"Ah~ I lost..." At the Mauville Gym, Wattson recalled his Magnemite, which had been burned by Will-O-Wisp, and sighed softly.
"Uh... are you all right, sir?" Young Master Mao asked with some concern.
"Hmm? Ahahaha~ I'm perfectly fine!" The old man planted both hands on his hips and laughed heartily. "It's only two Gym matches lost in a row. I'm not discouraged!
"Only by laughing hard and battling hard can you make life easy and happy, little brother Gary..."
"What kind of generational ranking is that...?" His assistant, Huate, couldn't help remarking from the sidelines.
Holding their third Badges, the two youngsters very considerately bowed and thanked the old man for going easy on them.
That gave him both the respect and the dignity he was due.
"Then~ shall we take a break before starting?" Young Master Mao ventured.
"I'm fine! They're only Gym matches. This old man could fight another hundred!" Wattson raised his bearded chin without the slightest concern.
"Impressive!" Young Master Mao nodded. "Then sorry for the continued trouble, Mr. Huate."
"All right..." Huate also gave his teacher a worried look.
Though this old man was optimistic to the point of shamelessness, losing three matches in a row would probably still be a little embarrassing...
He could only hope Gary would go easy on him...
"Then... the two-on-two Single Battle between Gary of Pallet Town and Wattson, the Mauville Gym's Gym Trainer, officially begins." Huate raised his hand to announce it.
"Come on, Gary! My Pokémon are Magneton and Ampharos. Let me see your Pokémon," Wattson said heartily.
Little did he know that one moment of heartiness might well lead to a lasting withdrawal from the world...
"Aggron, Dusclops, it's your... asleep?" Young Master Mao had just thrown his Poké Balls when he froze.
Which thoughtful old