Houndoom remained at Cinnabar Gym.
Houndoom was already very strong now, and as for what kind of resutts it could achieve after a year, that would depend on Blaine's methods.
With his journey on Cinnabar Island over, Tetsuya also bought an S.S. Ticket to Littleroot Town in the Hoenn Region. After a night of sailing across the ocean, by the next morning, he was already greeted by completely different scenery.
An azure sky and faint white clouds.
Flying through the air were Pokémon such as Pelipper, Wingull, and Taillow, while those leaping from the ocean were also Water-type Pokémon unique to the Hoenn Region.
Upon arriving in the Hoenn Region for the first time, Tetsuya released all of his Pokémon. An environment like this was best for healing the soul…
Ditto, Mamoswine, Golurk, Weezing, Miltank, Drapion, and Ariados. These were the seven Pokémon currently by his side.
With Beedrill gone and Houndoom remaining at Cinnabar Gym, Tetsuya realized that the number of Pokémon he had with him was becoming smaller and smaller. This was not a good direction for things to be heading…
If he wanted to grow stronger and step onto a higher stage, then naturally, the more Pokémon he had available, the better, and the stronger the Pokémon he raised, also the better.
The number of Pokémon he currently had was clearly too small. Expanding his ranks had already become an urgent matter.
---◓---
The ship docked at Littleroot Town's port, and it was already noon.
Tetsuya's purpose in coming to Hoenn was very clear. He would go to Petalburg City to find Norman and join the unit fighting Team Magma. Among them, the one he was paying the closest attention to was Brodie, The Man of a Thousand Faces.
After casually finding a restaurant and eating lunch, Tetsuya prepared to head toward Petalburg City. As for the geography of Hoenn, there was no need for him to look into it at all. He already knew it like the back of his hand.
Passing by Professor Birch's Laboratory and following the main road would bring him to Oldale Town. Beyond Oldale Town was Petalburg City. It was very close to Littleroot Town, and at a normal walking pace, it would only take about two days to arrive.
However, after spending an entire day and night aboard the ship, his body was extremely fatigued, and he simply did not have the energy to continue walking. He found a nearby hotel and rested.
Before he had even woken from his afternoon nap, his phone began ringing. It was Duplica's mother, Yuri.
[Tetsuya, have you arrived in Hoenn?] Yuri asked.
"I just arrived today. I was delayed for a while on Cinnabar Island. What's wrong?"
[It's good that you've arrived. Norman just called. Recently, Brodie has become increasingly brazen and has committed crimes repeatedly. The Hoenn police haven't even seen his true appearance yet, so they've once again requested reinforcements from me. I've already given Norman your contact information. He should contact you when the time comes.] Duplica's mother said.
That was even better. It saved Tetsuya the trouble of introducing himself. However, that would be tomorrow's concern. After ending the call, Tetsuya continued sleeping.
Unexpectedly, not long after he had fallen asleep again, his phone rang once more. It was another unfamiliar number. Still half asleep, Tetsuya did not think much of it. After answering the call, he indeed heard an unfamiliar voice.
[May I ask if this is Tetsuya?]
Tetsuya responded affirmatively.
[Excellent! I'm Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg Gym. I heard from Yuri that she sent you to assist us in arresting Brodie. Is that correct?]
Only then did Tetsuya fully wake up. It seemed he would not be getting a good rest today. He had not expected Norman to call so quickly. It appeared Brodie had truly infuriated the Hoenn police.
Being able to contact Norman beforehand did save quite a bit of trouble. "Yes, I came specifically to assist you."
[Have you arrived in the Hoenn Region yet?] Norman asked.
'Uh… this Yuri… Was it so hard to send even just a message saying I'm here?'
"I just arrived in Littleroot Town today and am currently 'resting'. I should reach Petalburg City in about two days." Naturally, Tetsuya's intention was to keep Norman from continuing to disturb him.
Norman could only laugh awkwardly and said, [Oh… hahaha… Then contact me once you reach Petalburg City. I'll come pick you up!]
"Hai, thank you."
After ending the call, Tetsuya found himself completely unable to sleep, so he simply got up to investigate the current situation in the Hoenn Region.
Turning on the PC, Tetsuya began looking through the basic information on the current Hoenn's situation. In the recently concluded Champion competition, Steven had become the new Champion of Hoenn.
The Hoenn Region's new Elite Four positions had also officially been confirmed during this competition, mainly because Norman had not participated in this year's competition for an Elite Four position.
Dragon-type Drake was a veteran Elite Four member of the Hoenn Region, and his strength was formidable, no weaker than Agatha. The others were Dark-type Elite Four Sidney, Ice-type Elite Four Glacia, and Ghost-type Elite Four Phoebe.
Among them, Glacia and Phoebe were both women and were not particularly old, at most only twenty-five or twenty-six, yet they had already managed to become Elite Four members.
Moreover, neither of them had any real background, yet they had become Elite Four at such a young age…
Tetsuya admired them considerably. If he had the opportunity, he naturally wanted to seek some guidance from them. After all, among the Pokémon he currently had were Ice- and Ghost-types.
Of course, it was absolutely impossible for Glacia's combat power to be mentioned in the same breath as Pryce's, but that did not mean she was unsuitable for Tetsuya. Learning from the strengths of many different Trainers would certainly make him stronger.
As for Phoebe's level, although she was an Elite Four in Hoenn, she might not necessarily be much stronger than Matsuba, the Gym Leader of Ecruteak Gym, right now.
The backgrounds of these two really were enough to make one suspicious. Anyone capable of making Juan and Norman voluntarily give up their positions certainly could not be ordinary…
Tetsuya then investigated some matters concerning Team Magma and Team Aqua. Information about them was extremely limited, and everything he found was already common knowledge, so there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
However, for the Hoenn League, whose territory was already small yet still had to deal with two underground forces, a major reason things remained manageable was that Team Magma and Team Aqua refused to yield to one another and frequently fought each other, which instead saved the League a great deal of trouble.
After this brief investigation, Tetsuya had formed a general impression in his mind and could finally rest without worry. However, he soon received another call from Norman…
"What is it, Norman? I do know how to get to Petalburg City." Tetsuya sounded somewhat impatient as he spoke.
[No, no. We just received information that Team Magma is preparing to attack Professor Birch's Laboratory in Littleroot Town. Their objective is still unclear. I hope you can help,] Norman said.
"…All right, no problem. I can start right now," Tetsuya said. He thought that Team Magma truly had gone insane. They were actually attacking the Laboratory!
This was practically making enemies of all the Trainers in the entire Hoenn Region!
That was because many Trainers in Hoenn began their journeys by receiving a Pokémon from Professor Birch.
Therefore, most of them regarded this place as where their dreams had begun and considered Professor Birch their spiritual mentor. Since Team Magma now dared to attack Professor Birch's Laboratory, there had to be something important there. Otherwise, they would never dare take such a risk.