Indigo Plateau is the home of the Kanto Pokémon League and the destination of many trainers' journeys. But about 10 miles south of the iconic stadiums where many a great battle has waged, and right along the usual walk to them on, is a place where many a great over the road journey has ended, Victory Road Used Truck Parts. This junkyard is where many of the big rigs used on the roads of Kanto and Johto come to meet their final end.

The Victory Road scrapyard has acres of old trucks that have literally been put out to pasture, rusting away in the elements. Trucking companies will typically get absolutely everything out their trucks with many racking up hundreds of thousands of miles before they are finally just too worn out to financially keep working. And when that happens even then may still have a use and they are sent here to fulfill it. Before meeting their final ends at the hands of the cutter's torch or the crusher these old rigs will be picked clean of any still useable parts, which are then used to keep their still running counterparts on the road longer. It's only after every still good part has been removed that the trucks are finally scrapped.

There's a unique feature about this yard though and it grew out of its proximity to the Pokémon League. Many years ago, a few trainers convinced the junkyard owner to let them do some last-minute practice battles before the League competition on the property. The fight got heated and ended with an Ivysaur launching a solar beam attack at a Dugtrio that cut the roof clean off a truck in the process of being scrapped. The junkyard owner was pleased with the work this saved him and ever since he's offered a designated area for trainers to battle and train against both each other and some of the most derelict trucks. That famous viral video of a female Meowstic smashing a ten-ton truck with its psychic power that even gets mentioned in the Pokédex was filmed there, although Ken saw that clip and took note that the rig that was used for that prepared stunt was "more than 40 years old and probably only held together by the rust at that point anyway."

The idea of some junkyard training sounded appealing to Ken. Before his road trip to Sinnoh he piled his team into his blue pickup truck and made the drive out to Indigo Plateau on a weekend off from driving. He, Fennekin, Spearow, Absol, Jolteon, and Vulpix spend two days training in the junkyard, reducing two old 350 Golempullers and one rather battered ice cream van to scrap metal in the process. Ken and Fennekin worked on using his flamethrower as a more powerful version of his spot-welding technique instead of ember. Ken liked how the effort was going as he watched Fennekin slice the door off one of the old semis like a blow torch. The yellow fox's move set still consisted of flamethrower, ember, tail whip, and scratch but Ken was giving some serious thought to perhaps switching it up soon.

Spearow was gaining more speed in flight, Ken's tendency to let the bird fly alongside his truck at times likely played into that. He had added fury attack and assurance to his arsenal alongside peck and focus energy. Jolteon was also getting faster and stronger. As he blasted the ice cream truck with a mighty thunder shock the remains of the engineless van's headlights lit up for a moment.

Ken's Alolan Vulpix was still a bit timid after her Team Rocket experience but she was starting to come out of her shell a little. Ken had been working during some of his lighter assignments to get his Pokémon a little time outside of their balls to stretch their legs in the sleeper portion of Truck #653's cab. Most took to that fine but Vulpix however wasn't too fond of being out of her ball while the big rig was moving. Ken was working on that; he had her ride outside of her ball in the pickup on the drive to Indigo Plateau with Fennekin and she seemed to handle that a bit better.

Absol was growing a bit too. His move set now consisted of bite, scratch, quick attack, and taunt but Ken was starting to pick up that the Disaster Pokémon wasn't the best at battling. Absol was brave and quite useful, Ken regularly had him look over Truck #653 before big trips just to make sure nothing was amiss, but since Absols in the wild tend to keep to themselves he didn't have much experience battling others in a straight trainer-style fight. He didn't do well when Ken had his Pokémon casually battle against each other. Ken was working on that but wondered if he might need to try some more serious trainer battling, perhaps even doing a Pokémon gym match or two, to try and prep his team more in the future. Whatever he did it would have to wait until after the trip to Sinnoh.

Back in the present the ferry MV Sinnoh Monferno was approaching its docking point at Sinnoh's Sandgem Terminal, located just south of Sandgem Town along Sinnoh's coast. As it approached the dock its sister ship the MV Sinnoh Turtwig, which had a white livery with a green stripe instead of an orange one, pulled out of the port bound for Kanto. On board the Monferno the call had been made for drivers and passengers to return to their vehicles with Ken and Fennekin climbing back in the cab of Truck #653 while their friend Rhodey Trane boarded his Truck #1,901 in front of them.

