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"Excuse , miss. Is there sothing you need?"
Seeing Daisy standing in the middle of the road up ahead, Sato had no choice but to brake. Pretending not to know her, he put on a confused expression and asked the question.
Unfortunately, even though Sato's acting was pretty convincing, the little one beside him gave him away.
The mont Pichu saw the beautiful big sister Daisy—whom he had t once before—his eyes instantly turned into hearts. Without hesitation, he used Magnet Rise to float over to her, stubbornly trying to snuggle up to her face.
"This little guy... where the heck did he pick up this bad habit? How can he have zero resistance to pretty girls? I have to start keeping him in his PokeBall from now on. Otherwise, all my disguises are going to be wasted, and sooner or later it's going to get into real trouble."
Sato had black lines all over his face as he watched Pichu's behavior. Inwardly, it felt like a thousand Mudsdales were stampeding through his brain. He made a firm decision to convince Pichu to start staying in his PokeBall once this was all over.
"Sato, do you really think just changing your clothes and your face will stop from recognizing you? Look, even your Pichu just outed you all on his own."
Daisy clearly liked Pichu. After playing with him a little, she grinned at Sato, who now looked like he'd just taken a critical hit.
"Haah... Miss Daisy, what do you need from ? If I'd known beating you would make all those trainers from Pallet Town want to gang up on , I wouldn't have accepted your challenge. There are a ton of trainers around town right now who want to cause trouble for on your behalf. So, please don't make it harder for than it already is."
Sato, knowing that his cover was blown, didn't bother keeping up the act. Right in front of Daisy, he removed the Ditto-made human skin mask from his face. Looking rather annoyed, he spoke with a hint of helplessness.
As soon as he finished, he gave Pichu a cold look and beckoned him back.
Pichu, though young, was smart. The mont he saw Sato's stern expression, he knew he'd ssed up big ti. Putting on a pitiful face, he floated back to Sato's side. (Pichu used Charm on Sato!)
But this ti, Sato wasn't having it. He gave Pichu a light smack on the butt as punishnt, then set the now-pouting Pokémon back on his shoulder.
"Hahaha~~ Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. I actually ca to give you a ferry ticket. Lately, the tickets from Pallet Town's harbor to Cinnabar Island have been selling out like crazy. They've all been gone for days. I knew you were in a hurry to get to Cinnabar, so I asked soone to help get one for you. Consider it a reward for beating ."
Hearing that Sato was now dodging all around Pallet Town thanks to the angry crowd of trainers, Daisy laughed heartily before explaining the real reason she'd co.
In truth, Daisy had no ill intentions. She'd just returned from the harbor herself and knew exactly how things were there.
For reasons unknown, tickets from Pallet Town's harbor to Cinnabar Island had suddenly beco incredibly hard to co by.
Plus, Pallet Town's harbor was just a small one. Only two small ferries departed each day—one in the morning, one in the evening.
So recently, those tickets had beco a rare commodity. Diasy had to pull a few strings just to get one from another trainer.
"I see. That really helps out. Thanks a ton."
Sato quickly connected the dots with the Team Rocket's Rookie Competition and imdiately realized she was telling the truth. He gratefully accepted the ticket.
"Well, now that I've delivered it, I'll be on my way. Let's have another battle soti if the chance cos up. My next destination is the Kalos region. If we both make it to the Kalos League, let's have a rematch. Next ti, I'll show you what I'm really capable of."
Diasy handed him the ferry ticket, then exchanged contact info with him. Before leaving, she issued a confident challenge.
Clearly, her competitive nature hadn't cooled off. She was still brooding over her previous loss and eager to redeem herself.
She also warned him that the atmosphere around Pallet Town's harbor had beco a bit strange lately—and told him to be careful.
"The Kalos League, huh? Best of luck. If I get the chance, I'll head to Kalos too. If you're still traveling there, maybe we can et again for another battle."
Sato nodded thoughtfully at her words.
Kalos was the origin of ga Evolution. If his Swampert was going to take another step forward anyti soon, tapping into the power of ga Evolution was the most reliable path.
One way or another, he was bound to make the trip to Kalos eventually.
After saying goodbye, Sato hopped onto his Acro bike and rode away. Several trainers—who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere—watched the departing scene with envy as he waved farewell to Diasy.
After leaving Pallet Town's borders, Sato continued south along the main road. In less than half an hour, he arrived at a small harbor situated by the coastline.
In truth, the southern coast of Pallet Town was a deep-water port—perfectly suited for building a major harbor. Unfortunately, due to the area's geography, constructing a large harbor there wasn't really practical.
(Note: The area around Pallet Town is largely Pokémon habitat, with much of it being uninhabited. The local economy is a bit underdeveloped. Compared to Vermilion City's harbor—which is closer to Kanto's economic center, Saffron City—building a large harbor in Pallet Town doesn't make much sense.)
Small as it was, the Pallet Town harbor had everything it needed. Thanks to a thriving tourism industry, the harbor still saw a decent amount of foot traffic every day.
Just as Diasy had ntioned, Sato hadn't been inside the harbor long before he sensed sothing... off.
He sharply picked up on the way so of the people under nearby roofs or in the shadows were watching others—eyes filled with the kind of focus you'd see in a predator sizing up prey. A chilling air of violence seed to perate the entire harbor.
"Looks like this Rookie Competition has attracted way too many people, and the quality of the participants is pretty high, too. Judging from what Diasy said earlier, tickets from Pallet Town to Cinnabar have been sold out for days. In other words... there aren't enough tickets to go around."
Feeling that sothing wasn't right, Sato began carefully observing the crowd. He quickly realized many of them were mbers of Team Rocket. Piecing together Diasy's earlier warning, he got a good sense of what was happening here.
Only three days remained until the first phase of the Rookie Competition began—the phase where everyone had to find the competition's location.
And when you factored in the ti it took to sail from Pallet Town to Cinnabar Island, that left less than a full day.
Which ant... the countdown had already begun.
And with only two small ferries departing daily, the number of available tickets was extrely limited.
But the rewards for this Rookie Competition were just too good. Nearly every Rocket rookie from the nearby towns had signed up—and quite a few had completed the tasks required to make it here.
So, naturally, a large number of Rocket recruits who hadn't managed to buy tickets in ti were now facing the reality of elimination.
At this point, those who didn't have tickets but still wanted to reach Cinnabar Island had only one option left:
That's right—take them by force from those who did have tickets.
Of course, this was still Pallet Town's harbor. The town's reputation carried weight, so Rocket mbers weren't bold enough to make a move in broad daylight.
But Sato figured... once night fell, this harbor would beco a warzone.
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