While the Pokémon were helping train Gabite, a boy walked over, followed by an Electabuzz.
Gary noticed the boy as well. After all, his Pokémon had all evolved into their final forms, which easily drew the attention of passersby.
But when he got a good look at the boy, Gary was startled.
The boy was equally shocked when he saw Gary.
"You... the Viridian Gym Leader? What are you doing here?!" the boy asked in surprise.
"Oh, it's you. Didn't expect to run into you here, Paul," Gary greeted him.
The boy was none other than Paul.
After being defeated by Gary, Paul had returned to the Sinnoh region not long afterward and begun preparing for the Lily of the Valley Conference. He was currently collecting badges, and this afternoon, he planned to challenge the Eterna Gym.
Partway through his journey, he'd spotted a group of Pokémon on the public training grounds and come over out of curiosity—only to find Gary.
"Gary, why are you here?" Paul asked.
"Traveling through the Sinnoh region. What about it?" Gary replied.
"Aren't you a Gym Leader? Can you just leave like that?" Paul asked, puzzled.
"I was only the acting Gym Leader, helping out for a while. Someone's already taken over my position," Gary said.
Paul didn't say anything more. Looking at the Pokémon training on the field, he asked, "Are these all your Pokémon?"
"Yes. What, want to battle me?" Gary asked.
"No need. We'll fight another time. I'm leaving." Paul shook his head, refused, and walked off without looking back.
Gary watched Paul's retreating figure, wondering to himself, Why doesn't he want to battle me?
Paul might have looked cold and arrogant, but he was also a battle-hungry Trainer. Seeing Gary with so many powerful Pokémon, Gary didn't believe for a second that Paul felt no urge to fight.
And indeed, Paul was a battle-hungry Trainer—but he was also extremely disciplined. He planned to challenge the Gym that afternoon and simply didn't have time to battle Gary.
Besides, Paul could tell that Gary's Pokémon were very strong. On this trip, all of his properly raised Pokémon had been left at the breeding house back home. The Pokémon he had with him now were all ones he'd caught recently—they were no match at all, so there was no point in making things hard on himself.
"Looks like Ash really is Paul's destined rival. Can't steal that from him," Gary murmured.
After resting for a night in Eterna City, Gary set out the next morning, riding Magnezone toward Oreburgh City.
Oreburgh City lay just south of Eterna City. It could be reached simply by heading south—the journey wasn't far, taking only two days.
The reason it took that long was that Gary had to train his Pokémon while managing food and supplies along the way. He only traveled in the mornings and spent the afternoons on training.
Over those two days, Gary had also finished taming Metagross. As for how he'd done it—naturally, by teaching it a pile of moves, thirteen in total, and raising its friendship to 215. While that wasn't the maximum value, a friendship of 215 was more than enough for Gary to command Metagross in battle.
"Your Pokémon are all healed."
Nurse Joy set a tray on the counter with seven Poké Balls arranged neatly on it.
"Thank you."
Gary collected the Poké Balls, left the Pokémon Center, and headed for the Oreburgh Gym.
"So this is the Oreburgh Gym...!"
Following the road signs, Gary found his way there.
The Oreburgh Gym's construction was rather strange. Whether viewed from a distance or up close, it looked like a small hill. Only when standing directly in front of it could you tell it was a Gym, thanks to the large door at the entrance.
"Roark's architectural taste really is one of a kind," Gary muttered.
Walking up to the door of the Oreburgh Gym, Gary pressed the doorbell. Soon, a middle-aged man with long hair came out.
Seeing the man's stylish appearance, Gary wasn't sure for a moment whether he was Gym staff, so he introduced himself first. "Hello, my name is Gary. I'm from the Kanto region, and I'm here to challenge the Gym."
"So you're a challenger. Roark's here—come in with me." Ian led Gary into the Gym, asked him to wait, and went off to call Roark over.
After a short while, Ian returned with Roark, who was wearing his red helmet.
In addition to being the Oreburgh Gym Leader, Roark also served as the safety supervisor of the Oreburgh Mine, and he was the son of Byron, the Canalave Gym Leader—a genuine rich second-generation kid.
He'd taken the safety supervisor job at the Oreburgh Mine simply to experience working life. Since Roark held shares in the mine, he was essentially working for his own company.
"Hello, my name is Roark. I'm the Gym Leader of the Oreburgh Gym," Roark introduced himself.
"Hello, I'm Gary, from the Kanto region," Gary responded.
"The Kanto region—that's quite a long way from here. Since you're a guest from afar, let's get right to our battle." Roark didn't waste words and moved straight to the match.
The two took their positions in the command areas at opposite ends of the field. Ian walked to the referee's area and announced, "The following Gym match will be between challenger Gary and Oreburgh Gym Leader Roark. Each side may use three Pokémon. Only the challenger is permitted to substitute Pokémon. Now... please release your Pokémon."
[Ding! Tasks issued: 1. Obtain the Oreburgh Gym Badge / Rewards: Low-grade Rare Candy ×5, Rock Tomb Permanent TM, Top-quality Silk Scarf ×1!]
[2. Use Sinnoh-region Pokémon to obtain the Oreburgh Gym Badge / Rewards: Low-grade Rare Candy ×5, Rock-type Self-Selected Permanent TM, Random Pokémon Item ×1.]
Gary nearly coughed up blood when he saw the tasks the system issued. Five low-grade Rare Candies meant that the three Pokémon Roark would use in this Gym match weren't strong at all—there wasn't even a single Gym-level Pokémon among them.
"Go, Geodude." Roark lived up to expectations and sent out his first Pokémon.
In a flash of light, it appeared.
[LV24 Geodude / Gym]
Looking at the level 24 Geodude, Gary's spirit nearly broke. What was even the point of challenging this Gym? There wasn't so much as a mid-grade Rare Candy in it.
"Magnezone, come out and stretch a bit." Gary threw a Poké Ball.
With a burst of light—
[LV59 Magnezone / Champion]
"A Magnezone!!"
Roark was stunned. He knew exactly what tier of Pokémon a Magnezone was.
Normally, a Magnemite needed to reach at least level 30 before it could even evolve into Magneton.
In Roark's estimation, the Magnezone Gary had sent out was at minimum an Elite-level Pokémon—far, far stronger than his Geodude.