He headed from East Province toward Mesagoza.
The Dragon Tamer rode his beloved Cyclizar through a town.
He recalled the information he held—
There was a Pokémon Gym here.
[You decided to challenge the Pokémon Gym and win your first Badge. You were passing by anyway.]
Passing by, huh!
The arrogance in those words was almost laughable. Baimu clicked his tongue, but he knew the man had earned it.
The scene changed.
Artazon Town.
Flowers and enormous windmills decorated the town.
The Dragon Tamer's arrival caused no stir. Cyclizar was a common means of transport in Paldea.
But in the era of the simulation...
The Artazon Gym Leader neither had thorn-like hair nor specialized in the Grass type.
Perhaps the only similarity was that the current Gym Leader also loved sculpture.
Even his specialty was tied to sculpting—
Rock.
[You challenged the Artazon Gym.]
The Dragon Tamer began his Gym Challenge journey with gusto.
Like Ash,
he enjoyed giving new team members a chance to shine. Dragonite stayed in reserve in case anything went wrong.
Unfortunately, the Gym Leader's Pokémon were nowhere near as easy to handle as wild Tauros.
Knowing only two moves, Applin fought Rockruff with everything it had. It still ended up being treated like a ball, bitten and kicked around.
The simple pixel graphics made the battle look brutal.
Applin held out for a long time with Withdraw.
Finally realizing the Gym Leader was smarter than a wild bull, the Dragon Tamer reluctantly switched Pokémon.
[You sent out Cyclizar.]
Cyclizar.
Normal and Dragon type.
Its base stats barely cleared five hundred, sparing it a seat at the same table as Druddigon.
And despite looking like a small fry, it was surprisingly fierce in battle.
Rockruff, which had just toyed with Applin, failed to last a second