When I was headed for Phenac City, I noticed my motorbike was running low on fuel, so I had to stop at the Outskirt Stand to refuel. After the mines dried up, the train transporting the ore from them to other regions was abandoned in the middle of a desert. Recently, it was remodeled into a gas station and a diner. As such, it's a place commonly visited by tourists (rare as they are) and travelers native to Orre alike.
As I pulled in, I noticed that a truck was also parked at Ouskirt Stand. In the trunk, I saw a bag that had something in it. I had little idea of what it was, but I knew for sure whatever was in it was alive, as I could see it moving about. Then, as I was headed toward the ramp required for entering Outskirt Stand, 2 teenagers, both appearing to be around 16 years old, left the building and struck up a conversation. It went something along the lines of...
"Fwahhh! I love pigging out after a hard day's work! It adds to the flavor, I swear!"
"True that. And considering our catch, that feast was well deserved. Anyway, Boss is probably wondering where we are, so we'd better be headed back to Pyrite."
"That's fine with me, but I feel like we're forgetting something..."
"Well, think about it this way: whatever it is you forgot probably isn't too important if you forgot about it. Besides, if Boss finds out we're missing..."
"Good point. I'll probably remember what it is I forgot on the way back."
And with that, they both left, not even noticing me or my bike, allowing me to enter the Locomotive. The reason I couldn't is because they happened to have their conversation just so they were blocking the ramp, effectively preventing anybody from entering.
When I entered and requesting my bike to get topped up, a news flash occurred on the TV there. It, of course, was about the discovery of the (destroyed, of course) Team Snagem Hideout. As I was the one who caused the explosions, I already knew about most of what was reported. There was one thing I didn't know that was reported, though, and that was that when the investigation team arrived, there was a small number of Team Snagem members who were actually found amongst the carnage, and the total body count was in the 30's, definitely not Team Snagem in its entirety. Another thing is that Gonzap was not reported to be at the scene, which when combined with the fact that he was outside when I detonated the second mine means he's still alive and most likely plotting his revenge plot.
By the time I reached that conclusion, I was informed that my bike's gas tank was filled, so I proceeded to pay the bill and be on my way. But just as I was warming up the engine...
"Hey you, wait! There's something I'd like to ask you."
I looked to see who it was. Turned out it was the guy I paid on the way out. He was the person in charge of fulfilling the gas-related orders given to him by Outskirt Stand's owner. As he walked over, I readied Tom and Will, just in case if he had any funny ideas. Thankfully, I was incorrect, as he just wanted to make small talk.
"My name's Willie. I'm the fellow in charge of all gas-related affairs in the Outskirt Stand, and I tend to know a tourist from a local. Your outfit doesn't strike me as familiar, so I was wondering where you're from."
"I'm indeed a tourist," I responded, not wanting to reveal to anybody that I was from Zinc Town. If I did, he might get suspicious of how I managed to survive the massacre over there a few months ago. "To be specific, my hometown is Fall City, Fiore."
"Fiore, eh? We don't tend to get people drop in all the way from there, but then again tourists aren't too common in the first place, so I guess I'm not surprised. Are you a Ranger on vacation?"
"No, I'm not. I'm one of the few people there who are actually trainers. Trainers are hard to come by in Fiore due to the abundance of Rangers, and the few who do can only battle in specific arenas, and there's a 3-turn limit for each Pokemon that is sent out. It can get pretty boring, so that's why I came to Orre: to train up my Pokemon in one of the most battle-heavy regions in the world, or so I hear."
"Well, in that case, you might want to head over to Mt. Battle. It's around the northmost point in Orre, and it's almost directly north of the tower the Mayor of Phenac City's constructing. Before you do that; however, would you like a warm-up match against me, while I'm here?"
"Sure, why not?" I answered, and so began the first battle of my life where I only used one Pokemon. Ever since Tom and Will were under my posession, they always fought side by side. Back when they were merely Eevee, they tended to mirror each other's actions, occasionally ganging up on one opponent. After they evolved, though, they actually adopted unique strategies of their own, with theit main battle strategy consisting of Tom battering the opponent with its psychic powers and Will covering for Tom, making sure he doesn't get hurt. But now that Will is... on permanent leave... from battling, Tom had to make use of his high Speed to avoid assault while attacking its opponents with blasts of Confusion to survive in battle. Fortunately, Willie's Zigzagoon had a tendency to follow the exact same attack pattern as each other, despite there being two of them, resulting in an easy victory for Tom and I.
And with that victory, I proceeded towards Phenac City. Phenac City, the opulent city of water, is Orre's largest City and as such is often considered to be its capital, despite it not being officially recognized as such worldwide. Unlike the other cities in Orre, Phenac's activity wasn't dependent on any nearby mines; rather, Phenac City was built around an abnormally large oasis, one that could allow for easy transportation of Water to other cities in Orre without the need for trans-continental railroads. Soon, Phenac Oasis had its own village, which, much like all of Orre's mine-based cities, eventually increased in scale to a town, and later a city. Unlike said mine-based cities, Phenac City didn't have to worry about a finite amount of ore in its mines running out, mainly because it didn't have any to speak of. No Pokemon, desert-native or otherwise, were found in Phenac City despite people having lived there for years, and this was the deciding factor on whether or not to continue searching for any Pokemon native to Orre. Notable parts of Phenac City include the Prestige Precept Gym, often referred to as the Pre Gym for the sake of conciseness,a Colosseum in the northernmost part of the City, and a beauteous fountain in the middle of the plaza. One last note about Phenac City is the fact that unlike other cities over the years, Phenac has retained its concept of having elected figures of authority, but this paragraph is getting long enough as it is, so I shall save you all the trouble and tell you about Phenac's authority figures when they come into play.
Anyway, I was headed to Phenac City, but when I arrived, I noticed were 2 certain people I wasn't expecting to see...
"Of all the things to forget, it HAD to be gas, didn't it?"
"Well, if you'd given me time to try to recall, this wouldn't have happened, but noooooo, we had to get back to out post noooooowwwww, and NOW we have to pick up gas in town rather than having it pumped directly into the truck. Nice going, we're now forced to be away from our posts for at least 15 more minutes. Our punishment... uuugggghhhh..."
"Or perhaps if you told me the truck was low when we arrived at Outskirt Stand, then I most likely would have remembered that when we got there."
"So now you're saying you remember things better than me? Please. If memory serves, you were the one in charge of-"
"Mmph!"
It was those 2 teens chatting in front of Outskirt Stand's entrance earlier. Normally, I would have ignored them and moved along, but their argument seemed to cause a reaction to whatever was in the bag in their vehicle's trunk. Of course, I became curious as to what it was (as well as what they were talking about in their conversation, specifically being late for their posts and the apparent severity of their punishment, among other things), so against my better judgement I walked up to them and said hi.