As tough and overconfident a trainer that he was, Gary actually liked to take a breather every now and then and reflect. He wondered how his friend and rival Ash Ketchum was doing. He had known Ash for a long time ever since they were small. They would hang out around Pallet town and even go see a few movies. Gary felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't really been the greatest person towards Ash ever since they started to become Pokémon trainers. He put Ash down a lot and was always ridiculing him for his incompetence.

Gary shrugged off the guilty feeling. Oh well. He had a lot to learn himself. He definitely wasn't the same trainer he was back in Kanto. He looked down at Eevee and thought about his other Pokémon like Nidoqueen and Arcanine. He wasn't going to make the same mistakes that he made back in Kanto. His arrogance had blinded him and now he was slowly but surely starting to see that he had a long ways to go. Now, that he was slowly becoming more humble as a trainer, he even considered a passing thought. Perhaps, he could learn a thing or two from old Ashy boy. Gary smirked at the idea. He still had quite a bit of pride in him. What kind of training skills did Ash know that Gary could possibly learn and benefit from?

Having Pokémon as friends is so important. If you take the time to get to know your Pokémon and treat them as friends, they'll understand that you really care about them. Without a strong bond with your Pokémon, all you have is strength and that's not enough. Gary remembered Ash saying this numerous times.

Hmmph! Gary stood up. As a serious trainer, it was time to move on. "I don't need to form a friendship with any of my Pokémon. All of my Pokémon are healthy, strong and in tiptop shape. We don't have time to worry about becoming friends. We have more important things to focus on. Right, Eevee?"

Eevee tilted its head and looked at its trainer. Eevee always knew that Gary cared a great deal about his Pokémon but he just didn't believe in the importance of forming a friendly bond. Sometimes, all Gary wanted to do was train and battle. This was no issue for Eevee. It loved training and battling with its trainer. Eevee was becoming more and more strong each day thanks to Gary. However, Eevee wished that Gary would at least consider putting in more trainer and Pokémon bonding time. Eevee wanted Gary to treat it as a best friend, to talk to it more like a friend, and show how much he cared for his Pokémon.

Eevee circled around and rubbed its face against Gary's pants leg. Of course, Eevee couldn't talk to its trainer but it could at least hint its opinion. "Eevee!" it said in a sweet friendly voice.

Gary smiled and gave Eevee a few quick pats on the head. Gary wasn't the kind of person to really show his emotions. "Okay, Eevee. We better get going. We have a long journey ahead of us." Gary took out Eevee's Poke ball and pushed the center button. With a flash of white light, Eevee returned.

With his knapsack swung over his shoulder, Gary walked confidently on down the path. He thought about his battling tactics. He thought about which different types had the advantage against other types. He thought about any situation he and his Pokémon might possibly face in a Pokémon battle. He wasn't a trainer that preferred just one type of Pokémon. He had a whole variety of Pokémon. Depending on what Eevee was going to evolve into, his team was only going to get more diverse.

Gary had caught Eevee back in Kanto with the help of his Nidoqueen. It was full of so much energy that it actually escaped once from the Poke ball. Gary was pleased. This little Pokémon had spunk! Gary was sure that this Eevee would make a great addition to his team. After successfully capturing Eevee, Gary had spent a decent amount of time training it along with his other Pokémon. Eevee had eventually become Gary's go to Pokémon for when he faced other traveling trainers in a Pokémon battle.

Focused now on his journey through the Johto region, Gary had put the idea of treating Pokémon as friends to the back of his mind.

Over in the near distance approaching, he could see another trainer. Gary smirked at the opportunity for a battle. He hoped this was a decently strong trainer. He really didn't have time to waste on incompetent trainers who didn't take Pokémon training or battles seriously. Gary loved a good challenge.

As the prospective trainer started to pass by him, Gary spoke out to him. "Hey, you wouldn't be here training so you can enter the Silver Conference, would you?"

The trainer froze and back up to face Gary. "Well, as a matter of fact, yes." The trainer thought a second and added. "I'm hoping by the end of my travels, my Pokémon will only get even more stronger."

Gary was eager to see just how strong these Pokémon were. "Hmm, let's see how strong they really are. I'd like to challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

The trainer was surprised but only for a second. He grinned. "You're on!"

"How about a one on one battle using only our best Pokémon." Gary said. As Gary said this, he debated which Pokémon he was going to use himself. All of his Pokémon were decently strong and deserved every chance to be in a Pokémon battle. Even thought he wouldn't admit it, Gary did have a few favorite Pokémon on his team. One of which was…

"Eevee! I choose you!"

With a flash from its Poke ball, Eevee appeared and stood beside its trainer.

