Kanto Region Gyms and Elite Four

Tetsuya walked along the street, reflecting that Pewter City was indeed more prosperous than Viridian City.

The main reason was that Viridian City's streets were filled with elderly people, giving it an especially leisurely atmosphere, while Pewter City's streets were full of young people going about their lives.

According to Alliance Data statistics, Pewter City ranked sixth in overall strength among all cities in Kanto.

Considering every aspect comprehensively, that was far from a poor ranking.

Viridian City ranked only eighth, and that was solely because Giovanni of the Earth, the Viridian Gym Leader, was powerful enough to drag its ranking up. In terms of the economy alone, Viridian City could only rank eleventh.

This was not like the games, where the Kanto Region had only eight cities and Gyms.

According to Tetsuya's information, the Eight Gyms that Appeared in the games of his Past Life were, in this world, the eight oldest Gyms in the Kanto Region.

Tetsuya had looked into it. At present, the Kanto Region had seventy-six cities, including thirty-two official Gyms and twenty unofficial Gyms. The rest either had solo Gyms or no Gyms at all.

Incidentally, the Kanto Region had the highest number of official Gyms of any region. Other regions had no more than twenty official Gyms at most, while some had only around ten.

It was also the only region where the number of official Gyms exceeded that of unofficial Gyms.

Official Gyms were Gyms recognized by the League, whose badges could be used to enter the local Regional Conference. To become a Gym Leader, one had to genuinely possess Elite Four Level strength.

Every ten years, the League would also assess whether they could continue operating as official Gyms.

Some powerful official Gyms had one or two Quasi-Champion Level, or even Champion Level, Pokémon under their Gym Leaders' command.

Because these Gyms were passed down through families, the older generation might grow old, but their Pokémon would remain in the hands of their descendants.

Tempered by time, the Pokémon grew ever stronger. That was the foundation of a Gym, and the most famous examples were Kanto's Eight Gyms.

As for unofficial Gyms and solo Gyms, they referred to Gyms established within cities whose strength fell slightly short of the required standard, or whose strength was lacking and whose development also failed to meet the requirements.

Generally, the Gym Leaders of such Gyms possessed Quasi-Elite Four strength or above.

The badges issued by the former could also be used to certify one's Elite Trainer rank, though they could not be used to enter the Regional Conference.

The latter's badges could only be used for Show Off. They basically had no other official purpose.

For Pewter City to rank sixth in the Kanto Region already made it an extremely powerful city.

What was more, the Kanto Region was Generally Recognized as the number one region, with plenty of Gold Content.

That was not merely because the Kanto Region was the origin of the League, but more because of its Trainers' strength.

Setting aside economic and technological strength for the moment, the regions were actually not that different, each with its own advantages.

The key was the strength of Kanto's Trainers, which ranked first in the world overall and far surpassed that of other regions.

In terms of official Gyms alone, Kanto could At Least match two, or even three, other regions with one of its own.

Even in terms of quality, the average strength of Kanto's official Gym Leaders was considerably greater than those of other regions.

Then there were the Regional Elite Four and Champions, the high-end combat power.

The so-called Regional Elite Four were all selected through countless grueling battles.

Every five years, each region held an Elite Four Challenge. Any League member whose Trainer rank had reached Champion Level could register to participate.

Of course, most chose to participate in the challenge held in their own birth region rather than going to another region.

Many Champion Trainers who ventured out alone to improve themselves participated eagerly. Only the top four who stood out among countless Strong Enemies could earn the title of Regional Elite Four.

In recent Elite Four Challenges, the Kanto Region had Bound To Be the greatest attraction.

There was no particular reason—only because of Kanto's strongest Regional Elite Four: the Genius Trainer Lance! The Ice-type expert, Queen Lorelei! The ageless ghost Agatha, holder of the record as the oldest Regional Elite Four member! And Bruno, the fighting maniac who combined hardness and softness!

These four had practically been the nightmare of every Kanto Elite Four Challenge participant for the past twenty years.

Put simply, these four were Generally Recognized as Champion Trainers with the strength to compete for a Regional Champion seat.

The Kanto Region's Elite Four slots had remained unchanged for the past four terms. When these four faced others, it could not merely be described as overwhelming—it was like chopping melons and slicing vegetables.

Everyone felt that rather than calling them Kanto's strongest Regional Elite Four, it would be more fitting to call them the Kanto Four Champions.

The Regional Elite Four of other regions were also strong, but they still had a huge gap to cross before becoming Champion Trainers. They were nothing like these four.

Even though Elite Four was more of an honorary title and did not mean their strength was limited to Champion Level.

If an Elite Four member from another region had three or four Quasi-Champion Pokémon alongside one or two Champion Pokémon, they could already be considered above average among all regional Elite Four members.

At the average level, they would Still Need to bring along two or three Pokémon at the peak of Champion Level, while these four each basically had an entire First Team of Champion Pokémon as a baseline.

Here was a joke: if Kanto's Eight Gyms pooled their Pokémon together, they could probably scrape together around two teams of Regional Elite Four-level Pokémon. It was absurd.

And there was already news that Lance would soon also serve as the Regional Champion of the Johto Region.

That was simply despair-inducing news.

So, although the Kanto Region did not have a Regional Champion like other regions, no one thought Kanto was weak. If anything, it was ridiculously strong.

After all, the way a Regional Champion was decided was that anyone who had once been, or currently was, a Regional Elite Four member could apply to challenge the current Regional Elite Four. Defeat all four in succession, or win against three, and you became the Regional Champion.

No one believed anyone could defeat Kanto's four Champions-in-all-but-name consecutively. Even they themselves could not defeat the other three.

When the only reason Kanto had no Champion was this, no one was stupid enough to think Kanto was weaker just because it lacked one.

What was more, beyond its current Elite Four and Champions, Kanto also had many powerful figures and outstanding Pokemon Professors. Professor Oak, for example, was both a Champion Trainer and one of the world's foremost Pokemon Professors.

Then there was Chairman Alder, also a Champion Trainer and also from Kanto.

Among the twelve members of the highest council formed by the Leagues of all regions, five came from Kanto, while every other region had only one.

As Tetsuya wandered around, two hours passed by.

"Ding-dong~"

His Pokemon Watch received a reply to his Gym reservation. "Trainer Tetsuya Tamaki, please arrive at Pewter Gym's No. 1 Field at 4:30 p.m. today for your Gym Battle. Please refer to the following message for the rules."

Tetsuya scrolled down. "The Pewter Gym Battle will be a 2v2 battle on a Rock Field. The Gym Trainer will send out a Pokémon first.

The challenger has the right to attack first. The challenger may switch Pokémon during the battle, while the Gym Trainer may not switch Pokémon.

The side whose Pokémon all lose their Combat Capability will be judged the loser.

Neither side's Pokémon may use high-tech equipment during battle. Doing so will be considered a loss.

Neither side's Pokémon may leave the boundaries of the battlefield for any reason during battle. Doing so will be considered a loss.

If damage is caused to the Gym's environment or equipment outside the battlefield due to the challenger's own actions, such as leaving the battlefield boundaries, compensation must be paid at the full price.

"

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