Pokemon: I am Gary

At the Indigo Plateau Conference venue, outdoor cafes lined the streets. Gary and Ash, along with their group, were enjoying coffee. Lorelei, as a member of the competition organizing committee, had gone to work early. Gary coincidentally ran into Ash and the others. While waiting for the draw results, they took a break to drink some coffee.

"This competition is divided into four types of fields: Rock, Ice, Water, and Grass. After four rounds of preliminaries, we can enter the top sixteen to compete in the main venue," Brock explained patiently while flipping through the contestant handbook.

"I know! As long as we keep winning, right?" Ash nodded, feeling quite clever!

"Young Master Gary, did Lorelei give you any insider information?" Misty asked curiously as she leaned closer.

Gary shrugged, "No need for that. But she did ask me last night which field I wanted to compete in; she could manipulate the draw a bit~"

The trio of Ash looked at each other in disbelief: "Can she really do that?"

According to Lorelei's original words, this part is supervised by Lance; she could threaten Dodo...

Ding dong... Gary's phone rang. Taking it out, he saw it was a message from Lorelei: "The draw results for Ice have come out; the Ice field is first match this afternoon. Good luck~."

"The results are out; you guys should go check at the Pokémon Center," Gary said to Ash.

"Alright! Let's go take a look!" Ash pulled along Misty and Brock. Gary checked the time and thought he could enjoy another cup of coffee~

"A trainer just fresh off the press with contestant information, would you like a copy?" A handsome guy in a suit with sky-blue hair sat down in front of Gary.

Gary's mouth twitched: "You're getting bolder; you dare come to the Alliance headquarters?"

Archer shrugged nonchalantly: "This is my ID." Looking at the ID in Archer's hand with an address in Viridian City and the name Apollo...

Wow, this guy actually has legal status!

"It's normal; we all have legal identities; otherwise, how could we enjoy life?" Archer said smugly.

"Okay then, what brings you here?" Gary, feeling a headache coming on, rubbed his forehead. What a great Four Elite member reduced to being a lackey...

"Well, I didn't have much to do recently and thought I'd come watch your match. By the way, I can help with tea-serving and laundry folding," Archer joked. "I didn't expect you to be living in Elite Four Lorelei's villa, so I had some free time to gather contestant information."

"Uh... good job. Don't do that next time," Gary sighed and shook his head. "Our Team Rocket needs to transform; we can't do without you high-ranking officials. Work hard from now on."

"Don't worry; I'll handle my work well. Your matters are as important as my work!" Archer replied earnestly.

With no choice left, Gary sighed again: "Do as you please..."

While they were chatting, suddenly a mocking voice rang out: "Yo! Bringing a lackey to the competition? Quite impressive~"

Looking up, Gary saw a flamboyantly dressed guy in purple dance attire with green long hair standing among the crowd, chattering away at them.

"Is he talking about me?" Gary pointed at himself uncertainly.

"Probably not~" Archer shook his head.

"Hey! You two! Don't play dumb! I'm talking about you! And you!" The flamboyant guy styled his green hair dramatically and added, "I can't stand you second-generation rich kids who have no real skills. Meanwhile, I—Mandi—will step on your faces and become the champion everyone admires."

Several reporters surrounded this guy snapping photos; it was evident this was a successful marketing stunt. Leaning back in his seat with his legs crossed, Gary thought: "Confirmed he's talking about me; what should I do?"

Without changing expression, Archer grinning mischievously replied: "Just take him down~ Find a place to bury him nicely."

With a scoff, Gary responded: "There are so many people and media watching; am I supposed to lose my dignity? Oh right, where is Mandi from?"

With a smirk, Archer replied: "Just a small fishing village by the sea. As for those unscrupulous media folks—who cares? Just take them down~"

The surrounding crowd and media instinctively took two steps back at this cold exchange. Realizing something was off, Mandi's martial artist noticed these two were too calm; they weren't arguing back or scared; instead, they were talking about annihilation...

"You... don't act rashly! It's men using Pokémon for duels; we're all young people here! Don't go down a criminal path..."

With his head tilted sideways looking at Mandi's martial artist expectantly asking: "Can I make my move now?"

Wow! The crowd instantly scattered as those unscrupulous media reporters fled quickly.

