"How could I possibly blame you after everything you've done for me?" the man said, flustered.
He was clearly an honest and kind-hearted fellow.
Gary asked Eevee to lift the man onto Lairon's back with Psychic, and the group hurried away. The tunnel had already caved in once—there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen again.
Once they were clear of the danger zone, the wild Whismur scattered. Only the one that had first spoken to Gary stayed behind, determined to see the man safely out.
"Whismur, I'm alright now. The exit's still a little way off—why don't you head back to your friends?" the man urged.
"Whii…" Whismur replied, still visibly worried.
"Don't fret," Gary said. "We'll escort him the rest of the way."
"Whii!" After a moment's hesitation, Whismur nodded, bade the man farewell, and bounded back into the tunnel.
Watching it leave, the man let out a shaky breath. "That was a close call. If you three hadn't shown up, I'd be dead."
"Give most of the credit to Whismur," Gary said. "It gathered its friends to block the path. We'd never have known you were trapped otherwise uncle."
The man chuckled sheepishly, then added, "By the way, I'm only twenty-four. 'Uncle' makes me feel ancient—just call me Riley."
"What? You're twenty-four?" Zinnia blurted. "You look older than my uncle!"
Riley rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I know I look rough. I'm actually getting married soon—thank goodness you saved me, or my poor fiancée would be a widow before the wedding."
"Anyone who survives a disaster is bound for good fortune," Gary said with a smile. "I'm sure you'll have a house full of kids."
They picked up the pace—Lairon wasn't exactly speedy, and Gary hoped to reach Verdanturf Town before nightfall.
Around six o'clock, the roar of an engine echoed ahead, headlights cutting through the tunnel gloom.
"A vehicle!" Zinnia exclaimed.
"Relax—that's the maintenance truck," Riley explained. He waved and shouted, "Dalin! Over here!"
The truck pulled up. The driver, another tunnel worker, jumped out. "Riley, what happened to you?"
"It's a long story—help me into the cab and I'll explain."
With Dalin's help, they eased Riley off Lairon and into the truck. Gary and Zinnia climbed in as well. Twenty minutes later they emerged from the tunnel and rolled into Verdanturf Town.
Dalin drove straight to the hospital. X-rays revealed a minor fracture in Riley's right leg—painful, but far from life-threatening.
After making sure he was settled, Gary and Zinnia checked into the Pokémon Center for the night.
Both Trainers were up at dawn for workouts. Travel days offered limited training, but a town meant open space and time to practice properly.
Gary planned afternoon sparring matches with local Trainers to give Shroomish, Grovyle, Lairon, and Bagon real battle experience. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵
Slakoth, however, was hopelessly slow, Gary skipped combat drills and instead strapped weights to it, hanging it upside-down from a tree.
If Slakoth didn't want to hit the ground, it had to cling to the trunk—good strength training, if unconventional.
Slakoth never imagined that life with a Trainer would involve this sort of regimen.
On the Practice Field
"Shroomish, use Solar Beam!"
Under the clear sky, Shroomish gathered light and fired. The blast dropped the opposing Electrike instantly.
"Electrike!" the novice Trainer cried, rushing to his Pokémon.
"It's just fainted," Gary assured him. "Get it to the Center and it'll be fine."
The young Trainer scooped up Electrike and hurried off.
Gary sighed. Most of the locals were complete rookies, their Pokémon lacked both levels and strong moves, so every match ended in a one-sided sweep.
Shroomish suddenly froze. Gary glanced at the status display:
[Lv. 23 Shroomish ♂ / Gym]
A white glow enveloped Shroomish—evolution!
"Finally," Gary murmured. He'd been waiting for this.
Shroomish's body stretched, arms sprouted, a long tail unfurled. When the light faded, a 1.4-meter-tall Breloom stood where the tiny mushroom had been.
Breloom flexed his new arms, shadowboxing the air with lightning speed.
"Congratulations—you made it," Gary said, grinning.
Breloom beamed, delighted to finally meet his Trainer eye to eye.