"System, strengthen Rhyperior's Solid Rock Ability," Gary said silently.
[Ding! Ability strengthened successfully.]
[EX Solid Rock (Under super-effective attacks, damage taken is reduced by one-half.)]
"Good."
After Solid Rock was strengthened, the effect was excellent. Super-effective damage was now cut in half. A move that would normally deal four times damage would only deal two times, and a move that would normally deal two times damage would only deal one times—effectively neutral.
In other words, this was equivalent to eliminating four of Rhyperior's six weaknesses. Only Water and Grass remained as genuine threats. Rhyperior's survivability had improved enormously.
The only drawback was that Rhyperior's base Special Defense was still very low. Even if Water and Grass attacks were reduced to double damage, powerful special attacks from those types could still pose a serious threat to Rhyperior.
"Come back. I'll use you to challenge the Gym later," Gary said.
"Roar!"
Gary recalled Rhyperior and headed toward the Gym in Silvercrown Town.
Silvercrown Town wasn't very big. Gary rode Cyclizar and found the Silvercrown Gym in about twenty minutes.
The Silvercrown Gym was a Ground-type Gym.
Gary didn't know who the Gym Leader was, and hadn't investigated beforehand. With his current strength, a Gym challenge wouldn't put any real pressure on him. As long as it wasn't a freshly trained team, he could fight with his existing Pokémon without any problems.
When he arrived at the entrance, he found that the Silvercrown Gym was built like a small sports stadium—not too large, more of a medium-sized venue. It was more than sturdy enough to handle the kind of damage a Ground-type battle would cause.
Gary entered the lobby.
Inside, he saw a girl in a yellow tracksuit staring at the TV with total concentration.
A Pokémon football match was being broadcast. Electivire and Scizor were on opposite teams, and both sides were playing fiercely.
"Hey," Gary called out.
"Ah!"
The girl was startled. When she saw Gary, she realized someone had entered the Gym and quickly asked, "Are you a Trainer?"
"Yes. I'm here to challenge the Gym. Is the Gym Leader here?" Gary asked.
"My dad went to Crown City to deal with something. He'll be back this afternoon," the girl said.
"Can your father accept a Gym battle when he returns?" Gary asked.
"This... I'm not sure exactly when he'll be back. But don't worry—when he gets home, I'll tell him a challenger is waiting. You can come back in the afternoon. If not today, then tomorrow for sure," the girl promised.
"Then I'll come back this afternoon."
Gary didn't mind. Gym Leaders usually had their own things to deal with. He had just come at a bad time.
"Don't leave yet!" the girl said suddenly. "Since you're already here, how about we have a quick battle? Think of it as a warm-up before the Gym match."
"...?"
"My name is Yuko. I'm a Trainer too," she introduced herself.
"No need. I don't want to battle you," Gary refused without hesitation.
"Why not?"
Yuko was confused. They were both Trainers. Normally, a Trainer would accept when someone invited them to battle.
"Because in my opinion, you're a third-rate Trainer. Battling you would be a waste of time and not interesting," Gary said.
"What?! Third-rate Trainer...!" Yuko's fists clenched immediately. As the daughter of the Silvercrown Gym Leader, she was the strongest among the younger generation in town.
"In that case, let's have a wager battle! How about it?" Yuko challenged.
In the world of Trainers, battles were generally divided into casual battles and wager battles. Casual battles were voluntary sparring. Wager battles were more formal—both sides put something on the line, so both would fight seriously. When one Trainer proposed a wager battle to another, it was considered a very serious and formal invitation.
"What do you have to bet? First, I'm not interested in money," Gary said.
If it was a wager battle, Gary was more willing to consider it—as long as the stakes weren't money. He had never been interested in cash. Although money could buy many things, the exchange process was always troublesome. Gary preferred trading item for item.
Yuko was surprised. She hadn't expected Gary to have no interest in money at all. That was rare.
In that case...!
"How about this?"
Yuko pulled out a small scroll-like case from her waist bag—it was a TM.
"A TM... What move?" Gary asked.
He wasn't surprised that Yuko could produce a TM. Gyms always had some background, and older Gyms especially had deeper foundations and better resources accumulated over the years.
"Scorching Sands," Yuko said.
Gary was slightly surprised.
Scorching Sands was a very special move. It was classified as a Ground-type skill, but it also carried Fire-type damage properties. That meant Scorching Sands could deal double damage to Pokémon that were weak to Fire.
Because of this, some Fire-type Pokémon could also learn Scorching Sands. It was also a special attack move, which meant Gary's Arcanine and Heatran could both learn it.
"Are you sure you want to bet this?" Gary asked for confirmation.
"Of course I'm sure. Why, you're not scared now, are you?" Yuko taunted.
"I'm not scared. If you can win, this Peat Block is yours." Gary pretended to reach into his waist bag, but actually pulled the Peat Block out from his space backpack.
"Peat Block? What's that?"
Yuko stared at it with wide eyes, not recognizing what Gary was holding at all.
It looked like an ordinary rock—not attractive, plain, and clearly not worth much at first glance.
"Your Gym is a Ground-type Gym. You don't even know what this is?" Gary asked.
Yuko frowned.
Because of her father's influence, she had naturally fallen in love with Ground-type Pokémon and become a Ground-type Trainer. But she genuinely did not recognize the Peat Block in Gary's hands.
Seeing Yuko stay silent for a while, Gary took the initiative to explain. "The Peat Block is a prop that Ursaring needs to evolve into Ursaluna."
"Ursaring's evolution item?!"
"Wait—isn't Ursaring a Normal-type? Don't think I don't know that!"
Yuko put her hands on her hips. Although she was young, she still had basic knowledge. She knew what Ursaring was. After all, Ursaring lived in the forests around town, and every family warned their children to be careful when going out.
"Ursaring is indeed a Normal-type," Gary said calmly. "But when it evolves into Ursaluna, it becomes a Ground and Normal dual-type Pokémon."