"...Sir, are you a Trainer from the Kanto Region?" the girl in front of Heath asked. Heath rubbed his nose, then nodded. To be honest, he had not really wanted to challenge a Gym. He truly had no interest in that sort of thing, but seeing Charizard's expectant eyes and hearing his pleas, Heath had been unable to turn him down and could only agree. He had regretted it somewhat afterward, but since he had already promised, he naturally would not do nothing about it. So he had come to the Petalburg City Gym, ready to challenge it.
"All right. Since you have no previous record of Gym battles, we've arranged a Beginner battle for you. Please take this number ticket to Battle Room 1 for your match," the girl said politely. Heath was not surprised. After all, the League's Gym battles had adjustable difficulty, arranged according to how many Gym Badges a challenger had. It was hardly strange for someone like him, with no Gym Badges or battle records, to be assigned to the Beginner bracket.
Even back in Viridian City, things had been arranged the same way. Anyone wishing to challenge the Viridian City Gym would have their opponent determined by their progress in collecting Gym Badges.
Still, Heath shook his head and showed his Trainer Card. Although he did qualify for Beginner difficulty, the problem was that he was not actually a beginner. Heath was very strong. Even setting aside his Pokémon, the Champion-level battle experience he had acquired alone was enough for him to look down on these Gyms. Add in his very well-trained Charizard, and Heath felt he had a chance of winning even against the Gym Leader, Norman.
"Well, my Pokémon include Charizard and Zoroark, so Beginner difficulty might not be suitable for me,"