"Seel, come back."
Daisy recalled Seel with a soft sigh. She hadn't expected to lose so quickly—she hadn't even managed to issue a proper command before the battle was over.
After recalling her Pokémon, Daisy walked across the platform and held out a small, blue, drop-shaped badge.
"This is the Cascade Badge of the Cerulean Gym. Take it."
"Thank you."
Although Gary privately looked down on the three sisters, they had at least conducted themselves politely. He returned the gesture in kind.
[Ding! Mission complete. Rewards have been distributed to the space backpack.]
Gary accepted the badge and turned to leave.
"Hey! Gary, where are you from?" Lily suddenly called out.
Gary paused, slightly puzzled by the sudden question, but answered anyway.
"Pallet Town."
Without waiting for further conversation, he walked out of the Gym. He had no interest in lingering around Misty's three sisters any longer than necessary.
"Aww, what a shame. He's a handsome boy from Pallet Town," Lily muttered, deflating dramatically. "I can't marry that far away."
"Why are you being ridiculous?" Violet snapped, smacking her on the head with the broom handle. "Hurry up and clean. We have a performance this weekend!"
"Ow!"
Despite her usual carefree attitude, Lily was genuinely afraid of her older sister. She quickly grabbed a broom and resumed sweeping.
After leaving the Gym, Gary saw that it was still early, so he headed to a nearby public training field to put his Pokémon through their daily routine.
Defeating Daisy hadn't taken any real effort. It honestly felt no different from beating a random Trainer on the side of the road.
Gary released his entire team for training—but kept Wartortle aside.
He had a plan for it.
The Skill Learning Device he had received from the Cerulean Gym mission was sitting in his system inventory, waiting to be used. Wartortle was the perfect candidate. It currently lacked a strong Water-type physical attack, and Waterfall would fill that gap perfectly.
"Wartortle?"
Wartortle tilted its head, confused as to why Gary had pulled it aside. It assumed it was about to be assigned a new training task.
Gary smiled faintly and patted Wartortle's head. He activated the Waterfall Skill Learning Device, and a soft white light flowed from his palm into the Water-type's body.
"Wartortle…!"
Wartortle's eyes went wide. It blinked several times, processing the strange sensation. It had just gained a new skill—not learned through practice, but suddenly known, as if it had always been there. The technique was already familiar, ready to use.
"Remember," Gary said quietly, "keep this between us."
Psychic-type Pokémon were sensitive to thoughts and could sometimes pick up on stray telepathic communication between Pokémon. If Wartortle accidentally bragged about how it learned Waterfall in front of one, it could become difficult to explain.
That said, even if a Psychic-type did pick up on it, the chances of the information ever reaching a serious investigator were slim. Most Trainers would assume their Pokémon had simply heard Wartortle boasting about a new move—nothing unusual. Just like Trainers competed over who had caught the strongest Pokémon, Pokémon themselves often competed over whose Trainer was the better one.
Still, caution was always preferable.
"Wartortle."
Wartortle nodded solemnly, taking the warning seriously.
"Good. Go train. Get familiar with Waterfall. And remember—try using it from inside your shell. Combine it with Rapid Spin. The result will surprise you."
"Wartortle!"
It nodded enthusiastically and ran off to join the others, immediately showing off its new technique. Exeggutor, Butterfree, and Scyther all watched with obvious envy.
Gary chuckled and reassured them—he would teach them new skills in the future, just not today.
The next major obstacle was the Vermilion City Gym.
Based on the pattern from the previous Gym missions, the system would almost certainly reward an Electric-type move when Gary defeated Lt. Surge. The problem was that none of his current Pokémon could effectively learn Electric-type moves.
Growlithe could potentially learn Thunder Fang, but only if the system happened to reward exactly that. Gary couldn't count on it.
Still, he wasn't worried.
He currently had 43 Low-level Rare Candies in his inventory—a sizable stockpile, ready to be used at the right moment. Lt. Surge was a serious opponent, and his Raichu was likely above Level 30.
The trip from Cerulean City to Vermilion City would take about half a month. In that time, Gary was confident he could naturally raise his team's average level to around 25 through training and battles. After that, using the Rare Candies would be the most efficient.
Pokémon levels were easy to raise before Level 30. After that threshold, the difficulty of advancing began to climb sharply. Saving the candies for the right moment was simply common sense.
For the next five days, Gary stayed in Cerulean City, training his Pokémon daily and occasionally accepting Trainer challenges. The days were full and productive.
His team's levels grew steadily.
Wartortle: LV19 → LV22; Exeggutor: LV21 → LV24; Butterfree: LV18 → LV21; Scyther: LV15 → LV23; Golbat: LV22 → LV25; Growlithe: LV5 → LV10
When Butterfree reached Level 21, it awakened Psybeam—an interesting development, considering that Butterfree was technically supposed to learn Whirlwind first based on its species's typical move progression.
Psybeam was a skill Butterfree could awaken as early as Level 16, but it had only manifested now, at Level 20.
That confirmed something Gary had suspected for a while: in the real world, the awakening of moves was largely random. Higher-than-normal levels could trigger moves that hadn't appeared earlier, but the timing varied wildly between individuals.
Scyther was a clear example. It had joined the team at Level 15 and was now Level 23. In all that time, it had only awakened Double Team. Double Hit—which should have come naturally by now—was still nowhere in sight.
Gary had also planned to evolve Scyther into Scizor as quickly as possible, but the Pokémon Department Store in Cerulean City was disappointingly under-stocked. It didn't carry Metal Coat.
That left him no choice. He'd have to wait until Saffron City.
Saffron City sat between Cerulean and Vermilion. Better still, it was home to Silph Co.'s main headquarters. A city of that scale would absolutely have Metal Coat available somewhere.
That same morning, Gary's mobile phone finally arrived.
The current model was a basic, gray-screen device—capable of voice calls and a few simple games, nothing more. But for Gary's purposes, it was more than enough. The point was communication, not entertainment.
He had already applied for a SIM card in advance. After inserting it, the phone activated immediately and was ready for use.
With the phone in hand, Gary saw no reason to remain in Cerulean City. He packed up his belongings, mounted his bicycle, and set off toward Saffron City that very afternoon.
He hadn't ridden far past the city limits when a boy wearing a baseball cap suddenly stepped into his path, blocking the road.
"Are you a Trainer from Cerulean City?" the boy asked.
Gary slowed to a stop. "I'm a Trainer, but I'm not from Cerulean City."
"That's fine," the boy said quickly. "If you're a Trainer, let's have a Pokémon battle."
Gary studied him for a moment.
"You look weak. I don't really feel like fighting you."
"What did you just say?!"
The boy clearly hadn't expected such a blunt rejection. But he wasn't ready to give up either. After a brief moment of frustration, he switched tactics.
"How about this—if you can beat me, I'll tell you where there's a really powerful Trainer in this area. Deal?"
Gary tilted his head, suddenly interested.
"Who exactly are you talking about?"
A Trainer who could leave a strong impression on a casual roadside challenger had to be at least somewhat noteworthy. After all, in casual battles like these, who would bother remembering an opponent who had simply beaten them without anything memorable to show for it?