The road from Mauville City to Petalburg City was a little rough.
Still, taking the intercity light rail made the trip very quick.
Our Mr. Steven deserved some praise for that. The Hoenn Region had been able to expand its rail network so quickly entirely because its Champion was filthy, fabulously rich...
While we were at it, Johto deserved some shade. What a lousy map. Unlocking the map was a pain already, and it did not even have intercity teleport points. Getting around had nearly fried a Trainer's CPU!
Ptooey! Pathetic! No wonder Ho-Oh and Lugia, Johto's poster Pokémon, did not even live there themselves!
Taking the train did mean missing out on some wild "experience packs" and wild pocket money.
Still, Petalburg Gym was one of the few thriving dojos in the Hoenn Region.
Surely Norman's students would not disappoint Gary~
Leading the two youngsters off the platform, Young Master Mao looked up with a sleeping Eevee-chan in his arms.
"A warm welcome to Professor Oak..." Sure enough, the enormous welcome banner was unmistakably Norman's style.
How should he put it... Model official style~
Norman stood at the station exit with seven or eight students, drawing plenty of attention.
After all, he was one of Petalburg City's signature figures. Even Steven might not have carried as much weight as Norman here.
Gary had messaged Norman beforehand, so he had expected him to come meet them.
Remembering his previous trip to Alola, Young Master Mao could only say he was grateful Norman had not brought a marching band and funeral wreaths...
"Gary, little brother! Over here!" Spotting the three of them, Norman waved enthusiastically.
His students obligingly waved flags and cheered behind him, welcoming Professor Oak to Petalburg~
Fortunately, there were no female students. Fortunately, Petalburg City was not called