Hmm! Hmm~ Hmm...!
After leaving Pallet Town, Gary hummed an old tune as he rode his bike along the forest path.
His first stop was naturally Viridian City. To reach Pewter City, he had to pass through there first.
Between Pallet Town and Viridian City lay a small stretch of forest. The Pokémon that lived here were not particularly strong, making it perfect for rookie Trainers to grind levels.
Levelling Pokémon worked similar to how it did in the games. Battling was still the fastest way to gain experience.
But in reality, you could also raise levels through focused training of form and technique. Done correctly, efficient training could level a Pokémon just as fast as constant battling.
However, training alone had one critical flaw: no battle experience. Every Pokémon developed their own unique fighting style. If you only ever trained behind closed doors, your style would become rigid and predictable, and you would only ever be able to beat opponents you had already prepared for.
For example: a Pokémon that had only ever fought on the ground would be completely lost the first time it fought something that could fly. If you encountered that situation in an official tournament, you would almost certainly lose.
A good Pokémon had to be comfortable fighting in multiple modes, or it would always be at a disadvantage when it encountered something unfamiliar.
Swish~! Swish! Swish!!!
Halfway through his ride, Gary heard movement in the long grass beside the path.
He immediately hit the brakes and stared at the spot the sound had come from.
A moment later, a purple Rattata hopped out of the grass. It had clearly seen humans before. It didn't panic at all, and just ambled past Gary like he wasn't even there.
[Ding! Task Released: Complete the rookie's first capture. Catch any wild Pokémon.]
[Reward: Low-level Rare Candy ×5]
Gary blinked.
Oh come on.
He had gotten three Rare Candy for beating Orange earlier. Now he got five just for catching a random wild Pokémon.
Wait a second.
Was Orange actually weaker than a wild Rattata?
[Rattata ♀]
[Level: 6]
[Potential: Normal]
Gary checked it with the Eye of Insight, and nodded with satisfaction. Being able to see level, gender and potential at a glance was incredibly convenient. This single ability alone would make catching Pokémon infinitely easier for him.
For all the millions of Pokémon in the world, 99% of them had potential below Gym-tier.
And even though the system only asked him to catch any Pokémon, Gary had absolutely no intention of catching this Rattata.
He did not catch Pokémon he had no use for.
Even if he was a collector, he only collected rare or high potential Pokémon. Catching a random normal potential Rattata was completely pointless.
This was also one of the biggest mistakes the original Gary had made.
In the original timeline, Gary had caught over two hundred Pokémon during his journey through Kanto. But almost none of them were actually usable. Most just sat in Oak's lab gathering dust.
That was the real reason he had only finished 32nd in Indigo Plateau. He had wasted months of time and resources catching and testing every single Pokémon he came across, spreading his effort far too thin.
Ash on the other hand had only caught eleven Pokémon in Kanto, not counting the thirty Tauros. He released Butterfree, gave away Primeape, and went into the League with only nine. All of his time and effort was concentrated entirely on those nine.
Of course, Ash also had the advantage of being the protagonist. Most normal Trainers would catch three or four of the same species, compare them, keep the best one and release the rest. Ash just happened to catch the single highest potential specimen of every species he encountered, almost every single time.
But now Gary had the Eye of Insight. He didn't have to waste any time guessing.
"Alright. Let's see if there's a good Pidgey around here."
Gary had already decided Pidgey would be his first capture.
It had two evolutions, culminating in Pidgeot. Pidgeot was one of the most universally useful bird Pokémon in existence. Its base stats weren't exceptional, but it had unmatched mobility and applicability. On top of that, it had a Mega Evolution. It was more than good enough to be a permanent member of his team.
At least in Kanto, among all Flying types, Pidgeot was unquestionably the best option outside of the three legendary birds and Dragonite.
Pidgey was also extremely common. But that was the trap. Most Pidgey would never evolve into Pidgeot. In an entire flock of fifty Pidgey, you would be lucky to find one that could reach its final evolution.
Only Pidgey with Elite potential or higher could evolve into Pidgeot. Catching a good one in the wild was extremely rare.
Ash had one of course.
And then after the Indigo Plateau Conference, he released it.
Gary estimated that Ash's Pidgeot had solid Elite potential. Only an idiot would release a Pokémon that good.
He said he would come back for it later.
It had been over twenty five years now.
Absolute bastard.
Gary spent the rest of the afternoon searching the forest. Unfortunately he didn't find even a single Pidgey with Gym potential, let alone Elite. Most were normal tier, with the occasional above average one. Nothing worth catching.
"Squirtle?"
Squirtle looked up at him, asking if he wanted to fight another one.
Gary had been letting Squirtle battle every Pidgey they came across along the way. In just a few hours Squirtle had gone from level 8 to level 9, and had even learned Rapid Spin.
"No, let's head back." Gary shook his head.
It was already 5pm. The sun was starting to set. If they stayed much longer it would get dark and they would get lost.
"Squirtle."
Squirtle nodded and moved slightly closer to Gary, taking up a protective position at his side.
Gary smiled a little at that. None of the Pokémon in this forest were strong enough to be a threat to him, let alone Squirtle. But it was the thought that counted.
Then Gary froze.
"Huh?"
"Squirtle?"
Off to the left, deep in the grass, the leaves were moving.
Not swaying in the wind.
Moving.
Something was watching them.