Preparing to leave

At the end of the week I was happy to say that they all left better trainers than they had arrived even if one of them was a bit problematic to teach. "So that's it then, the last thing you needed to do before leaving?" Birch said as he watched the three trainers fly off. "Not the last thing but the last important one yeah. I've just got to get some liquid money and the ship taking me to Orre set up before I am ready to go. The rest I'll have to deal with from Orre itself." I said honestly.-

"Stones got you covered in both of those matters right?" he asked and I nodded. "Yeah the ship will be from a previous deal of ours but the liquid cash will just be a trade between us since it'll be the fastest way for me to get it. It's a shame the pokenav doesn't work outside the region or it'd be like nothing changes for us." I said with a chuckle. "No doubt you'd call me with some headache inducing news of some sort like usual." he said with a laugh.

I spent the rest of the day just chatting about whatever topic caught our fancy before having dinner with him and his wife and finally leaving Littleroot for what will be the last time for many years to come. I camped out with my team that night and in the morning went to Rustboro to get my last preparations done. It was funny to see that as i walked the streets of Rustboro I got many looks but unlike my previous trips here I was treated like a celebrity rather than an unusual sight. All of Hoenn knew who I was for the most part so I was easily recognized and awed the common folk just going about their business.-

A few people came up to me for autographs which I just smiled and signed without much fuss. The few brand new trainers in the city here to challenge Roxanne for their first badge despite the season almost being over looked at me like would one an idol. I chuckled a bit when I saw a couple of people with variations of my own outfit that included a pair of shoes unlike my barefoot self.-

Couldn't blame them really as going barefoot was a painful thing if you didn't have the calluses for it. The other slight personalized touched that I saw added on was scarves, googles, sunglasses and even one guy who had two handguns strapped to his sides. It was a strange feeling you know? Once being seen as little more than an oddity to be gawked at and now having people going out of their way to copy my style while those gazes that once held disdain or confusion now having respect in them. When I got to the Devon building the front desk clerk just sent me straight up without me having to say a word.-

"Looks like you were expecting me." I said as I entered the office of Mr. Stone. "Not particularly, I put out a standing order to the clerk to send you up directly if you ever showed up. Until now it's never been used." the man said with a smile. He had some paperwork on his desk that he was working on but he stopped when I showed up. "Not here for a social call i'm afraid, nothing bad mind you just here about my ship to Orre and looking to trade some digital currency for liquid cash for my trip." I said honestly.-

"Ah! I had wondered about how you were going to handle the region without funds but that makes sense. The ship was ready ages ago after I learned that you wanted to head to Orre, I figured I'd use the oppurtunity to try and expand my company to the region as well since the place has quite a lot of untapped potential. Had an cargo ship prepared to take over the resources and manpower needed to set up a branch of the Devon corp there."-

"As for the matter of liquid currency that will also not be an issue, is five million adequate?" he said and I nodded. "Expanding Devon to Orre is a good move since it'll let you go past Sylph co that blocks access to the northern parts of the world. While I'm in that region i'll help out a bit should anyone you send there need some muscle to ease things for them." I said and he thanked me in advance as he called his treasury to extract five million poke. While we waited for the money to get here I transferred my five million in digital currency to him and chatted about his plans for Orres branch of Devon corp.-

He hadn't decided where he was going to set up the branches headquarters and was planning to wait for the report on the local situation first. From my own information I had gathered I suggested the port town or Pyrite town since the first option would allow easy access to the shipping in the region while the second option was at the heart of the region and could get a serious boost in economy if a branch opened there.-

Eventually someone came up with two cases that had two and a half million poke each in them that I stored in my bag. I bid the man goodbye after that and left for Lilycove where the ship was ready to go besides the personnel and pokemon being sent over that needed a couple of days to pack and get there. Without team Aqua lurking about the city Lilycove was allowed to bloom wonderfully as local businesses were finally able to charge reasonable prices since they no longer needed to pay "protection fees" to the criminal organization. Plenty of smiles to be seen on the locals faces as they were relaxed and carefree in the city when I made my way to the docks.-

The ship named [S.S- Devon] had been informed of my coming so the crew greeted me and let me aboard without any issue. It was a massive metal ocean liner with many crates of materials and supplies on it's spacious deck and in the storage hold. The rooms were small but comfortable enough and Mr. Stone went serious with the security as about a dozen ace trainers and even two elite trainers came aboard over the next two days to protect the ship. I relaxed for those two days with my team before finally saying goodbye to Hoenn as we shipped out.