"Whoaaa~Is this the gym you were talking about, Red!?"
"It's… HUGEE!!"
Upon arriving at Pewter City, Red and Luffy looked like two broke tourists, weaving through the city's distinctive buildings until they reached the largest place in town aside from the Pokémon Center, the Pewter Gym!
Just like how Viridian Forest had turned into a real forest, the Pewter Gym here was nothing like the small stone building in the games.
Even from a distance, you could see two giant Onix statues standing on either side of the gym entrance, giving the whole place an imposing and grand atmosphere.
Just standing at the entrance, you could feel the heavy, stony air rushing toward you.
From beyond the gym doors, they could vaguely hear some noisy sounds, proof of the gym's lively activity.
"Let's go!" Red stepped forward and pushed open the seemingly heavy, but actually automatic, stone doors.
Looking inside, the gym's interior design perfectly matched its theme.
The floors and walls were all pieced together with stone, presenting a deep, earthen brown, giving off a rustic, solemn feel.
In the center training area, rugged rocks jutted out everywhere, with huge boulders stacked into towering stone piles.
Around each rock pile, a couple of trainers in green uniforms were busy training their rock-type Pokémon.
No doubt…
These were the in-game equivalent of the "extra battle opportunities" before facing the gym leader!
At the far ends of the gym were two massive spectator stands.
Right now, the stands were sprinkled with groups of spectators, not too many, but not too few, watching the rocky battlefield below with focused eyes.
"What's the point of having so many spectators just to watch a bunch of trainers train Pokémon?"
"The game devs got a little carried away here~"
Red commented like a critic evaluating the game's design.
Next to him, Luffy marveled, "Wow~ there's so many people here!"
Clearly, the developers had put a lot more effort into optimizing the gym compared to other areas, making it feel much more like a real Pokémon gym.
Not just some small in-game room.
Hearing Luffy's comment, Red shifted his gaze to the gym trainers, a faint grin appearing on his face:
"Yeah, there sure are a lot of people."
Come to think of it, the gym trainers in the games gave way more EXP and rewards than the wild trainers.
Maybe this gym challenge would be even more rewarding than he expected!
He pondered to himself, then suddenly called out to the curious Luffy beside him:
"Luffy!"
"See those guys up ahead in the green uniforms!?"
"Let's go!"
"Time to mow them down!"
"Another fight?! Leave it to me!" Luffy grinned widely, rolling his shoulders and striding forward with an eager look on his face.
Even though all the opponents they'd faced so far were weak, the chance to battle interesting creatures still thrilled him.
As they entered the gym, Red and Luffy strode confidently toward a girl training a Geodude.
As soon as they approached, before Red could even speak, the girl's expression turned stern, and she took the lead:
"Who are you two!?"
"This is the Pewter Gym! It's no place to mess around!"
"What? You want to challenge Leader Brock? Ha! You're 10,000 light-years too early!"
"Let me test your strength first!"
"Go, Geodude!"
Without giving Red and Luffy a chance to reply, the girl threw out her Pokéball and sent out her Pokémon.
A dome-shaped arena suddenly formed, enclosing Red and Luffy inside.
"Man! People in this world are all so weird!"
Luffy, still baffled by the NPCs' logic, looked at the girl with a puzzled face.
But Red just smiled calmly, unfazed.
Playing along with the girl's lines, he replied coolly:
"A little Pewter Gym dares to boast so much!"
With that, Red stepped back, placing Luffy in front of him.
"Let's go, Luffy! Show her what you've got!"
"Alright!!!"
With experience now under his belt, Luffy leapt into the center of the battlefield, facing off against the Geodude.
A status bar popped up over Geodude's head: [LV: 7, HP: 28/28]
At the same time…
The entire gym fell silent.
All the NPCs seemed to receive some unseen command, turning their gaze toward the battlefield where Luffy and Geodude squared off.
A deep BGM began to play, echoing throughout the gym.
Each drumbeat stirred the soul.
On both sides, the spectators inexplicably began to cheer, as if watching an actual thrilling Pokémon battle.
"Whoa, whoa~ it's just a gym trainer, is all this really necessary?"
Finally understanding why the audience was here, Red muttered inwardly.
But he had to admit, this atmosphere was pretty exciting.
Even knowing the opponent was just a bunch of mindless NPCs, the scene still stirred Red's emotions.
"The hype's real now~"
"Guess I have to play along!"
Suddenly, Red acted like a real trainer and commanded:
"Luffy, use Soru! Get behind Geodude!"
"Huh?"Luffy, who had been fighting on his own until now, froze for a second.
But he quickly realized it was Red's command.
Without thinking, he obeyed, stomping his feet and using Soru.
A black blur zipped across the field, and Luffy appeared behind Geodude in an instant.
Geodude was naturally clumsy, and at just level 7, there was no way it could react to Luffy's speed.
As for the gym trainer, she was completely stunned by Luffy's sudden move.
Then Red's voice rang out again:
"Now! Hit it from behind!"
Luffy stretched his arm: "Gum-Gum… Pistol!!!"
"Oh no! Geodude, dodge!"
Inside the arena, the opposing trainer temporarily snapped out of her script, showing some real battle instinct.
But…
In the face of overwhelming power, no amount of strategy could help.
Even a "god-tier dodge" was useless!
BANG!!!
Luffy's bullet-like punch smashed into Geodude's rocky body, making even the tough little Pokémon cry out in pain.
"Ha-chaa~…"
The HP bar above Geodude's head instantly vanished.
One hit. Battle over.
The arena slowly faded away.
But just then, Red's face showed a flicker of surprise.
Beneath the message announcing Luffy's experience gain, another message appeared:
[Command completed, evaluation: average]
[Bonus reward: EXP +8]
"What's this? Bonus reward!?"
With a thought, Red froze the disappearing message in place.
After carefully reading it, he came to a realization.
"Come to think of it, this is probably the first time I've actually commanded Luffy in battle?"
"Could it be…"
"Depending on how well I command, we get bonus EXP after beating the opponent!?"
"I didn't expect the game to have this mechanic, not bad, not bad! Makes me feel much more involved!"
"As for whether this really works…"
Red's eyes lit up, and he turned his gaze toward another trainer near a rock pile.
"I just need to test it out!"
[Later]
[Monkey D. Luffy defeated the gym trainer's Geodude, gained EXP +38]
[Command completed, evaluation: useless]
[No bonus reward]
[Monkey D. Luffy defeated the gym trainer's Geodude, gained EXP +38]
[Command completed, evaluation: average]
[Bonus reward: EXP +8]
With the next two trainers, Red gave Luffy different commands.
For one, he made Luffy do weird moves, letting Geodude hit him twice before finishing it.
For the other, he repeated the Soru + punch combo to instantly win.
The results: one "useless" evaluation and one "average" evaluation, confirming Red's theory.
"Just as I thought, no way I'm just here as a tag-along!"
"And yeah, as a trainer, how could I not command my Pokémon!"
"Looks like I can't slack off; I need to put in more effort on this."
"A 'useless' command gives no bonus, an 'average' one gives an extra one-fifth of the original EXP."
"As for whether there are even higher evaluations…"
Red paused in thought.
He really wanted to do better and see if there were higher ratings…
But given Luffy's overwhelming level, no amount of clever commands could make things more dramatic.
So for now, he'd have to leave that for the future.
After all, they had more important things to do!