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The Next Morning
"Brother Gary, I'm here!"
Wally arrived punctually at the Pokémon Center's outdoor training yard.
Gary planned to remain in Verdanturf Town for another week to train his own team before heading to Mauville City for his next Gym challenge. During that time, he had agreed to coach Wally—starting with the basics of physical conditioning.
"Did your sister convince your parents?" Gary asked.
Wally nodded. "Yes. Mom and Dad will give me a monthly allowance. If I can look after myself and my Pokémon for six months, they'll let me become a Trainer."
"Excellent. Task one: run fifty laps of the track. Because your body's still weak, that'll do for today."
"F-fifty laps?"
One lap of the 100-meter track meant five kilometers in total; Wally usually struggled to run even 400 meters.
"Believe in yourself," Gary encouraged. "You're frail, not sick. Consistent exercise will make you far stronger than you are now—even if you never match a professional athlete."
"Okay, I'll try."
"Roselia can run with you," Gary added. "Pokémon need endurance training too."
Wally released Roselia, and the Grass-type willingly trotted beside him. After just one night together, their bond was already growing.
Gary didn't stand idle; he let out his own team and jogged with them.
After only five or six laps, Wally had fallen far behind, but he gritted his teeth and kept going.
"Ra! Ra!"
Two small figures—one green, one pale blue—teleported onto the track: the twin Ralts.
"How did you two get here?" Wally asked in surprise.
"Ra!" "Ra!"
They had sensed Wally was training and had come to cheer him on.
Gary scanned the trees until he spotted a Gallade half-hidden among the leaves.
[Lv. 51 Gallade ♂ — Quasi-Elite]
With a father that strong, their mother Gardevoir was probably at least Gym-level, perhaps higher.
"Ralts, would you like to train as well?" Gary invited.
"Ra!" "Ra!"
They nodded eagerly, curious about the drills around them.
"Great. Join in, but rest whenever you need to."
He took two Power Lenses from his space backpack and fitted one on each of them. "These weight your psychic sense and strengthen it over time."
The moment the items clicked into place, their telekinesis felt noticeably heavier.
"You'll both evolve into Gardevoir eventually, so mental power is everything," Gary explained. "Start by using Confusion to lift me, then lower me slowly. Repeat."
A pale aura wrapped around him, but he merely swayed; they couldn't raise him even a centimeter. Until they evolved, Ralts were famed more for empathy than raw strength.
"Too weak," Gary teased. "Have you two gamed so much you can't focus?"
"Ra!!" "Ra!!"
Stung, the twins redoubled their effort. The pressure around Gary intensified—closer to an amateur massage than a telekinetic lift.
"Not bad. A bit harder—my shoulders are stiff," he said, sounding far too pleased.
The twins fumed, yet the weighted Power Lenses still kept them from budging him.
High in the tree, Gallade observed in silence. As a more martial species than Gardevoir, he was happy to see someone else putting his daughters through their paces.
• •
An Hour Later
"Brother Gary, I'm done," Wally gasped, staggering over. It had taken him more than an hour to finish the fifty laps, but he hadn't quit.
Five kilometers would have been an easy jog for Gary in his previous life, but this was the Pokémon world. Even if Wally wasn't a Mega Rookie, his physique was still stronger than that of ordinary people from Gary's original world. And yet he was exhausted after just five kilometers.
Was he truly weak… or just underestimating himself?