A gentle breeze drifted past as Yong sat on Aerodactyl's back with Larvesta in his arms, leisurely admiring the beautiful scenery below as they flew toward Slateport City.
To travel from the Hoenn Region to another region, he had to board a ship in Slateport City and take the Long-Distance Sea Route.
It was hard to imagine that, despite having supernatural creatures like Pokémon, overseas travel in the Pokémon World could be so inconvenient.
Even with airships available, they were nowhere near as safe as cruise ships for traveling between regions.
The Long-Distance Sea Route was the only safe passage between the regions of the Pokémon World widely recognized by the public, charted through human exploration and countless hardships!
Even so, bizarre shifts in the weather and ocean-dwelling Pokémon that had almost never encountered humans were disasters every sailor and captain dreaded.
Pokémon were always wary and hostile toward strangers who intruded on their territory.
Relatively speaking, though, the Long-Distance Sea Route was still safe. It was said that all travelers and ships received the blessings of the "God of Ocean Currents," Lugia, the "God of the Sea," and Kyogre, who had "created the oceans"!
As long as ships stayed on course, unforeseen disasters almost never occurred.
After resting at home for three months and celebrating his eleventh birthday, Yong could hardly wait to say goodbye to his family. Amid his mother's endless nagging and his father's exasperated looks, he waved farewell.
This time, he had brought only Aerodactyl, Larvitar, Larvesta, and Drilbur.
But under his mother's strict "persuasive education," he added Swampert to his team for safety's sake, finally putting his family at ease.
After all, he was heading to a relatively unfamiliar region-the Sinnoh Region!
At least, it was unfamiliar as far as his parents were concerned.
Sinnoh