The next morning, Eddie woke up early and checked the level rankings while enjoying breakfast.
Pokémon Level Rankings:
First place: LV33, Charmeleon, Trainer: Morning Sun
Second place: LV33, Frogadier, Trainer: Morning Sun
Third place: LV32, Grovyle, Trainer: Morning Sun
Fourth place: LV32, Riolu, Trainer: Morning Sun
Fifth place: LV25, Machop, Trainer: [name hidden]
...
Twentieth place: LV16, Nidorino, Trainer: [name hidden]
Twenty-first place: LV15, Oddish, Trainer: Dream Girl
The top four Pokémon by level were his, with their IDs clearly displayed. Four Pokémon above level 30, all belonging to "Morning Sun"—the appearance of one Trainer dominating the rankings was incredibly conspicuous.
The rankings behind these were a series of hidden names. These were also his Pokémon, concealed to avoid discouraging other players.
It wasn't until twentieth place that another player's name appeared unhidden. In other words, he alone occupied the top 20 of the entire "550" ranking list, with the second-place Trainer relegated to outside the top 20.
Many players in the game forum already suspected these hidden names belonged to game developers, with some boldly suggesting they all belonged to a single person.
Next, Morning Sun examined the potential list.
Pokémon Potential List:
First place: Charmeleon, Champion potential, Trainer: Morning Sun
Second place: Frogadier, Champion potential, Trainer: Morning Sun
Third place: Grovyle, Champion potential, Trainer: Morning Sun
Fourth place: Riolu, Elite potential, Trainer: Morning Sun
Fifth place: Plusle, Gym Leader potential, Trainer: [name hidden]
Sixth place: Pidgey, Gym Leader potential, Trainer: [name hidden]
Seventh place: Staryu, Peak potential, Trainer: Dream Girl
The top four were still his main Pokémon. He didn't bother looking at the others and moved on to the Trainer rankings.
Trainer Ranking List:
First place: Morning Sun, Senior Trainer
Second place: None
He had become a Senior Trainer, with second place still vacant.
"Well, in my previous life, the first Intermediate Trainer appeared about a week after the game launched. Now it's only the third day, so there's still plenty of time."
"But these players seem to have been motivated by me. They reached level 15 the very next day. It looks like we might see the second Intermediate Trainer tomorrow or the day after—several days earlier than in my previous life."
Morning Sun wasn't surprised by this. Levels weren't easy to increase. If it weren't for the game version differences, he would probably only have two Pokémon above level ten by now.
Badge List:
First place: Badge #1, Boulder Badge, Trainer: Morning Sun
Second place: Badge #1, Boulder Badge, Trainer: Dream Girl
Third place: Badge #1, Boulder Badge, Trainer: Level Boss
Fourth place: None
Game tip: Badges with the same number are ranked by acquisition time.
"The Badge list is interesting. Some Trainers actually got their Badges the very next day, and it's these two players specifically. No one had earned a Badge by this time in my previous life. Have I inspired some competition?"
Morning Sun looked at the two Trainers who had earned Badges with great interest, recognizing them as the first and second strongest Badge holders from his previous life. Now they could only trail in his wake.
"They must realize they can't surpass me in other rankings, so they're trying to start with the Badge list," he thought.
After considering their strategy for a moment, he understood their thinking.
Seeing them trying so hard to surpass him made him smile. "It's a shame. You may have worked hard to defeat Brock yesterday and earn the Boulder Badge, but you probably haven't even entered Mt. Moon today. Meanwhile, I'll be earning my second Badge today."
"I enjoy watching you try so hard to surpass me, knowing you never will."
"The life of a strong Trainer is so predictable and mundane."
Morning Sun indulged in this moment of pride, but after breakfast, he immediately returned to the game. He might allow himself to boast, but only because of the strength he had gained through genuine effort (supposedly). Now it was time to focus on the game again.
"Let's go, Morning Sun. Let's head to the Cerulean City Gym," Misty said after they finished breakfast.
The Cerulean City Gym was located in the suburbs. While not terribly far, it wasn't exactly close either, and Cerulean City itself was quite large. For a newcomer, finding the Gym would be genuinely difficult.
Of course, Morning Sun naturally knew where the Gym was, but since Misty was taking him there, he wasn't foolish enough to suggest going by himself.
Twenty minutes later, Misty had led Morning Sun to the Gym.
He watched as Misty walked up to the entrance, removed the "Gym Leader Not Available" sign from the door, and then took out a key to unlock it.
Morning Sun couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Hehe..."
"Huh? Morning Sun, what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, I just thought of something funny."
Morning Sun thought to himself, "Misty, you're being so obvious, and you still think I don't know you're the Gym Leader?"
Misty glanced at Morning Sun without suspicion, then opened the door and led him directly to the Gym's battle arena.
The arena was a space where land and water intersected. After all, Misty was a Water-type specialist, so her Gym naturally featured an environment suitable for Water Pokémon battles.
Of course, she couldn't make the entire venue water-based—not all Trainers had Water Pokémon.
So instead, it was designed as a hybrid environment where land and water met.
After bringing Morning Sun to the arena, Misty silently walked to the opposite side, took out her Poké Ball, and pointed it toward him.
"You don't look very surprised. Did you figure it out long ago?"
Misty frowned as she observed Morning Sun's calm face and slight smile.
"I had my suspicions before, and just now at the Gym entrance, watching you unlock the door confirmed it. Sorry, I really wanted to show a surprised expression to play along, but I just couldn't help laughing."
Morning Sun hadn't meant to laugh, but he had already let it slip, though he'd managed to keep quiet.
Seeing his amusement, Misty felt like a complete fool.
She had thought she could surprise Morning Sun, but in the end, her reveal was just a joke to him.
"...Very well, very well. It's fun to laugh at me, isn't it? Now let's see if you can win the Cascade Badge from me."
Misty seemed to have a few anger marks appearing above her head as she addressed Morning Sun with a forced "smile."
When she had been notified by someone the previous night that the difficulty would be increased, she had considered whether to go easy on Morning Sun despite this.
Now she planned to show Morning Sun what she was truly capable of.
"The rules are simple: three-on-three. Whoever loses all their Pokémon in battle will be defeated. Those are the rules. Are you ready?"
Misty explained the format to Morning Sun.
This was standard procedure that had to be described to each challenger.
"No problem. Let's begin."
"Very well. As the Gym Leader, I'll send out my Pokémon first."
"Come out, Starmie!"
Misty threw her Poké Ball, and in a flash of white light, the evolved form of Staryu—Starmie—appeared in the water.
Name: Starmie
Type: Water/Psychic
Ability: Natural Cure
Level: 33
Morning Sun checked the Pokédex information and felt slightly relieved.
After his experience with Brock, Morning Sun had expected to face Pokémon 3 or 4 levels higher than his own.
Although he had gained valuable experience from winning battles against higher-level opponents, Morning Sun didn't particularly enjoy such matchups.
After all, in battles like those, he was constantly on the defensive, making victory much more difficult to achieve.
"Have I leveled up too quickly? No matter—facing an opponent like this, there's no way I should lose."
"Then, I choose you as my vanguard."
Morning Sun took out his Poké Ball and sent his Pokémon forward.
Grovyle gazed at Starmie with challenging eyes, ready for battle.
"Let the match begin!"
"Go, Starmie, use Ice Beam!"