"Okay, Eevee," Gary said. "This is your first Pokémon battle in a new region. Depending on what Pokémon our opponent uses, we may be battling against a Pokémon you have never battled against. It is important to pay close attention as always to your opponent's attacks."

Eevee nodded with determination in its eyes. It crouched down like a little lion ready for whatever came its way.

The fellow trainer took out a Poke ball and gave it a throw. "Houndour, it's time to battle!"

"Houndour, huh?" Gary said. He had never battled a trainer with a Houndour before. This trainer's Houndour looked strong and well raised. Gary hoped that the battle would prove it too.

"You're Houndour looks really strong!" Gary said complimenting the trainer. "I'll let you start the battle with the first move. That doesn't mean me and my Eevee are going to take it easy on you and your Houndour!"

Gary patiently waited for his opponent to begin. He knew that Houndour was a duel type – dark and fire. That meant that it had the capability of using not just dark type moves but fire type moves as well.

"Houndour, use feint attack!" Using its dark type move, Houndour charged towards Gary's Eevee and disappeared temporarily from Eevee's view.

"Don't let your guard down Eevee! That's Houndour's feint attack!" Gary called out.

Suddenly Houndour appeared behind Eevee rather that in front where it had been before.

"Dodge it!" Always the one to think carefully and strategically, Gary kept his focus ahead of his opponent. So, this trainer was using his Houndour to distract Eevee. Gary was not about to let Eevee leave its guard down.

"You're Eevee's quicker than it looks," the trainer commented.

"We're just warming up," Gary said. "This is nothing. Okay, Eevee! Tackle!"

Just like with training, Eevee ran as fast as it could towards its opponent. Anyone watching would have just seen a brown blur flash by. Houndour fell back by Eevee's tackle attack. It was effective but not effective enough to totally knock Houndour out of the competition.

Houndour stood back up and waited for its trainer's next command. "Houndour let's show them what else we have up our sleeves. Use flamethrower!"

Houndour prepared for a raging flamethrower.

Gary knew that he had to think quickly yet efficiently. This opponent knew what he was doing. Gary and Eevee had a few tricks up their sleeves as well.

"Eevee, double team."

Just like that, Houndour was completely surrounded by Eevees. It growled in frustration.

"Only one of them is the real one," the trainer said. Gary could see that this trainer was frantically trying to think of a good attack to use to foil Eevee's double team.

The trainer took a deep breath. "Houndour, hit each one with ember!"

Houndour swept in a full circle with its ember attack. One by one, it was apparent that the Eevees that were being hit with ember was just an illusion. By the time, the ember attack had gotten to the real Eevee, Eevee had already dodged it.

Gary was determined to end this battle. "Let's finish this off with skull bash." Eevee lowered its head and charged toward Houndour. Before Eevee could successfully hit its opponent with skull bash, Houndour's trainer quickly commanded the next move.

"Houndour, use your feint attack one more time." This time Houndour appeared in directly beside Eevee. Eevee went to face it but it had already re appeared in front of Eevee.

So, this trainer's using another feint attack. Gary thought.

Before Gary could tell Eevee the next attack, their opponent stepped forward.

"Houndour, use flamethrower!" the opponent said this with a strong sense of confidence.

Houndour swiftly hurled a decently powerful flamethrower. It left no time for Eevee to dodge it. The normal type Pokémon fell back hard into the dirt.

Gary stepped forward. "Eevee, try to get back up and use your tackle attack!"

Eevee struggled to get back up, but Houndour's quick agility and clever sneak attacks had caught it off guard. Eevee fell back in defeat.

Gary sighed. Still, he was proud of his Eevee. It had battled hard and was ahead of its opponent until the very end.

"You were awesome, Eevee!" Gary said. "Now return."

Gary faced the fellow trainer. He offered a handshake. "Thanks a lot for the challenging battle. I must admit, I didn't think you and your Houndour were going to win. That surprise feint attack really caught me off guard."

The trainer accepted. "Thank you. It is my Houndour's strongest attack. I can't wait for the day it evolves into an even powerful Houndoom. Your Eevee wasn't easy to beat though."

Gary nodded. It was time to be moving on now as he and the other trainer went his own way. It was starting to get late and the sun was starting to set. It was time to think of a place to set up camp.

Gary noticed a log at the edge of the path and sat down for a quick break. Hmm, it just goes to show that training Pokémon and working on their strength is far more important than forming a friendly bond. Friendship was rather pointless. The Pokémon really didn't care, did they? The most formidable trainers surely didn't believe in forming friendly bonds with their Pokémon. Therefore, Gary wasn't about to start either.