"Big Brother, you're so strong, you must have collected a lot of Badges already, right?"
The Youngster squatted on the ground, asking with wide-eyed curiosity.
"No, I don't have a single Badge yet. I'm actually on my way to Petalburg City to get my first one."
Kashiwagi shook his head. He gave the Poochyena's paw a little shake, ruffled the fur on its head, and then flipped the little guy over to scratch its belly.
The Youngster looked surprised, but his expression soon turned to one of pure admiration. "With your strength, Big Brother, I bet you'll defeat the Gym Leader easily!"
Kashiwagi chuckled. "That's not necessarily true."
"It's definitely true!"
The starstruck Youngster was so immersed in his admiration that he completely missed the "save me" look Poochyena was shooting him.
"Whimper... whimper..."
Poochyena let out a pathetic whine. It wanted to resist and give this human a nasty bite, but a glance at Chansey out of the corner of its eye made its courage vanish. It could only stick its tongue out and look aggrieved.
Kashiwagi found the way its little tongue flickered quite amusing and reached out, tempted to give it a pinch—
"Lucky!"
"Ahem. Poochyena really is a cute Pokémon."
He pulled his hand back just in time at Chansey's warning. He knew he shouldn't push his luck; even a dog—err in this case, a Poochyena—would bite if cornered.
The Youngster blinked, finally realizing his Poochyena's predicament. He quickly scooped up the limp, defeated pup. "Of course it is! If you're interested, there's something in that direction—"
"Oh! Speaking of which, if it's you, Big Brother, you could definitely catch that guy!"
"Catch what?"
Kashiwagi was puzzled by the kid's sudden burst of excitement.
"There's a massive Azumarill in the nearby forest! It usually stays in the pond, but sometimes it comes out for Berries. It's super strong! A ton of Trainers have been chased off by it!"
The Youngster put Poochyena down and gestured wildly with his hands, describing an Azumarill that was nearly as tall as him—roughly 1.5 meters.
An Alpha Pokémon?
Kashiwagi and Chansey exchanged a look.
"I think I'll pass. I'm not particularly interested in Azumarill."
He shook his head decisively.
The "Water Rabbit" was certainly "rare" enough, but unfortunately, it was another low-speed Pokémon that relied on priority moves to be fast. At this stage, he really just wanted to find something with high natural speed. He had zero interest in chasing an Azumarill around a forest all day.
"Oh... well, okay then."
The Youngster looked disappointed; he clearly enjoyed watching other people catch Pokémon.
"Instead of me catching it, why don't you wait until you're ready and catch it yourself? It'll probably be a lot easier if you use an Electric-type," Kashiwagi suggested.
To his surprise, the kid rejected the idea flat-out. "I'm not interested in Azumarill either. I prefer Dark-types."
Then why were you egging me on?
Kashiwagi gave him a speechless look.
-----
After parting ways with the Youngster, they gathered some fresh Berries in the forest and had lunch with Chansey and the others.
Kashiwagi had intended to feed the wild Pokémon as a way of giving back for the Berries, but unfortunately, Aggron and the rest of the team looked far too intimidating. The timid ones stayed far away, and even the brave ones didn't want to court disaster. This left Kashiwagi standing there with a handful of Pokéblocks and nobody to give them to.
At 2:00 PM.
He successfully arrived in Petalburg City. Looking down at the city from a high vantage point, the sheer amount of greenery made it look as though it had been built right inside a lush forest.
"This city where people mingle with nature..."
He felt the gentle caress of the sea breeze, and the restlessness he felt at the sight of his first Gym gradually settled into a calm focus.
Most cities in Hoenn were near the ocean, and Petalburg was no exception. The river that cut through the western side of the city led to a vast, boundless sea. It didn't carry a heavy briny scent, but rather a hard-to-describe warmth.
"Are you ready?"
Kashiwagi asked, but there was no immediate response.
He reached out with his right hand and tapped the Galarian Corsola on his left shoulder, forcing it awake.
