Canalave City.
Located in the westernmost part of the Sinnoh region, the air here carried a distinctly foreign, cosmopolitan flavor.
Because Canalave was a harbor city, it had once been a hub for education and physical training long ago—specifically during what was known as the Hisui era. That was nearly a thousand years in the past.
The Canalave Library was also considered the most complete historical building of its kind. Even though it had undergone renovations over the years, the library still housed extremely ancient books, and visitors could even find portraits depicting Pokémon unique to that era a thousand years ago.
At that moment, a shape resembling a jet plane streaked through the sky. It quickly descended and landed safely on the ground below.
"We're here!"
Gary looked out at Canalave City and found himself caught up in the atmosphere of the place. He could sense how busy and lively the people around him were.
Pedestrians passing by all turned to look at Gary descending from the sky, mostly drawn by the sight of Garchomp.
"Return."
Gary recalled Garchomp into its Poké Ball, walked into the Pokémon Center, handed Garchomp over to Nurse Joy for treatment, then headed back out and rode Cyclizar toward the Canalave Gym.
In order to speed up his badge collection, Gary had gotten up early that morning. His plan was to head to Sunyshore City in the afternoon to earn the Beacon Badge, then make his way up to Snowpoint City afterward to collect the Icicle Badge.
The last three gyms were spread very far apart. Canalave City sat at the westernmost point of the Sinnoh region, Sunyshore City was at the easternmost point, and Snowpoint City was at the northernmost point—an enormous distance to cover between them.
Riding the whole way, Gary quickly arrived at the entrance to the Canalave Gym.
The architectural style of the Canalave Gym looked fairly ordinary, mostly constructed from stone quarried from Oreburgh, with piles of rock surrounding its base.
The Canalave Gym Leader was Byron, the father of Roark, the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City. Byron was a mine owner by trade. In addition to raising his own Steel-type Pokémon, the gym also housed several valuable ancient fossils, making it clear that money wasn't something Byron lacked.
"Why is the door open?"
Gary walked into the gym and found the lobby completely empty.
"Hello? Anyone here?"
"Is anyone around?"
After calling out a few times with no response, he frowned.
"Are they closed today?"
Gary figured it was Saturday, and the gym might simply be closed for the day. But if that was the case, why would the front door be left wide open?
Then he remembered—according to the anime, Byron was known to be quite a headstrong, willful man.
Byron had originally served as the Gym Leader of Oreburgh, but after being invited by the League to come oversee Canalave City instead, he had jumped at the opportunity. Knowing that fossils could be excavated on Iron Island, Byron had handed the Oreburgh Gym over to Roark and moved to Canalave City on his own.
Because of this, Roark had plenty of complaints about his father, feeling that Byron never really considered his family's feelings.
Gary personally thought Roark never really considered his mother's feelings either. Even though Byron's family was well-off, Byron himself wasn't particularly easy on the eyes—he kept a beard at all times and always seemed to carry the smell of dust and rock. There probably weren't many women who found a man like that appealing enough to want to keep him close.
Besides, Roark wasn't young anymore, and his mother probably wanted Byron to come back home for good.
"I'll wait," Gary decided, staying put. Since the door had been left open, someone was bound to show up eventually.
Time passed slowly. By around noon, just as Gary was about to give up and leave, the roar of an engine came from outside.
Hearing the noise at the entrance, Gary walked outside the gym and saw a truck pulling up. It was reversing, backing its rear end toward the gym's main entrance before coming to a steady stop. The doors on both sides of the truck's cab swung open, and three men climbed out.
Aside from Byron, Gary didn't recognize the other two, so he assumed they must be gym assistants.
After Byron and the other two got out of the truck, they naturally noticed Gary standing at the gym's entrance. One of the men asked, "Why are you standing here at the gym entrance?"
"Hello, I'm here to challenge the Canalave Gym. I found no one here earlier, so I've been waiting in the lobby," Gary explained.
"Today's Saturday, the gym isn't open to the public. Didn't you know that?" the man asked, puzzled.
"Then why was the gym door left open?" Gary asked, equally confused.
"Because I've been hauling fossils in from Iron Island, so I leave the door open to make transporting them easier," Byron said.
Gary broke out in a cold sweat.
There were plenty of ancient Pokémon fossils inside the Canalave Gym. Wasn't Byron worried about Pokémon hunters trying to steal them?
Ancient fossil Pokémon were extremely valuable. Many research institutions would love to get their hands on a few specimens to study, and some of them might even hire Pokémon hunters to help capture or steal them.
Looking at things this way, it seemed unlikely Gary would get to battle the gym today after all.
"So... Gym Leader Byron, when would it be possible for me to challenge your gym?" Gary asked.
Byron looked momentarily surprised and asked, puzzled, "Do you know who I am?"
Since Byron didn't dress the part and had a rather rough beard, most ordinary Trainers who came to challenge the gym usually assumed he was just some handyman working odd jobs around the place, rather than the actual Gym Leader.
"I make it a habit to research the Gym Leader's information before challenging a gym. I found your photo online, so I recognized you," Gary said.
"Well, you're certainly well-prepared. In that case, come back this afternoon, and I promise we'll have our match," Byron said.
"Thank you. I'll come at 2 PM then, if that works?" Gary asked.
"No problem."
Seeing how prepared Gary was, Byron found it hard to stay indifferent. Gary's enthusiasm was simply too infectious to ignore, and Byron wasn't the type of man who could turn down that kind of sincerity.
"See you then."
Gary walked over to the intersection, released Cyclizar, and rode off.
"What kind of Pokémon is that?"
"Is that even a Pokémon?"
The other two men stared at Cyclizar, clearly having never seen one before. It especially resembled a motorcycle so closely that if Gary hadn't released it directly from a Poké Ball, they might have doubted whether it was actually a Pokémon at all.
"That should be a Cyclizar, a Pokémon unique to the Paldea region. Almost every household there owns one," Byron explained.
"It really does look just like a motorcycle, that's fascinating."
"Yeah, if I were five or six years younger, I'd probably want to catch one myself just to ride around town. That would be so cool."
Both gym assistants were instantly captivated by Cyclizar.
There was no helping it—motorcycles were something many guys simply couldn't resist, and Cyclizar could easily be considered the dream Pokémon for any motorcycle enthusiast.
2 PM.
Gary arrived at the Canalave Gym right on time.
Byron was already prepared and waiting.
Out on the battlefield, Gary and Byron stood facing each other in their respective command areas.
The gym assistant made the announcement: "The Gym battle between challenger Gary and Canalave Gym Leader Byron will now begin. This match will use a three-on-three format. Once all Pokémon on one side are defeated, the match will end. Only the challenger is permitted to switch Pokémon."