Logan felt a strange itch of curiosity in his heart, unsure what was going on around him. Still, he pretended not to notice the stares from other Trainers. After collecting his room keycard, he left the Pokémon Center straight away, planning to buy a new set of clothes. The fancy outfit Professor Oak had given him just wasn't wearable anymore. Fortunately, he wasn't short on cash at the mont. He had spent most of his ti recently wandering the wilderness, which ant he barely had any chances to spend money anyway.
As with nearly every city, a comrcial street had been built around the Pokémon Center. This was standard urban planning—Pokémon Centers were always surrounded by busy shopping areas. Logan had to admit, the people behind this setup had sharp business instincts. After all, most Trainers who arrived in a new city would stay at or near the Pokémon Center, making it the perfect spot to build a comrcial hub that profited off them.
Aside from beginner Trainers, those with any real experience weren't exactly broke. With a recognized Trainer badge, one was entitled to yearly subsidies from the Pokémon League. And that wasn't even counting the potential profits from exploring the wild. Finding a rare artifact out there could earn a Trainer a small fortune. Take Logan, for instance—he currently had a valuable fossil and the 'Moon Stone' that Giovanni had gifted him. That stone alone was so rare it could easily make him a billionaire.
In fact, both Giovanni and Lance were surprisingly generous people. It showed that for real Trainers, money wasn't even a concern. If Giovanni weren't funding Team Rocket's operations, he probably wouldn't care about money at all.
The League did crack down on illegal Pokémon trafficking, but there were also legitimate Pokémon trade channels. So Trainers caught weaker wild Pokémon and sold them to ordinary families as a way to supplent their inco. Pokémon had beco deeply integrated into human society—most households had one as part of the family.
Logan arrived at the mall next to the Pokémon Center and picked out a set of clothes—nothing too fancy, just ordinary wear. Not the high-grade stuff made from Caterpie silk, which he'd need more ti to shop for properly.
Carrying his new outfit, he returned to room 1107 on the eleventh floor of the Pokémon Center. The accommodations here were built to five-star hotel standards. The more badges a Trainer had, the bigger the discount they received—just another sign of how highly Trainers were regarded in this world. After all, their success was won by risking their lives.
"I'm gonna take a shower first. wtwo, you and the others stay here and wait a bit."
[Leave them to .]
wtwo's voice echoed softly in Logan's mind.
Logan placed his three Poké Balls on the table. He wasn't worried at all about theft. While it was true that so thieves targeted Pokémon, they usually went after weaker, family-owned ones. No one in their right mind would try to steal a powerful Pokémon. Besides, Pokémon inside their Poké Balls could break out using their own strength. Even if soone tampered with the release chanism, it would only delay them slightly. Anyone foolish enough to steal wtwo's Poké Ball would probably get a first-hand lesson in reincarnation.
In short: if you didn't have the power, don't even think about stealing Pokémon—it'd only backfire.
In the bathroom, Logan turned on the hot water and sank into a warm bath. A month of living in the wilderness had taken its toll on both his body and mind. Only by watching his Pokémon grow stronger had he been able to suppress his fatigue.
He stayed in the tub for over half an hour before finally scrubbing himself clean and stepping out. Dressed in his new clothes, he placed the Poké Balls back on the nearby table so they were close at hand. From the minibar, he grabbed a drink, sat in the plush hotel chair, and powered up the in-room computer to browse the news.
"Pffft—"
He nearly spat out his drink the mont he scrolled through the trending headlines on social dia.
[Logan, what is it?]
wtwo, whose thoughts mirrored a human's, asked in his mind.
"It's nothing... just Lance being a pain in the ass again."
Logan let out a laugh sowhere between amused and annoyed.
When they had parted ways half a month ago, Lance had said he'd help Logan go after Team Rocket. Who knew the proud man was so dead serious? Over the past few days, multiple Team Rocket bases across several cities had been hit hard—thanks to none other than the Dragon-type Elite Four Champion. The damage to their infrastructure was severe. And to top it off, this mysterious and powerful figure had publicly declared that he was doing it all to avenge his 'beloved younger brother.'
Now, even though Logan had been living like a hermit in Mt. Moon, the dia spotlight found him again. People everywhere were trying to track him down. After all, being the younger brother of the Dragon Master—soone practically revered in the Kanto region—was already a dazzling identity. But Logan had also once been hailed by the League as a "rising star Trainer." With all this added up, his fa had skyrocketed once more. No wonder so many Trainers had recognized him earlier.
Logan actually liked attention to a certain extent, but not too much. Being overly famous brought its own set of headaches. Turns out, even if he didn't seek out trouble, trouble would co find him.
Word had it that Clair, the Gym Leader of Blackthorn City over in Johto, was furious and wanted to et him personally. Clair, of course, was Lance's cousin. And the Dragon Clan in Blackthorn had gone as far as to announce that they would be heading to Kanto to "reconnect with family." Logan couldn't help but sneer at that.
Just like Lance had said, that clan was a decaying family. They wanted to manipulate the power of dragons without having the strength to back it up. Now that Lance had risen to fa as an Elite Four Champion, they basked in his glow. And with Logan being the next potential "Dragon Prodigy," they were eager to cling to him before he fully matured.
Lance himself rarely went back to Johto. He felt no sense of belonging to his father's side of the family—in fact, he despised them. Logan wondered: if the people of Blackthorn City ever learned about Lance's dramatic, idealistic dreams, would they rush to disown him first?
"The League's behavior is awfully ambiguous lately…" Logan muttered.
From what he could tell, the League officially had no idea that Giovanni—the forr Viridian City Gym Leader—was also the leader of Team Rocket. And yet, Lance had known all along. After Lance made a splash in the dia, the League had started hyping Logan up too. His fa was clearly being fueled by the League's own efforts.
It was almost as if the League, though wary of Lance, was also trying to curry favor with him. But that made sense—when faced with absolute strength, political power beca a joke. The Elite Four answered to no one. The League mostly governed ordinary people, not individuals like Lance.
Logan searched for information about Lance online. There was very little. Only a few side-profile photos and scant details existed. Searching for the Kanto Elite Four yielded even fewer results. It was like they were mythologized figures—shrouded in mystery, rarely appearing in public. Even in this age of digital dia, information was still tightly controlled by those in power.
It seed neither the Kanto League nor the Kanto Elite Four wanted ordinary people knowing too much about them. This was a sharp contrast to other regions.
"Lance… what exactly do you expect to do with all this?"
To be honest, Lance had treated him extrely well. This was definitely the kind of care you only gave to a real younger brother. He'd gifted him a rare Dratini, helped boost his reputation, and even gone to war with Team Rocket on his behalf.
But Logan had no interest in Lance's over-the-top ideals. Those dreams were like the fantasies of a "hero of justice"—a false utopia bound to drown those who chased it.
And Logan wasn't foolish enough to jump into the water, knowing he'd drown.
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