Dr. Oak had seen countless Pokémon, but since this year was the day for new trainers from Pallet Town to set out, he was eager to receive Pokémon transferred from the new trainers.
"I've caught 3 Pokémon so far," Gary said.
"Ah, you've only caught 3 Pokémon... that's too few, isn't it?" Dr. Oak exclaimed in surprise.
Four new trainers had set out from Pallet Town this year. Both Blue and Yellow had already caught more than 6 Pokémon each. How come his grandson had only caught 3?
"Grandpa, I'm planning to go for the elite route. I wouldn't bother with weak Pokémon," Gary said.
"Oh, is that so? Then what are the 3 Pokémon you caught?" Dr. Oak was quite curious about what kind of Pokémon Gary had caught.
"I caught a Metapod, a Exeggutor, and a Scyther," Gary said.
Exeggutor... Scyther!!
Metapod was still normal, but the two Pokémon he caught later were incredibly powerful.
Dr. Oak knew very well what kind of Pokémon Exeggutor and Scyther were. These two Pokémon were absolutely top-tier among new trainers.
"Gary, did you really catch these two Pokémon yourself?" Dr. Oak couldn't help but doubt.
Gary's starter Pokémon was Squirtle, which was weak to Exeggutor, and Scyther was also a very fast Pokémon.
Gary's Squirtle was still in its early stages and didn't have a type advantage. How could he possibly catch Scyther?
"Yes, I caught Exeggutor when it was still an Exeggcute. I directly used a Leaf Stone to make it evolve. Later, I encountered Scyther in Viridian Forest and defeated it with Exeggutor," Gary recounted his experience in Viridian Forest.
Dr. Oak was sweating profusely. He didn't expect Gary's start to be so smooth. He caught an Exeggcute right away, and then encountered a Scyther. What incredible luck!
"Then why did you choose to catch Metapod?" Dr. Oak asked.
The Pokémon Gary caught were all strong, and he already had a Scyther. It seemed unnecessary to specifically catch a Bug-type Pokémon.
"Because I encountered a Shiny Caterpie and caught it casually," Gary said.
"What! A Shiny Caterpie, let me see!" Dr. Oak was very excited to hear about a Shiny Pokémon.
Even Dr. Oak rarely saw Shiny Pokémon.
Especially since this Pokémon was caught by Gary, Dr. Oak was even more curious and wanted to study it.
"I left my Pokémon with Nurse Joy. I'll show it to Grandpa later," Gary said.
"That's a shame. Then you have to do well in the gym battle," Dr. Oak said.
"Okay, Grandpa, goodbye."
The call ended, and Gary went to the Pokémon Center's cafeteria for dinner.
Gary planned to check out Route 3 in the afternoon, see if he could encounter a Pidgey he liked, and see if he could find some Ground-type Pokémon.
There were mountains near Viridian City, where some Rock and Ground-type Pokémon could be found.
According to the system's tasks, Gary needed to train a Tyranitar, and there might be Rhyhorn around here.
Besides Pidgey and Rhyhorn, Gary also wanted to see if he could find a Mankey.
Mankey had a second-stage evolution, which could ultimately evolve into a Ghost-type Primeape. It would be beneficial to train a Ghost-type Pokémon for facing Sabrina later.
Gary also planned to train a Haunter, but since Haunter had a Poison type, it was strong against Psychic types but was also weak to Psychic types itself.
Of course, Primeape was the same, but it was still necessary to train Fighting-type Pokémon.
In the Kanto region, there were only two Fighting-type Pokémon with a base stat total over 500, namely Machamp and Primeape.
Machamp had a base stat total of 505, with a single Fighting type.
Primeape had a base stat total of 535, with dual Fighting and Ghost types.
Anyone who understood would know to choose Primeape.
Moreover, at this point in time, Primeape's evolution method hadn't been fully proven. Even many Fighting-type masters hadn't figured it out.
According to the evolution method in the game, Primeape needed to use Low Kick 20 times in a row in a battle, and it also had to level up while defeating the opponent to evolve.
This evolution method was troublesome even in the game, let alone in reality.
Gary planned to wait until Primeape mastered Low Kick and then slowly test the evolution method.
......!
Afternoon.
Gary took his Pokémon to Route 3, searching for his target Pokémon and also leveling up Squirtle.
Thanks to his Keen Eye, Gary was able to find Pokémon quickly, but unfortunately, all the Pokémon he encountered were of common or elite potential, not a single one that Gary desired.
He also encountered some wild Pokémon with bad tempers along the way, but Gary defeated them all.
"There aren't any powerful Pokémon around here. I should give up on catching Pokémon for now," Gary realized that in areas with human presence, there were few powerful Pokémon. It was hard to find Pokémon with gym potential.
As for uninhabited areas, Gary knew his strength wasn't enough, so he planned to strengthen himself first and then go capture the target Pokémon.
After figuring things out, Gary was ready to head back.
"Metapod, good job," Gary patted the Metapod he was holding and prepared to put it back in its Poké Ball.
All afternoon, Gary had kept Metapod out to try and attract Pidgeotto, but he didn't even encounter a single Pidgey. He did encounter a few Pidgey, though.
"Buzz!"
However, just as Gary was about to put Metapod back in its Poké Ball, Metapod's body suddenly shook.
Gary instantly understood what was happening, he placed Metapod on the ground and silently watched it.
"Je-ni!"
"Caw!!"
Squirtle and Scyther also gathered around to watch.
Seconds later, Metapod's body glowed with a dazzling white evolutionary light. In the light, Metapod's form didn't change, but a pair of butterfly wings appeared on its back. As the wings spread out, Butterfree's body separated from Metapod's.
The evolutionary light dissipated, revealing a Shiny Butterfree.
The Shiny Butterfree's limbs were pale pink, including its black and white patterned butterfly wings. The white parts also had a hint of pink, and its eyes were teal green.
Honestly, after Shiny Caterpie evolved into Butterfree, its appearance wasn't as good as the standard Butterfree's color.
I don't know how that pink Butterfree was bred in the plot. It seems that Shiny Pokémon don't always have the colors recorded in the Pokédex.
"Mee!"
The evolved Butterfree immediately flew to Gary's side. It was so grateful for Gary's help in allowing it to evolve smoothly.