Indigo Plateau.
Deep in the mountains, it symbolized the highest honor in Kanto.
As noon approached,
Hydreigon carried Baimu there. Bruno had not come along.
He still needed to continue training his body and mind in the valley. He would watch Baimu's battle against Lance on a livestream.
Giant Onix was dejected. Before it could have a rematch, its prospective "bride" had fled.
Bruno had to console it.
"There'll be another chance."
Would there, though?
Onix hoped so. As it recalled Steelix's gleaming silver form, a seed called evolution took root in its heart.
If it could become as hard as Steelix, surely it would hold its own next time!
"The Quartz League's Competitors' Village..."
Baimu looked down from above.
Many of the familiar buildings matched fragments of images in his memory.
"Isn't it a little plain?" the Porygon Phone asked.
To it, Kanto was a long-established major region, and its Champion, Lance, was renowned. Surely this place should have been more modern.
Why did the Competitors' Village look like an ordinary town?
"It does the job," Baimu replied. "They've been thriving for decades. Unlike us, they don't have to make everything the best right from the start."
Between Kanto's staggering number of Pokémon Gyms and its less-than-dedicated Gym Leaders, the Quartz League did have a rather makeshift feel to it.
But as he'd said, it did the job.
The world of the Pokémon anime had no great powers fighting for supremacy. Everyone could coexist in peace.
The only real headaches were gutter-dwellers like Team Rocket, Muk, and Raticate.
Yet Team Rocket had run rampant for years, and Kanto was still doing fine.
At worst, it could merge with Johto!
Both regions had the same Champion anyway, and their Pokémon League headquarters were close—
Indigo Plateau and Mt. Silver stood