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"Ding! You defeated Gary and received the following rewards: Silver Crown x2, Technical Machine [Protect], and Spell Tag!"
However, regardless of whether Gary had mentally recovered or not, he was no longer in any condition to continue battling. His strongest Pokemon, Charizard, had been decisively defeated in just two moves, so how well could his other Pokemon possibly perform if they were sent out to fight?
Gary didn't have any masochistic tendencies that would make him excited about being thoroughly defeated, so he chose to surrender directly. This allowed Eddie to claim his victory rewards without further conflict.
Immediately after the battle concluded, Gary prepared to depart from Lavender Town. After he had fully healed his Charizard at the Pokemon Center, he climbed onto the large dragon's back and flew out of the town.
"Morning Sun, I'm heading to Fuchsia City now to visit the Safari Zone, and then I'll take a boat to the Seafoam Islands and Cinnabar Island. If time permits, I'll also travel to Saffron City. These are all locations in the Kanto Region that I haven't properly explored yet," Gary explained his travel plans.
"After I finish visiting these places, I will return to Pallet Town for intensive training and preparation. We'll meet again at the Indigo Plateau Conference! Next time, I will definitely defeat you!"
Although Gary spoke in a calm and measured tone, his eyes burned with fierce determination. This time, he was committed to wholeheartedly training and strengthening his Pokemon team, so he could compete properly with Ash, Eddie, and other skilled trainers at the upcoming Indigo Plateau Conference.
After delivering this declaration, he directed his Charizard to fly toward Fuchsia City, disappearing into the distance.
"Hmm, I really hope you can reach Peak-level strength by our next encounter, otherwise I might just continue to completely overwhelm you again," Eddie thought to himself.
Eddie was someone who understood his own capabilities very well. Given his current rapid leveling speed and training efficiency, he would definitely achieve Gym Leader-level trainer status by the time the Indigo Plateau Conference arrived. However, it was difficult to predict exactly how many of his Pokemon would reach that level of strength.
The Indigo Plateau Conference in the Kanto Region, along with similar Alliance competitions in other regions that determined regional champions, were scheduled to take place six months after the game's official launch.
Before Eddie had been reborn into this world, the strongest player among all the human players had only reached the peak of Peak-level training. Although that particular person had been very close to achieving Gym Leader-level strength, their Pokemon had already been over level 40 at that time.
According to the typical player's leveling speed and progression rate, it would take approximately ten and a half days to advance a Pokemon beyond level 40 by even a single level.
That Peak-level player had been what the gaming community called a "hardcore grinder." They had been leveling up their Pokemon day and night continuously after the game's launch, and only through this extreme dedication had they managed to train three of their Pokemon to that impressive level.
Yes, it had been only three Pokemon, which represented the absolute limit of what they could accomplish, but even with just that small team, they had been the strongest player among the entire player community at that time.
Coincidentally, that particular trainer had been from the Kanto Region. They had participated in the Indigo Plateau Conference with complete confidence and had successfully advanced to the top sixteen competitors.
Just when all the other players thought this trainer could easily make it to the top eight or possibly even the top four, that person had been forced to admit defeat in what became a source of laughter among the player community.
The other players had been puzzled by this sudden surrender, but when they looked to see who the opponent was, everyone couldn't help but feel genuine sympathy for the defeated trainer.
That poor player had been incredibly unlucky. They had actually been matched against Ash in the top sixteen! At that time, Ash had already been a Gym-Leader level trainer with tremendous skill and experience.
As a result, Ash had used a single Venusaur to sweep through that player's entire team without taking any significant damage, achieving a perfect victory.
The defeated trainer had obviously been the strongest player among all human participants. Other players from different regions had managed to advance to the top eight, but this person had been stopped at the top sixteen. It had truly been a heartbreaking situation to witness.
Returning to the current situation, Eddie's memories were from his experiences before being reborn, and his current leveling speed could be described as more than ten times faster than those previous players. Therefore, he was one hundred percent confident that he could achieve Elite-level status by the time of the conference.
