"Ah, I actually lost."
Palmer felt a little regretful, but he quickly composed himself.
"Dragonite, this opponent was a little too strong. It looks like we still need to work harder. Come back and rest."
Palmer recalled Dragonite, then walked over to Gary and congratulated him.
"Congratulations. You have successfully conquered the Sinnoh Battle Frontier."
"It's nothing. I conquered the Kanto Battle Frontier before this," Gary said.
"Oh, I see. So Brandon lost to you as well."
Palmer suddenly felt a little better about his own defeat. Since Gary had been able to conquer the Kanto Battle Frontier, it was not surprising that he had conquered the Sinnoh Battle Frontier too.
Gary smiled awkwardly.
It seemed that Palmer was quite a character. He actually felt a little pleased upon hearing that the Kanto Frontier Brain had been defeated by Gary.
"Here, take this."
Palmer took out the Tower Print and handed it to Gary.
[Ding! The mission has been completed. The reward has been delivered to the space backpack.]
Gary accepted the Tower Print, and the system immediately notified him that the mission had been completed.
Now that he had conquered the Sinnoh Battle Frontier, he should also consider capturing the three Lake Guardians.
The match with Palmer was over.
"Ash, let's go," Gary called, intending to head to the Pokémon Center with Ash and the others.
"Gary, you can go to the Pokémon Center first. We have something to take care of, so we'll come later," Ash said.
"What could you possibly have to do?"
Gary was confused. It would soon be afternoon.
Today was also the final day of the Twinleaf Festival. By evening, the stalls would be closed.
"Ash and I still want to stay here and help out, so you can go ahead," Brock interrupted.
"That's right."
Ash nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then. You two stay busy."
Gary found it a little strange, but Ash and Brock were indeed very enthusiastic. Since Dawn's mother was hosting the Twinleaf Festival, it was normal for them to stay behind and help. He turned around and left without asking any more questions.
Ash and Brock watched Gary leave with satisfied smiles on their faces. They had both bet that Gary would defeat Palmer and had even put all their money on him.
At the Pokémon Center, Gary handed Blastoise and Zapdos over to Nurse Joy for treatment. Before long, both Pokémon had fully recovered.
Ash and the others arrived later.
Ash, Brock, and Dawn were all wearing very satisfied smiles.
"What's wrong? Why are you all so happy?" Gary asked, unable to understand why they were smiling so much.
"Dawn is naturally happy. She won all of my pocket money," Barry said miserably.
"It was only one hundred thousand. That's just a small amount of money for you," Gary said.
"What do you mean, a small amount of money? That was the pocket money I saved for half a year! I originally wanted to save it to buy Technical Machines, but Dawn won it all," Barry said unhappily.
"Barry, you're still here? Didn't you leave with your dad?" Dawn asked as she came over to greet him.
"My dad has something to deal with, so he went back first. My journey isn't over yet. I'm still missing one Gym Badge," Barry said.
"Just like me. I'm still missing a Badge too," Ash said.
"Then, Ash, you should go to Sunyshore City. That's the best Gym," Barry said.
"Is that so? Then Sunyshore City will be our next destination." Ash did not mind. As soon as he heard that it was the best Gym, he became interested.
Gary was speechless.
Barry had angrily said in front of him before that he wanted to report the situation at Sunyshore Gym, so why was he not mentioning it this time?
Since Barry did not bring up the current situation at Sunyshore Gym, Gary did not say anything either.
After resting for another night in Twinleaf Town, Gary set out for Mt. Coronet the next day.
Although Gary knew that Azelf lived at Lake Valor, the three Lake Guardians lived in subspaces within their respective lakes.
To open a passage into those subspaces, one needed either an explosion powerful enough to break through them or an item containing space-time energy to locate the entrance.
Gary did not have anything related to space or time.
Therefore, there were only two ways to capture the three Lake Guardians. One was to gain their recognition, while the other was to forcibly break open the subspace and drag them out.
Team Galactic possessed items related to space-time energy and had specially created space-time bombs to draw Azelf out.
Moreover, the three Lake Guardians had hatched from the same egg. When one of them encountered danger, the other two could sense it and would immediately come to help. This was what allowed Hunter J to capture all three Lake Guardians at once.
Gary had originally planned to wait for Hunter J to capture the three Lake Guardians, then take action during the handover between Hunter J and Team Galactic. That way, he could capture the three Lake Guardians himself.
However, after thinking about it carefully, Gary realized that Team Galactic was still a hidden danger.
In the anime, even after Team Galactic was disbanded, it still retained part of its foundation. This later allowed its remaining Executives and others to use the power of the Flame Plate to provoke Heatran and open a door through space and time.
If Team Galactic's plan was interrupted at Lake Valor, then, with Cyrus's personality, he would simply start over. So far, Cyrus's identity had not been exposed.
After careful consideration, Gary decided to take down Team Galactic in one go. He would wait until Cyrus, the Team Galactic Executives, and the three Lake Guardians were all gathered together before taking action.
That opportunity would come when Team Galactic brought the three Lake Guardians to the ruins of Mt. Coronet.
Gary decided to wait there, defeat Team Galactic decisively, and then release the three Lake Guardians. By rescuing them, he could gain their gratitude and persuade them to submit to him, giving him a chance to capture all three.
If he acted at Lake Valor, then even if he saved the three Lake Guardians and asked them to submit to him, Team Galactic would still remain a hidden danger. It was better to deal with the problem once and for all.
Gary stayed in a village at the foot of Mt. Coronet. The village also had a Pokémon Center specially prepared for Trainers who came to Mt. Coronet to train.
After leaving his luggage at the Pokémon Center, Gary went to the Pokémon transfer terminal in the lobby and contacted Professor Oak's Laboratory.
"Gary!"
When the call connected, Tracey saw Gary and looked surprised.
"You called at just the right time... Professor Oak, Gary is calling!"
Gary: "...?"
Gary was confused. It seemed that Professor Oak had been looking for him about something.
Soon, Professor Oak came into view. When he saw Gary, he smiled.
"Gary, you called at the perfect time. I have some good news for you."
Gary was stunned. He could not imagine what good news Professor Oak might have for him. Had he developed some kind of device for dealing with Hunter J?
"Grandpa? What good news?"
"Your Eevee's evolution problem has been solved."
Gary: Σ(°o°)つ!!!