"That was indeed a coincidence. I sent Treecko out at noon, and it just happened to arrive in the afternoon. And as I mentioned before, you run way too fast—who in their right mind rushes from Pallet Town to Pewter City in just one day?"
Professor Birch rolled his eyes at Satoshi, as if wondering why he was so impatient.
"Sent it out at noon? Right when the game started?"
Satoshi immediately caught the key point. It seemed like he had been under surveillance from the moment he entered the game or even when he first registered his ID.
"Alright then, since you're apparently trying to train me, did you also notify every gym leader in the Kanto Region?"
That was a major concern. If all the Kanto gym leaders had been warned about him, it would make things a lot harder. After all, aside from Brock, Misty, and Erika, the other gym leaders were problematic in one way or another.
"I wouldn't know about that," Birch responded casually. "I'm a researcher based in Hoenn, not Kanto. This isn't my responsibility."
"Then who is? Professor Oak? He seems like the type to be in charge of something like this."
Satoshi narrowed his eyes. Professor Oak had given him Charmander, and Oak had also recognized him immediately when he first logged in.
"Guess."
"...Let's not play guessing games. Why are you closing your eyes now?"
"Guess."
Satoshi was not amused. Clearly, Professor Birch knew the truth but wasn't going to say anything. It seemed like he had anticipated this conversation and decided that closing his eyes was the best way to avoid giving anything away.
"Fine, I won't push that question. Last one—after I beat Brock, I got Treecko as a reward. But after I defeated Misty, I didn't receive anything. Where's my reward?!"
"Give me a Dratini, Larvitar, or Gible at least!"
Birch sighed and rolled his eyes again.
"Young man, are you dreaming?"
He finally opened his eyes to glare at Satoshi.
"I only gave you Treecko as a little boost to help you in the early stages of your adventure. That's it. You're not getting any more free Pokémon from me."
Satoshi smirked.
"Oh? So you're saying you increased the difficulty of my gym battles but won't be giving me any rewards? And you actually expect me to keep challenging the gyms?"
"...Wait, are you saying you won't challenge gyms if you don't get rewards?"
Birch looked genuinely shocked. This was probably the first time he had encountered a Trainer who was willing to ignore the gym challenge because of no rewards.
"Your goal is to train me, right?" Satoshi reasoned. "You want me to get stronger, but challenging gyms isn't the only way to do that. And from what I can tell, your only way of monitoring my strength is through gym battles. So, if I refuse to challenge gyms, how are you going to track my progress?"
Satoshi had already figured out that they weren't watching him all the time.
When he trained in the wild, there was no way they were keeping tabs on him.
"You... fine." Birch sighed in defeat. "I'll talk to the others about adjusting the rewards. You should continue challenging gyms."
Satoshi grinned.
"Good. But first, send me the reward for beating Misty. I defeated that Mega Gyarados after all—it was not easy!"
"...Did you say not easy? I seem to remember watching a Riolu punch a Mega Gyarados out cold in one hit."
"It's not you who was in the battle. If I say it was difficult, then it was difficult! If you don't agree, why don't you go fight it instead?"
After some grumbling, Birch finally gave in and promised to report back to his contacts. Shortly after, Satoshi received his reward for defeating Misty.
Although Satoshi still had many unanswered questions, this was good enough for now.
He was still curious about who was monitoring him and why they were interfering, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter.
If they were going to increase the difficulty, then they better provide better rewards. As long as that was the case, Satoshi didn't mind dealing with stronger opponents.
With that settled, Satoshi stopped questioning Birch and casually chatted with him for a while.
But since Satoshi had other priorities, he quickly said his goodbyes to Birch and Sapphire.
"By the way, Professor Birch, let me give you a little warning—this place is dangerous. If anything happens, stay in your room and don't come out."
Birch looked puzzled by Satoshi's cryptic words, but before he could ask, Satoshi walked away.
"Ash, where were you just now? You're late!"
Satoshi finally arrived at the Trainer Duel Arena, where Ash had just finished registering.
Ash turned toward him with a questioning look.
"I ran into an acquaintance and chatted for a bit. You signed up already?"
"Yeah, and the registration just ended! You missed it! I was hoping to battle you again!"
Ash looked disappointed. Even though they had just battled a few days ago, he was itching for a rematch.
Satoshi chuckled.
"You're still thinking about fighting me? You're too competitive. But don't worry—we'll have plenty of chances to battle in the future."
To be honest, Satoshi wasn't interested in participating in this arena.
The competition was too unbalanced—either full of experienced Trainers or spoiled rich kids who barely knew how to battle.
It wasn't worth his time.
Besides, he had more important things to do.
His Pokémon were all Level 35, and three of them were about to evolve. If they evolved here, it would attract too much attention.
Since he and Ash were investigating the stolen Pokémon, they couldn't afford to draw unnecessary suspicion.
Instead, Satoshi decided to let Ash be the distraction while he did some reconnaissance.
While Ash was fighting in the tournament, Satoshi walked around the casino, looking for anything suspicious.
That's when he noticed something interesting.
There was a betting table where people were gambling on the Trainer battles. And most of the rich businessmen were betting against Ash—expecting his opponent to win.
Satoshi smirked.
"Something's not right here…"
Without hesitation, he walked up to the betting table, slammed 100,000 Alliance coins onto the counter, and declared confidently—
"I'm betting on Ash to win!"
Who cares about the investigation? Winning money is just as important!
He could figure out the rest later. (Grinning internally.)
End of the Chapter.
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