After leaving the Rustboro Pokémon Centre, Dan was leaning on the side of a bus stop waiting for a bus that was timetabled five minutes earlier. Checking his watch, Dan sighed, assuming that this meant that the bus would be crammed with people and he would have to fight for a seat. In this, however, he was surprised; when the bus did eventually arrive, barely five or six people were on it. “So much for the timetable,” thought Dan to himself, as he paid for a seat as far as the outskirts of the city.
Before too long, Dan was walking back down the forest road, looking forward to wandering around the forest again now that he had no companions to worry about him if he drifted off the path. A few wild Pokémon were scampering around this part of the road, most of them wild Zigzagoon, and soon enough, Dan withdrew Mareep’s Poke Ball from his belt and opened it, releasing the little blue and white sheep-like Pokémon for some exercise while he lay on the ground, absent-mindedly watching the Bird Pokémon overhead, occasionally turning to keep an eye on Mareep. Soon enough, he had closed his eyes and fallen into a doze, half-registering the sounds of the field and the nearby forest.
How long he lay thus, Dan did not know. The Sun was on the other side of him by the time he fully awoke, from which he guessed that he had been there from late morning to early afternoon. As it was, he had little time to think about such things, for he was awoken by a fearful sounding bleat from Mareep. Just as he sat up, Mareep leapt into his lap and curled up, still bleating fearfully. All of the wild Pokémon had disappeared and all that was left was a hideous grinding sound in the middle distance. Gently patting Mareep, Dan looked up in alarm and saw what looked like a cluster of construction vehicles around the edge of the forest. As he watched, one of the trees began to creek and totter, and within a few seconds it lay forlornly on the ground. “That won’t end well for them,” thought Dan to himself, recalling Mareep to its Poke ball and setting off at a swift stride towards the little group.
At the site, a fat, sweaty man in an expensive-looking suit was strutting to and fro between the vehicles, followed by a man in a high-visibility jacket holding a clipboard. “You see Sanger,” he was saying, “The forest really is a wonderful place for men like us. Look at all these trees you see here. Now imagine each one as an acre of land for us; now think of every acre selling at... well you can work out the rest. It’s a gold mine for all of us. The Pokémon are all yours of course, as agreed. ”
“Very good sir,” replied Sanger making a note. The fat man continued as though he had not spoken.
“We’ll all be rolling in it soon, my friend. Thousands for you: a new house, new cars. Think of it. It’s genius. There’s nobody here to whine at us.”
“Perhaps,” replied Sanger wearily, “Although I don’t think that the city will be too pleased with us.”
“Ah, who cares?” shouted the fat man cheerily, slapping Sanger on the back. “By the time they notice, the forest will have grown back again.” Most of the crew sniggered and Sanger wearily began writing down some notes on his clipboard.
“No-one’ll care anyway,” the fat man continued, “no one ever comes here, no one lives here, no one…”
“Actually, I think you’ll find that there are some who live here,” said a voice from behind him. Everyone whipped around to see Dan leaning against a nearby tree with Ivysaur standing next to him, glowering at the suited man. All at once, three workers withdrew Poke Balls from their belts and threw them into the air, revealing three Machop, standing in a row in front of Ivysaur.Dan simply swept his hand and Ivysaur sprayed such a cloud of poison powder over all three of them that it remained visible in the grass, and all three Machop doubled over in pain immediately
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU LITTLE BRAT?” shouted the corpulent man in the suit.
“I’m undeceiving you: there are creatures living here. You have enough money already judging by your suit. I don’t particularly care about that (although I would question that waistcoat) but there’s a lot more life in this forest than there is in your business. I’ll introduce it if you like,” said Dan, motioning to Ivysaur. A few more workmen withdrew Poke Balls from their belts and Dan drew Mareep’s from his own, but before anybody had a chance to release any more Pokémon a long, mournful cry came from the stump of the fallen tree. Everyone turned around at once to see a Ralts standing on the tree stump, its arms outstretched in a kind of appeal. Not one other Pokémon was in sight. The fat man sneered. “Aww, the little Pokémon wants its little forest back,” he cooed at it mockingly. Then he bent down, wheezing slightly, picked up a stick and threw it straight at the totally exposed Ralts. A few of his more brutish colleagues joined in, and even one of the poisoned Machop was able to throw a handful of dirt. In a flash, the little Ralts disappeared from the tree stump, resulting in even more sneers and jeers from the workmen. Looking around in some confusion, Dan felt a tug at his leg, looked down, and saw the little Ralts standing behind him, obscured from the men’s view by Ivysaur. Smiling down at it slightly, he tossed Mareep’s Poke Ball into the air.
