I, Gary, Want to Become a Pokemon Master

Chapter 691 - 691: Classification Challenge

"Now then, allow me to introduce the Trainer we've specially invited this time."As Clavell finished speaking, the large LCD screen in the stadium lit up, displaying a dark, human-shaped silhouette.

The students all turned their attention to the screen, wondering who this Trainer could be that warranted such a grand introduction.

"This is Gary, the Trainer who has won four consecutive League Conferences!"

The silhouette on the screen faded, revealing photos of Gary. Not just a single portrait, but a collection—photos from his victories at the Indigo Plateau Conference, the Silver Conference, the Ever Grande Conference, and most recently the Lily of the Valley Conference.

"It's him!"

"He's the one with four consecutive League Conference championships!"

"This Gary guy is really that strong?"

"Wait, do you know him?"

The students were stunned. Most had only heard of him, but the students of Class D were genuinely surprised. They had met Gary in person before, but none of them had expected him to be today's special guest Trainer.

"So it's Gary..." Penny stared intently at the big screen. She was actually quite satisfied with this arrangement.

As the daughter of a Champion, Penny couldn't stand the idea of losing to someone close to her own age. This was going to be her revenge match.

"Now, please welcome Gary to the stage to address everyone," Clavell said.

Gary had been waiting in the audience and now stepped onto the podium. A teacher handed him a microphone.

All eyes were on him.

He glanced at Clavell.

"Can I start?"

"Go ahead."

Clavell nodded.

Gary cleared his throat, switched the microphone on, and addressed the crowd.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Gary, and I'm from Pallet Town in the Kanto Region. I'll be selecting twenty of the strongest students from your academy to battle me."

He paused.

"Though I imagine these twenty students seem strong to the rest of you—from my perspective, your current strength would barely qualify you to enter the official rounds of a League Conference."

The reaction was instant.

The crowd erupted like firecrackers going off.

"Hey! We're students of Naranja Academy!"

"It's just the League Conference! If the qualification exam written test wasn't so ridiculous, any one of us could compete with League Trainers!"

"That test really is ridiculous! Last time they showed me an upside-down photo of Poliwag and asked me to guess if the spiral on its belly was going clockwise or counterclockwise!"

"And they made me guess Pokémon from just their silhouettes! Like, they showed me Jigglypuff's back and asked me to identify it!"

Watching the students explode into noise, Gary's expression turned dismissive.

"Judging by your current attitudes, you're just a bunch of inexperienced rookies who've never been properly humbled. I'll take back what I said earlier. With reactions like that, none of you would even pass the preliminaries."

"Then prove it! One-on-one!"

"Yeah, take us on!"

"If you've got the guts, lift the restrictions and fight us!"

The students were furious now, shouting out one after another, demanding to fight Gary.

Clavell looked uncomfortable. Gary had clearly been about to explain the rules of engagement, but somehow this had spiraled into a near-riot.

He started to consider whether he should step in and calm the students down before the entire event derailed.

Before Clavell could intervene, however, Gary took a Poké Ball from his belt and threw it high into the air.

A flash of light filled the sky.

A bird Pokémon with brilliant golden feathers appeared overhead. The instant it manifested, dark clouds rolled across the stadium sky, and the low rumble of thunder echoed from above.

"My god... that's Zapdos!"

"Gary actually has a Legendary Pokémon?!"

"What is he trying to do...?"

The previously raging students fell silent at the sight of the Legendary bird circling above them.

When the noise died down, Gary continued.

"This is Zapdos. I caught it some time ago. I used it during the Indigo Plateau Conference. If any of you are confident enough to beat my Zapdos, come up here right now. I don't mind taking you all on at once."

"Skreeeeee!"

Zapdos let out a piercing cry that swept across the entire stadium, its presence pressing down on every student in the stands.

The students stared up at the storm clouds and crackling lightning, and suddenly none of them had anything to say.

"What does he mean by that? Is he going to fight us with Zapdos?"

"How are we supposed to fight that?"

"Doesn't matter. Even if it's Zapdos, I'd still want to try."

The twenty selected students felt the weight of the pressure most acutely. They were more rational than the average student in the stands, and they had a clearer understanding of just how wide the gap between them and League competitors actually was.

"Don't worry," Gary said, his tone shifting slightly. "Zapdos is the top option. With your current strength, you'd need another ten years before you'd be qualified to challenge it."

"So, I'll give you some real options to choose from."

With that, Gary pulled more than a dozen Poké Balls from his belt and opened them all at once.

Light flashed across the field repeatedly.

Nidoking, Butterfree, Crobat, Pawniard, and Venomoth appeared and were grouped together on one side.

Breloom, four Kabutops, and four Omastar—nine Pokémon in total—were arranged in another group.

Blaziken, Swampert, Sceptile, Aggron, Salamence, and Slaking formed a third group of six.

Metagross, Annihilape, and Gardevoir were lined up together as the fourth group.

And of course, Zapdos still soared above them all, making up the fifth and final tier.

"What is he doing now?"

"Just how many Pokémon does this guy have?"

"What's the point of bringing out so many?"

The students watched in confusion as Gary released Pokémon after Pokémon. The display was impressive, but no one understood what he was setting up for.

Once all the Pokémon were out, Gary explained.

"To help you all develop some self-awareness, I've sorted my Pokémon into tiers. If you can defeat the six Pokémon in this first group, then you can consider yourself qualified to pass the preliminary round of a League Conference."

He gestured to the group containing Nidoking, Butterfree, Crobat, Pawniard, and Venomoth.

The students were surprised. These Pokémon were all in their final evolutionary stages and clearly not weak. The fact that defeating them was only the threshold for passing preliminaries was sobering.

"Is qualifying for the League actually that difficult?"

Gary then pointed to the group with Breloom and the fossil Pokémon.

"This is the second tier. Congratulations—if you can beat them, you can basically guarantee yourself a pass through the preliminaries. As long as you don't run into seeded players or unexpected dark horses, you'll make it into the official rounds. You might even have a small chance of reaching the all-member battlefield stage."