Chapter 222
Asahi couldn't help but be impressed by Blaine's bold idea of having Ash inherit the Cinnabar Gym.
But he didn't stay on Cinnabar Island for long.
After confirming the research progress on the meteorite, Asahi left.
By the time he returned to Lumiose City, Eevee's sandcastle still wasn't finished.
However, Eevee was now sulking, looking visibly annoyed — though Asahi had no idea who or what had upset it.
He gestured for Mew to comfort Eevee, then headed over to the barbecue.
Just as he was about to grab something to eat, he noticed something odd.
"Where's Slowpoke?"
Scanning the beach, Asahi didn't see any sign of the Pokémon.
His gaze immediately shifted to Salamence. "You didn't… eat Slowpoke, did you?"
There was no proof, but Salamence was the first suspect that came to mind.
Salamence flinched at the accusation, clearly startled.
Why would Asahi even think something so ridiculous?
Annoyed, Salamence pointed its tail toward a nearby corner.
There.
Asahi followed the direction and froze when he saw… Slowbro?
What?
When did that happen?
He had only been gone a short while — how had Slowpoke already evolved?
Walking over, Asahi found Slowbro sitting in the corner, its face downcast as it absentmindedly drew circles in the sand.
"…You evolved, but why the long face?" Asahi asked, trying to comfort it. "It's not like you can't lie down in the sun anymore."
Hearing Asahi's words, Slowpoke shook its head, clearly not upset about what Asahi mentioned.
"Slow…"
"Huh? You're saying… your tail hurts?"
—
A Good Vacation Flies By
After their trip to Lumiose City, Asahi returned to his estate. Like always, he woke up to find Eevee drooling in its sleep beside him. With a look of disdain, he tossed Eevee over to Mew, letting the two continue their nap together.
Gardevoir, already awake and reading a book, nodded at him in greeting.
Yawning, Asahi made his way to the living room.
The moment he stepped in, he noticed Blue and Sabrina sitting on the couch.
It wasn't strange for Blue to be up early — but Sabrina…
That was unusual.
Asahi raised a brow. "Sabrina, what's up with you today? Aren't you usually the last one out of bed? Why are you up so early?"
Sabrina looked at him like it was obvious. "To watch the battle, of course. Didn't you see Blaine's message last night?"
"Last night…?"
Oh.
Right — last night, Eevee and Mew had dragged him into a pillow fight, and somehow Gardevoir got roped in too. It had gotten so chaotic that he passed out from exhaustion afterward.
Probably why he missed the message.
Opening his chat app, Asahi quickly found the text from Blaine:
[Cinnabar Island Riddle Master]: Ash has boarded his flight. He's expected to arrive at Viridian Gym tomorrow.
It was sent in the middle of the night.
Based on that, Ash and his group should have arrived in Viridian City last night, rested up, and would be challenging the Viridian Gym today.
Ah — so that's why Sabrina was up early.
Today was the long-awaited showdown — Ash vs. Gary!
Asahi grabbed the breakfast sandwich the Indeedee had prepared for him and wolfed it down in a few bites.
Then, without hesitation, he tossed out a Poké Ball. Salamence appeared, still half-asleep.
"Let's go — we're heading to Viridian Gym!"
—
Viridian Gym
It had been about a month since Gary became the Gym Leader of Viridian Gym.
In that short time, things had shifted noticeably — from the initial flood of challengers (so many that they had to use a lottery system), to a steady drop in numbers as word spread that beating Gary wasn't easy, to now, where only strong trainers dared to challenge him.
Gary's growth as a trainer was obvious.
But today felt different.
When the Gym staff opened the doors in the morning, they were met with the sight of a Salamence landing dramatically at the entrance — its timing so precise it was as if it had been waiting for the doors to open.
A staff member blinked, ready to explain that the Gym Leader wasn't accepting challengers yet…
Until they recognized the person riding Salamence.
"Mr. Asahi?"
Wasn't this… the boss of their Gym Leader?
Say no more.
"I'm here to see Gary — don't mind us," Asahi said, leading Green and Sabrina inside.
—
The Gym was already bustling with activity, with staff cleaning the battle arena and preparing for the day's challengers.
Guided by a helpful assistant, Asahi found Gary in the battle area… leading his Pokémon in morning exercises.
How should one describe Gary's workout routine?
It was the kind of overly enthusiastic aerobics session that you'd be tempted to secretly record and post online.
The moment Gary heard footsteps, he turned around, speaking as he did: "Didn't I tell you guys not to bother me in the morning—"
He froze mid-sentence.
Because standing in the doorway… were Asahi, Green, and Sabrina.
Busted.
Gary's entire body stiffened.
He could feel the secondhand embarrassment sinking in.
Asahi cleared his throat. "Don't worry — we didn't see a thing."
Turning to Blue and Sabrina, he asked, "Right?"
Green nodded.
Sabrina, barely holding back a smirk, echoed, "Right — nothing at all."
But with the barely contained grins tugging at their mouths, they weren't fooling anyone.
Gary felt a headache coming on.
Still — his time as a Gym Leader had toughened him up.
Shaking off the embarrassment, he asked, "Asahi, what brings you here so early?"
"Wait… didn't Blaine tell you?" Asahi asked, surprised.
"Tell me what?"
"Ash is coming to challenge the Viridian Gym today."
Gary's eyes widened. "What?!"
He instantly lit up.
Finally — after days of relentless training, the moment he'd been waiting for had arrived.
He was finally going to show off the results of his hard work and absolutely crush Ash.
But then, as if remembering something, Gary suddenly spun around and sprinted back into the Gym.
"Hold on — my hair's a mess! I need to fix my style… and set up the recording equipment!"
