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Hearing Sato's words, Wattson frowned slightly, though he didn't feel it was appropriate to pressure Sato too much.
After all, he had been through it himself and knew how difficult League promotion missions could be. The fact that Sato was already willing to set aside part of his time to help was more than generous.
"No problem. Then it's settled, kid. Let's exchange contact numbers—I'll definitely give you an answer tonight."
As if thinking of something, Wattson suddenly reached out with his plump hand and gave Sato's shoulder a friendly pat, smiling mysteriously.
"Oh right, kid. Sometimes, you shouldn't rush things. You need to distinguish between what's important and what's secondary—otherwise, you'll end up taking a huge fall."
Before leaving, he added that sentence earnestly, leaving Sato momentarily puzzled.
Afterward, the two exchanged contact information. Sato also took the opportunity to bid farewell to Horn and his daughter, then walked out of the ice cream shop.
Once outside, Sato mounted his off-road bicycle and headed toward the Pokémon Center in the city center.
As expected, although the Pokémon Center had backup generators, their output was insufficient. The entire building was now suffering from a severe power shortage. Most of the electricity was barely enough to keep the intensive care ward running.
Yet Mauville City was one of Hoenn's largest cities. Even with the blackout, the number of injured Pokémon hadn't decreased at all.
Without stable power, many medical devices in the Pokémon Center were unusable, causing efficiency to plummet. The place was now completely overcrowded.
The moment Sato stepped inside, a wave of hot air rushed toward him. What greeted his eyes were countless Pokémon still waiting for treatment, followed immediately by painful cries echoing in his ears.
"From a human perspective, those Galvantula occupying the power plant are truly detestable."
Seeing this tragic scene, Sato felt the severity of the situation more clearly than ever. He couldn't help but develop a trace of dislike toward the Galvantula.
In fact, the Joltik line had a notoriously bad reputation in the Pokémon world—especially among Electric-type Pokémon, where they were considered pests.
They frequently siphoned electricity from others, stealing power directly from Electric-type Pokémon. Worse still, to secure a continuous supply, they would even enslave other Electric-types.
Of course, from the Galvantula line's perspective, this behavior was merely a means of survival and reproduction. To them, any creature that obstructed their continuation was an enemy.
Different standpoints naturally led to different conclusions.
"Still, since I'm human, I'll stand on humanity's side. Those Galvantula really are a scourge and must be dealt with as soon as possible. Otherwise, not only will Mauville City continue suffering without electricity, even the wild Electric-type Pokémon living nearby won't have it easy."
After further analyzing the seriousness of the issue, Sato quickly firmed up his stance, mentally labeling the Galvantula as a threat that needed to be eliminated.
Seeing the Pokémon Center packed to capacity, Sato realized he had chosen the wrong place to rest. He immediately prepared to leave.
"Sir with the Pikachu on your shoulder—please wait!"
Before he could turn around, a hurried Nurse Joy called out to him.
"Is there something you need, Nurse Joy?"
Sato wasn't annoyed at being stopped. Instead, he asked politely, looking at the Nurse Joy who had rushed over.
"Your Pikachu still has plenty of electricity, right? The Pokémon Center's backup power is almost depleted. One of our treatment machines can't operate due to insufficient power. Would you be willing to have your Pikachu supply it with some electricity?"
Nurse Joy explained quickly, her face filled with hope.
"I'd be happy to help. Pikachu, what do you think?"
After understanding the situation, Sato agreed without hesitation and turned to ask Pikachu.
"Pika~!"
Since Sato had no objections, Pikachu certainly didn't either. It immediately hopped onto Nurse Joy's shoulder and rubbed its cheeks against hers, clearly eager to help.
"Thank you so much! Please come with me."
Seeing Sato and Pikachu agree, Nurse Joy beamed with relief and quickly led them toward the treatment room.
Compared to an ordinary Pikachu, Sato's Pikachu—thanks to the Mutated Thunder Orb within its body—had several times the electrical reserves of a normal one.
With its help, a treatment machine in one of the intensive care rooms soon regained power. The Pokémon receiving treatment there gradually stabilized, its life signs returning to normal.
"Big Sister, this is bad! Some people are causing trouble in the room next door—Second Sister can't hold them back anymore!"
Suddenly, a younger-looking Nurse Joy burst into the room in a panic, urgently reporting to the Joy tending to a Pokémon inside.
"What do I always teach you? Don't panic when something happens. Calm down. You must prioritize tasks properly—otherwise, you'll lose sight of what matters. Go inform the guards outside. Our responsibility is to save lives, not break up fights."
The senior Nurse Joy's expression immediately turned stern. She walked over, lightly tapped the younger Joy on the head, and reprimanded her in a low but serious voice.
Hearing this, the younger Joy's face flushed red. After saying she understood, she hurried out of the room toward the guards.
"Things must be prioritized… otherwise you'll lose sight of what matters. So that's it."
Hearing the senior Nurse Joy's words, Sato felt as if he'd been struck by lightning. Suddenly, everything clicked.
He had been confused about Wattson's parting words earlier. Now, he finally understood what they meant.
For Sato, the promotion mission was certainly important. But from the League's perspective, restoring power to Mauville City was far more important—so much so that, in their eyes, his promotion mission didn't even compare.
If Sato focused solely on completing his own task while ignoring the mission to restore power, that would truly be losing sight of priorities.
"This promotion mission isn't just testing one's mindset—it's also testing loyalty to the League. If I were to ignore Mauville City's power crisis for my own benefit, it would clearly show that my self-interest outweighs my loyalty."
"Even if I completed the mission successfully, I'd probably still be labeled as selfish. In that case, it would be hard to catch the attention of the League's higher-ups in the future, let alone be trusted with important responsibilities."
After considering the conflict between the two missions from both his own perspective and the League's, Sato broke out in a cold sweat, feeling extremely fortunate.
About ten minutes later, Sato bid farewell to the senior Nurse Joy and left the Pokémon Center with an exhausted Pikachu.
He checked into a nearby hotel that could barely maintain basic lighting and waited patiently for Wattson's message.
By now, Sato had completely set aside his promotion mission and was focusing all his thoughts on how to successfully restore Mauville City's power supply.
At around 7 p.m., Sato finally received Wattson's reply. According to the message, Wattson had already secured a sufficient number of specially made rubber suits and Rhyhorn with the Lightning Rod ability. He was currently waiting for Sato at the Pokémon Center.