I, Gary, Want to Become a Pokemon Master

Chapter 696 - 696: The Battle Ends, The Great Crater of Paldea

As the referee, Dendra had watched every single match throughout the morning. She now had a very clear picture of where her students stood.If they didn't use any Pokémon given to them by their families, they could only compete with Pokémon in the first and second tiers. Even if they did use family-gifted Pokémon, they would at best be able to fight against the third tier—and even then, the ten matches that morning had shown that while students could trade blows, they were never truly competitive. None of them were real rivals.

In terms of battle experience, the students were nowhere close to Gary. They didn't even have a solid understanding of how Pokémon mechanics actually worked in a real fight.

Sure, they had learned all kinds of Pokémon knowledge in their classes. But that was all textbook information. They had never seen it applied with their own eyes.

Take Breloom, for example. Every student knew that Breloom punched fast and could extend its arms. But none of them had any idea just how far those arms could stretch. In battle, that gap in practical knowledge cost them dearly.

"The League Conference isn't some elite, high-level event," Gary said. "It's also important for students to realize that the world is far bigger than what they see. Right now, they're only slightly better than Rookie Trainers."

"But none of the students dared to challenge the higher tiers," Dendra said.

"Then those tiers serve as decoration. Students need to understand that there's always a sky above their sky. If they just train behind closed doors at school, they'll never grow."

Gary had always been against the way Pokémon schools operated. Although schools did teach students in advance, very few graduates ever reached Elite Four level. At best, they became mid-level Trainers. The ceiling was simply too low.

"Fine, I'll go with your approach," Dendra relented.

She was still worried that the morning's results had damaged the students' confidence. After all, the twenty challengers were the pride of Naranja Academy. And every single one of them had been completely unable to fight back against Gary.

But things had already reached this point, and Dendra wasn't going to overrule it. The Chairman and the Director had both approved the event, and it was up to the students to handle the pressure.

After lunch, Gary went to the treatment center to check on his Pokémon. After a round of healing, they were all fully recovered and ready for the afternoon battles.

The afternoon session continued.

The remaining ten students were roughly the same level as the morning group. Gary didn't even need to put in much effort to defeat all ten of them.

After the final match, the twenty students stood together on the field, their heads hanging slightly. Despite trying to hold it together, the dissatisfaction was practically written across their faces.

Gary looked at them.

"I thought at least some of you would be able to defeat a Pokémon from the third tier. But not one of you managed it. You should know that in a real League Conference, any player who reaches the main tournament can use three Pokémon to defeat at least one third-tier Pokémon. None of you could do that. I'm disappointed."

Penny and the other nineteen students clenched their fists. They weren't sure whether Gary's words were accurate, since none of them had ever actually competed in a League Conference. But being told they were disappointing, and not being able to deny it, stung badly.

It wasn't just the twenty challengers who felt the sting. The students watching from the stands also felt ashamed. After all, these twenty represented the best the academy had. If they couldn't compete with Gary, what did that say about everyone else?

Gary didn't push the criticism any further. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out two Poké Balls.

He opened them.

[Lv. 24 Drilbur ♂ / Champion-tier potential]

[Lv. 37 Pawniard ♂ / Champion-tier potential]

"Huh? What's he sending those two out for?"

"Wasn't the battle over already?"

"What does this mean?"

The students looked at the two newly released Pokémon and didn't understand what Gary was doing.

"These two are Pokémon I only caught recently," Gary explained. "They haven't been with me for very long. In fact, Pawniard here isn't strong enough to fight properly yet, which is why I placed it in the first tier to battle you today."

The students still didn't fully grasp what he was getting at.

On the surface, it sounded like he was mocking them—telling them that even Pokémon he had only recently caught could fight them on equal terms.

"I made a promise to the Chairman," Gary continued. "I'll come back every quarter to test your strength. When I return next time, I won't use my stronger Pokémon. I'll only bring these newly trained Pokémon to fight you."

He paused.

"I hope by then, your performance won't be as bad as today's."

The stadium went quiet for a second.

Then it erupted.

"Again?! He's still looking down on us?"

"Just you wait. Next quarter, we'll show you!"

"Does he really think we're Rookies?"

"I definitely won't lose next time!"

Gary's words hit exactly where they needed to. The students who had been deflated and frustrated a moment ago were suddenly fired up, as if they'd been injected with pure competitive spirit.

Dendra watched from the side, mildly stunned. She had been genuinely worried that the day's events would crush the students' confidence. Instead, Gary had turned everything around in a single speech, reigniting their motivation in one fell swoop.

She suddenly felt like she was the student here, and Gary was the real teacher.

"That's everything I wanted to say. I'll let your Director take it from here."

Gary handed the follow-up remarks to Clavell and left the stadium through the player tunnel. He headed to the treatment center to heal his Pokémon, then sent several of them back to Professor Oak's Laboratory and had a few different ones teleported over.

His promise to the Chairman had been fulfilled. The next item on his agenda was the Great Crater of Paldea. If he could find any Paradox Pokémon inside, he wanted to try catching one.

"Tomorrow I'll check with Clavell about when I can actually enter the Crater," Gary thought. He wasn't in a rush. He had a full week in the Paldea Region and could search at his own pace. If he didn't find anything, that was fine too.

The next morning.

After breakfast, Gary went to Clavell's office alone.

The secretary at the door saw that it was Gary and let him through without asking.

Inside, Clavell looked up and smiled when he saw Gary enter.

"Gary, I'm very pleased with what you did yesterday. The students learned a great deal."

Although Clavell hadn't attended the event in person, he had watched the full recording through the campus network. He was particularly impressed with Gary's tier system, which gave students a precise understanding of where they stood relative to real League competitors.

More importantly, Gary had set a concrete goal for the students—defeat him next quarter—which had fired up their competitive drive in a way that ordinary training never could.

Privately, if Clavell had thought there was even a slim chance Gary would agree, he would have offered him a permanent position as the academy's Director of Practical Combat.

"It's what I was hired to do," Gary said politely. Then he got straight to the point. "Chairman, when can I go to the Great Crater of Paldea?"

"One week from now," Clavell replied. "The research team is sending a group to repair an observation station inside the Crater. I'll arrange for you to go with them."

"A whole week?" Gary asked.