Ecruteak Gym lecture hall.
Tetsuya pulled out every single book related to the history of Ecruteak City.
His goal, of course, was to search for any records of Matsuba III's life and the "heroic" deeds of Matsuba IV.
But after flipping through every historical book, Tetsuya found that anything before Matsuba IV was skimmed over lightly, while the events following the fifth generation -mostly irrelevant- were given pages upon pages of detailed description.
No wonder he'd never took any interest in the Matsuba Family during his previous life in Ecruteak City. The history books contained virtually nothing of value.
This only deepened Tetsuya's curiosity about Matsuba IV. Just what kind of person had the power to alter recorded history?
That afternoon, he was preparing to head out with Raine to investigate the location of the mausoleum.
Just then, a boy walked into the Gym.
Baggy shorts, short-sleeved shirt, straw hat on his head, and a bug net in hand. One of those boys known far and wide as…
A Bug Catcher!
"Anyone here!?"
Raine walked up. "What are you yelling for? What do you want?"
"I'm here to challenge the Gym."
Raine gave him a contemptuous look. "You're a Pokémon Trainer?"
"Of course I am! I've got two Pokémon!" The Bug Catcher said proudly.
Raine was naturally annoyed by the kid's smug tone. "Yeah? So how long have you been a Trainer? How many Gym Badges do you have?"
The question clearly caught the boy off guard. He fumbled his answer. "Well… I've only been a Trainer for a month. I don't have any Badges yet."
"Go home. You won't win," Tetsuya said, walking over.
He'd seen plenty of people like this. Most of them came from poor families, unable to afford an official Starter Pokémon or raise one properly. Still, they clung to the dream of becoming a "Pokémon Master". So they relied on themselves, using simple tools to venture into relatively safe forests, where they'd catch gentle-natured Bug-types like Caterpie and Ledyba.
After catching their first Pokémon, they'd get completely carried away, convinced they were one step closer to being a Pokémon Master. And with that, they'd rush into the Trainer's journey headfirst.
These were the kinds of kids who struggled to even find food in the wild. Any money for raising their Pokémon had to come from gathering Berries or medicinal plants or materials for Pokémon Centers, earning only a meager income.
Their dreams were sky-high, but reality was cruel. Tetsuya knew this path well. It mirrored his own situation after leaving Mr. Shellby's house.
These kinds of people -sticking to the rules- had no real future. What they didn't realize was that their existence only served to hand experience points to official League Trainers, becoming bridges for others' success.
That was why Tetsuya had sought change. He'd started by setting traps in the wild. At first, he just robbed supplies.
Then he escalated…
Stealing Pokémon, selling them, and eventually even killing to take what he needed. For higher profits, he eventually walked the path of a Pokémon Hunter for twenty years.
The truth was, his ruthless nature had been forged by the world itself.
Most of those who took the "normal" route ended up aimless after years of failure. With no results to show and barely able to feed themselves, they had no choice but to return home and resume a mundane life. The passion of their youth would be buried forever.
The unluckier ones paid for their dreams with their lives. The number of low-level Trainers who died in the wild was impossible to count.
Hearing Tetsuya's words, the Bug Catcher was clearly unwilling to back down. "I want to challenge you! If I win, you have to let me battle the Gym Leader!"
"No need. Beat me, and I'll give you the Badge directly," Tetsuya said coldly.
The Bug Catcher instantly thought he had a shot. Tetsuya looked even younger than him, surely easier than a Gym Leader.
His blood boiled with excitement!
"Let's go, Butterfree!"
Watching the boy's excitement, Raine could only feel pity. No one understood better than him what it meant to underestimate Tetsuya.
A month was enough time for a Caterpie to evolve into a Butterfree. When the Bug Catcher sent out his Butterfree, it only confirmed Tetsuya's guess.
"Gastly."
One look was enough. That Butterfree's eyes were dull, its wings wrinkled, its growth stunted. A Bug Catcher's limited resources could only raise a Pokémon to that level.
"Butterfree, use Confusion! Show him what you've got!"
The boy shouted. Butterfree hesitated slightly, then began focusing its energy to cast Confusion.
"Embargo."
After several days of solo training, Gastly had made some progress with Embargo. Upon hearing Tetsuya's command, it responded quickly. With a chilling loud laugh, it released a sound wave laced with ominous pressure. Butterfree froze in place instantly, body locked in fear.
"Confuse Ray."
Tetsuya shook his head. Gastly's Embargo was still half-baked, barely enough to paralyze Ditto for three seconds. Yet Butterfree was so weak it looked completely stunned, unable to react even as it was surrounded by rings of Confuse Ray.
Once confused, Butterfree could no longer hear its Trainer's commands. It flailed wildly, attacking itself.
A few Licks from Gastly finished the battle.
From start to finish, Butterfree had never entered a proper battle state. It had no spirit left, so drained it couldn't execute a single move before collapsing.
"Don't think just because you beat Butterfree, you're hot stuff… There's no way you can handle this one. Go, Rattata!"
'…'
This Rattata at least had a bit of energy to it. The boy even knew to use a Normal-type against a Ghost-type. At least he had some basic knowledge.
"Go, Rattata! Quick Attack, then Bite!"
On command, Rattata charged at Gastly. As it drew close, it leapt into the air. Its sharp front teeth glowed with a streak of Dark-type energy and snapped down toward Gastly.
Tetsuya never intended to have Gastly dodge.
"Night Shade."
A dark mist instantly shrouded Gastly. Rattata dove into the illusion and vanished.
"R-Rattata?! Rattata?! What did you do to my Rattata?!"
The sudden disappearance of his Pokémon made the Bug Catcher panic.
"Relax! Once you lose, it'll come back out," Raine said, a bit annoyed.
"W-What do you mean-?"
Just as the boy asked, Rattata dropped out of the shadowy mist. Its vitality had been drained, it had fainted.
The Bug Catcher recalled Rattata, head hanging low. His first Gym challenge had ended in total defeat; he hadn't even touched his opponent.
"You can leave now."
In a way, Tetsuya had done him a favor by ending the match so quickly. If this defeat forced the boy to let go of his fantasy of becoming a Pokémon Master, it might just save his life.