Pokemon: I am Gary

After getting ready, Gary styled his hair with some gel. Today was the day he would attend a regional academic seminar. Among the representatives was Cynthia, a world powerhouse, so Gary naturally wanted to pay attention to his appearance.

He wore a light blue shirt paired with a dark blue suit jacket and casual trousers, complemented by a white tie and brown leather shoes. His tousled brown hair was styled in a casual manner, striking the perfect balance between formal and casual, giving him an air of sophistication.

With Eevee and Charmeleon by his side, Gary set off, leaving the rest of his Pokémon in training sessions. To make the most of his time taking advantage of opportunities at school, he only brought along his two Hex Warriors.

Arriving at the entrance to the faculty office building, he found Caitlin and Cynthia already waiting for him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Gary smiled as he approached.

"Wow!" Caitlin exclaimed, turning her head like a little girl. "Gary, you look so handsome today!"

Gary playfully ruffled his hair. "Just kidding, when do I not look handsome?"

"Pfft—what a show-off!" Caitlin laughed behind her hand.

"Hi. I'm Cynthia," the beautiful blonde in a black coat and matching baggy pants stepped forward and extended her hand toward Gary.

"Hello, I'm Gary Oak" he replied politely as he gave her a brief handshake.

They were both beautiful blondes, but Cynthia and Caitlin had completely different styles. Caitlin's hair had a warm golden hue reminiscent of a Barbie doll, giving her an innocent princess-like air. In contrast, Cynthia's hair had a slightly aggressive dark golden hue; her aura was quite the opposite—she looked cute but occasionally revealed a sharp edge that left people in awe.

"Okay, everyone's here. Let's take advantage of some opportunities... um—" Caitlin began but was interrupted when Cynthia covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry; my friend speaks without thinking," Cynthia said with an awkward smile.

Gary shrugged. "It's fine; we're here to take advantage of opportunities. Professor Monet got me drunk yesterday along with Professor Rowan; I need to find something interesting in return."

"Haha—Professor Oak is quite humorous," Cynthia laughed softly.

"Since you're Caitlin's friend, you're also my friend. If you don't mind, you can call me Gary like Caitlin" Gary thought before turning to Cynthia.

"Sure! Professor Gary!" Cynthia nodded in agreement.

"Gary, come on! We must clean out Professor Monet's pockets today!" Caitlin excitedly pulled Gary forward.

"Cough cough, 'Caitlin-chan', let's discuss this topic telepathically next time. Remember, if we find any school staff, we're just here preparing for the seminar," Gary said seriously.

"Yes! Gary!" Caitlin replied with a mischievous smile like a little fox about to steal chickens as she added telepathically, "You are so naughty, Gary!"

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Hehe, yeah! But it's so much fun!" Caitlin laughed as she floated in the air.

Cynthia followed behind with a sweet smile. It had been a while since she had seen Caitlin this happy; did this young man from the Oak family really have some kind of magic?

The three of them chatted and laughed as they arrived at the entrance to Celadon University's greenhouse. Although it was called a greenhouse, it was actually a massive greenhouse that covered an area larger than ten football fields, equipped to accommodate almost every type of Pokémon habitat.

"Professor Gary, you're here!" Director Robert was already waiting at the entrance of the place.

"Thank you for your hard work, Director Robert," Gary said as he walked in with the two blonde beauties who were turning heads at an impressive two hundred percent rate.

It was said that the boys at school greatly admired Professor Okido's ability to attract girls; their respect for him was endless...

After greeting Caitlin and Cynthia, Director Robert led the three towards the main entrance of the breeding center.

"I heard that Celadon University's greenhouse is very famous; I didn't expect it to be so big," Cynthia commented in amazement as she entered the spacious, temperature-controlled greenhouse.

Director Robert proudly puffed out his chest. "Of course! This massive greenhouse covering over a thousand acres is the pride and joy of Celadon University's breeding base."

"Every year, graduates of the breeding department intern here. In addition to breeding Pokémon, many strong Pokémon belonging to faculty members also live here."

"For your information, our Celadon University breeding house consumes thirty percent of the school's budget each year, yet achieves a production value of eighty percent," Principal Robert continued. Gary nodded silently; raising Pokémon was, indeed, an expensive venture. Even the simplest expenses for Pokémon food, without the support of the league's trainer subsidies, were beyond what an average person could afford.

