With his truck disabled and his boss Mack now on the way toward Pallet Town to talk to him driver Ken Worth in a position where almost all he could do now was sit and wait. In some ways it was nice to have a moment to let his guard down given he and Fennekin's wild ride this morning. With Spearow now healing up his attention turned to just why he and his team had just run through the night to deliver two cases of Capture Stylers and Master Balls to Professor Oak's laboratory. He and Fennekin reentered the building to get their answers.
The trucker and the Pokémon soon entered the laboratory where the professor and his assistant were working. Ken was taken aback by the two-story room and the giant windows that illuminated it. Equipment lined both sides of the lab with the famous pedestal in the center where half the trainers in Kanto selected their starters then set off on their journeys. The two cases were both present on a workbench and had already been unpacked of their contents. Fennekin sniffed the air, the odor pleasantly reminded him a lot of Professor Sycamore's lab back in Lumiose City. Professor Oak handed Tracy a sheet of paper.
"Bring these Poké Balls before you let the others out for the day," Professor Oak told his assistant.
Tracy nodded in agreement before going to fetch them. The professor took note of the trucker as he entered the room.
"Ah, Mr. Worth, good to see you," Professor Oak said. "You've completed a very vital service by delivering these balls to us."
"Thank you," Ken replied. "So why did you need them? And why ship them together with those Capture Stylers?"
"It was done of simple necessity and a hope we could pull it off with a hint of subterfuge," Professor Oak replied.
The professor worked over to a workbench and picked up one of the 20 Master Balls. He then walked back over to Ken as he flipped it open to show off its unique circuitry.
"Master Balls require some very rare-earth elements to produce," Professor Oak said. "It's these elements that give them their almost invincible status when it comes to capturing Pokémon but it's not without its drawbacks. The price alone to create all this is surely a factor in why they have never been mass produced or available for commercial sale. But the issue with the Master Ball is far deeper than an economic one. A normal Poké Ball can easily be electronically transferred, albeit only one at a time, almost anywhere via a PC with or without a Pokémon in it. The quirks of the wiring in the Master Ball though cause interference with that system, it can't be sent anywhere that way unless it already contains a Pokémon. The almost assured catch features can also only be used once no matter what, so it can't just be used to catch a random Pokémon to ease transport without defeating the purpose of its manufacture in the first place."
Ken and Fennekin both stared at the ball as the Professor showed off its interior.
"These balls were made at the large Poké Ball factory in Kalos because of better access there to the necessary rare earths," Professor Oak explained. "The plan was to ship them to the Laverre City airport via an armored car with a police escort then easily fly them here to Pallet Town. It looked good on paper but the transport came under attack several times from villainous organizations. They are still investigating but it appears it was likely some international members of Team Rocket or somebody who was previously part of Team Flare."
"Is that how that case ended up being shipped with GS Transport?" Ken asked.
"Indeed it is," Professor Oak replied. "The original armored transport was returned to the factory and after they told me what happened I called up my old friend Mack Marmon, your boss, to see if he could get me an alternative. He came up with a clever one. The next day the transport set off again for the airport running empty while the balls were put on a regular GS truck carrying a scheduled shipment of Great Balls that left at the same time going in a different direction. Mack then had them put on a ship at a nearby port and quietly shipped over water where almost no realistic form of attack could be launched while it was far out at sea. The armored transport did get attacked again and some effort was made to throw them off with some broken balls but I don't think it worked."
"So where do the Capture Stylers come into this?" Ken asked.
"On the boat," Professor Oak replied. "Given how powerful Capture Stylers can be, and how dangerous that can be if they aren't with a Pokémon Ranger, all shipments of them are tightly monitored with the intent of keeping them mostly secret. I had already ordered a separate shipment of them to brought here to be given to some new Rangers who are shipping out from Kanto to go work in the Orre Region and it was Mack's idea to put the Master Balls alongside them. The goal was that if someone looking to get the Master Balls got wind of the secret shipment it would be written off as the Capture Stylers and they'd keep looking for the more valuable target. I don't know how but somehow someone was still tipped off to this plan, they think it might have been a dock worker or a trucker for another company once the load reached the Vermilion City docks."
Ken raised an eyebrow at that revelation. A rival company trying to mess up a GS shipment, or worse a criminally connected one, hadn't crossed his mind as causing this.
"Peter Biltmore is a very good trainer friend of mine and he has been ever since I gave him his starting Squirtle all those years ago," Professor Oak said. "When Mack came up with the idea to secretly ship the cases on a truck that would be delivering a normal cargo to Pallet Town anyway, milk for the local cheese makers I think, I specifically requested he bring in Peter to drive it."
"And when Peter's truck got sabotaged it fell right in my lap." Ken said. "Whoa."
Ken looked toward the Capture Stylers then back at the Master Balls.
"You said these balls are for a special mission," Ken noted. "What is it? Or is that a secret?"
"No," Professor Oak replied. "I can tell you about it."
At that moment Tracy returned with the two Poké Balls that the professor had requested.
"Here you go professor," Tracy said as he placed them on center pedestal.
"Thank you, Tracy," Professor Oak replied. "Here is your answer Ken."
The professor reached picked up one of the balls and opened it. In a burst of light and sound the Pokémon it contained was released and appeared on the pedestal. As the light subsided a Noctowl revealed itself and let out a caw. Ken and Fennekin both looked closely at the bird.
"This is a regular Noctowl, a nocturnal Pokémon most commonly found in the Johto region," Professor Oak said. "Note the two-tone brown plumage as is typical of this species. Now here's a second Noctowl a local Pallet Town trainer sent me a while back."