The journey across the sea had taken several hours. Rhodey had recommended they grab a meal on board and Ken agreed. The food was actually quite tasty although Ken wasn't too impressed by the duty-free shopping options on board; there was some nice chocolate but almost every type of booze, tobacco, and perfume weren't his idea of a good time. Ken and Fennekin passed much of the time on the journey by catching a movie in the ferry's on-board the theater, the new "Blaziken Mask Begins" film, a gritty, based on the true story reboot, had been out for about three months but they hadn't had time to catch a screening between trucking assignments until now.

Outside the Sinnoh Monferno now closed in on dock as the crew made final adjustments to bring the ship in. The crewmembers threw the mooring lines down to the dock crew as the ship was tied up. The doors to the car and truck decks began to open as the unloading ramps were hydraulically lowered into position. The ferry had landed. On the truck deck Ken and Fennekin took note as the buzzer began ringing and the watertight bulkheads moved back out of the way to free up the trucks aboard for departure. The sound of the trucks refiring their engines followed including Truck #653 as Ken turned the key. Fennekin gave him a paws up of approval.

The process of unloading the ferry reversed the loading process. On the upper decks the normal cars, trucks, and vans started unloading first. Robert and Ellee's ominous red sports car departed before the first big rig even came off the boat, driving off into the distance. The orange-clad Sinnoh Lines crew came down onto the truck deck and started directed the vehicles off the boat. When the moment came both GS Transportation trucks drove out of the deck and back into the sunshine. Ken and Fennekin had a chill run up their spines as their truck came off the ramp and onto Sinnoh soil for the first time. After a quick check of their paperwork with customs both rigs departed out onto Intercity Route 219 headed north.

Ken and Fennekin took in the moment as they drove on to the roads of Sinnoh for the first time. Their first glimpses of the new region were anticlimactic though, a Petro Sinnoh gas station and a cheesy billboard featuring a winking Sky Forme Shaymin taking off alongside messaging reading "Shaymin Bank: Let our gratitude for choosing us help your investments take flight. Rated #1 by Sinnoh Investors!" Trucks #653 and #1,901 made their way away from the ferry terminal and into a much more rural wooded area. Quickly the two rigs came to an interchange and ultimately this is where their paths would diverge; Ken would take I-Route 202 north on his way to Oreburgh City with his load of soft drinks while Rhodey would be transferring onto a toll road with his load of two trailers filled with mail bound for the region's central sorting center in Hearthome City.

"I believe this is the parting of the ways," Rhodey said. "Good luck out there Ken, watch out for the hoons and keep it clean up on the ice road."

"10-4," Ken replied. "I hope your front door is clean and it's smooth sailing from here to your destination."

The two GS truckers gave each other a friendly honk of the truck's horns as Ken pulled out and passed Rhodey before the later exited onto the tollway. Truck #653 was on its own now. The drive up to Oreburgh City, via Jubilife City, should be a straight forward run. This gave Ken a moment to check on his plans for once he delivered this cargo. He pressed a few buttons on the dash to activate hands-free phone calling and ring up his twin sister Sandra, presently stationed in Oreburgh, with the goal of meeting up with her for the first time as a fellow trainer.

"Hello," came Sandra's voice. "Kenny is that you?"

"Hello Sandy," Ken replied. "Yup, Fennekin and I are off the boat and on Sinnoh roads."

"Terrific," Sandra replied. "You up for some dinner once you get here?"

"I should be," Ken said. "We'll be getting in there about that time and I've got to drop this load first. But once that's done hopefully I can find some time."

"I'm looking forward to meeting Fennekin and your team," Sandra said.

"Fen," Fennekin barked.

"I always knew it was just a matter of finding the right Pokémon for you to get you on the trainer train," Sandra said.

Ken rolled his eyes at that line but the next line got his attention.

"Speaking of your team though I've still got a weaselly wet gentleman I think would be a good fit for your squad," Sandra said. "I'll introduce him to you tonight."

"10-4," Ken responded. "I'll see you tonight."

"Safe driving Kenny," Sandra replied before hanging up, holding a Dive Ball in her hand as she did.

Truck #653 continued north toward Jubilife City. Ken and Fennekin's Sinnoh adventure had just began but neither of them knew just how hard and how fast their time in this region was about to push them.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I had some plans for stuff to do on the ferry but ultimately it just didn't work so I scrapped it to get them off it and get this story moving again.