Chapter Text
The editorial teams as compiled their reports in the latest information of the Tokiwa Gym, now restructured and owned directly by the Kanto Regional League. This concludes the latest report the Comission has on the current situation of the Kanto Region Gyms.
Tokiwa Gym常葉ポケモンリーグジム
Out of all of the Gyms in the Kanto region, the recently-reestablished Tokiwa Pokemon Gym is unique in that the Regional League Commission directly owns the Gym and directly appoints the Gym Leader and other managers. It is also the only Gym with a 1st Class Certification, therefore being the Gym that can only be challenged after winning the other seven badges. As such, Gym membership is highly competitive, with almost everyone there being full-time members and paid professionals. In exchange for generous salaries and the resulting opportunities for full-time training, members are assigned on-call duties as part of the League’s emergency response team for disasters. A few trainers that are qualified police officers have also responded to major incidents including the July 9 Insurrection in 2004.
The new Gym was founded after the abolition of the old one, which was run by the Tojo-Sumiyoshi Family as a front organization for Team Rocket. The aftermath of the July 9 Insurrection uncovered many scandals in various organizations across Shoyo, one of which included various kickbacks and bribes involving both officials in the Regional League Commission and the Sports Agency in exchange for the Tojo-Sumiyoshi family’s former Gym. After some political wrangling which involved two Imperial Commissions and the resultant arrest of the previous Head Commissioner and several other senior officials, the restructured Regional League Commission took upon itself to establish a new gym directly under its jurisdiction.
Shigeru Okido大木戸滋(Gary Oak)
A grandson of the famous Pokemon Professor Yukinari Okido, Shigeru follows a more active approach as researcher, who is often out on missions and other adventures across Shoyo and the globe when his Gym does not have any examinations scheduled. Shigeru was once a competitor of the 2004 and 2005 Central Shoyo Region League alongside his former rival Satoshi Hatamoto and Midori Aoki until receiving his current calling as a researcher. Nowadays, he serves as the go to trainer for monitoring and investigating the different legendary Pokemon across the globe, often in cooperation with various adventuring trainers including his trusted former rivals. Fittingly, as a First-Class Gym Leader, Shigeru Okido represents the final examiner for aspiring league participants. Alongside his vast knowledge of different Pokemon, he also keeps all of his trusty partners in tip-top shape, whether for sanctioned battles or a no-holds-barred fight against power-hungry megalomaniacs, and no matter who you send out, he will have an answer. In addition, and many of his Elite-class Trainers in the Gym are handpicked by either him or Midori, or by Satoshi’s suggestions, and Shigeru has matured into someone humble enough to learn from them and adapt.
Pokemon: Blastoise, Pidgeot, Arcanine, Electivire, Tyranitar
Midori Aoki青木緑(Leanne Greenway)
Midori Aoki is an old friend and former rival of Shigeru who was also a budding league trainer and a participant in the 2004 and 2005 Central Shoyo Region League. Similarly to Shigeru, Midori also had her calling elsewhere, although in her case it was to record and tell the tragedies and joys of Pokemon in our society – in fact, she is our former writer who would still runs across Shoyo to chase after Pokemon of legend or myths, until Shigeru headhunted her for his monitoring and investigation project. While she may not have the refined techniques of Pokemon battles as Shigeru does, this is small comfort for many of the budding trainers when they cross her path and goad her into battle. Despite her outwardly shy behaviour, many of her past opponents admitted that she pays more attention to the battle than she lets on. And she will use anything, and everything to her advantage – whether to distract you, or to overpower you – making her an unpredictable, and arguably more dangerous opponent to face – a fact that even Shigeru himself admits in a recent interview.
Pokemon: Venusaur, Clefable, Kingdra, Kangaskhan, Ninetales
Datsura Tashiki多色騨都螺(Noland Malteser)
Datsura Tashiki is one of the more famous trainers in the gym which deserves a special mention. While most trainers know Tashiki as the Frontier Brain for the East Asian Battle Frontier in Majimina City, Tashiki is also the part-time consulting trainer for many of the Gym members of the Elite level, including Leader Shigeru himself, and has been responsible for assigning the personalised training regimens to each individual trainers. While most trainers could only master their battles through a selection of 12 at most, Tashiki is one of the few exceptions who can fight with all of the Pokemon found in Shoyo (numbering over 500 including the recently rediscovered Hisuan Pokemon) and still come on top.
