In his room at the Pokémon Center.
System, what's the reward item this time?
Having completed the mission, he naturally wanted to see what he'd received.
[Premium Weakness Policy: When the holder is hit by a super-effective attack, its Attack and Special Attack are sharply boosted.]
"Oh! Finally got one of these."
The Weakness Policy was an extremely useful item—easy to trigger, with a huge payoff. Best of all, it boosted both offensive stats, so physical and special attackers alike could make use of it.
It was especially good on bulky Pokémon with many weaknesses. A Tyranitar, for instance, with its seven weaknesses, would become terrifying with a Weakness Policy equipped.
"Now, which move should I redeem?"
The Normal-type had plenty of excellent utility moves.
System, exchange the Normal-type Self-Select Permanent Move Tutor for Substitute.
[Ding! Move redemption successful.]
Substitute was a highly practical move that almost any Pokémon could learn—well worth the exchange.
After redeeming it, Gary taught Substitute to five of the Pokémon he had with him.
Togekiss had already mastered Substitute before he'd obtained it, so there was no need to teach it again.
Once the teaching was done, Gary looked at Excadrill, Bisharp, and Chandelure.
The three Pokémon were puzzled, wondering why Gary was staring at them. If he wanted to strengthen them, he should be training them individually.
"You've all seen it—we're tangled up with Team Plasma now, and we'll probably run into them again. I'd rather deal with Team Plasma in one clean sweep, which means I need to bring a Pokémon that can track them."
The three Pokémon listened, but still didn't quite follow.
"Because of the carry limit, I can only have six Pokémon with me. If I want to bring another one, I have to send one back to the Laboratory. And considering the strength of the team, it has to be one of you three," Gary said.
After all, Gary still needed to collect Badges. The Unova Pokémon couldn't all be sent away—at least two had to stay for the Gym challenges.
Latios was his heavy hitter and couldn't be sent off.
Sending Togekiss back would cause trouble—it couldn't be left cooped up.
Eevee could sense danger, which made it essential to keep close, and with Team Plasma targeting him, Eevee had to stay by his side.
So it had to be one of the three Unova Pokémon teleported back to the Laboratory.
"Chan!"
Chandelure was reluctant. It had only just been caught by Gary and hadn't yet sorted out its relationships with his other Pokémon. Being teleported to the Laboratory now would be very awkward.
"Bisharp!"
Bisharp stepped forward on its own, volunteering to go back.
"Alright. Thank you for the sacrifice—you won't regret this decision," Gary said.
"Bisharp."
Bisharp nodded. It had been to the Laboratory before, and the Pokémon there were strong. It liked places where there was no shortage of sparring partners.
With Bisharp confirmed for transfer, Gary recalled his Pokémon and took Eevee to the Pokémon Center's transfer machine.
He contacted Professor Oak's Laboratory, teleported Bisharp over, and Tracey teleported Arcanine back in exchange.
Once he had Arcanine, Gary went straight outside and released it.
"Woof!"
The moment it saw Gary, Arcanine bounded over and licked his face like crazy.
"Stop licking—I've got something serious to ask of you." Gary held the big dog's head until Arcanine finally settled down.
"Arcanine, come smell this business card." Gary took out Bronius's card.
Some time had passed since he'd received it, but it should still carry traces of Bronius's scent.
Arcanine leaned in and sniffed the card, doubt filling its eyes. All it could smell on the card was Gary—no trace of anyone else.
"Arf…"
Arcanine looked ashamed, thinking the failure was its own fault.
"It's not your fault. The card's been in my pocket too long, and my scent has covered his," Gary comforted it.
Team Plasma had escaped this time, and catching them again would be harder. But it didn't really matter—Team Plasma's influence couldn't compare to Team Rocket's. Even if Gary never lifted a finger, sooner or later N would bring them down from within.
After recalling Arcanine, Gary went back to his room to rest.
The next day.
Gary rode Latios to Striaton City.
Nacrene City and Striaton City were very close—the flight took less than ten minutes.
Gary went straight to Striaton Gym.
Striaton Gym was rather unusual in that it had three Gym Leaders. Besides Cilan, there were Cilan's two brothers. The three of them all dreamed of becoming Pokémon Sommeliers, so they had converted the Gym into a café.
Gary pushed open the wooden door and stepped into the hall.
He was greeted by warm, cozy décor. Six round tables were arranged inside, where a good number of customers sat sipping coffee and chatting merrily.
"Welcome! Right this way, please." A red-haired man in a waiter's uniform came forward to receive him.
This was naturally one of Cilan's brothers, one of the Striaton Gym Leaders. As for his name, Gary had forgotten it.
"Hello. I'm here to challenge the Gym," Gary stated his purpose.
"A Gym battle?!"
The moment Gary finished speaking, the women who had been chatting away rose to their feet in excitement, all eyes turning toward him, brimming with anticipation.
This place called itself a café, but Gary couldn't shake the feeling that these three brothers weren't ordinary waiters so much as hosts at a host club—because aside from the two waiters, every single customer in the café was a young woman.
"A challenger! Then of course we must give him a passionate welcome!"
"No, no. I believe we should entertain him with cool, refreshing elegance."
At that moment, another waiter—this one blue-haired—came over. He was another of Cilan's brothers; the three of them were triplets.
Meanwhile, every girl in the shop looked ready to swoon. Gary was certain that with just the slightest nudge of a drink recommendation, these girls would happily empty their wallets.
The three brothers all worked serving drinks, and at night Striaton Gym turned into a bar. It was said that Striaton Gym after dark got quite wild—famous throughout the city.
"I'm Chili."
"And I'm Cress."
"We're both Gym Leaders of Striaton Gym."
Gary nodded and replied, "My name is Gary, from the Kanto Region. Can we have the Gym battle now?"
Hearing Gary's question, Chili and Cress exchanged a glance, and Chili asked, "Why aren't you surprised that we have more than one Gym Leader?"