After watching Ash leave, Gary lounged in a reclining chair in the botanical garden, fiddling with the coffee cup in front of him.
"Young Master Mao, aren't you leaving yet?" Erika had helped Gary mail three bottles of specially formulated perfume: one to the Battle Chateau in Unova, one to Ice Island in the Sevii Islands, and one to Vermilion City.
Gary leisurely read a recent newspaper. "No rush. Let me see if there's anywhere interesting nearby."
Building a solid foundation was what let you surge ahead. Speedrunning the whole journey might feel great, but neglecting his Pokémon's training would trip him up sooner or later.
"If you're looking for somewhere to train, perhaps you could take a look at this." Erika handed Gary a flyer.
"The P1 Fighting Tournament?" Gary curled his lip. "Pass. The competition's too weak, and I don't have a Machoke waiting to evolve anyway."
"Then how about continuing your Gym challenges?" Erika suggested.
"That is the plan." Gary rested his chin on his hand and explained, "The Fuchsia Gym is deep in the mountains, so I want to grind a few more levels for Eevee and the others before heading there."
Koga of the Fuchsia Gym would soon take up a position in Johto's new Elite Four. His Gym battle lineup really wasn't that strong, though. Scizor alone would be enough to handle it.
Right now, Gary was paying particular attention to Charmeleon. The fellow quietly went about his business, yet leveled up ridiculously fast.
He had to admit that God-level talent was damn impressive. Charmeleon was just one final push away from evolving again. Compared with Charmeleon, Charizard would be a whole different beast!
"Come to think of it, I should start giving this guy some extra food." Gary made up his mind to