Things in the Gym

Early in the morning, after finishing morning training, Sato brought his Pokémon to the cafeteria.

A large crowd followed behind Sato. Fortunately, they were inside the gym; otherwise, this spectacle would have caused quite a stir.

Many of the gym apprentices both admired and feared Sato, who was only a few years older than them.

Mark and Little Ming were usually responsible for training them, while George handled the logistics. Sato, on the other hand, had not had much contact with any gym apprentices beyond the first batch.

It was not deliberate on Sato's part. He had already caught more than ten Pokémon, and aside from Pichu, who disliked battling and served as a pet, and the Elite Four Level Gardevoir, all the others were part of his combat roster.

Before traveling to the Sinnoh Region, Sato spent every day either meditating and resting, training his Pokémon, or on his way to train them.

Even when facing gym challengers, Sato only fought personally after confirming that they possessed Elite Level strength.

Otherwise, he would throw them all at the others—Mark, Sinan, and Little Ming. Whoever was caught went up. He was very casual about it.

Yet even so, the Dark Night Gym's reputation had not declined in the slightest. It had even become a gym that many ambitious Trainers swore they had to challenge.

However, after returning this time, Sato was no longer in such a hurry. Breaking through beyond Pseudo-Elite Four was not something that could be achieved through a large amount of training and accumulation alone.

To put it in more abstract terms, breaking through to Elite Four required opportunity and personal understanding.

Furthermore, the Olivine City trip, Bassho, and everyone at the Olivine Gym had all influenced Sato greatly.

When a city truly faced a major crisis,