"Should I strengthen it?"
Gary hesitated over whether to enhance Gholdengo's ability.
Since the system rewarded Ability Enhancement Stones, it made sense that they worked best on Pokémon with three abilities, maximizing the benefit. But Gholdengo only had a single ability—Good as Gold—with no secondary ability and no hidden ability. Strengthening just the one felt like it might be a bit of a waste.
"Whatever, I'll strengthen it anyway. Worst case, I can use it later when I challenge the Sinnoh development areas."
Gary used an Ability Enhancement Stone on Gholdengo.
[Ding! Enhancement successful.]
Gary immediately checked Gholdengo's updated ability.
[Pokémon: Gholdengo]
[Type: Ghost, Steel]
[Level: 30]
[Potential: Champion]
[Ability: EX Good as Gold (This Pokémon is completely unaffected by other Pokémon's status-altering moves targeting it, and such moves are reflected back at the user.)]
[Moves: Astonish, Tackle, Night Shade, Substitute, Shadow Ball.]
[TM Moves: Reflect, Rest, Protect, Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Psychic.]
[Friendship: 255 (max value)]
[Held item: Soothe Bell]
"Whoa, it added a reflection effect on top of everything—that's incredible!" Gary said, genuinely surprised.
This EX version of Good as Gold was seriously powerful. Not only did it ignore negative effects entirely, it could bounce them right back. This ability was honestly stronger than most Pokémon's primary abilities.
"Return."
With Gholdengo secured, Gary turned his attention to his next target.
The next Pokémon on his list was Cetoddle.
Cetoddle was an Ice-type Pokémon that lived in cold regions. After doing some research when he first arrived, Gary had learned that Cetoddle lived in the northern part of Paldea, in the area around Glaseado Mountain.
While he was at it, Gary also wanted to challenge the local Gym to see what kind of task the system might issue for Gyms in this region.
Unlike Sinnoh, the Gyms in Paldea were mostly built in small towns rather than large cities. There was a Gym located on Glaseado Mountain itself, fittingly called the Glaseado Gym. Its leader was a man named Grusha, a former professional snowboarder. The Glaseado Gym was considered the strongest of Paldea's eight Gyms, and every Pokémon Grusha used was Ice-type.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Gary contacted Professor Oak's Laboratory and had Garchomp teleported back while requesting Articuno be sent over in exchange.
Since Glaseado Mountain's climate was bitterly cold, and Garchomp was quadruple weak to Ice-type moves, it wasn't a good idea to bring it along. Articuno, on the other hand, was perfectly suited for the trip—it could control the surrounding air temperature, so riding it meant Gary wouldn't have to worry about the cold at all.
After resting for a night at the Pokémon Center in Levincia City, Gary left early the next morning after breakfast, riding Articuno.
Articuno's flying speed wasn't quite as fast as Garchomp's, but it wasn't slow either. It only took three hours to reach Glaseado Mountain, where Gary landed in Frost Village.
Since the Gym was located on Glaseado Mountain, there were still people living nearby, though it remained a small village with a modest population.
"Whoa! Articuno!"
Gary landed just outside the village and was about to recall Articuno when he noticed a child standing only about ten meters away.
It was a little girl with blue hair. The moment she spotted Articuno, her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Return." Gary paid the girl no attention and recalled Articuno on his own.
Watching Articuno disappear, the girl snapped out of her daze and quickly walked over to Gary, introducing herself boldly. "Hi, my name is Luna. I live here in Frost Village."
Seeing how lively and cheerful Luna was, Gary couldn't just ignore her, so he introduced himself in return. "My name's Gary."
"Gary." Luna repeated his name under her breath, then asked, "So where are you from?"
Because of the harsh climate, few people ever visited the area around Glaseado Mountain. Normally only snowboarding enthusiasts came through regularly, with occasional tourists during holidays. Most of the time, hardly anyone bothered to come up the mountain at all.
"I'm from the Kanto region," Gary said.
"Someone from another region?!"
Luna looked shocked.
Gary was a little taken aback by her reaction too. It seemed Paldea wasn't quite as isolated as he'd assumed—the level of development here didn't seem inferior to other regions at all.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just that I hardly ever see people from other regions come here. This is actually my first time meeting someone like that," Luna explained. "By the way, Brother Gary, if you need anything, just let me know. I know Glaseado Mountain really well."
Gary studied Luna for a moment. Even though she was just a child, a local like her could probably provide him with a lot of useful information.
"Really? Then can you tell me where I might find a Cetoddle near the mountain?" Gary asked.
"Cetoddle! I know where those are. Brother Gary, are you planning to catch one?" Luna asked.
"Yes, I'm planning to catch a Cetoddle." Gary didn't deny it—after all, it was perfectly normal for a Trainer to catch Pokémon, and Cetoddle wasn't a protected species in the Paldea region, so capturing one was completely allowed.
"Cetoddle are really strong Pokémon. I'll take you to find one," Luna offered enthusiastically.
Even though Luna was being friendly, Gary couldn't shake the feeling that he looked like some kind of suspicious stranger luring a kid away—except in this case, it was the child who had approached him first, not the other way around.
"You don't have to take me there yourself, just tell me the location," Gary said.
"No, I'm heading up the mountain this afternoon anyway. It's on the way," Luna said.
"No, there are wild Pokémon up there. Is your family really okay with you going up the mountain by yourself?" Gary asked.
Even in a world where ten-year-olds could set off on their own journeys, Luna looked like she was only six or seven. And Glaseado Mountain was home to plenty of wild Pokémon—Glalie and Beartic among them—both of which were carnivorous.
"It's fine, I have Snom with me," Luna said, pulling out a Poké Ball and releasing it. Out came a small, snow-white Pokémon. It didn't look like much at first glance, resembling the larval stage of some kind of reptile-like creature.
[LV15 Snom ♀ / Gym]
The Pokémon Luna had released was Snom, whose base stats were actually lower than a Caterpie's. However, the moves Snom could learn were quite strong. Even though it currently only knew two—Powder Snow and String Shot—both were genuinely useful.
And once Snom evolved into Frosmoth, its strength only grew further, particularly thanks to its signature ability, Ice Scales, which was remarkably powerful.
Gary could tell right away that Luna's family background wasn't ordinary. An average family simply wouldn't hand a child a Pokémon with Gym-tier potential to keep as a pet.