"No matter what, I have to win the championship of this Fighting Tournament!"
Aaron thought to himself.
"But if I remember right... you need a Fighting-type Pokémon to enter the Fighting Tournament!"
"Out of my six Pokémon... not one of them is Fighting-type. This really sucks!"
Aaron grumbled inwardly.
From the Pokémon Training Space, Greninja, Snorlax, Gyarados, Sceptile, Beedrill, and Charizard all sent him the same greeting:
"Is that our fault!?"
"Looks like I'll have to catch a Fighting-type Pokémon."
Aaron stroked his chin and muttered to himself.
"I'll call Brutus. He knows this place well. I'll ask him where I can catch a Fighting-type Pokémon around here."
Aaron acted as soon as the thought came to him and immediately dialed Brutus's number.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
After a series of beeps, Brutus's booming voice rang out.
"You little brat... what do you want from me this time!?"
"The people from that Pokémon Hunter Organization you mentioned got away. What a pity."
"Bunch of rats, daring to stir up trouble near my turf. Lucky I wasn't there, or I would've beaten the crap out of them."
Brutus's mouth was like a machine gun, firing off nonstop.
Aaron quickly cut him off and said,
"Brutus... I've arrived in your hometown, Grit City. I want to enter this Fighting Tournament."
"But I don't have a Fighting-type Pokémon, so I wanted to ask if there's anywhere around here where I can catch one."
Aaron explained his purpose directly.
"Oh?"
"You want to enter the Fighting Tournament?"
"Hahahaha... Now that's interesting!"
"A Fighting-type Pokémon, right? Perfect timing. There's a Fighting-type Pokémon Reserve right by the Fighting Gym!"
"And every year, it opens for the three days before the Fighting Tournament. Trainers with tickets can go inside and catch one Pokémon."
"It'll still be open tomorrow. You can go in and catch a Fighting-type Pokémon."
Brutus grinned as he spoke to Aaron.
Aaron's eyes lit up when he heard that, but then he said,
"But I don't have a ticket..."
"That's nothing. I'll give the Fighting Gym a heads-up in a bit. You can go in tomorrow morning."
Brutus flashed his bright white teeth and thumped his chest as he assured Aaron.
"Then thank you, Brutus... You really do have a lot of pull!"
Overjoyed, Aaron quickly flattered him.
"Hahahaha... It's nothing, nothing!"
Brutus laughed happily. After chatting for a little longer, they hung up.
Aaron was in a great mood.
He casually found a hotel, checked in, took a comfortable hot shower, then lay down on the soft bed and fell asleep.
...
Nothing happened that night.
Early the next morning, Aaron got up and had preserved egg and lean pork porridge at a breakfast shop before setting off for the Fighting Gym.
The Grit City Fighting Gym was also one of the national Gyms.
Almost every city across the country had a Gym.
Gyms were established for two reasons.
First, to protect local safety.
Second, for the National Pokémon League Tournament. To qualify for the National Pokémon League Tournament, a Trainer had to defeat eight Gyms and obtain their Gym Badges.
The National Pokémon League Tournament was a national-level competition with extremely high prestige.
It could be called the highest-level competition aside from the Champion Summit Tournament.
...
Aaron arrived at the Fighting Gym in Grit City. It was a towering building.
Above the building, two huge fists clashed against each other.
Below them were several large words:
Grit City: Fighting Gym!
This was definitely the place.
Aaron walked straight into the building.
The interior was luxuriously decorated too. They really were rich!
"Hello... sir!"
"Do you have an appointment?"
At that moment, a young woman walked up to Aaron with a smile and asked.
"Uh... I should."
Aaron replied with a slight hesitation.
"My name is Aaron. I'd like to enter your Fighting-type Pokémon Reserve and catch a Pokémon."
"Hello, Mr. Aaron... Please wait a moment while I check."
Hearing Aaron's words, the young woman nodded politely, then took out an electronic screen and began searching.
"Hello, Mr. Aaron!"
"Confirmed... You may enter the Protection Base. Please follow me!"
The young woman found Aaron's name on the screen and smiled at him.
"Alright... thank you."
Aaron nodded, then followed her down a long corridor.
They arrived in front of a large gate. The young woman swiped her card, and the gate opened at once.
Inside, Aaron saw a dense jungle.
"Mr. Aaron... please go in. There are still quite a few other Trainers inside catching Pokémon, so please compete peacefully!"
The young woman smiled gently and spoke to Aaron.
"Alright... thank you!"
A faint smile appeared on Aaron's face, and he stepped into the Fighting-type Pokémon Reserve.
...
Aaron walked through the jungle and saw plenty of Fighting-type Pokémon, including Primeape, Machoke, Breloom, Grappler, and more.
But their potential was a bit low. The highest so far was only Champion-Class.
Aaron still preferred Pokémon that looked a little more handsome. They were more pleasant to look at day to day, weren't they?
As Aaron slowly made his way deeper inside, he arrived in a forest. There were many Pokémon in the trees, but their potential was not especially good, which left Aaron a little disappointed.
Just then, a series of loud crashes suddenly came from the forest ahead.
"BOOM! BOOOOM! BOOM!"
It was probably the sound of Pokémon battling.
Aaron's interest was stirred, and a flicker of curiosity passed through him.
He headed toward the place where the loud noise had come from.
...
Aaron pushed through the dense grass and finally arrived at a clearing.
There was a massive tree there, at least fifty meters tall.
Many monkeys clung to the tree. They had orange fur, and flames burned at the ends of their tails.
They were Monferno!
At the base of the tree, a crowd had gathered.
In the middle, a man in his twenties with multicolored dyed hair was directing a fox-like Pokémon in battle against a large monkey.
...