The green forests of Sinnoh contrasted with the bright blue and gold Quick Ball-themed livery of GS Transport Truck #653 and the scarlet and violet container it carried today full of soft drinks from Paldea. As Ken Worth drove onward to his destination in Oreburgh City he had rolled the passenger's side window of his big rig down for Fennekin to stick his head out the window. The little yellow fox was in awe of Sinnoh's sights, smells, and sounds. A flock of Starly took flight from the side of the road as the truck passed by while some Bidoofs ran out of the tall grass back into the woods.
"I got to say, Sinnoh is prettier than I expected," Ken said. "No wonder my sister Sandy has been coming to this region since she was a kid."
The truck's radio played an instrumental tune as it rolled down I-Route 203. The run from the ferry dock up toward Oreburgh City had been thankfully uneventful. The truck had already passed through the busy Jubilife City and back into the less populated forests. All that lay ahead was the Oreburgh Road Tunnel, the motorized bypass to the Oreburgh Gate cave that most trainers used, and he'd be in the coal mining city to deliver his cargo. The truck rounded a corner and the tunnel came into view. Ken and Fennekin both flashed back briefly their chaotic run through the Pallet Road Tunnel but thankfully they weren't facing any road blocks this time. The truck darted into the tunnel and came out the other side with the industrial city now coming into view. Its smokestacks rose high into the sky as Ken's truck descended the last grade into the city.
Truck #653 didn't head for downtown, instead heading for a warehouse at the bottom of the mountain the town was built into. This was the Sinnoh distribution center for the Mesagoza-based SlashCo company, Paldea's largest soft drink company. The building was painted green in the style of the brand's limon-lime flavored soft drink cans. The company hired GS to handle its inter-region transportation but then had its own trucks for moving the drinks onward to stores and restaurants throughout each region.
Ken backed his rig into the loading dock and parked. He and Fennekin went into the building to handle the paperwork of the drop off before returning to the loading dock. Soon, the cargo was unloaded and the Paldean container with the images of Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly on it was removed. Truck #653 was back in its flatbed configuration as Ken and Fennekin got back in. Ken buckled up and went for his radio to check on his next load.
"Vulpix 3 to Sinnoh Dispatch, I've dropped off my load and container in Oreburgh City," Ken said. "Is everything set at Janko Mining Equipment for my assigned load to Glacier Peak Island?"
"Negative, Vulpix 3," came the dispatcher's voice. "There has been a production delay. The equipment will not be ready until the morning."
"Copy that dispatch," Ken replied. "I'm going to likely park the truck and go 10-7 then. I've got some family in town I might go see."
"Roger that Vulpix 3," replied the dispatcher. "Enjoy your evening and good luck up north."
"Thank you," Ken replied.
Fennekin smiled as Ken flipped a switch with one hand and shifted into gear with the other. The truck pulled away from the loading dock.
"Voice calling active," came an automated message.
"Call Sandy," Ken said.
The phone rang for a moment before a familiar voice picked up on the other end.
"Well, hello Kenny," came Sandra's voice. "Welcome to Sinnoh brother."
"Why thank you, sis, thank you," Ken replied. "My load won't be ready until the morning so I was wondering if you'd join me for a bite to eat and knew a good place to grab some dinner."
"That I do fellow trainer," Sandra said. "Are you bringing the rig or dropping it off somewhere first?"
"I checked online and there's an Amour's truck stop not too far from the mine," Ken said. "I'll likely leave my rig there for the night. Any thoughts on dinner?"
"I know a pizzeria near there with a coal-fired crust that is epic," Sandra said. "That truck stop isn't far from my motel. I'll meet you there shortly."
"10-4," Ken replied. "See you soon."