For this reason, the league officially promoted a limit of six Pokémon per trainer. To some extent, this was also because having more than six Pokémon could place a significant financial burden on trainers. For rich kids like Gary, as long as they passed an asset review, they could apply to lift the limit on the number of Poké Balls they could carry. In fact, Gary had already applied for such an exemption; it just hadn't been approved yet.

In general, aspiring trainers like Ash, who had little money to spend, would often leave their surplus Pokémon with professors they knew in exchange for a meal. This way, they could save a considerable amount of money.

"Gary! Professor Oak's backyard also covers such a large area?" Caitlin asked curiously.

"I remember my grandfather's backyard seems to encompass an entire mountain behind his house; it's probably four or five times larger than this one," Gary said thoughtfully as he rested his chin on his hand.

Robert shifted uncomfortably; rich kids shouldn't mention such enviable things so casually!

As the four of them chatted, they walked deeper into the park. Robert then turned to the matter at hand. "Professor Gary, what kind of Pokémon do you need?"

Gary pulled out a list and replied while thinking, "I need Gligar and Sneasel raised here in the Celadon Breeding House. Also, I need to check if any professors have their Onix and Poliwhirl stored here that are showing signs of evolution."

Robert nodded. "Gligar is in the cave area and Sneasel is in the glacial area. I have Onix and Politoed that meet the evolution criteria; you can take them directly."

Gary nodded in agreement. "That sounds great! Rest assured; I will return a powerful Steelix and a rare Politoed."

"Steelix and Politoed!" Robert's eyes sparkled. "Then that means Steelix is ​​really—"

"Exactly," Gary stated. Wild Steelix and Politoed had already been discovered in the Johto region; however, there had been no formal academic reports proving their connection to Onix.

As for Politoed… there was speculation by one academic that it was a powerful Pokémon that did not evolve from any unique species but simply appeared wherever Poliwag congregated…

Steelix was even more interesting; currently, the academy generally believed that there was no relation between Steelix and Onix other than their similar size—these two Pokémon did not even share similar facial shapes…

Well, Onix had an oval face while Steelix had a flat face…

Was that reasonable? Not really…

"It seems that Professor Gary is about to become famous again," Principal Robert nodded in admiration.

Once proven, the connection between them would not only reveal two new evolutionary chains but would also equate Politoed's evolution to Slowking.

An evolutionary chain for a real Pokémon could easily make headlines on the Kanto Science Network!

"Now, let's look at Sneasel and Gligar; I want to select them myself," Gary said with a smile.

"Sure! I promise to point out the best ones to you," Robert patted his chest confidently; it seemed like the time to show off some champion-level Pokémon descendants.

Gary shrugged and lightly tapped his temple. "Don't worry; my eyes are my measuring tool—I have quite a bit of research on Pokémon ratings."

It's just a joke! My discerning eye is just for fun; if I had to feed myself by identifying Pokémon, I'd probably starve to death...

"Cynthia-chan, do you think there are particularly good Pokémon at Celadon University's breeding house?" Caitlin looked nervously at Cynthia after exchanging glances with a Slowpoke.

"You don't need to worry about that," Cynthia smiled and nodded. "The reputation of Celadon University's breeding house is almost on par with that of the original one in Indigo Plateau."

"The Pokémon here are said to possess a unique trait."

"What trait?" Gary asked curiously.

Cynthia smiled slightly and showed her pearly teeth. "Wild and fiery temperament."

Unlike the traditional methods used in the original house, Celadon University employed advanced techniques and modern training philosophies.

The Pokémon born here were almost all competitive.

Although they weren't very competitive, they weren't very competitive Beginner-friendly, trainers like Gary loved these kinds of combative Pokémon!

"Interesting~" Gary said with satisfaction. As long as the Pokémon were combative, he had no problems—what he feared were those that lacked fighting spirit. Pokémon that just stood there like dead fish should stay home as pets.

After all, there was a rule in official competitions against losing fighting spirit.

Even if you were strong enough to defeat Arceus, if you stood there doing nothing, the judges would still declare you lost.

Just look at how Ash lost at the Indigo Conference… Charizard refused to fight during a match with a huge difference in strength and handed victory to its opponent without a fight.

If it had been Gary in that situation, he probably would have died of anger instantly…