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Celadon City—a major metropolis located in central Kanto—was one of the largest cities in the region.
Its scale was second only to the massive eastern metropolis of Saffron City. To the east, Route 7 connected it directly to Saffron, while to the west, the bike route along Route 16 eventually led to Fuchsia City.
At around 4 PM, on the eastern outskirts of Celadon City, Sato was walking through a bustling street.
After arriving in Celadon via a Team Rocket aircraft, it didn't take long before Sato and the other 35 qualifiers were brought into an underground base built by Team Rocket beneath Celadon.
This massive facility, disguised beneath the Celadon Game Corner, was Team Rocket's current hidden headquarters.
There, Sato and the others had their first virtual meeting with the boss of Team Rocket—Giovanni.
Giovanni didn't say much. Most of it was just polite formalities, along with a slew of promised rewards and a heavy dose of indoctrination about loyalty to Team Rocket.
In the end, Sato and the others were informed that the final stage of the Rookie Competition would begin in one month, and the location would be Team Rocket's Celadon headquarters.
During this month-long break, participants were free to move about and were encouraged to mentally recover from the tense, high-stakes survival on the Mysterious Island.
Although their time on the island hadn't been long, Sato and the others had lived under constant threat. Each day was filled with peril and deadly combat.
Both the trainers and their Pokémon had developed varying degrees of post-battle stress syndrome. The mental strain was severe, and if not relieved properly, it could lead to serious consequences down the road.
Sato had expected this. But it wasn't until he returned to the safety and stability of human civilization that he realized just how bad it was.
He had become extremely sensitive, hyperaware of every movement around him—especially the eyes on him in a crowd. Every glance felt like a dagger at his back, keeping his nerves on edge.
His obviously odd behavior clashed with the easygoing city life, and the intimidating aura he unconsciously gave off made people avoid him—like a lion disguised in a flock of sheep, sparking fear even without roaring.
Along the way, several citizens had reported him, resulting in multiple "special check-ins" from Officer Jenny.
If not for his clean record and public reputation, as well as his overwhelming strength, he might have already been detained as a dangerous suspect and dragged away for interrogation.
Even so, he keenly sensed several Elite trainers covertly following him, each of them clearly on high alert.
It was obvious: the League's forces in Celadon City were now watching him. If he made any suspicious move, he had no doubt they would immediately join forces to try to take him down before he could do something dangerous.
They'd take him down first and ask questions later.
"Sigh… I need to adjust fast. If I don't, it'll be hard to return to a normal life—and those League agents will keep hounding me."
Outside the sparsely populated outskirts of the city, Sato stood beside a rice paddy, its vibrant green stretching out before him. He glanced to his left—where a burly man who had followed him from downtown still lingered—and sighed internally.
"Come out, Natu, Alakazam. As promised, our agreement is fulfilled. You're free now. This is the outside world—it's big and wide."
With that, Sato summoned both Pokémon right in front of the man tailing him, speaking to them via telepathy.
His sudden release of Natu and Alakazam caused the League agents shadowing him to tense up immediately.
The moment they sensed the powerful psychic aura emanating from Alakazam, they nearly released their Pokémon on reflex.
Throughout the journey, they had felt the overwhelming pressure radiating from Sato—a young trainer with a frightening presence. Their vast combat experience told them exactly what this meant.
It meant this young trainer had the strength to defeat—or even kill—them effortlessly.
If it weren't for their numbers, none of them would have dared follow someone as dangerous as Sato, especially after realizing he had already noticed them.
They were well aware that tailing him this far likely already annoyed him. Now that he had stepped into this deserted area and released such powerful Pokémon, the possibility of him attacking was dangerously high.
Fortunately, Alakazam did not receive any attack orders. The moment it appeared, it disappeared with a Teleport, without a word. Sato let out a faint sigh as he watched it vanish.
Though he felt a pang of regret, he was relieved that Natu, at least, had chosen to stay after some coaxing—meaning he hadn't lost the convenience of Teleport altogether.
"Thank you all for the protection, but I'll be excusing myself now. It's hard to relax with you following me like this, not to mention, it's incredibly annoying."
With Alakazam gone, Sato turned around and addressed the League trainers pretending to be tourists.
Without waiting for a response, he used telepathy to instruct Natu to teleport him away.
In the next instant—and to the dismay of the surrounding agents—Sato and Natu vanished from sight.
"Damn! We lost him! Everyone, split up and search the area! If we can't find him, none of us will be able to explain this back at HQ!"
The burly man closest to Sato panicked and shouted to his companions.
But despite his loud order, none of the other Elite trainers moved. They all nodded in response, but like him, they stood frozen in place.
These weren't rookies. They were seasoned League agents, veterans of countless crises. They knew exactly what it meant to go after someone like Sato alone.
He was already dangerous and visibly unstable. Now he had a Psychic-type Pokémon that could Teleport? If any of them ended up alone with him in the wilderness, they wouldn't even have the chance to escape.
No mission was worth dying for. Not to these jaded survivors of the League.
They had already spent half their lives in service. Now was the time to enjoy the perks, not throw their lives away chasing a target as lethal as Sato.
In the end, they all shared a silent understanding. They waited until nightfall, then finally dispersed as a group.
By that time, Sato had already crossed Route 7 and returned once more to the vibrant international metropolis of Saffron City.