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After carefully reading the letter in his hand once more, Sato could only sigh in resignation, accepting the reality. He was now a low-ranking member of Team Rocket, with no power or influence, and lacking enough strength to do anything but follow orders from above.
Of course, if they were sending him on a suicide mission, Sato would definitely refuse. But this current task wasn't as bad as that, so he reluctantly accepted it.
Just like the task map he received last time, the back of this letter also had a map drawn on it. However, this one was much more comprehensive, covering the entire Viridian Forest. The map even included a relatively safe route for him to leave the forest.
From the accuracy of this map, which pinpointed his current location, Sato realized that whoever assigned him this mission knew his situation very well—almost to an unsettling degree.
In short, every move he made in the Viridian Forest was under surveillance, making it nearly impossible for him to disobey the orders.
"There's only 25 days left... damn, this is the Viridian Forest! Even if I took a plane to Hoenn, it would take a day. And as far as I know, Pewter City doesn't have an airport. Hopefully, Viridian City does, otherwise I'll have to find another way," Sato murmured, his face darkening as he studied the map.
In fact, because Sato was living off the grid, his movements in the Pokémon world were restricted to just Pewter City and the Viridian Forest. He wasn't too familiar with the other cities in Kanto, which made his plan to reach the Hoenn region even more unclear.
There were planes, trains, and ships in the Pokémon world, but because of wild Pokémon, none of these methods of transportation were particularly safe.
In the sky, airplane routes had to avoid the airspace of powerful wild Flying-type Pokémon groups. Train tracks had to steer clear of the territories of strong wild Pokémon. As for sea travel, it was even worse. Accidentally crossing into the sea of a Gyarados and provoking the temperamental creature could have dire consequences.
So while communication between human regions wasn't cut off, it wasn't exactly frequent either. The distance between the Kanto and Hoenn regions wasn't too great, so there was still some regular exchange. However, communication between Kanto and Unova, separated by thousands of miles of ocean, was much less frequent.
The vast oceans and skies were still beyond human control, as they were dominated by many powerful wild Pokémon. Some of these particularly strong wild Pokémon possessed enough power to cause massive destruction.
In truth, the amount of land, sea, and sky that humans occupied in this world was still quite limited. Most of the planet was still inhabited by a vast number of wild Pokémon.
Human history in this world was almost entirely a history of battling Pokémon. To survive and thrive, humans had no choice but to seize land, seas, and skies from wild Pokémon.
In the distant past, Pokémon were referred to as "monsters" by humans, which shows just how much humans once feared them. If the profession of Pokémon Trainer had never emerged, humanity would likely still be confined to living in small, isolated areas.
'Forget it… I'll take it one step at a time. I need to finish what I have to do today and leave Viridian Forest as soon as possible. There are only 25 days left, and I don't know how long it'll take to reach LaRousse City in Hoenn. By the time I get there, I probably won't have much time left to achieve 10 consecutive wins in the Battle Tower.' Sato carefully folded the letter and stored it safely, his expression serious as he thought to himself.
In fact, this task came so suddenly that it completely disrupted the plans Sato had for the near future, such as searching for wild Squirtle and Mudkip, and capturing a young Growlithe.
Ever since Sato discovered wild Squirtle and Mudkip by a nearby river during the heavy rain caused by the battle between Poliwrath and Gyarados, he often wandered along the riverbank. His goal was to get lucky and encounter those two amphibious Water-type starter Pokémon again.
Unfortunately, his luck hadn't been great this past week. Forget about capturing Squirtle and Mudkip—he hadn't even caught a glimpse of them. According to his estimation, the only way he'd encounter them again would be if there were another downpour like before.
As for the young Growlithe, things had been going much better. After several days of winning its trust with good food, the young Growlithe had become completely comfortable around him, even affectionately licking his hand with its small tongue. The only slight disappointment was that the male Growlithe still treated him coldly, and the young Growlithe was still a bit too young to survive on its own.
Sato was about to leave soon, so he couldn't wait for the day when the male Growlithe would "chase away" the young one. What concerned him now was whether the young Growlithe would be willing to go with him and if the male Growlithe would allow it.
Of course, Sato could harden his heart and forcibly capture the young Growlithe. However, this could result in the young Growlithe holding a grudge against him, which would make it difficult to gain its trust and obedience later on.
To Sato, a Pokémon that monopolized resources but refused to listen was not worth having. It would be better to leave it alone.
"Forget about Squirtle and Mudkip," Sato thought with a bitter smile. "Wild starter Pokémon are hard to come by. After all, I'm not Ash, a chosen one who stumbles across such crazy luck. Finding a Growlithe in the wild is already fortunate enough. I'll do my best to win over the young Growlithe, but if it doesn't work out, I won't force it. I don't want my Pokémon to resent me for life."
Plans never seem to keep up with changes, and Sato was facing that reality now. To adapt, he had no choice but to change his plans. Otherwise, he'd be helpless in the face of danger. Without much strength to rely on, he had to fulfill the orders given to him, as long as they weren't outright suicide missions.
After carefully considering everything and organizing his thoughts, Sato began the next steps. Time was now precious, and he had to use it as efficiently as possible.
After descending from the treehouse, Sato followed his schedule for the past few days, starting the two-hour afternoon training session for his three Pokémon.
If he wanted his team to become stronger, daily Pokémon training and battles were essential. Of the two, training was even more important than battles.
"Come on out, Zubat, Gloom, and Nidoran, it's time to train!" Sato tossed three PokeBalls, calling out to his Pokémon as they emerged one by one.