Moments later Truck #653 pulled into the Amour's truck stop. The brand featured a friendly yellow-and-red color scheme to its facilities mixed with some mild Kalos theming, a fitting choice since the company opened its first location in Camphrier Town many years ago serving truckers running from the coastal ports to Lumiose City before growing into a global chain. Its logo was several hearts with a silhouette of the Shabboneau Castle in the middle. Ken's truck ended up parked between a Tauros Trucking rig and a Pearl Shipping tanker. Ken would take his truck into town but finding a parking spot would be almost impossible for a vehicle this size and GS appreciated it if their drivers kept their nonrevenue miles to a minimum unless assigned otherwise. Ken had a plan for getting around this though and had equipped his truck to carry a backup transportation method.
"What do you say we finally field test #653.5 tonight Fennekin?" Ken asked. "I've been meaning to whip that baby out."
"Fen," Fennekin barked in agreement.
Ken climbed out of the cab and opened up the door to a large storage area on the side behind the cab of his truck. He pulled out a collapsible bicycle and quickly configured it ready to roll. The folding bike had a blue and gold livery to match the big rig, although the gold was just restricted to striping since mimicking the Quick Ball livery wasn't viable. A small #653.5 had been decaled on the side in the same font as the numbers on the truck. Ken had purchased the bike shortly after he started driving for GS to have an alternative form of transportation ready when he was out of town and couldn't use Truck #653 for just going around off the clock.
The little bike featured a basket which Fennekin hopped up into. The pair were just about to set off when another bicycle, this one bearing an orange livery with red wheels, rode up with a familiar face aboard. Ken looked up and first time in a long time found himself face-to-face with his twin sister Sandra. She looked over the scene but neither the big rig or the bicycle could hold her attention as she looked down at Fennekin.
"Well hi there cutie," Sandra said, reaching her hand out to let Fennekin sniff it before giving him a pet on the hand.
"Fen Fennekin, fen kin fen," Fennekin barked as if to say "Yeah, I like her."
Ken laughed as Sandra familiarized herself with Fennekin. Excluding their obvious gender difference, the Worth twins did look a little similar although Sandra wore her hair long but Ken kept his short. Their clothes were even similarly colored as Ken wore his usual light blue and yellow GS uniform while Sandra had a gold shirt with a small Pokémon League logo on it and a pair of blue jeans. Her Poké Balls were on her belt with a certain Dive Ball sticking out.
"Well, howdy stranger," Ken said. "You interested in my Pokémon? What's the matter, never seen a Kalos starter before?"
Sandra smiled at her brother.
"It's good to see you in a trainer role at last Kenny," Sandy said. "I honestly thought you'd never get a Pokémon in a role other than a pet so this is just great. Fennekin here looks healthy. Actually, so do you."
"He keeps me active and he gives me someone to talk to on the road," Ken said as Fennekin smiled. "He's not big on being in his ball. And you're looking good yourself. The mine treating you well?"
"Yeah," Sandra replied. "We've got those Excadrill all rigged to dig like crazy now. I'm almost done up here and then it's back on the road to do more training for the league. It's quarterfinals or bust this time."
"What do you say we get a bit to eat?" Ken said.
"Alright," Sandra said. "But are you sure you're good to go on that bike. It only has two wheels when you are used to having about 18 right?"
"Har-har," Ken replied with a little sarcasm. "Just try to keep up. When we're on the road you know I've got the edge. Ask all those Team Rocket grunts Fennekin and I left wrecked all over I-Route 2."
"Yeah, but when you want to learn to battle for real talk to me and I can give you some real pointers," Sandra quipped back at him in return.
Ken acted like he was about to say something in return then instead started peddling and took off with Sandra giving chase.
"Ah, Kenny, before you get too far ahead remember I'm the only one who knows where the restaurant is!"
Ken's face gained an expression of "Oops, I forget that" as he backed off and Fennekin laughed.
Moments later Ken, Sandra, and Fennekin were seated at a table next to the front window of a restaurant with their bikes tied up outside. The building's red, white, and green awning identified it as "Mineropoli's" with the tagline "Rated Oreburgh City's #1 Favorite Coal-Fired Pizzeria." Several other diners and their Pokémon were also enjoying meals. As their pizza went into the oven to bake the Worth siblings had some time to catch up.
