Pokemon: I am Gary

"Charizard, use Dragon Claw!"

The battle at the Cinnabar Gym had reached its peak intensity.

"Roar!!" With a long dragon cry, Charizard locked onto Magmortar and lifted it into the air!

"How is this possible? Doesn't Charizard feel fear or pain?" Shiba watched in shock as Charizard, charred by the flames of Magmortar, continued to attack with its claws without retreating.

"Dear Blaine, maybe it just drank too much," Gary shrugged helplessly.

Unwilling to believe it, Blaine shouted, "Magmortar, use Thunder Punch!"

"Hmm!" Magmortar immediately raised its right hand, sending a golden electric punch toward Charizard.

Bang! Charizard caught Magmortar's fist with its claws and began to spin rapidly in the air.

"What is happening?!" Blaine exclaimed in surprise.

For the first time, fear appeared on Magmortar's otherwise calm face!

Magmortar had seen all kinds of opponents, but it had never encountered a Pokémon like Charizard that wouldn't feel pain or back down while roaring defiantly—it was genuinely afraid.

Whoosh~ Spinning quickly in circles, red light illuminated around Charizard as it suddenly opened its mouth…

Σ???」∠Yuck!!

Magmortar was left dumbfounded as it was splattered with vomit!

Blaine turned to Gary with a tilted head, "That's a bit excessive…"

Gary explained helplessly, "Cough cough, well, drinking too much can lead to that…"

The next moment, Charizard flipped upside down and dove toward the ground rapidly.

The surrounding spiral currents showed that this move had immense force.

"Body Slam!" Gary shouted.

Charizard paused—yes! I'm going for a Body Slam!

Seeing the ground approaching fast, Charizard suddenly exerted force and executed an overhead throw!

Bang!! Magmortar slammed into the ground, and then Charizard flew low and landed perfectly.

"Ugh~" On the ground, Magmortar struggled to get up as Charizard stepped forward confidently.

Bang! Charizard jumped onto Magmortar's back!

Seeing that Magmortar hadn't fainted yet, it began to unleash a flurry of attacks!

Claws!

Slap slap slap~ A series of powerful hits left Magmortar feeling elated.

After Gary called for a stop, Magmortar's face had puffed up considerably…

"Cough cough… Come back, Magmortar." Blaine recalled Magmortar while rubbing his forehead.

"That was indeed an unorthodox fighting style," Blaine praised helplessly.

"Cough cough… I'm not worthy," Gary said somewhat bashfully. It was one thing to battle; it was another to have Charizard vomit on someone and slap them around…

"Tsk tsk. Regardless, you're one of the most talented Pokémon trainers I've encountered in recent years. This Volcano Badge is yours now." Putting on his wig again, Blaine generously handed the badge to Gary.

"Thank you for your guidance." Gary politely accepted the badge; now he had seven badges!

"Oh! By the way!" Gary suddenly remembered he had a mysterious amber in his bag!

"Um, I was wondering if I could borrow your laboratory," he asked while following Blaine toward the ground.

"Oh right! I almost forgot; you're quite the renowned scholar," Blaine nodded with a smile.

"What do you want to use the lab for?" Blaine asked curiously.

"I have a piece of mysterious amber that should contain ancient Pokémon genes. So I'd like to borrow your Fossil Revival Machine, " Gary stated directly.

"Ahem… The Fossil Revival Machine? You might be disappointed," Blaine shook his head.

"Uh? What's wrong?" Gary asked in confusion. "As far as I know, the Cinnabar Island Research Center is the only place in Kanto with fossil revival equipment?"

"Well… some time ago, I borrowed some hair from an old friend to see if I could cultivate it artificially… and then I accidentally blew up the machine…" Blaine wiped sweat nervously from his forehead.

"What kind of Pokémon could blow up that machine…" Gary was astonished.

"Ahem… It was Entei," Blaine replied awkwardly.

"Alright then—forget I said anything…" Gary's mouth twitched. This old man was definitely a mad scientist; he actually tried to clone Entei!

Without being able to borrow the Fossil Revival Machine, Gary didn't linger any longer and bid farewell to Blaine before heading toward the hotel.

"The fossil research center in Pewter City won't complete its technical breakthrough for another six months. It seems there's no need to rush," he mused as he walked along.

Ding… Series task updated. Reward: 1000 achievement points; skill disk: Flamethrower.

"Oh look who's back from being missing," Gary chuckled; his system seemed eager to remind him of its presence again.

However, earning 1000 achievement points from defeating the Cinnabar Gym meant that this old man was serious about challenging him!

"I need to work even harder!" Currently, Gary's battle strength could only be considered top-tier gym level; he had barely touched upon Elite Four levels.

Only through participating in league tournaments would his Pokémon have a chance to reach near-Elite levels.

"But that's a story for another day. After such an intense match, I need to relax; let's go soak in a hot spring." Finding a secret hot spring for lunch sounded perfect.

Gary comfortably began his bathing session.

