"Oh! Gary, so you once served as a Gym Leader?" Cynthia said in surprise.
It was not easy for someone to serve as a Gym Leader, even temporarily. Unless a person was related to the original Gym Leader, being selected as a substitute required extremely fierce competition.
Compared to ordinary Trainers, being a Gym Leader was like becoming a civil servant in the Trainer world. The position came with a stable salary, full insurance coverage, and generous benefits.
"I only served as a temporary Gym Leader for two months," Gary replied calmly. "I wasn't the real Gym Leader."
"So that's how it is," Cynthia said thoughtfully. "Even so, that means you must be a very capable Trainer."
If someone could become a temporary Gym Leader, then their strength was certainly not weak. Otherwise, the Pokémon League would never have arranged for Gary to take that role.
Cynthia was from the Sinnoh region and was not very familiar with the ranking of Gyms in the Kanto region. However, the Viridian Gym was actually the strongest Gym in Kanto. The fact that Gary had been chosen as its temporary leader was already proof of his exceptional ability.
"If that's the case, Ash, then you really can't beat my granddaughter yet," Professor Carolina said with a laugh. She then looked at Gary and added, "You're not bad either, but you're still far behind my granddaughter."
As soon as she said that, both Gary and Ash showed dissatisfied expressions.
Ash did not refute her words, because he knew his current strength. Not to mention Cynthia—even Gary was stronger than him at the moment.
"Professor Carolina, that's not necessarily true," Gary retorted. "Don't underestimate me. My strength is comparable to a Champion's. I just haven't actually defeated a Champion yet."
"Oh? Comparable to a Champion?" Professor Carolina asked with a doubtful expression.
Cynthia was also quite surprised. At first, she had thought Gary was just a quiet and reserved Trainer. She hadn't expected him to claim that he was already at Champion level. To her, that sounded difficult to believe.
Only Ash and the others present knew that Gary had already defeated an Elite Four member.
"Don't talk nonsense," Professor Carolina scolded lightly. "You'll only make people dislike you."
"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not," Gary said calmly. "You'll find out when you watch the World Championships in the future."
After all, in Professor Carolina's eyes, Gary was still young. It was normal that she didn't believe his words.
"Professor Carolina, Gary isn't exaggerating," Ash suddenly said. "He really is very strong. He defeated an Elite Four member."
Professor Carolina and Cynthia were both stunned.
"What? Really?" Cynthia asked in surprise. "Which Elite Four member did you defeat?"
Gary hesitated for a moment. He didn't really want to talk about it, because it had only been a one-on-one battle and couldn't be considered a complete victory.
Moreover, Gary had never brought this up himself. Ash had exposed it directly, leaving him unsure whether to admit it or not.
"It was just a one-on-one battle with Agatha," Gary said. "And I only won by luck. It doesn't count as a real victory."
"Oh! You actually defeated Agatha?" Professor Carolina exclaimed.
She was about the same age as Agatha and knew her well.
Gary simply nodded and did not say anything else. Constantly boasting about defeating Agatha would only damage his image.
"In that case," Professor Carolina said with sudden interest, "do you want to have a battle with my granddaughter?"
"Now?" Gary hesitated slightly.
"What? Are you scared?" Professor Carolina teased.
Ash and the others immediately showed gloating expressions. Originally, Ash had wanted to challenge Cynthia himself, but he hadn't expected to witness a possible battle between Gary and Cynthia instead.
"Gary, accept it," Ash urged.
Compared to fighting Cynthia himself, Ash wanted even more to see Gary battle her. He wanted to clearly understand Gary's true strength.
After battling Gary many times, Ash had noticed something strange: Trainers of the same age could never force Gary to use his full power.
The only time Gary had truly gone all out was when he fought Agatha, and even then, it had only been Blastoise's full strength.
Ash knew that Gary still had other Pokémon, and those Pokémon should not be weaker than Blastoise.
"I don't mind," Gary said. "The key is whether Miss Cynthia is available."
Gary was actually tempted. Since fighting Lance, he had not battled any Champion. After so many years, he also wanted to know how large the gap between himself and a Champion really was.
"Now isn't a good time," Cynthia said after a brief pause. "I still need to deal with matters here. But if you have time later, we can battle after everything is settled."
"No problem," Gary replied. "Then let's have a three-on-three battle. What do you think, Miss Cynthia?"
Cynthia was slightly surprised. A three-on-three battle was usually enough to test a Trainer's true strength. Gary was clearly confident enough to challenge her seriously.
"…Alright," Cynthia said after a moment of thought. "No problem."
Professor Carolina also showed a mischievous smile, as if she enjoyed stirring up trouble.
"Then I'm sure I'll lose to my granddaughter," Professor Carolina said cheerfully. "Don't cry when you go back."
Looking at the troublemaking old lady, Dawn couldn't help complaining, "What a free-spirited grandma."
Brock nodded in agreement.
"Haha!"
At that moment, laughter suddenly echoed from the doorway of the research hall.
Everyone immediately turned their heads toward the entrance and saw a middle-aged man walking in. He wore a neat suit and had a calm, gentle expression on his face.
The man smiled as he walked. "So this is Professor Carolina's way of welcoming guests."
When Professor Carolina saw him, she greeted him warmly. "We really have many visitors today. Another guest has arrived at just the right time."
Gary felt speechless when he heard her words.
Because this middle-aged man was no ordinary person.
He was the leader of Team Galactic—Cyrus.
"You must be Mr. Cyrus," Cynthia said politely. "A famous figure in the industrial and financial world of Sinnoh."
Cynthia recognized him, but she did not know that the man standing before her was actually the true leader of Team Galactic.
"It is an honor to hear such praise from the Champion," Cyrus said, bowing slightly with an extremely humble attitude.
If one did not know his true identity, they would really believe that he was just a modest and successful businessman.
"Is this Mr. Cyrus really that impressive?" Dawn asked curiously.
"Many buildings and libraries in the Sinnoh region were funded by him," Cynthia explained.
"Wow!"
Ash, Brock, and Dawn were all shocked. They had not expected that this unassuming middle-aged man was actually such an influential figure.
"Although he doesn't look very handsome, he is still a big name in Sinnoh's financial world," Professor Carolina commented bluntly.
Her way of speaking was truly sharp—praising someone while indirectly criticizing their appearance.
Cyrus did not seem offended. Instead, he smiled faintly and looked around the laboratory.