It was a breezy morning in Celadon City at the GS Transport distribution center. The sun wasn't quite up yet but while the street lights still shown there were just the first hints of sunlight at the horizon. Suddenly one of the garage doors at the loading dock activated and begin to rise. As it did a pair of headlights cut out into the darkness before starting to move forward once the door locked into position.
Slowly but surely GS Transport Truck #653 emerged from the loading dock with Ken at the wheel and Fennekin alongside riding shotgun. The blue and gold big rig made its turns and departed. Today would be a nice run from central to northern Kanto where Ken would put his rig on a ferry bound for the Sinnoh region. It had been a few weeks since Ken had added Jolteon and an Alolan Vulpix to his team which meant the time had finally arrived for his run to tackle the Glacier Peak Island ice road.
Fennekin had a new look as after refusing an evolution following the double battle Ken had gotten him an Everstone Collar so he wouldn't need to worry about that for now, and had the option to remove it if he ever wanted to evolve into a Braixen later. His collar was blue and Ken had used his model truck making skills to paint the GS Transport logo on the sides of it. With Fennekin's blue collar and Ken's usual blue and yellow GS uniform the Pokémon and his trainer now almost matched. The Everstone was located on the front of the collar. Ken had his "Pure MC Power" trucker hat on today.
While the fearsome "Froslass Freeway" awaited it would not be Ken and Fennekin's first stop in Sinnoh. Today their load today was a full container jammed with Slash brand soft drinks, in various flavors, imported from another region. The container wasn't a GS-owned one and instead had a special region-owned two-tone scarlet and violet livery with giant images of a Sprigatito, a Fuecoco and a Quaxly splashed down the side. Several regions had containers like this with their signature starter Pokémon on them to promote their point of origin with the idea originating in Johto as a clever way to promote their various products after Kanto's legendary "Gotta Catch'em All" joint tourism and Pokémon League recruitment drive promotion launched. The campaign infamously pretended the rest of the world didn't exist and that there were "only" 151 types of Pokémon in total. Ken remembered how that marketing blitz made quite an impact back in the day, lots of later tourism campaigns all but pretended their regions were newly discovered to build off that campaign.
This container arrived in Kanto yesterday as a T2T load before being transferred to Ken's truck at the distribution center center last night. The soft drinks were bound for the soda company's own distribution center in Oreburgh City where he'd then switch cargos to carry mining equipment bound for the Mega Stone mine in Sinnoh's far north. While there Ken was hoping to get a pause in the action to visit his professional trainer twin sister Sandra. Sandra had been helping train Pokémon at the Oreburgh Mine and was just finishing up that gig in preparation to take part in the Sinnoh League.
Ken pulled onto I-Route 7 and started making his way out of town. At this early hour the roads were all but empty, he was thankful for that as it meant he rolled through Saffron City before its morning traffic jams started taking shape. As Truck #653 rolled through Cerulean City the day was thankfully turning out to a be a quiet one. Fennekin nibbled on a twig while Ken listened to the radio as they headed north on I-Route 24.
"This is Jack Evernham and you are listening to Kanto Public Radio. Here are today's headlines. The success of the ongoing fossil Pokémon revival programs have several researchers pondering if it's time to take several species off the extinct list. In addition to discoveries in the Grampa Canyon area and on Galar's Crown Tundra that are lending some credence to a proposed theory they may not have actually ever gone extinct, revival efforts using amber have now produced a large number of Aerodactyls."
Ken flipped the radio off. He looked straight ahead and smiled. Fennekin also smiled as he looked up at his trainer.
"So, this is it, the big run to Sinnoh," Ken said, not taking his eyes off the road. "We'll make some good money on this one. I'm looking forward to seeing Sandy again too. This will be the first time we'll get to interact in person since I became a trainer. I know she'll like you."
"Fen fen," Fennekin yipped.
"She said she had someone she wanted me to meet too and join my team," Ken noted. "We'll see how that goes. She was pushing one Pokémon or another on me for years trying to get me to take up training…Oh course now that I'm a trainer I guess that makes more since though."