As night fell and no one else ascended the mountain, he enjoyed having the hot spring all to himself for once.

Eevee transformed into Vaporeon and swam leisurely with Golduck in the hot spring.

Arcanine played with Togepi, practicing dog paddling while entertaining the little one.

Gengar lounged contentedly in the hot spring with a towel on its head; being a caretaker was tiring…

Charizard performed well today; Gary treated it to a bottle of clear sake while soaking and sipping leisurely—it looked even more relaxed than him!

Nidoqueen didn't like overly hot springs much; she only soaked her feet before sitting on a rock by the spring.

Venasaur lay comfortably in the warm wet mud of the hot spring and had already fallen asleep peacefully~

Gurgle~ With his entire body submerged in warm spring water, Gary felt incredibly relaxed.

Splash! Golduck suddenly burst out of the hot spring holding a piece of cloth and looked at Gary incredulously.

Gary focused and realized—wow! Whose underwear is this? And it's white lace…

"Golduck!" Golduck immediately sprayed two streams of nosebleed and fell back into the hot spring.

"No! Golduck! Don't sink!" Helplessly recalling Golduck, Gary also noted that time was running short.

"We still haven't eaten our seafood feast; everyone back we go!" After soaking for half an hour, he gathered his Pokémon and leisurely headed down the mountain.

The moonlight gradually filled the courtyard as bamboo tubes filled with water clinked softly as they fell.

In the high-end Japanese-style courtyard, Gary gathered with three ladies' Pokémon nearby.

The sliding door of their room opened as Gary clapped his hands after changing into casual clothes. "Alright! The dishes can be served!"

Dressed in kimonos, waitresses entered one after another with various seafood dishes served on tables. Lorelei accompanied Sabrina and Erika elegantly kneeling around Gary.

A massive platter of sashimi was set on the table as Gary nodded. "Sister Lorelei, Sabrina, Erika—please don't hold back; everyone enjoys some local specialties from Cinnabar Island!"

"Aren't you going to explain where you've been before we eat?" Lorelei pushed up her glasses with a bright smile.

Gulp… Remembering about finding women's underwear at the secret spring made him nervous. "Um… You three didn't go to that secret hot spring today?"

"Yes~ We did! These two were wearing quite revealing outfits," Sabrina casually remarked while examining her sea urchin hand roll.

Swish! Erika's face flushed bright red instantly. "Sabrina! You were wearing that swimsuit too!"

Sabrina shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah—because that's my only swimsuit; I bought it ages ago."

Seeing their curious expressions directed at him made Gary surrender helplessly: "Alright fine! I ran into Blaine and battled at his gym."

"I see." Looking at Charizard and Golduck's battle-worn state in the courtyard, Lorelei nodded knowingly. "It seems Mr. Blaine hasn't lost his touch over time."

"Ahem—such beautiful scenery and delicious food; let's only talk about pleasant things today—not battles." Picking up a guitar from nearby, Gary said cheerfully: "Let me entertain everyone!"

As fireworks lit up in the distance, beautiful music flowed from his fingers.

The simple yet lovely melody brought smiles of happiness to all three ladies' faces.

This hot spring trip was truly wonderful~

Gurgle~ A thunderous growl erupted from below as everyone turned curiously toward it only to see Ash and his friends had arrived at some point in their courtyard!

"Gary… we're here for dinner…" Ash wore an adorably pitiful smile.

"So you guys came to Cinnabar Island without any plans?" Seeing their disheveled appearances made it clear they hadn't booked rooms anywhere.

"Pika~ Pika!" Ash's Pikachu lay on steps sniffing eagerly at food nearby with drool dripping down its chin.

Eevee proudly pushed her bowl forward generously saying: "Eat up~ Poor thing~"

Gary shook his head with a smile: "Who told us we are from the same hometown? Come on in for dinner together."

"Long live Gary ≧▽≦!" Misty and Brock cheered joyfully as they kicked off their shoes and entered excitedly.

Ash hesitated awkwardly outside but laughed when he saw them: "What? Do I have to beg you just for dinner?"

Ash turned red-faced: "Even if I starve to death—I won't eat your charity food… ahhh…"

A piece of lobster meat was shoved into Ash's mouth making his eyes widen: "Wow… so delicious…"

In the end, after agreeing that he would visit Ash's home for dinner once they returned to Pallet Town, Ash finally relaxed and began enjoying himself heartily.

Looking around at everyone happily gathered together made Gary smile contentedly too.

Speaking of which—Misty, Brock, Sabrina, Erika; half of Kanto's gym leaders were all here!

Gary thought boastfully: This kind of gathering isn't far off from being champion-level!

Amidst everyone's laughter as fireworks gradually dimmed out, Brock performed his maraca dance while Golduck joined in too—they both danced wildly causing everyone to burst into laughter uncontrollably.

After shedding off fatigue from an entire day's events made him feel drowsy too; eventually laying down on Lorelei's lap peacefully fell fast asleep…