"The next battle facility is the Battle Palace. When do you plan to challenge it?" Scott asked.
The Battle Palace was located on Natural Island, an island north of Route 20.
Natural Island hadn't been developed yet. The islanders only occasionally sold timber, and most of the place remained untouched wilderness. The island's caretaker—and the Frontier Brain of the Battle Palace—was an old man named Spenser.
"Tomorrow," Gary replied.
He quickly calculated the timing in his head. If he left today, he should be able to reach Natural Island by the afternoon. That way, he could rest and start the challenge tomorrow morning without wasting time.
"Gary, why are you in such a hurry to challenge? Are you rushing for something?" Scott asked, still curious.
This time, there were two people taking on the Battle Frontier. Compared to Ash, Gary's pace was practically Extreme Speed.
In the time it took Ash to win a single Symbol, Gary could earn three or four. It was simply too fast.
"More or less," Gary said. "I want to go to the Sinnoh Region afterward and participate in the Lily of the Valley Conference along the way."
"The Lily of the Valley Conference only ended not long ago. With your strength and speed, you can definitely catch up," Scott said. "But honestly, the level of a League Conference isn't really suitable for you anymore, Gary."
League Conferences were meant for rookie and Elite-level trainers, and Gary's current strength was clearly beyond what those stages were designed for.
"I don't really know what to do with my main Pokémon," Gary said.
"Main Pokémon...?" Scott repeated, caught by the phrase. "Gary, which Pokémon do you consider your main ones right now? Can you tell me?"
"Besides Blastoise and Charizard, there's Tyranitar," Gary replied.
As for Zapdos and Latios, Gary didn't intend to mention them. He didn't want to scare Scott.
"Moltres doesn't count as one of your main Pokémon?" Scott asked in surprise.
The last time, at the Battle Factory gate, Scott had seen Gary release Moltres. But ever since then, Gary had never used Moltres in battle, always relying on Charizard instead. Scott couldn't help being curious about where Moltres stood in Gary's lineup.
"Moltres can fight in the Battle Frontier, so it's also one of my main Pokémon," Gary said, "but it's not the strongest. The Pokémon I mentioned can all fight against a Champion."
Scott was genuinely shocked. Gary was still so young, yet he already had three Pokémon capable of battling at Champion level.
And Scott believed him. He had personally seen Gary's battle with Agatha. There was no reason to doubt what Gary said.
At that moment, Scott felt as if he were watching a Champion rise right in front of him, step by step.
Kanto was finally going to have a Champion again.
"Since you're going to challenge next, I'll head there by boat to help make the arrangements," Scott said. "If possible, I'd like to see the strength of your other main Pokémon too, Gary."
"I'll do my best," Gary replied after thinking it over.
He had originally planned to train his Sinnoh roster during this period, but these Frontier Brains were far from simple. The Pokémon in their hands were firmly at the Elite level.
Among the Pokémon he intended to use for Sinnoh, only Rhyperior and Magnezone were reliable enough right now. The others were still lacking.
"Alright, then goodbye," Scott said.
Natural Island was out at sea, so Scott still needed to take a boat to get there. After saying that, he left.
Once Scott departed, Gary went to the Pokémon transfer machine. He sent all his Pokémon back to Professor Oak's Laboratory except for Rhyperior, Magnezone, and Charizard, then transferred ten more Pokémon over to his side.
The leaders of the remaining battle facilities were relatively strong. Their Pokémon levels were likely between 65 and 70.
There were seven Frontier Brains in Kanto. Even though all of them used Elite-level Pokémon, their strength still differed. In broad terms, they could be divided into a top three and a bottom four.
The four Frontier Brains Gary had defeated so far were naturally the bottom four. The remaining three were the strongest three among all of them.
After lunch at the Pokémon Center and an hour's rest, Gary left Fuchsia City on Charizard.
...
South of Fuchsia City was the sea area of the Kanto Region.
Natural Island lay north of Route 20. It was quite far away, and traveling by boat would take several hours.
But if he flew, he could reach Natural Island in about an hour. Because of the climate in this area, the weather was tropical, and even in the late afternoon the sunlight was still strong.
There was only one small town on Natural Island.
It was called a town, but it felt more like a village. There was only one Pokémon Center.
"Let's go take a walk in the forest."
After settling in at the Pokémon Center, Gary decided to head into the forest. He wanted to see what kinds of Pokémon Natural Island had.
At the same time, he also wanted to check for Shiny Pokémon.
After all, it had been almost three years since the system announced he could capture ten Shiny Pokémon. Up to now, Gary had only caught seven, which was already a lot.
Just look at Ash—he had only caught one Shiny Noctowl. For Gary to have seven was already quite impressive.
Recently, Gary estimated he had seen close to a thousand wild Pokémon. Since he was here anyway, he might as well test his luck in the forest.
Human activity on Natural Island wasn't extensive. About ninety percent of the island remained undeveloped, still keeping the pristine feel of an uncharted forest. The islanders had only opened a simple road through part of the woods for collecting supplies. Beyond that, they hadn't developed anything.
Entering the forest, Gary looked around carefully. He didn't want to miss a single Pokémon and accidentally overlook a Shiny.
[Lv. 8 Metapod / Normal Potential]
[Lv. 12 Rattata / Normal Potential]
[Lv. 15 Ekans / Elite Potential]
...!
Because this was still Kanto, the Pokémon on Natural Island were all Kanto species—common ones Gary saw all the time.
And because Natural Island was isolated, there were no outside Pokémon migrating in. The local Pokémon had long since settled into their own territories. They still fought occasionally, but with fewer disputes, boundaries were mostly fixed.
With less struggle, the Pokémon here naturally weren't very strong, and their levels weren't high. Even after watching and searching for half an hour, Gary didn't see a single Pokémon above level 20.
"...Time to go back."
Gary checked the time. It was almost five o'clock. Since he still hadn't encountered a Shiny, he could only head back.
He retraced his steps along the same path.
As he walked, Gary suddenly heard the sound of something colliding in the woods beside him.
"Are wild Pokémon fighting?"
Confused, Gary quietly slipped off the path and into the trees. After pushing through dense undergrowth for more than ten meters, he reached a small open patch of grass hidden behind the woods, where a group of Pokémon had gathered.
[Lv. 10 Nidoran♀ / Quasi-Gym]
[Lv. 8 Nidoran♀ / Normal]
[Lv. 7 Nidoran♀ / Normal]
[Lv. 10 Nidoran♂ / Normal]
[Lv. 10 Nidoran♂ / Quasi-Gym]
[Lv. 12 Nidoran♂ / Gym]
There were six Pokémon in total, Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂, and they seemed to be engaged in some kind of group activity.