Ken was driving cautiously today. While the soft drinks he was hauling weren't dangerous goods in the slightest running with a liquid cargo of any kind it meant taking it easy. The load will slosh around when turning, and the driver can feel that even when the cargo is in many small containers just as they would with a large tanker to carry it all together, making slower and more cautious is the way to go.
Fennekin had never been to Sinnoh and was looking forward to getting a chance to see the new region. Ken hadn't been to Sinnoh for anything other seeing Sandra attempt to the win the Lily of the Valley Conference since he came north to see the world championship monster truck races in Hearthome City a couple of years ago. It was a traveling event and he went and to see them last year in Lumiose City too. Ken thought back to that and how it was a bit of fun for a moment but his attention remained on the road.
The sun was now up but the highway remained largely empty this morning except for a few other trucks. There are several ports to catch inter-region ferries. Many of the Sinnoh or Hoenn-bound trainers in Kanto will catch a boat in Terracotta Town but for vehicle transportation the small town of Azure City at the northern tip of Kanto past the mountains was favored. Azure City was first settled by Kalosian immigrants many years ago took its name from the way they thought its waters had a rich blue color like that of Azure Bay back home. Its northern location meant it offered the shortest boat trips to Sinnoh and that meant that it was favored for truckers, bus drivers on inter-region routes, and many travelers going with a vehicle.
Ken and Fennekin's truck was largely on its lonesome although there was another GS truck about one click ahead. The driver of this truck was Rhodes Trane, although most of the other drivers called him by the nickname "Rhodey." Rhodey was an Alolan trucker who moved to the mainland regions seeking longer hauls and bigger paychecks, his handle was Komala 1 and he drove GS Truck #1,901. He used to run out in the bush in another region before switching to operating in Kanto. Today his truck was hauling Sinnoh-bound mail and he was pulling an extra trailer packed with packages behind his rig. In his truck Ken pulled down the microphone on his CB radio.
"Breaker one-nine, this is Vulpix 3 and has anybody on I-Route 24 got their ears on this morning," Ken said into the mic. "I'm at marker 45 northbound. How are the conditions up the road?"
In his truck Rhodey picked up. His Komala was out of its ball riding in the passenger seat and sleeping the day away as would be expected.
"G'Day Vulpix 3, this is Komala 1," Rhodey said. "I'm at marker 46 with a bog standard truck, a bog standard load of the post, and clear tar ahead all the way to Azure."
"10-4," Ken replied. "I was checking the weather reports this morning and we should be all clear from here straight to the big boats."
"Copy that," Rhodey replied. "What ya hauling Vulpix 3?"
"I got a load of fizzy drinks loaded with more bubbles that than a pack of Poliwags," Ken said. "Hopefully I don't crash into anybody hauling breath mints or we're going to get one heck of a big mess."
"You got a lot of traffic back there?" Rhodey asked.
"Nah, all clear," Ken replied.
"10-4," replied Rhodey.
Ken looked over to his rearview mirror as a bright red sports car zoomed down the road. It blew past his truck like he was standing still. It roared by so fast he didn't even notice the two familiar Team Rocket grunts and their Purrloin riding in it. He triggered the microphone.
"Stay out of the fast lane there's a flyer coming up fast," Ken said. "Whoever is driving that one is late for their accident. They are total cop bait."
"10-4," Rhodey said, just as the sports car zoomed by. "You are right, that bloke is full throttle. Let's hope ole Jenny is out with her clock."
The red sports car then oddly exited off the highway at the next exit, turned around on an overpass and took off going just as fast in the other direction heading back toward Cerulean City. Ken took note and joked with Fennekin about it as his truck drove under the overpass.
"Must have forgot the sunblock or something," Ken said.
Fennekin chuckled. Truck #653 was coming up on a pair of very straight tunnels known to truckers as the "Twin Echo Chambers." Both were two miles, or about 3.2 kilometers, long with a long bridge over an open, green valley connecting them. There were no on ramps or exits on this side of the highway. Ken had rolled down the driver's window to get a little fresh air in his cab before the tunnel.
"Watch you mirror there for traffic Fennekin," Ken said. "The hot rodders love these tunnels. They blast through here and let the sound of their engines echo off the walls. I saw this place on the car show with the three Galarian guys when they did a Kanto road trip episode. It's quite the sight. Of course, that echo would work with any engine sound, even the artificial one from our rig here."