Professor Oak opened a second Poké Ball to reveal another, smaller Noctowl. Both Ken and Fennekin were in for a shock though as when the bright white light subsided the bird was revealed to have a completely different color palette featuring brighter feathers and red wings.
"Is this a shiny Pokémon?" Ken asked. "My sister talks about things like this a lot."
"Indeed it is," Professor Oak responded. "Almost all Pokémon have a unique shiny color variation like this that only occurs in a very small percentage of their total population. No one in the area of Pokémon research has any idea what causes this issue so I've recruited 20 talented trainers to hunt out examples of these creatures for the purpose of research. Given their rarity each trainer will be given one of the Master Balls for help to capture one during their search."
"Shiny Pokémon are so rarely seen by humans in the wild that we had to get Master Balls to ensure the trainers could catch one if they find them," Tracy added. "It still won't be easy to locate them."
Ken was in awe for a moment.
"Mack said his crew could get it here," Professor Oak said. "He was right."
The mention of a trucking topic snapped Ken back into his comfort zone. He and Professor Oak started making their way toward a couch and chairs near the window to continue their conversation. Tracy left the room to check on Spearow.
"How do you know Mack?" Ken asked. "He seems a bit old to have come through here as a trainer."
"He never did," Professor Oak replied as he sat down on a chair. "Back when I was just starting out as a professor as Celadon University Mack was one of my students. He had an incredible enthusiasm for Pokémon and sought to become a professor himself but the grades just weren't there. And yet, whenever some students were setting off on a research expedition Mack was always at the top of the list of classmates they wanted involved with their mission. He had a logistical mind like few others and could fit more useful equipment for safe transport than anyone else in the school."
"A start of something great there," Ken noted.
"Indeed it was," Professor Oak replied. "Before Mack could flunk out I talked to him about that and noted maybe he should try and find a way to put his talents to a better use than failing my class. I asked him to look for a way to use his skill to benefit people and Pokémon alike. He dropped out, got a bank loan, bought a trio of old trucks, and founded GS Transport. He named the company and modeled its logo after the then-recently discovered GS Ball."
"No kidding?" Ken asked. "What made him think that a trucking company could help Pokémon?"
"I think he looked at difficulty in travel they sometimes caused and he sought to find workarounds," Professor Oak replied. "When he first started out he was scrubbing repel on his trucks before every trip and hoping for the best but later he got trucks that had it worked into the paint itself. He took trickier assignments for himself and his early drivers and used his knowledge of Pokémon to try to sneak past issues. He'd take supply runs to the Safari Zone and do his best to schedule them outside mating seasons when the Pokémon there are more docile. And yet there are somethings you can't predict since that wreck with the Rhydon that got his friend hurt."
"He told me about that when he gave me Fennekin," Ken said, glancing over to his partner. "That was the wreck that made him require drivers to carry Pokémon protection."
"He was always very serious about his business with that being one of the many things that set him apart," Professor Oak replied. "Although I think deep down, he always wanted to make all of his drivers into trainers on at least a hobby level. If you get a pro, they might go to the Pokémon League and promote the company doing so but I believe he thinks giving his drivers a partner will make them happier. He hopes those Pokémon will try to keep them out of trouble. I think he once told me he'd rather have his drivers chasing gym badges than chasing something else. I forget the terms he used but in general he was concerned about how seedy some out of the way truck stops can get at night."
Ken sort of bit his tongue at that. That was the side of the trucking business and related industries he always tried to avoid.
"That can often be the case," Ken said before quickly changing the subject. "So, how did he go from just trucking into rail and sea and all that stuff? I read GS got a big contract."
"Yeah he did," Professor Oak replied. "GS got a reputation as "the Pokémon-friendly carrier" and it helped him get a lot of business. His trucks have carried pretty much every piece of equipment in my lab here at some point. About a decade ago when Clifford Industries built Ryme City the CEO gave Mack an exclusive contract to carry virtually every load for the whole city's construction. Every brick, beam, and bag of cement got there in one of Mack's trucks and the necessities of that job allowed him to expand into ships and railroads to meet all of its demands. I'm not sure Mack liked that guy though, probably political differences or something, because he hasn't worked with him pretty much ever since. I still like working with Mack though. There's a big research-related construction project coming up in Vermilion City very soon and I suspect his company is going to be contracted for it. He's coming here to talk with me about it later today."
"He's also coming to talk with me as well," Ken said a bit more solemnly. "Given how smashed my truck is I hope it's not the last conversation I have while in his employ."
AUTHOR NOTES
Now that Mack's full name has been revealed I think I can go ahead and say it's a running gag in this fic that every GS driver is named after a brand of big rig trucks. Ken Worth is named after Kenworth (at one point this fic made that more blatant and gave him "K Whopper" as a nickname just like the real brand is in CB slang but it was cut). Peter Biltmore is based off Peterbilt (thus why he gets called Peter so much and not just Pete). Mack Marmon is a twofer since Mack and Marmon are both truck brands (Marmon went out of business about 20 years ago). Mack's Pokemon that we saw was a Snubbull specifically because in real life Mack trucks are associated with bulldogs. The Eevee hood ornament on Peter's 750 Eeveeliner is also a parody of that.
I meant to add a paragraph talking about how Poké Balls can be moved via PC but it isn't practical for time, data, and energy used purposes to do that on a large scale and justify Ken hauling a load of them earlier. I figured that would have bogged down the plot a bit though.