Using the map from Vale's Pokédex, Aomori finally made his way out of Viridian Forest and arrived at Viridian City.
It was already night, and Viridian City was brightly lit. Suddenly, a loud bang erupted, and thick smoke and towering flames rose from not far away.
"Did the Pokémon Center explode again?" Aomori decided to ignore it. He recalled Absol and Pidgeotto, found a park, and sat down on a bench to consider the best way to complete his quest.
His current progress was 2/50, with three days remaining. Relying on finding people to challenge one by one was highly impractical; he needed to get people to come to him.
"I suppose I'll have to take a riskier approach," Aomori thought, glancing at his system points. An idea began to form in his mind.
The next day, at the Viridian City Pokémon Center.
A boy in a blue jacket, wearing a red-and-white hat, with a Pikachu perched on his shoulder, walked out the door alongside a girl with short orange hair, the two bickering lightheartedly.
"Hey, Misty, Pikachu and I are heading to Pewter City. What about you?"
"Of course I have to follow you! Don't forget, Ash, you still owe me a bike!"
"I know, I know! I said I'd pay you back, Loudmouth!"
"Who are you calling a Loudmouth?!"
"Aah! Ouch! That hurts! I'm sorry, stop pulling!"
Pika… Pikachu sighed silently at the pair.
As they walked, arguing the whole way, they passed a park and noticed it was packed with people, with cheers frequently erupting. Ash immediately became interested. He stopped a passerby and asked, "Excuse me, mister, what's going on over there?"
The man replied, "Some traveling Trainer from out of town set up a battle challenge. He said he wants to challenge the top Trainers here in Viridian City, and the winner gets one of his Evolution Stones."
"Traveling Trainer? Challenge?" Ash couldn't contain himself. 'Top Trainers'—wasn't that him? The Evolution Stone wasn't important; he had Professor Oak, after all.
Ash quickly thanked the man and, ignoring Misty's sharp cry of, "Hey, hey, what are you doing?", immediately grabbed her hand and pushed his way through the crowd.
Using the strong arms he'd developed through years of training, Ash easily squeezed to the front.
A battle had just begun. A square fighting area had been marked off in the clearing. On the right side were ordinary citizens, who were easily disregarded.
On the left was a handsome young man in a black trench coat. He held a red Ruby in his hand, and next to him was a flag bearing the inscription: "Wager Everything, Seeking Only Defeat" and the number "23 Wins." He was clearly the traveling Trainer running the challenge.
"He's so handsome!" Misty gushed, cupping her cheeks like a fan girl.
Across from him, a few girls had already formed a cheering squad and were enthusiastically yelling encouragement.
"Hmph, women," Ash thought, his eyes only on the Pokémon. He looked at the first Pokémon the challenger sent out and couldn't help but gasp in surprise: "He's so cool!"
The blue and white colors, the crescent-shaped horn, and the agile, intelligent eyes all deeply captivated Ash.
He pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon, only to receive the message: "Unknown Pokémon."
"Unknown Pokémon! Th-this is…" Ash grew even more excited, feeling like he had discovered a new continent.
"That Pokémon should be called Absol. It's from the Hoenn region," a helpful spectator explained.
"The Hoenn region?" Ash only knew about his own Kanto region; he had never heard of Hoenn.
"I know about the Hoenn region. It's on the other side of the ocean, and it has lots of unique Pokémon," Misty interjected.
"Unique Pokémon? Great! I've decided! Once I finish traveling Kanto, I'm going to travel the Hoenn region!" Ash declared, full of ambition.
"Ah, the Challenger is about to lose."
A voice from the crowd interrupted Ash's reverie, bringing his attention back to the battle.
The Challenger had sent out a Wartortle, which immediately used Water Gun to try and restrict Absol's movements.
Ash only saw Absol "frantically" dodging the Water Gun and asked in confusion, "Isn't Wartortle currently winning? Why are they saying he's going to lose?"
The helpful spectator explained, "Absol is too fast. It's dodging the Water Gun with ease, barely using any energy. On the other hand, Wartortle has been using Water Gun non-stop, so it's consuming a lot of stamina. It'll likely run out of steam soon."
"Ohhh," Ash finally understood.
At that moment, the Wartortle on the field finally collapsed, stopping its Water Gun attack and panting heavily, only to be instantly KO'd by Absol's Quick Attack.
"That Pokémon is incredible."
"It's been 24 matches, and it still has that much energy."
"Hey, are there any stronger Trainers? We need someone to force him to use his second Pokémon."
The surrounding spectators buzzed with discussion. Aomori, as the victor, offered a few words of encouragement to the Challenger, and while petting Absol, he secretly used Lesser Healing Spell to restore Absol's stamina.
Last night, Aomori had devised this unsophisticated yet highly effective plan: using a Fire Stone, which he had obtained from a 10x Dungeon Treasure Chest opening, as bait, and setting up a challenge for "top Trainers" as the pretext to attract Trainers to battle him.
He had also taken the time to buy a new coat and had someone make the banner.
This method had two weaknesses: first, Aomori had only captured two Pokémon so far, and to complete 50 Trainer battles in three days, he needed more stamina; second, Absol and Pidgeotto were not high level. If he encountered an experienced Trainer, he risked losing the match and losing the stone.
The first weakness could be mitigated by Lesser Healing Spell. As for the second, Aomori noticed a new move appearing on Absol's status screen and felt he could take the chance.
And so, Aomori set up the challenge. He had been quite lucky, having not encountered any formidable opponents and achieving 23 straight wins.
Oh, now it was 24. Aomori changed the 23 on the banner to 24.
Aomori scanned the crowd and called out loudly, "Are there any other Trainers who wish to challenge me? This will be the last match for today. My Absol doesn't have much energy left; it can only handle one more battle."
Absol appropriately slumped to the ground, feigning exhaustion.
Aomori inwardly shook his head. Absol's acting wasn't quite natural; it needed more practice.
Many onlookers were tempted, but one person spoke up faster than the rest.
"Me, me, me!" Ash burst out of the crowd, rushing forward eagerly.
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town! My dream is to become a Pokémon Master, and this is my partner, Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!"
Ash? The protagonist of this world?
Aomori recognized Ash immediately and focused his gaze on the powerful Pikachu, nodding cordially. "Hello, I am Aomori, a Trainer from the Hoenn region. This is Absol."
"Absol."
The current Ash was too naive. Aomori had no intention of deliberately trying to build rapport; leaving a good impression was enough. In reality, he was more interested in the "true main characters" (Team Rocket). Since Ash was here, they should be nearby too, right?
"A-choo!"
Perched on a nearby tree, the three members of the "true protagonist" group, armed with binoculars, all sneezed simultaneously.
"Ugh, who's talking about us?" Jessie cursed.
"That's not important, Meowth. Did you see that rare-looking Pokémon?" Meowth said. "If we catch it and deliver it to the Boss, he'll definitely be thrilled!"
"That's right! Then we'll get a promotion and a raise! Fantastic! Hahahaha!"
By the end, all three were laughing heartily together.
"James, Meowth, I'm leaving this to you."
"Don't worry, Jessie."
"Don't worry-th, Meowth."
"Hahahahahahahahaha…"