Asher looked out at the industrial city on the rise and felt a surging tide rushing straight at him.
Among the League's major regions, Hoenn had always been considered a relatively primitive, underdeveloped backwater.
But the scene before him proved that change was coming.
Under the leadership of powerful corporations, this ancient and untamed continent was being washed over by modern industry, pushing itself toward the kind of high-level industrialization seen in Galar...
At the docks of Rustboro City, a crowd of humanoid Pokémon clustered along the shore, all scrambling to grab luggage-hauling and cargo-moving jobs.
These Pokémon were the sort known for raw physical strength.
They had replaced outdated human manual labor and taken over the heavy lifting.
As for the humans who had been displaced, they were all off tightening bolts on Devon's assembly lines instead.
The moment he stepped off the ship, Asher immediately felt lighter all over. A purple-skinned humanoid Pokémon deftly snatched up his bags and parcels, then stood by waiting for directions.
With a single glance, the app gave him the details.
[Rotom... scanning information]
[Target: wild Tyrogue (male)]
[Level: 17]
[Element Affinity: -]
[Relationship: customer]
[Relationship Advice: He's providing a service for you. Don't forget to tip!]
No elemental affinity at all?!
Asher couldn't help feeling sorry for it. Aside from being stronger than average, a Pokémon like that really wasn't all that different from a human...
That said, the little guy really was excellent at physical labor. It carried every bag and package without even breathing hard.
They hadn't gone far before Hoenn customs stopped Asher in his tracks.
An Officer Jenny with teal hair said sternly, "Sorry. You're carrying non-native biological goods. That counts as suspected invasive species transport."
Apparently, Professor Oak's feed and energy cubes for him had caused a problem.
Asher calmly pulled out his Trainer license and smiled.
"I'm a Trainer. Can you cut me a little slack?"
Trainers were supposed to be the League's privileged class. Throwing his weight around should've been easy enough, right?
Three minutes later, Asher trudged into Rustboro City broke and miserable.
His VIP treatment only applied in Kanto. In Hoenn, Trainers from other regions got hit with double fines.
And during the Great Pilgrimage lottery, of all places he had to draw, he had drawn rural, middle-of-nowhere Hoenn...
He seriously suspected the professor had rigged it behind the scenes just to send him as far away as possible.
In any case, overseas Trainers always had it rough, which was exactly why the professional certification they earned carried so much weight...
"Hey, you in the red cap. You're a Trainer from out of town too, right?"
Asher turned at the voice.
A young man in a purple athletic jacket was standing there with a mature, self-assured air about him, holding a black Pokédex and scanning Flare up and down.
He looked like another Trainer who had come to Hoenn from somewhere else. While Asher was sizing him up, the young man kept talking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"My name's Paul. I'm a Trainer from Sinnoh. I heard Devon is hiring outside field operatives. Want to go take a look together...?"
[Rotom... scanning information]
[Target: Paul]
[Relationship: a Trainer who might be interesting]
[Relationship Advice: This guy seems pretty strong. He also seems interested in you]
The corner of Asher's mouth lifted.
He had just arrived in Hoenn and already found a strong leg to cling to. What could be better than that?
"Sure! Let's go together!"
Beep—
As Paul spoke, his Pokédex seemed to gather enough data and let out a crisp electronic chime.
[Species: Charmander]
[Life Level: 14]
[Type: Fire]
[Element Affinity: Fire 16]
[IVs: trash]
[Profile: A Pokémon with the power of fire. It is born with a flame burning at the tip of its tail. If that flame ever goes out, its life will end. It naturally likes warm things.]
The instant Paul saw the results, his expression turned cold.
"What the hell? I thought you might actually know what you were doing and had your Pokémon carrying an Everstone. But your Charmander's only level fourteen? What a good-for-nothing."
The second Paul insulted Flare, Asher almost slapped him on the spot.
You bastard. How dare you insult the friend who's absurdly close to me...
[Rotom! Your opponent has seen through your true level! Relationship has dropped to: good-for-nothing!]
Now Asher was even angrier.
Damn it! So the good-for-nothing he meant was me!
