The next morning.
A young boy in a blue tracksuit walked slowly toward the front gates of the Oreburgh Gym, the morning sun casting its warmth over the earth and illuminating his resolute profile.
"Hello, this is the Oreburgh Gym. Are you a challenger?" a gym attendant asked, noticing Lin Jing standing at the entrance.
"Yes, I am."
"Very well, please follow me to register."
"Please hand over your Trainer ID or Pokédex," the receptionist asked Lin Jing.
Taking Lin Jing's Pokédex, the attendant inserted it into the computer's scanning slot, bringing up Lin Jing's information on the screen.
[Name: Lin Jing]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 15]
[Hometown: Sandgem Town, Sinnoh region]
[Pokédex Issued By: Professor Rowan]
[Trainer Registration Date: April 8, League Year 243]
[Trainer Rank: Rookie]
[Sinnoh Badges: 0]
[Honors: Awarded a Ribbon at the Jubilife Contest on x month x day, League Year xxx]
*Ps: While registering for the Jubilife Contest, Lin Jing discovered his research accolades were listed on his profile and had the League block that section from view. Anyone without sufficient clearance cannot see it.*
...
"All right, Mr. Lin Jing of Sandgem Town, your information has been registered. Please wait in the lounge area." Tapping the keyboard lightly in the battle division section to mark Lin Jing's status as a zero-badge rookie trainer, the attendant smiled.
That's right. In truth, most Gym battles across various regions differ depending on the challenger's battle history.
Gyms will use Pokémon of varying strengths, proxy Gym Leaders, or gym apprentices for the battles. Unless a challenger has earned four or more badges, the actual Gym Leader will rarely step into the arena.
Otherwise, facing endless battles day after day—especially those that amount to little more than bullying novices—would not only waste the Gym Leader's time.
Even if the Gym Leader holds back, it is all too easy to crush a rookie trainer's confidence. Of course, even if a challenger has fewer than four badges, a Gym Leader may still choose to battle them personally if they take an interest in that trainer.
Aside from their core duties, Gym Leaders often remodel their gyms according to their own personal interests, giving each gym a more distinct and unique flair.
The funding provided by the League is entirely dedicated to gym operations. While the compensation given to Gym Leaders is decent, the reward resources provided by the League are still slightly lacking for trainers who have reached the Gym Leader tier.
After all, the resources required to train their main Pokémon further once they reach the Gym Leader level are astronomical and exceedingly rare. Joining the League as a Gym Leader isn't about that modest paycheck; rather, holding an official League position allows them to trade for rare Pokémon resources that are otherwise virtually impossible to find on the open market.
Therefore, rather than calling being a Gym Leader their primary profession, it would be more accurate to call it their side job.
This is precisely why most Gym Leaders maintain other careers, such as being journalists, running perfume shops, or operating hot spring inns—those are their true passions. It is even common for Gym Leaders to abandon their gyms and head out on a whim purely out of personal interest.
The League understands this to a certain degree. After all, crushing novices once or twice is fine, but doing it every day wastes the Leaders' time and breeds resentment. Thus, the rule requiring a certain number of badges before the resident Gym Leader is obligated to step in came into being.
Even when Gym Leaders do step in, aside from heritage-based gyms where a rookie taking over from an elder leader might have slightly lower strength, veteran leaders or those who founded their gyms through sheer skill always hold back during battles.
Though they gradually increase their strength in proportion to the number of badges the challenger has earned, most Gym Leaders do not go all out, even in battles against challengers attempting to secure their eighth badge—the level required to enter the regional league.
Of course, unless someone is a trainer of Gym Leader rank or holds a corresponding status, these matters remain unknown to the general public.
Having set out on his journey less than a month ago, Lin Jing had managed to win a Contest Ribbon. However, non-combat accolades like Contest Ribbons do not count toward official Gym battle strength assessments.
Naturally, the gym's evaluation of Lin Jing's rank was zero-badge rookie tier, meaning he would simply be assigned a gym apprentice or a proxy leader holding back for the match.
Naturally, Lin Jing, who held the status of a researcher, was well aware of this.
An hour later.
"Lin Jing from Sandgem Town, it's your turn for your Gym battle." The attendant walked into the lounge to call him.
"Got it." Lin Jing stood up slowly and stepped out.
"You're Lin Jing? Please come with me," the attendant said, looking him up and down with a mixture of surprise and curiosity in their eyes.
...
Following the attendant toward the battle arena, Lin Jing was greeted by a rocky battlefield dotted with mounds of stone.
As the Oreburgh Gym specialized in Rock-type Pokémon, the natural choice of arena was a Mountain Battlefield tailored to give Rock types the advantage.
Seeing that his opponent had not yet arrived, Lin Jing waited while turning over a few pre-planned tactics in his mind.
Before long, a figure slowly walked down the opposite tunnel.
The person wore glasses, a light grey work uniform, white work gloves, thick tall boots, and a hard hat with a shock of red hair poking out from underneath. He looked every bit like a miner.
To anyone unaware, he could easily pass for a mine worker or a maintenance crew member for the arena.
Yet the moment Lin Jing laid eyes on this miner-dressed individual, a look of profound shock crossed his face, as he instantly recognized who the man was. Just as Lin Jing opened his mouth to speak, the other man beat him to it.
"I'm terribly sorry, I was down in the mines earlier, keeping you waiting, Dr. Lin Jing," the miner-like man said.
"No, it's nothing at all. But I must admit I'm quite surprised. I never expected that a rookie trainer with zero badges would prompt Mr. Roark, the resident Gym Leader of the Oreburgh Gym, to step out personally," Lin Jing said in astonishment.
That's right—the miner-dressed individual standing before Lin Jing was none of other than Roark, the Oreburgh Gym Leader who excelled at using Rock-type Pokémon, whose signature partner in public was Cranidos. (Naturally, this was the Pokémon used when holding back; the Pokémon he used when going even slightly serious were ones only trainers with six or more badges could encounter, and battles at that level were never made public unless both parties requested and agreed to it.)
"As the League's youngest researcher, and the one who discovered the new Fairy type, I've heard a great deal about you!"
"After all, to trainers, this is no less shocking than the news of a Legendary Pokémon appearing. The moment you registered at the gym, my back-end system as Gym Leader received the notification."
"And as the researcher who discovered the newly minted Fairy type, you naturally possess a profound understanding of it. As a trainer, the blood-pumping thrill of battling a brand-new type is something I naturally want to experience for myself."
"Since the Fairy type was announced not long ago, hardly anyone uses it, and certainly none of the few users have the deep understanding that you, its discoverer, possess. So I'm very eager to see how my Rock-type Pokémon fare against brand-new Fairy-type Pokémon!" Roark said with excitement.
"Is that so?"
"No wonder someone of my level managed to draw out the resident Gym Leader. In that case, Gym Leader Roark, let's battle!"
Facing a Gym Leader, Lin Jing found his own excitement flaring up.
He had originally thought he would only be facing a proxy leader or an apprentice.
Though battling a Gym Leader would make things significantly harder.
Yet, a more intense battle, combined with his unilateral familiarity with Roark from his past life, only made Lin Jing look forward to the coming fight all the more.
After all, even though the Gym Leader was stepping in personally, he was no ordinary rookie trainer. He had spent a whole year training, and his knowledge of Pokémon battles was leagues beyond that of a normal trainer.
Now then—
Let's do this!