"What do you want? Don't you know I'm a famous dancer? Mandi's..."

Having lost all patience, Gary quietly said: "Slap him~"

Smack! Archer lunged forward with a big slap that sent Mandi spinning 360 degrees through the air before crashing down onto the ground.

"You want to point your finger at our Young Master again?" With an air of bravado, Archer sat on Mandi's back.

Clutching half his face in shock and screaming: "Ah!! Help! Call the police! Murder!"

Watching the chaotic crowd around him and seeing Miss Jenny running towards him, Gary calmly waved his hand. Opening a Poké Ball revealed his Scizor taking over Archer's position to pin Mandi down.

"You can leave now; I've got this," said Gary indifferently.

"Alright then~" With another slap for good measure, Archer scampered off quickly.

"Woo!" With a loud crash, a shadow descended from above—it was Lance and his Dragonite.

"What's going on here?" Lance spread his cape dramatically with a stern expression. Causing trouble at Indigo Plateau was akin to slapping Lance's face directly.

"Report to Officer! This person insulted me and then got taught a lesson by a passing hero. I was afraid he would run away so I had Scizor hold him," said Gary, immediately explaining himself.

"Oh~ So that's how it is." Upon seeing Gary, Lance immediately believed him. After all, given Young Master Gary's family background, there was no need to frame someone who looked like an obvious loser...

"He hit me first! Lord Champion! You must stand up for me!" Mandi cried dramatically with snot and tears streaming down his face.

"Let him go first." Lance frowned slightly.

"Sure~" Nodding in agreement, Gary's Scizor immediately released Mandi.

"Lance! You must stand up for me! He hit me indiscriminately; quickly lock him up and disqualify him from competing!" Mandi glared venomously at Gary, tears streaming down while reaching out for Lance's cape.

"Get lost!" Lance stepped back dodging Mandi's lunge. The latter fell flat on his face again with a thud.

Lance's mouth twitched as he silently screamed that his champion cape was very expensive!

"Everyone saw it right? This guy bullies others. Everyone join together to condemn him!" Seeing Lance unresponsive made Mandi try to incite the crowd instead.

"This does look quite tragic... Maybe we should shout out for him," one passionate youth hesitated.

"Are you an idiot? Can't you see he's trying to morally blackmail us?" A trainer who witnessed everything pulled this person back. Ordinary citizens didn't understand what was happening but trainers were clear on it. This guy was just seeking attention and had provoked someone he shouldn't have—he would get what was coming!

"Fine! You alliance executors just watched me get bullied. I'm going to file complaints! I'm going to sue you! Sue you! And you!" Mandi shouted wildly pointing at both Gary along with arriving police officers and Lance...

"Mr. Lance. This commotion isn't going anywhere; why don't we take Mr. Gary away first and later apologize symbolically?" suggested an officer nearby quietly.

"This…" Lance's mouth twitched; this person was one of Lorelei's favorites. Did he think life was too boring that he needed excitement?

"I'll see who dares!" A chilling female voice accompanied by high heels clacking approached amidst everyone's gaze.

Lorelei stood protectively behind Gary, pointing at Mandi with icy eyes: "If you want to sue me now—go ahead! I'm part of the organizing committee for this competition; today I'm here watching—let's see who dares touch even one finger of Young Master Gary!"

Lance felt his mouth twitching madly—this woman had truly gone wild...

Mandi stood there dumbfounded—what kind of iron plate had he kicked?

"Lorelei~ It's fine~" said Gary softly comforting her. This sister could really handle things when it mattered...

Surrounding trainers snickered at this scene—complain? Go ahead! The biggest authority here is an Elite Four member; go complain about them yourself!

Lance pointed at Mandi indicating he should be taken away for some wake-up call and asked who he wanted to complain against. If he figured it out then go prepare for competition; if he still wanted to complain—first get disqualified before going through proper channels!

Mandi stood there dumbfounded?

Rolling his eyes secretly thinking that he knew exactly what dirty deeds he had done—get lost!

Thus it happened that Mandi never reached his peak but became everyone's target instead after being ridiculed publicly.

Lorelei took hold of Young Master Gary's hand as she strutted away with her long black stockings. "The Ice field match is about to start; let's go." Young Master Gary allowed himself to be led away by Lorelei from the crowd.