"I lost a silver crown, but gained a TM [Dragon Pulse], plus this [Charcoal]. I think it's okay, not a loss."
Eddie looked at his rewards and was very satisfied.
These items were all practical.
Except for the silver crown, which needed to be saved, the others could be used immediately.
"I lost after all. Come back, Poliwhirl."
Ash looked regretful.
Although he was a little unwilling, he accepted the result naturally, as if he had expected it. "You don't seem surprised. Did you fight with the awareness that you might lose?"
Eddie looked at Ash, confused.
"How is that possible? Of course, I fought with the idea of defeating you. Who likes to lose?"
Ash rolled his eyes at Eddie and said unhappily, "It's just that, as I said before, you're stronger than Gary, and your battle awareness is better than mine. I naturally wanted to defeat you before the battle, but I knew the chance of losing was greater. I prepared for it."
Ash pressed his hat down and said calmly, "Next time we meet, I'll be stronger. Let's have another Pokémon battle, Morning Sun."
Ash smiled confidently. He had originally thought only Gary could be his rival, but now he had to add Eddie to the list.
He was happy about it. Not only could he make new friends, but also have a competitive rival. The pressure would push him to progress faster. Why not?
Eddie looked at Ash, who was so sincere and full of fighting spirit, and listened to the declaration of war from this future top powerhouse. His blood seemed to be boiling.
He had reborn himself, entered the game without hesitation, leveled up, and took on hidden tasks. What was it for? To get on the leaderboard? To receive rich rewards? To enjoy the admiration of other players?
No. Those were just means, just processes. His goal had always been one.
To become stronger, to become a top-tier powerhouse, and even further, to become the strongest!
"Ah, let's fight again next time if we get the chance. Of course, you and Gary need to get stronger first, or you won't even see my back by then."
Eddie smiled confidently and spoke arrogantly.
So what if Ash and Gary were strong in the future? With all kinds of opportunities in this life, he was sure he would be stronger than them. Eddie had that confidence!
"Ha, I didn't expect you—who were just being humble—to speak arrogantly now. Alright, let's see how strong we are next time we fight."
Ash was stunned for a moment, then seemed to realize this might be Eddie's true nature.
He wasn't annoyed. A Trainer needed that kind of confidence. After all, he was the same way.
"I'm inspired by you. Your fighting spirit brought out my inner thoughts. You'd better be careful next time."
"Haha, okay. You should be careful too. If I catch up to you, I'll challenge you anytime."
Eddie and Ash both smiled with fighting spirit, bumping their fists to show their agreement.
"Ding! Ash now highly recognizes you as his rival, and the favorability has reached 'trust.'"
······
Ash also left, and his destination was the Pokémon Center in Pewter City.
After the battle, normal trainers needed to treat their Pokémon well unless they were only slightly injured, so he went straight to the Pokémon Center, just like Gary.
Eddie rested in the suburbs, and after a while, he went straight to the Gym to challenge.
"The first gym match is 2v2, regardless of the area. Even if I increase the difficulty, it will be in terms of Pokémon level, and the format shouldn't change."
Eddie first healed Charmeleon and Frogadier, then let them rest for a while while he sorted out the information. "In the gym match in Pewter City in my previous life, Brock sent out a level 12 Geodude and a level 14 Onix."
He paused for a moment. "I'll assume they should be level 22 and level 24 now. With this strength range, I can win."
Eddie raised the rival level as much as possible, so even if he made a wrong judgment, it wouldn't have too much of an impact. "Charmeleon's fire-type moves aren't very effective against Rock Pokémon."
"It seems that only [Iron Tail] and [Dragon Rage] can deal decent damage to Rock Pokémon, but having only two moves is a bit lacking."
Eddie frowned.
The damage caused by Normal, Fire, and Flying-type moves to Rock Pokémon is halved, which was really troublesome. "Oh, why did I forget about the TM I just got?"
Eddie quickly took out the TM [Dragon Pulse] he had received after defeating Ash. "Dragon-type move [Dragon Pulse]. Although it's a Dragon-type move, Charmeleon can learn it."
"Even though Dragon-type moves don't have a special effect on Rock-type Pokémon, they're still better than moves that have reduced effectiveness."
"Ding! Charmeleon has learned [Dragon Pulse]!"
"Now, there are three moves that can deal with Rock-type Pokémon. With the item I just got, Charmeleon's fire-type moves can also be more effective. Perfect."
Eddie took out the item he had just obtained, [Charcoal], which boosts the power of Fire-type moves, and equipped it to Charmeleon.
[Charcoal]: The power of the Fire-type moves of the Pokémon holding this item is increased by 30%.
Name: Charmeleon
Type: Fire
Ability: Blaze
Level: 26
Potential: Champion
Held Item: Charcoal
"An additional 10% more than the 20% I remembered. It seems these items are of the power-enhancing type. This is good for me."
Seeing this, Eddie smiled slightly. With the [Charcoal] boosting Charmeleon's Fire-type moves, even if the damage to Rock-type Pokémon was halved, it wouldn't be reduced too much.
"Alright, the battle plan is set, and the healing is almost done. Time to go get the Boulder Badge."
With a confident smile, Eddie returned Charmeleon and Frogadier to their Poké Balls and headed straight for the Gym in Pewter City.