Its sleep disturbed, Galarian Corsola opened its eyes, which glowed with a faint red light. It curled its mouth into a frown, looking very displeased.
Kashiwagi said, "You've got a part in the Gym battle later. Get ready."
Galarian Corsola: "..."
It didn't even bother to respond; it just stayed "muted".
Seeing that his message had been delivered, he didn't bother the little guy further. Galarian Corsola was actually much more reliable than expected; if you scheduled two hours a day for move practice, it wouldn't give you a second less.
Of course, it wouldn't give you a second more, either.
As for battles, as long as it was notified in advance, it would definitely wake up and put in the work. If not notified... well, if the enemy's attacks weren't particularly fierce, it wasn't uncommon for it to just "slack off" until the match ended.
The Pokémon Center.
Kashiwagi gave his team a pre-battle check-up to ensure everyone was in peak condition.
Unfortunately, when he arrived at the Petalburg Gym full of confidence, he was informed by the automated voice guide at the door that all reservations for the day were full.
"It's that popular?"
He had no choice but to use his Pokédex to book a slot for tomorrow afternoon. He looked regretfully at the Petalburg Gym, which was five or six times larger than it appeared in the anime.
As his fame grew, the Gym Leader, Norman, had expanded the facility time and time again. Eventually, the Petalburg Gym became one of the top-tier locations in Hoenn in terms of both scale and reputation.
A whole day of waiting...
Should I head to Rustboro City first and challenge the Rock-type Gym?
He could always take the high-speed Maglev train back later. After all, Hoenn's Maglev network was fast and reached everywhere. Traveling on foot might take a long time due to detours, but the train could get him there in just a few hours.
As he was weighing his options, he suddenly noticed a flyer on the ground.
Picking it up, he saw it was a promotional pamphlet for a newly established Gym in neighboring North Petalburg. It highlighted a new Gym recognized by the League, founded by one of Norman's admirers.
Kashiwagi glanced at it, felt no interest, and crumpled it into a ball.
While he could certainly challenge the smaller "unofficial" Gyms that were still League-recognized, his nostalgia drove him toward the original Gyms from the games. He wanted to meet the familiar Gym Leaders.
"Hey! You! What do you think you're doing?!"
A sudden, sharp questioning rang in his ear.
He turned and saw a brat about 1.6 meters tall, glaring at him with pure fury.
Confirming there was no one else around, he asked confusedly, "...What did I do?"
"How could you crumple our flyer up like trash!"
The brat squawked and yelled as if his honor had been personally insulted, pointing at the paper ball in Kashiwagi's hand. "What gives you the right to look down on the North Petalburg Gym!"
The noisy shouting immediately drew the attention of passersby.
"..."
Kashiwagi's lip twitched. He said bluntly, "If you're just looking for trouble, I'm calling Officer Jenny to let her settle this."
The calm response made the angry brat freeze.
Wait, what!?
Why isn't he following the script!?
Shouldn't he argue with me, get fed up, and then head to the North Petalburg Gym to challenge us out of spite?
"Actually, I think you might be a scammer. No, I'm definitely calling Officer Jenny."
Seeing the other party frozen in place, Kashiwagi didn't back down. He stepped forward, grabbed the kid's arm, and shouted to the onlookers, "Could some kind soul help me call the police!"
"I'll do it!"
A bystander, happy to witness the drama, took up the task.
The brat tried to bolt the moment he heard the word "police," but the hand gripping his arm was like a vice; he couldn't break free. He immediately panicked. "I'm not a scammer! I'm a Trainer from the North Petalburg Gym! Big Brother, I'm sorry! I really wasn't trying to cause trouble!"
"You can save all that for Officer Jenny."
Kashiwagi heard the distant sound of a siren and gave a satisfied smile.
"I..."
The brat's mouth hung open in disbelief. Watching Officer Jenny get closer and closer, he hung his head like he was attending his own funeral.