Gym Leader

Lush Inn

In an inn somewhere in the southern region of Viridian City, three figures can be seen sitting on a table as they ate. Chelsea found this Inn to be vacant so she rented three rooms.

"Say, did you really have to provoke him?" Corin asked as he looked at Folker's figure.

"Not really. But I had to make it interesting, so I did" Folker said with a smile on his face. Corin sighed when he heard Folker's answer. He knew that Folker wasn't really intimidated by that Korey guy.

"By now, he should have noticed that I made fun of him. I wonder what his reaction is?" Folker said as he laughed as he thought about his possible reactions.

"Aren't you afraid when you see him again?" Chelsea asked.

"In fact, I look forward to meeting him again" Folker said with his eyes sparkling as he smirked.

"Well, compared to that hunter, I admit that guy is nothing special" Corin said with a sigh. He recalled how formidable the hunter they faced earlier was, but even he was nothing in front of Tyranitar's wrath, even more so had Tyranitar been completely healthy.

When Chelsea heard Corin's words, her eyebrows frowned a little bit but it didn't last long. She then opened her backpack and grabbed the incubator out of it.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me" Corin said as he looked at Chelsea's figure with an apologetic gaze.

"It's fine" Chelsea said as she sighed and looked at the egg inside the incubator.

Corin felt bad for a while so he hurriedly tried to change the topic but nothing unrelated to the hunter and Tyranitar came to mind. He then turned his gaze towards Folker and suddenly had a topic in mind.

"By the way, I noticed that your current Pokemon have steel typing as the common factor. Do you plan to be a steel-type specialist?" Corin asked Folker with a curious gaze.

Magnemite is an Electric/Steel type Pokemon while Scizor has the Bug/Steel typing. Riolu, on the other hand, is currently a Fighting type Pokemon but when it evolves into a Lucario, it would turn into Fighting/Steel type Pokemon.

"I'm not sure yet. Steel types are cool and all but there are only a few Steel type Pokemon here in Kanto Region" Folker replied as he rubbed his chin.

"Then how about heading to other regions to catch steel-type pokemon? For example, in Hoenn, there are powerful steel types like Aggron, or even the Pseudo-legendary Metagross" Corin suggested.

Folker's eyes lit up at Corin's words.

'Right! I could do that too!' Folker shouted inwardly in realization. He then thought about the positives of becoming a steel-type specialist.

Steel-type is the best defensive type among all the other pokemon types. It is immune to Poison type moves and resists numerous other types. Its weaknesses are Fire, Fighting, and Ground type moves.

As a steel-type specialist, he's going to have trouble against Pokemon of these types or even other pokemon with just moves with these types. After all, Pokemon movepool aren't only limited to its types.

Nevertheless, there are countermeasures against its type weaknesses. It also allows Folker to narrow down his attention to tactics and focus more on countermeasures. As for the other types, as the best defensive typing, it leaves Folker a lot of room to think about his tactics.

"Besides, it's not like there aren't any more steel types here in Kanto. I mean, the Ralts and Zorua are rare Pokemon that aren't native to the Kanto region, yet here they are" Corin added with a smile.

Sigh

"I'm really destined to be a Steel-type specialist, aren't I?" Folker said with a sigh, as if it's a bad thing.

"What's so bad about it?" Corin asked.

"There's a reason why Steel-type Specialists are rare. It's that there's not much steel type pokemon and that they're really expensive. I've already had my hands full with just three, and I'm already sponsored" Folker replied.

Steel-type Pokemon are rather expensive to raise. Their diet is different compared to other Pokemon. While they could eat food that other Pokemon, they also have a need for metals.

Folker's current steel-type Pokemon, Scizor often feeds on metals to increase its steel type energy while Magnemite feeds on electricity to increase its electric type affinity and steel type affinity at the same time.

Scizor only has one steel type move for the moment but it's Scizor's core move so it's very important for Scizor to have a good affinity for steel-type energy.

Magnemite, on the other hand, has a dual typing of Electric/Steel, which is rather compatible with each other when it comes to the need for food.

Type affinity is an important factor that shouldn't be ignored, especially if the trainer is keen on battles. Although regular pokemon food like Pokeblocks and berries can give sufficient nutrients and type affinity for Pokemon, they're not enough.

This is one of the reasons why wild Pokemon are often weaker compared to trained Pokemon. Nevertheless, wild Pokemon shouldn't be underestimated. They can survive in the wilds thanks to their natural instinct as well as battle experience.

This instinct would guide them into choosing food that is nutritious and beneficial for them, depending on their typings.

For instance, a wild Scyther would feed on other pokemon for survival but when it spots a berry rich in Flying type energy, its instincts would guide it into wanting to eat that berry since it's very beneficial to increase its Flying type affinity.

"Well, you could just get a high-paying job. Or you could just join an organization" Corin said with a low voice as he looked at Folker with a meaningful gaze. When Folker saw Corin's gaze, he understood what he meant. Folker then shook his head.

Chelsea just looked at the two and had no idea that Corin just suggested to Folker that he join the most notorious criminal organization of the Kanto Region, Team Rocket.

"I have an idea" Chelsea said, immediately attracting Folker and Corin's attention and curiosity.

"Why not just become a Steel-type Gym Leader?" Chelsea said with a smile as she looked at Folker.

When Folker heard Chelsea's words just now, his eyes lit up!