The time spent in the Hoenn region had been too long. Returning to his long-missed home, Ace couldn't help but sigh: there's no place like home.
The area where he currently lived was generally stable, and Ace had often thought that it would be nice to simply stop bothering with the main storyline events and live a peaceful life.
However, at this point, some things weren't as simple as just letting go. To put it bluntly, the familiar storyline from his memory was already completely fractured because of his interference. If Ace truly washed his hands of it, he genuinely feared that trouble would find him even while sitting at home.
It was always better to proactively deal with problems than to passively wait for things to go wrong and then clean up the mess himself.
"Rotom, what's the situation?"
Ace sat on the sofa, asking Rotom about the affairs of the Kanto region.
"No change whatsoever."
Rotom replied, and a virtual projection appeared in the living room. Rotom displayed recorded footage from the surveillance cameras near the villa over the past period for Ace to review.
First, concerning the orchard, thanks to the Pokémon's care, the Berry output remained extremely stable. Whenever the fruit ripened, League members would arrive with a convoy to harvest it. Virtually nothing had changed there.
Next were the visitors.
"The Chairman (of the League), Ash, Gary, Green... Hmm... Crystal came too? What did these guys want with me?"
Looking at the scenes displayed by the virtual image, Ace was utterly confused, not knowing why these individuals had sought him out.
"The League Chairman visiting you is likely related to the Champion and Elite Four positions," Rotom immediately explained to Ace. "The Champions and Elite Four for the Kanto and Johto regions have been finalized. I found this news online. Ash and Gary were appointed as the Champions for the Kanto and Johto regions respectively. Because of this, a Champion's challenge battle took place, with many powerful Trainers challenging the two, hoping to replace them as Champion."
"Overestimating themselves. They all probably failed, right?"
Ace scoffed with a smile. He was quite clear about the strength of those two protagonists.
"Indeed," Rotom affirmed Ace's guess. As the footage continued to play, Ace noticed another group of League members arriving later.
Just as Ace wondered why, this group left a letter. Before Ace could speak, a mechanical arm extended, handing the letter to Ace.
Ace took the letter, tore it open, glanced through it briefly, and then wore an expression of astonishment. For Ace to be this surprised, it showed how shocking the contents of the letter were.
The letter was quite lengthy, but Ace summarized it into one sentence:
The League was planning to establish a town near Ace's residence and was formally inviting him to become the Gym Leader of the new town.
Of course, the end of the letter also stated that if Ace was unwilling, they kindly requested him to at least look after the newly established town, given his good relationship with the League.
Ace simply rolled his eyes at this, feeling helpless about the League's audacity. He had originally moved here to escape towns and crowds. Now, the League's plan made him quite uncomfortable.
However, Ace also understood that this was an inevitable trend of development. His two businesses with the League, both the Berries and the Great Balls he manufactured, were highly profitable ventures. But Ace's location was too remote, making the round-trip transportation costs extremely high.
The League initially only wanted to build a direct road to speed up shipping. However, after an on-site inspection, the League realized the area was large enough to be developed into a town.
While the initial cost would be much higher, it was a more cost-effective approach in the long run. Moreover, they didn't need to invest too much upfront—just build some supporting facilities, introduce some residents and developers, and naturally, people willing to settle would arrive and begin development.
Ace was powerless to stop this, unless he moved again. But if Ace were just a lone person, he could move whenever he liked. Now, however, relocating both the orchard and the Poké Ball factory would be incredibly troublesome.
Sighing, Ace decided he could only take things one step at a time. The letter also included a blueprint for the new town construction, which showed that the new town was still quite a distance from his current home—about a fifteen-minute drive.
"It's barely acceptable."
Ace clicked his tongue, then continued watching the virtual footage. Since nothing else of importance happened, Ace finished watching, stood up, and went to the kitchen to cook himself a meal as a reward.
Immediately afterward, Ace took his well-rested Pokémon, and with Aerodactyl carrying him, flew toward the Indigo Plateau.
Meanwhile, as Ace went to discuss the town with the Chairman, the storyline in the Hoenn region officially began.
However, due to Ace's interference, Norman's family did not just move to Hoenn; Ruby, who had moved there much earlier, had been familiar with the Professor Birch family since childhood.
Whether it was the push of destiny or not, Ruby's and Sapphire's personalities were indeed swapped, leading to numerous arguments between the two mischievous kids.
Especially with Sapphire's eleventh birthday approaching, the two children made a pact: Ruby would conquer all the Pokémon Contest Championships in Hoenn, while Sapphire would collect all the regional Gym Badges.
After making this agreement, the two ran away from home together.
When Norman received the news from his wife, he was furious, crushing his phone with his bare hand. He ignored the Trainers waiting to challenge his Gym and left to search for Ruby.
At the same time, Norman secretly swore that once he caught Ruby this time, he wouldn't stop until his son's butt was thoroughly spanked—otherwise, he wouldn't deserve to be a Gym Leader!
Professor Birch, upon hearing this news, immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He knew about Ruby and Sapphire's pact and had even been quite supportive of it. As a gesture of support, he had even given Ruby one of the starter Pokémon, Mudkip, and a Pokédex. After all, Professor Birch considered Ruby to be his future son-in-law.
But hearing about his in-law's situation, Professor Birch was now worried. He secretly prayed that his future son-in-law would take the full blame and not expose his involvement.
Otherwise, Professor Birch knew Norman's temper. He would certainly become enraged over this and come looking for trouble with his close friend.
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