"So how are Mom and Dad?" Sandra said.
"About the same," Ken said. "They're still enjoying retirement on the north side of Melemele Island. Dad said he went to this weird indoor go-kart race with some local bug types driving the karts with trainer assistance and said it was fun to watch."
"You still sad you never got to drive for the construction company before he sold it?" Sandra asked.
"Nah, getting to run over the road for GS Transportation is a better gig," Ken said. "He got out at the right time before the recession would got his business anyway. But on the plus side Mom caught a Yungoos recently in her garden and is considering taking a stab at that new Alola League tournament with some of her Pokémon."
"I've heard they are going to do a literal all-comers competitors call on that," Sandra said. "Minimal entry fee, no qualifications necessary. Granted Alola doesn't have any non-tourist attraction gimmick gyms but I thought they'd put the island challenge or something in there to make sure the entrants know which end of the Pokémon Ball opens up before competing."
"Are you going to enter that tournament?" Ken asked. "You've been in almost every other league by this point."
"Depends, you want to make the haul out there and enter?" Sandra replied.
"I might go to watch Mom compete if she enters but I'll hold off," Ken said. "I've never even done a gym battle so jumping into a league competition at my skill level seems unwise."
"Yeah, I'll probably hold off too," Sandra said. "Alola has some good trainers but most of the big names from elsewhere are holding off entering until maybe its second year, there's some thought this league isn't going to be much more formal than a schoolyard tournament or something but I heard they are building a nice new stadium for it. It's probably best if someone local wins the first year to get it off the ground anyway."
"You've got just a ton of Pokémon, what is your team for the Sinnoh League going to look like?" Ken asked.
"I'll probably tailor it to the opponent to some extent but my main team will likely be my starters Venusaur and Blaziken, Lopunny, Gengar, Luxray, and Espeon with Feraligatr, Alakazam, Pidgeot, Raichu, Cinderace, Dragapult, and Beartic in the primary rotation and the rest at the ready for more specialized battles. Speaking of teams I see where you are building yours up. I've never caught an Absol, how's he doing and what are they like?"
"Absol is great," Ken said. "I'm glad you told me about their real nature of predicting, not causing, disasters. He doesn't like to battle much but I have him look over the truck before runs just to make sure all the lug nuts are on and the hoses are tight."
"Who else is on your team now," Sandra said. "I know you've got Fennekin and Spearow, which admittedly I was surprised was your first catch. I thought you'd get a Pidgey or something simple."
"Yeah, Fennekin kind of forced my hand there," Ken said as Fennekin looked a little embarassed. "I've got those three plus Jolteon and Vulpix, the latter is an Alolan ice type. She's likely to be vital on this run up to the ice road."
"So, you've still got an open spot in the lineup?" Sandra asked, reaching down out of view for something.
"Yeah, I've just got the five for now," Ken said. "Maybe I'll get a sixth if I go for the gyms in Kanto. I've been thinking of working on my battling skill."
"How would you like to fill that spot right now?" Sandra said.
"Well, I was kinda hoping we'd get the dinner first," Ken said. "We can go looking for something to catch later but I mean that pizza is already in the oven."
Sandra took the Dive Ball out and placed it on the able.
"Actually, I've already got someone right here I'd like you meet," Sandra said with a smile. "Consider it a gift, he's the latest thing in truck washing technology."
Ken looked down touched the ball which immediately popped open. This time he quickly aimed it out into other side of the booth next to Sandra as the Pokémon materialized in a flash. The white light quickly subsided, giving way to an orange creature resembling a sea otter.
"Buizel," said the water type as Ken and Fennekin looked on.
AUTHOR NOTES
It was fun to set Sandra's team, given she's an ace trainer who's been everywhere she's have strong Pokémon from all over.
Mineropoli is actually the Italian name for Oreburgh City so it works great for the pizzeria name. Slash drinks is a pun on Slice, a real life brand.