"My god, I didn't expect you to take him down all by yourself."
Tom looked at the defeated Scyther and Ursaring, and at Adam lying unconscious on the ground, speaking in shock.
"Luckily, I used a sneak attack and had Abra's help. It wasn't that hard to manage."
Gu Yuan wasn't proud. He stayed calm, as if it were something insignificant.
"No, no, no. You really helped me out a lot."
"Give me your Pokédex. I'll record this quest for you and send the points to your account."
Tom shook his head. He was still rattled, but he didn't forget to share the reward with Gu Yuan.
Hearing that, Gu Yuan felt lucky. This ranger had a good personality.
Of course, maybe it was because he was a League trainer and had an Abra with psychic powers. Maybe that gave Tom the wrong impression. But Gu Yuan didn't feel the need to explain himself.
"Don't refuse. Hand me your Pokédex. This is what you deserve."
When Gu Yuan didn't answer right away, Adam thought he was embarrassed to accept and spoke seriously.
With no choice, Gu Yuan handed over his Pokédex. He thought this must be how people in the Pokémon world were. Even if you don't say much, they imagine all sorts of things.
"That's better."
Taking the Pokédex, Tom handled it smoothly.
"Alright. You can check the quest details anytime. Thanks again for your help. I'll take him in now."
He returned the Pokédex, then released his Charizard and tied Adam up.
"Goodbye. I hope your journey goes well."
"Goodbye."
Gu Yuan watched as Tom flew off on his Charizard, while Adam had no choice but to be carried in its claws.
Only when Charizard disappeared from sight did Charmeleon look away.
"Don't worry. At the pace you're growing, you'll evolve into a Charizard soon and quickly surpass that one."
Gu Yuan put a hand on Charmeleon's shoulder, speaking with confidence.
Earlier, when Tom's Charizard appeared, Gu Yuan used his system to check its strength. Senior Rank!
Even so, Gu Yuan had confidence. The system was his foundation.
Since Charmeleon had reached Intermediate Rank, Gu Yuan slowed down the rate of adding points, spacing it out to once every five days.
Even at that pace, it would take less than two months for Charmeleon to reach Senior Rank and catch up.
But Tom? No matter how fast he trained, it would be hard to make much progress in two months.
Charmeleon nodded, adjusting its stance, already eager to face a strong opponent in Pewter City.
Pewter City sat at the base of a massive rocky mountain. The city carried a heavy, mountain-like atmosphere.
Aside from the Pewter Gym, it also had a museum that displayed historical relics, fossils, and even spacecraft models.
And since Mt. Moon was nearby, many Pewter trainers liked to train there. Some even encountered Clefairy.
The rocky mountains around Pewter also hid many ruins, attracting famous archaeology teams looking to study these past civilizations.
As soon as Gu Yuan entered the city, he felt that heavy atmosphere. Even the buildings seemed heavier than in other places.
If one were to put it kindly, that gave Pewter City a unique style. Using harsher words, the buildings were simply rough and lacked refinement.
After finding his bearings, Gu Yuan followed the map on his Pokédex to the Pewter Gym.
"Hello, you need to register and make an appointment before challenging the Gym."
A Gym staff member stopped him with a polite smile.
Three black lines of frustration appeared over Gu Yuan's head.
Of course, he wasn't the main character. He couldn't expect protagonist privileges.
Ash, for example, never had to wait in line. He could just walk in and battle the Gym Leader.
Gu Yuan registered with his Pokédex and also picked up a pamphlet about the Pewter Gym.
"Oh, the current Gym Leader is still Flint. Looks like Ash's journey hasn't even started yet."
Reading the pamphlet, Gu Yuan sighed with a hint of regret.
If possible, he would rather battle characters from the anime. But it looked like that wasn't going to happen.
Putting the pamphlet away, Gu Yuan headed for the Pokémon Center.
"Hello, this is my Pokédex. I'd like to check in for a room."
"Of course."
The staff member took his Pokédex and processed it smoothly.
Even though Nurse Joy was the face of every Pokémon Center, that didn't mean she was the only one working there. Even with help from Pokémon like Chansey, one person could never handle it all.
"By the way, we'll be holding a battle tournament soon. If you're interested, you can join. The prizes are pretty good."
After finishing the registration, the staff member suggested it to Gu Yuan.
"I'll go. Thanks for letting me know."
Without hesitation, Gu Yuan decided to take part.
Even if it wasn't for the prizes, he wanted to see if this kind of tournament could trigger extra points from the system.
"This is their flyer. It should have the info you need."
"Thanks."
Smiling, Gu Yuan took the flyer and went to find his room.
Battle tournaments like this were common in towns. Trainers were the obvious participants.
To attract more trainers, the organizers always offered expensive prizes.
The reason for so many tournaments wasn't that town leaders were bored, but that they wanted to draw people in, boost the economy, and make the town more famous.
No matter the prize, the host town always earned more benefits in return.
The tournament Gu Yuan joined offered a year's supply of Pokéblocks for first place. The only downside was that the prize wasn't tailored to a specific Pokémon.
Gu Yuan didn't mind. These tournaments didn't restrict strength, so you never knew what kind of opponent you might face.
At the very least, Charmeleon would get to experience some intense battles. That was good enough.
After confirming the tournament schedule wouldn't clash with his Gym challenge, Gu Yuan headed out to the registration point. He didn't want to miss the deadline.