One eager fan of the beloved Pokemon franchise notices a speedrun of one of the games being streamed on a TV in their local, real-life gym. Although different from the many different gyms that Pokemon fans will recognize across the several regions in the Pokemon world, one fan that presumably works at the facility seemed keen to express their passion for the series in one of the most humorous ways they could think of.
Almost anyone who has played any of the Pokemon games in the nearly 28 years since they first hit the shelves in Japan will be familiar with a Pokemon Gym, a facility where rising Trainers will visit to test their strength and aim to defeat the Gym's leader. Gyms were first introduced to the world of Pokemon with the very first installments of the franchise, Pokemon Red and Blue, and nearly every region since Kanto has each featured its own set of 8 gyms. Every Gym in the Pokemon world has a leader, often a noteworthy character that the player will cross paths with multiple times on their journey, who will provide Trainers with League badges after being defeated by them in battle.
A member of the community known as p4755166 on Reddit shared their sighting with other fans on the site, including an image of the stream while it was on the TV. While it's hard to tell from the screenshot, it appears that the speedrun was of the original Generation 3 games, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, due to the Pokemon seen being used in the battle, one of which being a Marshstomp. The user also went on to claim that they've seen Super Smash Bros. Ultimate streamed on the monitors in the gym before, leading some to speculate that the gym's staff are likely enthusiastic gamers themselves.
Although Pokemon Gyms have been a keystone of the fictional universe since its beginning, some fans may remember that the facilities were absent in the Pokemon Sun and Moon and Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon titles, being replaced instead by Trials in the Generation 7 games which tasked fans with defeating powerful Totem Pokemon instead. These power-infused Pokemon somewhat replaced Gym leaders, presenting a new and arguably more traditional type of "boss" to the series.
Although Pokemon Gyms have made their return in more recent generations including in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the latest titles have gone even further in developing the gameplay mechanics and challenges. Although Scarlet and Violet have received substantial criticism due to the many technical errors that fans have experienced with them, the Generation 9 games have also received their fair amount of praise thanks to the adventurous new open-world experience they offer alongside the many new gameplay features.
Source: Reddit/P4755166