He refused to accept that. Getting Flare up two levels in just three months was already the result of a miraculous second growth driven by Bond!
I'm obviously very useful, okay?!
Once Paul realized what Asher's actual level was, it was as if he had taken back the invitation on the spot. He turned around and walked off without another word.
Asher stared at his cold, indifferent back, grinding his teeth, one breath away from shouting some dramatic line about how the poor shouldn't be underestimated forever...
After being fined into total poverty, Asher had no choice but to head into Petalburg Woods and look to nature for tonight's dinner.
Since he had died from overwork in his previous life, there was no way he was getting a job in this one.
Absolutely no chance he was going to work for Devon's capitalist bosses.
Of course, an even bigger reason was that he didn't want to run into Paul again at the hiring event...
Rustle, rustle—
As he moved through the dense forest, the sound of his footsteps brushing against the fallen leaves kept his nerves taut.
Even though this was only the safest outer edge of Petalburg Woods, Asher still felt danger lurking everywhere.
This was his first time grinding in the wild. Everything about it felt unknown and new.
Then suddenly, high on a treetop in the distance, Asher spotted an orange berry.
The app immediately locked onto it.
[Rotom! Scanning target...]
[One-look Rotom! Confirmed as: Oran Berry!]
[Eating it directly can quickly restore physical stamina!]
The Oran Berry, one of the many berries found in the wild, was a precious natural resource.
It was also the raw material used in Devon's industrial product, Potion.
The buyback price floated around a hundred Poké Dollars per berry.
A smile slowly spread across Asher's face...
As long as he got his hands on that berry, dinner was secured.
Right then, something angrily blocked their path, determined to stop them from striking it rich...
It was a vicious bug, with a huge red spike jutting from its forehead, nearly a foot long.
[Rotom... scanning information]
[Target: wild Wurmple]
[Level: 6]
[Element Affinity: -]
[Relationship: hateful intruder]
[Relationship Advice: Do you speak bug? If not, beat it up first!]
Looking at the thing that clearly had no sense of self-preservation, Asher laughed.
With Aura Power, he actually could communicate with it.
But with such a rare chance to train right in front of him, how could he pass it up?
"Flare! It's showtime! Time to show off the results of your training!"
"Gah!"
An orange-red little menace lunged forward and slammed down right in front of Wurmple!
Bug Pokémon were generally not very smart.
Wurmple, fearless like a newborn calf, opened with a String Shot at once, firing a blob of sticky white thread straight at Flare's face!
At that moment, Asher shouted, "Dodge!"
"Gah!"
The instant that command left his mouth, Flare dodged in exactly the direction Asher's intent guided her.
That single command carried a thousand unspoken meanings. It let Flare grasp exactly what Asher wanted and respond perfectly.
Such was the terrifying power of fourth-stage Aura Power.
After casually avoiding Wurmple's attack, it was time for Flare to counterattack.
During the past three months of training, no matter what Asher tried at first, he had been unable to teach Flare how to use Ember.
Until later...
He realized the secret was friction creates heat.
Every day, he had rubbed Flare's belly ten thousand times with all his heart, making her experience that burning sensation for herself.
And after three whole months, Flare had finally awakened to the true essence of fire!
Now, right here and now, Flare furiously rubbed her belly, trying to seize hold of that familiar scorching feeling.
There it was!
It was coming!
This was it!
"Gaaah—"
A spray of sparks burst from Flare's mouth like a flaming fountain.
[Innate Move: Ember]
It looked like an ordinary Ember, but the sparks were packed with Flare's terrifyingly intense feelings, raising both the fire's heat and destructive force to an entirely different level.
Seeing the firelight flickering inside Flare's mouth, Wurmple understood that its bug life was about to end right here...
Fwoosh—
One old blast of fire.
One-shot.
That was the true value of Bond.
Having won his first Pokémon battle in overwhelming fashion, Asher plucked the Oran Berry and smiled like a farmer staring at a perfect harvest.
"See? As long as you put your heart into it, there's no such thing as a useless Pokémon in this world! Heh heh heh..."