victini's mission was to locate Ogerpon.

Kitakami wasn't enormous—but it wasn't small either.

"Bini~~"

Victini soared through the air, gazing down at the vast forest below. She placed her tiny hand near her mouth, as if thinking about where to begin searching.

Deeper in the mountains, the mist grew thicker, like gauze draped over the outlines of trees.

Occasionally, a few Oddish poked their heads out from piles of decaying leaves, droplets of dew sliding along their veins and splashing onto the tails of passing Rattata.

Wild Tangela clung to branches overhead, their eyes glowing faint green within the shadows. When the mountain wind blew, they rustled softly with a shaa-shaa sound.

Victini understood how the world worked.

She knew to gather information from the local Pokémon.

And thanks to the universal appeal of snacks, she quickly blended into several small groups of wild Pokémon.

"Have you seen this Pokémon?"

Victini spread a sheet of paper in front of them.

Drawn on it was the image of Ogerpon.

"What a strange Pokémon. Never seen it."

A Rattata shook its head.

Victini turned to the others—but most of them also shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.

"Oddish…"

One Oddish stared at the picture with its bean-like red eyes. After thinking for a mont, its expression suddenly brightened.

"That's her! I know her!"

It rembered—this Pokémon had been seen sowhere in the mountains.

"Where?"

Victini perked up imdiately.

"Can you take there?"

"Mm-hmm!"

The Oddish happily trotted forward on its tiny legs, hopping along to lead the way.

"Follow —I'll take you to find her!"

"Bini!"

Surprised at how smoothly the plan was working, Victini hurried after the Oddish.

The two small Pokémon traveled steadily up the mountain path.

Before long, they left the forest canopy behind and stepped onto a slope of exposed rock and bare earth.

anwhile, Sora Kenji stepped off the bus at the station.

His first priority wasn't climbing the mountain to search for Ogerpon.

He needed to solve the issue of food and lodging.

Kitakami had very few places to stay.

In the gas, the Community Center served as housing specifically for students and teachers attending sumr camps.

But Sora Kenji—

He didn't even possess an official Trainer certification from the Unova League.

And this wasn't Unova anyway.

It was the Sinnoh region.

Without the ability to register at the Community Center—essentially the local Pokémon Center—he couldn't receive League subsidies.

That ant paying out of pocket for local accommodations.

"Wait… how much did you say per night?"

After hearing the price, Sora Kenji felt the full force of this place's shalessness.

Kitakami had no hotels or inns.

Only ordinary wooden houses.

Never mind the decor or comfort level—the price alone was enough to make a budget traveler like him hesitate.

"1,300 per night."

"If you stay three nights at once, I can give you a ten percent discount."

The man speaking was a bald elderly caretaker—the sa administrator encountered in the gas.

In Sora Kenji's mind, he was practically the king of Kitakami's profiteers.

After this brief interaction, Sora Kenji had already cursed him internally dozens of tis as a shaless old swindler.

This price was outrageous!

In the Pokémon world's general economy, Sora Kenji could stay in a proper hotel in major cities like Castelia City or Opelucid City for just 300.

And here, in this remote mountain backwater, the price was more than four tis higher?

Even though Brock had warned him that Kitakami's prices were absurd, seeing it firsthand still made him suck in a sharp breath.

"Hey? Why are you leaving?"

The caretaker called after him.

"All our guesthouses charge this rate. Since it's not peak tourist season, this is already much cheaper."

"..."

Sora Kenji didn't slow down.

He wasn't playing negotiation gas or trying to haggle.

The truth was simple:

He genuinely couldn't afford it.

Fortunately, he had prepared in advance.

To avoid being taken advantage of by Kitakami's opportunistic locals, Sora Kenji had carefully planned for food, clothing, shelter, and travel.

Stay in a guesthouse?

He was a traveler.

All he needed was a place to sleep.

With a sleeping bag, couldn't he just head into the forest and set up camp?

As for safety…

With Victini and Lilligant by his side, he had nothing to fear from ordinary wild Pokémon.

"They really think I'm an easy mark."

That said, Sora Kenji couldn't leave Mossui Town imdiately.

First, he needed to wait for Victini to return.

They had agreed to regroup near the bus station before sunset at the latest.

Second, he needed to locate the siblings Carmine and Kieran from the ga.

Those two—and their grandparents—were among the very few residents in all of Kitakami who hadn't been corrupted by greed and still retained basic decency.

Most importantly, their grandfather Yukitada descended from the craftsman who had originally made Ogerpon's masks.

Even now, the family still preserved the technique for repairing them.

Although Sora Kenji had arrived in Kitakami five or six years earlier than the ga's tiline—

Ogerpon's masks likely hadn't been damaged recently.

If her Teal Mask was already broken, then Sora Kenji would need to find a way to repair it.

And for that—

locating Yukitada and his family was absolutely essential.