As for Gary and Ash, if they remained at the Gym Leader level of strength when they participated in the Indigo Plateau Conference, similar to Eddie's previous life experiences, then Eddie would have an excellent chance of winning the championship.
"However, the current versions of Ash and Gary are obviously quite different from their previous incarnations before my rebirth. This change isn't only because of the unexpected factor of my presence, but also because of the enhanced game version that's only been active for a few days," Eddie reflected.
"They're both already Peak-level trainers. Their advancement speed isn't much slower than mine, which is genuinely frightening to consider."
Eddie thought carefully about both Gary and Ash, and he became increasingly certain that they had also received significant power enhancements. In addition to Mega Evolution capabilities, he estimated that the upcoming Indigo Plateau Conference would feature extremely fierce competition.
Now that Gary had departed, Eddie needed to begin his own journey. At least he had enjoyed a full day of rest and recovery. He estimated that some other players had probably already arrived in Vermilion City by now. Unfortunately, Lieutenant Surge was definitely not present at his gym currently, so those players wouldn't be able to participate in any gym battles.
Speaking of this situation, the players in the Kanto Region were actually quite unfortunate, because many gym leaders in this region were frequently absent from their respective gyms. This made it significantly more difficult for trainers to collect the required eight badges for conference participation.
Fortunately, the Pokemon League had established regulations stating that if a trainer challenged a gym and the gym leader was not present, they could apply to the League to challenge the gym leader's designated substitute. If they defeated the substitute, they would still receive an official gym badge.
However, after submitting such an application, trainers typically had to wait approximately one day for a response. After all, the substitute wasn't the actual gym leader and naturally had their own responsibilities and schedule. If someone applied to challenge them, they would respond immediately if they were available, or postpone the battle to the next day if they were currently busy.
Both Ash and Eddie had been too impatient to wait when they had visited Vermilion City previously. After all, they were both extremely busy with training and felt they needed to use every minute for leveling up their Pokemon. Almost no serious trainer was willing to waste time waiting around.
But there was no need to dwell on this topic further. The situation with other players had nothing to do with Eddie anyway, since they were no longer operating on the same level of skill and ability.
Eddie had just thought of this situation by chance, so he was simply amusing himself with the comparison.
He had just checked the online information and discovered that Erika, the gym leader of Celadon City, was currently traveling back to her gym and would probably return by tomorrow.
So Eddie planned to travel to Celadon City today. He would probably arrive there in the afternoon, and then he could search for local quests and training opportunities. When Erika returned the following day, he would be ready to challenge her for a gym badge.
But before heading to Celadon City, he wanted to visit the bridge on Route 12 to check if the famous Snorlax was still sleeping there. If it was still present, he would definitely attempt to capture it without hesitation. If it had already moved on, he would simply consider the detour a pleasant walk.
"By the way, I should examine the rewards I just received for defeating Gary," Eddie said to himself.
Eddie retrieved the Technical Machine [Protect] and the Spell Tag from his bag and smiled with genuine satisfaction.
These two items, especially the Technical Machine, were absolutely wonderful additions to his arsenal.
[Protect]: Completely defend against an enemy's attack. Continuous use is prone to failure. Note: The greater the level difference with the opponent, the less effective this move becomes.
[Spell Tag]: When held by a Pokemon, the power of Ghost-type moves is increased by 30%.
"Finally, I've obtained this particular Technical Machine. This is considered an incredibly powerful move in the Pokemon world. I should use it immediately!"
The effectiveness of this move was beyond question. Although in this Pokemon world that was designed like a game but functioned as reality, it would be impossible for a level 10 Pokemon to successfully defend against an attack from a level 50 Pokemon using this move.
However, as long as the level difference between the Pokemon didn't exceed 10 levels, Protect functioned as a perfect invincible shield that could block virtually any attack!
Such an incredibly useful move could be learned by almost every species of Pokemon!
Therefore, Eddie enthusiastically released all of his Pokemon from their Poke Balls to teach them this valuable technique.
"Ding! You used the Technical Machine. Charizard, Greninja, Sceptile, Gabite, Pupitar, and Gastly have all learned the move [Protect]!"