The Nacrene Gym Leader was a middle-aged Black woman named Lenora. She used Normal-type Pokémon, and her Gym was generally suited for rookie Trainers.
If it weren't for the mission rewards, Gary wouldn't have bothered coming here to challenge a place like this.
"Here it is."
After walking through several streets, Gary found Nacrene Gym.
The building was impressively grand, because in addition to being a Gym, it also served as a museum. Its collection included fossils, Pokémon skeletons, suits of knightly armor, and even ancient coffins.
In the anime plot, Team Rocket had once stolen a meteorite from this museum. The follow-up episodes never aired, though. All Gary knew was that the meteorite had eventually been destroyed by Pikachu's Electro Ball.
Going by the timeline, that incident had long since passed. Perhaps Pikachu's increase in potential was also linked to that meteorite—absorbing its energy might have been what gave Pikachu the power to destroy it.
Gary stepped through the entrance and saw rows of bookshelves lined with old volumes and ancient texts, each one looking extremely valuable.
"Hello there. Are you here to visit the museum?"
A middle-aged man wearing small semicircular glasses walked up to him.
Gary figured he was a member of the staff.
"Hello, my name is Gary. I'd like to look around the museum, but I'm also here to challenge Nacrene Gym," Gary said.
"No problem at all, but my wife is resting right now. You can challenge her after her lunch break. In the meantime, I can give you a tour of the museum," the man said.
"Your wife?"
Gary paused. He remembered who the Nacrene Gym Leader was, but whether she was married or not had completely slipped his mind.
"That's right. Lenora, the Nacrene Gym Leader, is my wife. My name is Hawes, and I'm the assistant director of the Nacrene Museum," Hawes said, introducing himself.
"Got it. Is there an admission fee?" Gary asked.
"There is, but it's not expensive. A ticket is five hundred Pokédollars," Hawes said.
Five hundred Pokédollars wasn't much to Gary, but when Ash and his friends had visited this museum, they hadn't seemed to pay anything. Why was he being charged?
Gary happened to have change on him, so he handed over five hundred Pokédollars to Hawes.
"Follow me, I'll show you around personally."
Hawes pocketed the money, found another staff member to watch the entrance, and led Gary into the museum himself.
Hawes was very knowledgeable. Whether the topic was history or Pokémon fossils, he knew the story behind every exhibit in the place.
"Mr. Hawes, can these fossils be revived using restoration technology?" Gary asked.
"Absolutely. I'll have you know, I'm a researcher myself. I was involved in fossil-restoration research before and even helped revive several extinct Pokémon." Hawes adjusted his glasses, looking pleased with himself.
"Aside from fossils, are there any meteorites here?" Gary asked.
"There are, but there's nothing particularly impressive about them. Are you sure you want to see them?" Hawes asked.
"I'd like to take a look."
Knowing that Team Rocket had once come here to steal a meteorite, Gary naturally wanted to see for himself. There might be something worth picking up.
Meteorites were useful materials. Especially at later stages, many key items were made from meteorite.
Gary followed Hawes to the museum's meteorite section.
The museum didn't have a large meteorite collection, so the area wasn't very big. There were three display tables, each holding a handful of stones spaced about a meter apart, covered by individual glass cases.
"These are all part of the collection. We don't have many actual meteorites—most of these are just unusual stones," Hawes explained.
Gary looked them over one by one and stopped when he reached the middle of the area.
Inside the glass case in front of him sat a round stone. Its surface was gray, but the body underneath was white. Three identical grooves ran across it, looking almost too precise to be natural.
No matter how Gary looked at it, this stone resembled the God Stone.
The God Stone was a key item connected to the Unova Region's third Legendary dragon—Kyurem.
There were also the Light Stone and the Dark Stone. The Light Stone was tied to Reshiram, while the Dark Stone was tied to Zekrom.
"Mr. Hawes, is this one of those unusual stones?" Gary asked.
"Yes. The grooves on its surface are remarkably uniform. We've examined them and confirmed they weren't made by human hands. This stone has been in the museum for a hundred years," Hawes said.
"Is there anything special about it?" Gary asked.
"Not particularly. The grooves are unique and give it some ornamental value. And having been discovered a century ago, it does carry a certain historical significance," Hawes said.
"Mr. Hawes, is it for sale?" Gary asked.
"Huh? You want to buy this stone?"
Hawes was surprised. It wasn't that he'd never had visitors ask to purchase exhibits—but those people were usually after the museum's rare and expensive items. This stone was odd-looking, sure, but it wasn't considered valuable.
"Yes. Would you be willing to sell it?"
Gary remembered that Nacrene Museum wasn't League property—it belonged to the city. Some exhibits were off-limits, but others were available for sale, and certain souvenirs were sold to tourists as well.
"Well… how much would you offer?" Hawes asked.
"How about one million?" Gary said.
"The price is fine, but can you actually put together that much money?" Hawes asked.
The stone didn't have much real value. It just looked a bit strange, and compared to the museum's truly precious stones, it wasn't even that remarkable.
"Of course."
Gary took out his black card.
Hawes had been a researcher, so he understood immediately what that card meant.
After confirming Gary could actually pay, Hawes relaxed, but he was still curious. "I have to ask—why do you want to buy this particular stone?"
"I like collecting stones. I think this one is interesting," Gary said.
"Is that so? Then I'll sell it to you," Hawes decided.
Gary had been worried Hawes might refuse, but it seemed the man had no idea what this stone was actually worth.
In the games, after Kyurem absorbed the God Stone, it could merge with Zekrom or Reshiram, transforming into Black Kyurem or White Kyurem.
But reality was different from the games. In this world, the Dark Stone and Light Stone were Zekrom and Reshiram themselves in dormant form. Did that mean the God Stone was also Kyurem itself?
Then again, Kyurem in this world didn't need to absorb either of the twin dragons. It already had the ability to transform on its own, existing in a fully complete state.