Asahi: "…"
Green: "…"
Sabrina: "…"
Was this… really necessary?
To anyone watching, it looked less like a battle prep and more like Gary was getting ready for a date.
Then again… maybe to Gary, this was a date.
Asahi's imagination ran wild.
—
For Ash, his time on Cinnabar Island had been a memorable experience.
Thanks to Asahi's introduction, he had trained under Blaine and endured grueling exercises. Most importantly, his Charizard — once completely disobedient — was now following his commands, more or less.
Blaine still didn't seem entirely satisfied with Charizard's progress, but for Ash, it was a huge breakthrough.
Before Ash left, Blaine even gave him a plane ticket to Viridian City as a parting gift.
Now, Ash, Brock, and Misty were walking through the streets of Viridian City.
Brock, as usual, was sharing some local gossip he picked up from a hotel receptionist the night before. "Ever since the former Viridian Gym Leader, Giovanni, was put on the wanted list, the new Gym Leader is said to be… easier to deal with."
Ash, full of confidence, clenched his fist. "Once I get the Viridian Gym badge, I'm going to show it off to Gary!"
He didn't know where Gary had been training recently — the guy had been unusually secretive — but according to what he heard from Blaine, Gary hadn't earned the Crimson Badge yet.
This time… Ash was finally one step ahead!
Brimming with excitement, Ash pushed open the doors to the Gym.
Surprisingly, there weren't many people inside — maybe because they arrived so early.
They easily made their way to the battle arena.
When Ash opened the door to the pitch-black arena, he blinked in confusion.
"Huh? Why is it so dark? Are the lights broken?"
The moment he spoke, a spotlight suddenly beamed down from the ceiling, illuminating a lone figure.
The person stood with their back to Ash, dramatically posing, draped in a dark green cape. Their carefully styled spiky hair… looked oddly familiar.
Just as Ash was wondering who it was, the figure spun around — and the lights in the arena all switched on at once.
That's when Ash finally saw who it was.
His jaw dropped. "Gary?!"
"That's right — it's me, the great Gary Oak!" Gary smirked, clearly relishing Ash's shock. "Surprised to see me here?"
But Ash didn't catch Gary's point at all.
Instead, he asked curiously, "Are you training at Viridian Gym too? Where's the Gym Leader? I want to challenge them."
Gary's smug smile twitched. "Ash… your brain is still as slow as ever."
That one sentence instantly made Ash's blood pressure spike.
With a dramatic flick of his hair, Gary declared, "The person standing before you is the Viridian Gym Leader!"
Ash's stunned expression slowly shifted to one of disbelief. "…Gary, stop messing around. I'm really here to challenge the Gym Leader."
"I am the Gym Leader!"
"Yeah, right. You just won a badge yourself, didn't you?"
"I'm telling you, it's true!"
"I don't believe you!"
Watching the ridiculous back-and-forth, Gary felt utterly defeated. "…"
He wasn't Asahi — why would he lie about something like this?
At this point, Gary's only hope was Asahi.
In the corner of the arena, Asahi sighed at Gary's desperate look for help.
Honestly…
Gary had completely botched his dramatic entrance — and now, Asahi had to step in to clean up the mess.
Stepping forward, Asahi said, "Ash, I can confirm — Gary is the real Viridian Gym Leader."
Ash's shock only deepened.
Why was Asahi here too?
And… could Gary actually be telling the truth?
But… how did Gary become a Gym Leader?
Even Brock and Misty were stunned.
Wasn't Gary just a rookie trainer like Ash?
It had only been a few months — when did Kanto's Gym Leaders start changing so fast?
Meanwhile, Gary, finally regaining his confidence, smirked. "So? Still think I'm lying?"
"Well? Do you have the guts to challenge me, Ash?"
The taunt worked instantly.
Ash's eyes blazed. "Guts? I'm not the same Ash I used to be! I don't know how you became a Gym Leader, but I've been through some intense training!"
Hook, line, and sinker.
Classic Ash.
From the sidelines, Blue leaned toward Asahi. "Who do you think will win?"
Asahi thought for a moment.
"This… is hard to say."
Gary had a solid foundation — all that time as a Gym Leader had sharpened his skills.
Ash wasn't too bad either.
Although his own strength was a weakness compared to Gary's wealth of experience, Blaine's special training had somewhat made up for it. Right now, while Ash was still not at Gary's level…
If he factored in the buffs of his Reverse-Attribute Mastery and his skillful use of Dodge quickly! Stand up! Hang in there!—these three divine techniques—
Then winning would be a walk in the park.
Just as Sabrina, Green, and Asahi were discussing who would come out on top, Gary and Ash finally reached an agreement on the challenge format.
3v3, standard Gym battle!
With a wave of his hand, Gary signaled for a referee to step in.
Both Gary and Ash took their positions, their eyes burning with determination. The moment the referee's flag came down, they simultaneously threw their Poké Balls!
Bang!
Gary sent out Grovyle—a Pokémon that was undocumented in the Pokédex and had proven highly effective against Ash in past battles.
And as for Ash's choice…
"Roar!"
A deafening roar echoed through the arena, accompanied by scorching flames! A Charizard with a defiant gaze landed on the battlefield.
As soon as it appeared, Charizard eyed Grovyle and casually blew out a small flame from its mouth.
If this were a human, the action would be the equivalent of spitting on the ground.
A blatant provocation.
Grovyle, being naturally proud, found this completely intolerable!
Without waiting for Gary's command, it swung its arm and sent out a barrage of Leaf Blades at Charizard.
Seeing the incoming Leaf Blade, Charizard snorted in disdain, opened its mouth, and effortlessly incinerated the leaves with a burst of Flamethrower.
The first exchange between the two Pokémon ended, and the tension in the air was palpable!
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