"Fen?" Fennekin replied.
Ken looked at his Pokémon playfully. Fennekin smiled back.
"Fen kin!" Fennekin said, saying it much more jovially than the last time he told Ken to "floor it" in a tunnel.
Ken looked back toward the road and nodded in silent agreement.
"Once we're through here it's just a short hop to the docks and we'll be on the ferry," Ken said. "Sinnoh, here we come."
Truck #653 entered the tunnel, still running in the slow lane. Truck #1,901 was ahead far enough now that Ken couldn't see it. Rhodey would be in the second tunnel before Ken cleared the first. As the truck entered the tunnel Ken playfully gave it a little extra throttle and the truck responded with a little extra noise and speed, although it remained roughly at the speed limit. Ken left the window down to enjoy a little speed as Fennekin let out a happy yip. It was a bit of fun for the boys until they looked at their rearview mirror and saw a white and red blur with what looked like golden headlights coming up on them. Ken grabbed the wheel and held steady as the blur zoomed past with jet-like speed.
"Whoa," Ken said, the blast of wind almost pulling off his hat. "What was that? Was that a car? Some kid on a Pokémon?"
Fennekin was just as puzzled as his trainer. CB radios don't work well underground so Ken couldn't use it to warn Rhodey. As Truck #653 quietly drove out of the tunnel Ken was surprised to see a large, executive-looking black helicopter hovering over the bridge. The big red "R" on the side was an ominous sight, meaning the aircraft belonged to Team Rocket, and Ken instinctively went for the gas to quickly drive across the bridge into the second tunnel where the chopper couldn't follow. Oddly, the chopper paid no attention to the truck as it instead flew through the valley, almost like it was looking for something. Ken's dash camera silently rolled as he drove past the helicopter into the second tunnel.
This clearly wasn't some sort of surprise hijack attempt, and indeed unless they were suddenly very thirsty Ken's soft drink cargo would be of no interest even if they knew what he was hauling. But if they weren't after his truck what would bring Team Rocket up into this area? Once Ken was out of the second tunnel he radioed to his coworker.
"Vulpix 3 to Komala 1," Ken said. "Did you see that white and red blur or that Team Rocket chopper back there at the bridge? That speedster must of blasted by you in the second tunnel."
"Ha ha," Rhodey responded with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "You pulling my leg? Nothing passed me in the tunnels and there was no chopper around at the bridge."
"Weird," Ken said. "I'll show you the dash cam footage once we're on the ferry. I'm not making something up but whatever that was likely didn't have anything to do with us. I guess I'll see you on the boat."
"10-4," Rhodey said. "Drive safe."
Fennekin took note of the puzzled look Ken had on his face.
"We did see that right?" Ken said. "Something like that can't disappear into thin air can it? Certainly nothing driving on the road could. Weird."
"Fen," Fennekin replied in the affirmative.
Truck #653 crested a hill as Azure City came into view. In a few moments it would be at the ferry terminal and bound for Sinnoh. Ken and Fennekin both wanted to get out of Kanto and avoid whatever action was coming next.
Meanwhile, back at the valley the helicopter made another pass at the bridge. Three Team Rocket grunts huddled in the back with Poké Balls at the ready while the pilot radioed back to headquarters.
"This is Rocket Rotor 1 to Matori, I have lost visual on the Latias," the pilot said. "It went through a road tunnel and we lost sight on the other side, probably ducked into the valley. It looked like it was headed toward Sinnoh."
"Copy that Rocket Rotor 1," came Matori's voice over the headset. "Execute Search Pattern Delta-Bravo and report back in two hours unless you find it sooner."
"Yes ma'am," the pilot responded.
The chopper flew back toward the valley to make another pass. Back at Team Rocket headquarters Matori smiled. The Latias sighting in northern Kanto was a surprise but research showed the legendary was vulnerable and it would make quite a prize. She had summoned back Robert and Ellee from their trip to the Sinnoh docks to join the search on the ground but the chopper pilot had more success. She would reroute to the two hijack grunts in the car back toward Sinnoh. If they could get the Mega Stones and the others could get the Latias Team Rocket would have a recipe for some serious air superiority in the near future.