Pokemon: I am Gary

On the Indigo Plateau, the main stadium, which had been quiet for three days, was bustling once again.

The first round of the top sixteen in the championship tournament officially began.

The eight matchups were divided over two days, with four groups each day, two matches in the morning and two in the afternoon.

Having drawn the second day's match, Gary didn't have a competition today. He and Eevee were hiding in the player's tunnel with Janine watching the matches.

The duel on the field was between Giselle and Tyson from the Hoenn region.

Despite giving it their all, Marowak ultimately fell to Sceptile's Leaf Blade.

Tyson became the first contestant to advance to the top eight.

Watching Janine excitedly munching on popcorn beside him, Gary couldn't help but comment, "I have a competitor pass; it's normal for me to be here. How did you sneak in?"

Janine proudly lifted her chin. Maybe she had been eating too well lately; she had developed a double chin. "As a ninja, stealth is basic training, okay? I'm just here to watch a match; it's no big deal~"

"Hurry back to the audience seats; if Officer Jenny catches you, you'll be in big trouble." Gary said disdainfully.

"Fine, fine~" Pouting, Janine did a backflip and disappeared into the shadows…

As Giselle walked out of the player's tunnel with her head down, she looked up and saw Gary leaning against the wall in a white knit sweater.

"I'm sorry, Professor Gary, I embarrassed you." Giselle said with red eyes as she bowed.

"Well~ It's pretty good that your ace Pokémon was able to fight this far despite being at a type disadvantage." Gary nodded calmly and patted her head. "Cheer up."

Seeing that Giselle was feeling down, Young Master Gary kindly escorted her to the entrance of the player's tunnel.

"Giselle-senpai! Professor Oak!"

As soon as they stepped outside, a group of young people in uniforms surrounded them.

"Monet-sensei? Grandpa!" Gary exclaimed in surprise at the sight of the white-bearded old man leading them.

"I brought the kids to watch the matches and experience the atmosphere. Consider it practical teaching." Old Monet smiled.

"Yeah, yeah! He definitely isn't here to drink with me and Goodshow." Professor Oak nodded in agreement.

Gary scanned the group; those older were likely students from Celadon University's Battle and Theory Departments, while the younger ones were students from Trainer Academy.

"Everyone, I'm sorry I couldn't win~" Giselle apologized with guilt as she bowed her head to everyone.

"Hey~ Competitions have winners and losers. Making it to the top sixteen on your first try is already impressive." Principal Monet remarked.

"Yeah~ That trainer named Tyson is familiar to me; he was a top-eight contestant in last year's Hoenn League's Colorful Conference. After a year of training, he should be even stronger now." Professor Oak also offered some comforting words to Giselle.

"That's right, senpai! You're our pride at Trainer Academy!"

"Exactly! And we still have Professor Gary to get revenge for us!"

"That's right! Go for it, senpai! Win together or lose together!"

Seeing how united the kids were, Principal Monet's beard trembled with joy. "Hahaha! Kids, don't delay Gary from collecting data; let's head back to the audience seats."

Giselle was moved to tears and turned back around to bow deeply to Gary once more. "Professor Gary, please carry our dreams and continue winning!"

"Professor Gary~"

"Professor Gary!"

"Professor Gary…"

The hopeful gazes of her classmates gathered on Gary.

Gary smiled slightly and tilted his head in agreement. "Okay~ I understand. I'll just try a little harder!"

Principal Monet led everyone away while Gary took a deep breath. Now for the upcoming matches, not doing well would feel like letting everyone down.

Turning back into the player's tunnel, golden sunlight fell on Gary's profile, as if crowning the birth of a new king…

...

By evening, today's final match came to an end.

Ash lost spectacularly in his face-off against Ritchie.

Gary sat silently with Professor Oak and Ash's family friends.

Although sixty percent of netizens on forums believed this match was unjustified, reality was that losing meant there was no point in arguing; one must accept defeat and stand firm!

It was clear to anyone watching that Ash's Charizard had an absolute level advantage. With just a slight movement of its finger, Ash's Pikachu would be obliterated!

How could Charizard lose when it had such an advantage?

However, reality was that Charizard lost its fighting spirit; facing Ash's life-or-death battle, Charizard didn't even have time for a yawn!

What does Ash's victory or defeat have to do with me?

Watching Ash kneel on the ground in disbelief as if all his strength had been drained away made Gary frown tightly.

"Is Ash okay…" Aunt Delia worriedly asked.

"It's alright; failure is the mother of success. I believe he will bounce back," Professor Oak sighed.

Brock and Misty worriedly left early to accompany Ash.

Gary suddenly stood up and turned to leave.

"Gary?" Professor Oak asked curiously.

"I'm fine; I'm going back to prepare for tomorrow's match. If Ash is alright later, tell him to bring Charizard over to see me!" Gary said without looking back as he left those words behind.

While he knew Ash's Charizard had been through tough times before and would be strong in future battles…

But! Disobeying orders during crucial moments! Especially during life-or-death battles! This behavior made Gary very angry!

Back home after feeding his Pokémon, Gary called Lorelei.

Previously, he had sent his Ice-type Sneasel for special training with Slowbro on Ice Island.

"Hello~ Little Gary? What's up?" Lorelei asked somewhat puzzled as she was still working overtime.

"Sister Lorelei, has Sneasel completed its training?" Gary asked seriously.

"That kid has been working really hard! Also, you can't call it Sneasel anymore," Lorelei said proudly with a smile. "After training with Slowbro for so long, yesterday Grandma from Seven Islands' Breeding Center told me that it has already evolved into Weavile!"

"Really? That's great! Please ask Grandma from Breeding Center to send me Weavile; I need it," Gary said earnestly.

"Sure! I'll have it delivered by tomorrow morning," Lorelei replied after thinking for a moment.

"Thanks, Sister Lorelei." After hanging up the phone, Gary's eyes flashed. Disobedient? Self-righteous? Then I'll just beat them up!

Having sorted out his muscle for tomorrow's match made Young Master Gary feel better. He took out his phone to browse forums before going to sleep.

Having a smartphone is so convenient—without my phone I wouldn't be able to survive a day!

Shocking news! Unova contestant Miyura defeated his opponent 30-0 in the first round of the championship tournament—Bronzong can take hits and deal damage!

The JK beauty regrettably stopped at top sixteen.

Predictions for top eight contestants list…

Analysis of Tyson's Pokémon lineup from Hoenn…

Wow! I didn't realize how much information about these top eight contestants had already been exposed…

"The battle reviews are better than academic analyses," Gary couldn't help but scoff at this thought.

Quirky tactics from Doll Town contestants…

"Oh?" Gary raised an eyebrow; A-Tao from Doll Town seemed like his next opponent…

After glancing at his opponent's information, Gary turned off his phone and called Eevee back upstairs to sleep.

Eevee-chan happily ran up the stairs first to warm up under the covers on bed.

Gary yawned as he went upstairs; as Pallet Town's last hope and Celadon University's benchmark—A-Tao—

Tomorrow you'll eat a peach—cool down…