Pallet Moss City, Mossdeep Gym.
Inside the Gym Leader's office, Red was currently telling Cynthia everything he knew regarding the super-ancient Pokémon.
When Cynthia heard that these ancient Pokémon were actually connected to the legendary Eternatus—
Even she couldn't help marveling in amazement.
"The imagination of the super-ancient civilization is truly unbelievable."
"They actually managed to make ordinary Pokémon become this gigantic."
"Yeah. Their technology really was incredible."
Red couldn't help recalling the petrification device that had once briefly sealed even Mewtwo.
Unfortunately, after petrifying Mewtwo, the device had completely exhausted its energy and become unusable.
Just as Red and Cynthia were chatting—
Someone suddenly knocked on the office door.
A moment later, Clair timidly poked her head inside.
But after realizing it truly was Cynthia, the excitement in her eyes could no longer be hidden.
Holding out a notebook, Clair hurried over and placed it in front of Cynthia.
"Champion Cynthia! Hello!"
"My name is Clair! I'm Lance's cousin!"
"Could I possibly trouble you for an autograph?"
Cynthia looked slightly surprised, but still nodded with a smile.
"Of course."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Watching Clair behave exactly like a Redirl meeting her idol, Red sighed helplessly.
"There's no helping it. Kids are just like this."
Hearing that, Cynthia laughed softly.
"I actually think Gym Leader Red is far too mature."
"You're only eighteen years old, yet you've already gained the friendship of a legendary Pokémon."
"Your future is practically limitless."
Hearing Cynthia's words, Red instead became somewhat puzzled.
"The Champion sure knows a lot about me."
"You even know my age?"
Cynthia's expression stiffened instantly.
She couldn't exactly say:
Not only do I know your age, I also know your zodiac sign, your favorite foods, and even that you snore when you sleep.
Of course, all of that information came from Red's unreliable father—
Cynthia had merely happened to remember it.
She quickly changed the subject.
"Right, then… what are you planning to do with those two super-ancient Pokémon?"
"With bodies that massive, there's no way they can simply be released back into the wild."
"Even ordinary Poké Balls can't contain them."
Although Red found it strange that Cynthia suddenly changed topics, he still replied:
"Could you leave those two super-ancient Pokémon with me?"
"I can already make ordinary Pokémon enter Gigantamax-like forms now."
"At the moment, I need more research materials."
"You can make ordinary Pokémon gigantify?!"
Cynthia widened her eyes in shock.
At this moment, the way she looked at Red changed once again.
Not only does he have a legendary Pokémon partner…
He's also extremely talented in research.
His own strength may still be lacking, but he's definitely a rare genius.
In Cynthia's mental evaluation of him, Red's score rose by another large margin.
After hesitating briefly, Cynthia nodded.
"Very well."
"I'll temporarily leave those two super-ancient Pokémon in Gym Leader Red's care."
"But regarding your gigantification research…"
Red immediately nodded.
"If the research succeeds, I'll give you the first device!"
Cynthia nodded slightly, revealing the composed smile of a mature woman.
"Don't worry."
"I won't accept it for free."
After discussing the gigantification research and the fate of the ancient Pokémon, Red looked toward Cynthia and asked:
"By the way, what brings the Champion to Kanto?"
"Do you need any help?"
Hearing the question, Cynthia nearly choked on her tea.
How am I supposed to answer that?
Tell him I came to inspect whether my arranged fiancé is qualified?
After thinking for a moment, Cynthia finally replied:
"Nothing in particular."
"I simply came to Kanto for a bit of sightseeing."
"You can think of it as a post-championship vacation."
"Oh, I see."
Red didn't think much of it.
After all, even if he racked his brain, he would never guess Cynthia's true reason for traveling all the way to Kanto.
While Red successfully dealt with the super-ancient Pokémon and turned them into giant batteries—
Ash and Gary continued their journey as well.
Although the two had obtained different numbers of Gym Badges, they still chose to travel together.
The original three-person party had now become a four-person group with Gary joining in.
After receiving Red's guidance, Gary decisively abandoned his absurd idea of traveling entirely by luxury car.
Instead, he began honestly experiencing the joys of travel on foot.
However, because of Gary's addition—
And because Ash's strength had more than doubled after Red's training—
Team Rocket's trio now stood absolutely no chance against them.
This left Jessie, James, and Meowth utterly furious.
"Blasted twerps!"
"We'll be back someday!"
Watching Team Rocket blast off into the sky yet again like shooting stars, Ash and Gary turned toward Brock.
"Brock, where are we heading next?"
Brock pulled out a map and studied it for quite a while before answering:
"Let me see…"
"Normally, we'd head toward Vermilion Gym to challenge Lt. Surge."
"But recently, there's apparently a newly-opened Gym in a town near Vermilion City."
"It was supposedly opened by Lt. Surge's cousin."
"We'd have to take a slight detour, though."
"And it's not one of the official League Gyms."
"Still, I've heard it's become pretty famous lately…"
"It's just that people say the Gym Leader fights a little too brutally."
"So its reputation isn't exactly great."
Unfortunately for Brock—
Ash and Gary immediately ignored all the concerns he raised.
To them, things like not an official League Gym and newly-opened Gym weren't drawbacks at all.
If anything—
Those were massive attractions.
"Let's go there!"
"Yeah! Let's go! Let's go!"
What Ash and Gary didn't know, however—
Was that not every small-town Gym Leader was as kind as Red.
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