I, Gary, Want to Become a Pokemon Master

Chapter 658 - 658: Qualifiers

Gary turned at the sound of his name."Hm?"

Standing a short distance away was a blond-haired boy whose face lit up the moment their eyes met.

"Barry?"

Gary raised an eyebrow, a hint of genuine surprise crossing his features. Of all the people he had expected to encounter first at Lily of the Valley—it wasn't Ash.

It was Barry.

Barry, on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted.

"Gary! You're actually here!"

His voice rang across the Pokémon Center lobby, loud enough to draw curious glances from several nearby Trainers.

Gary folded his arms. "You sound surprised."

"I am surprised!" Barry fired back instantly. "You never confirmed whether you were entering the Lily of the Valley Conference! That kind of ambiguity should cost you a fine!"

Gary sighed softly.

There it was.

Barry's signature line.

"…You're still going with that."

Barry grinned, entirely unapologetic. "Of course! Rules are rules!"

Gary shook his head, though there was no real irritation behind it. Despite the noise, Barry's enthusiasm had always been strangely endearing.

"Have you registered already?" he asked.

"Yep! Done and dusted!" Barry declared proudly, puffing out his chest. "Got here early this time. I'm fully prepared."

Gary gave a small nod. "Good."

Barry leaned in, eyes gleaming. "That means we might actually battle each other this tournament!"

"Maybe," Gary replied evenly.

"Not maybe—definitely!" Barry insisted. "I've been training like crazy. You better not get knocked out before we meet!"

A faint smirk touched Gary's lips.

"We'll see."

Barry laughed, then waved over his shoulder as he turned away. "Anyway, I need to get my team into peak condition! Don't slack off, alright? See you tonight!"

With that, he was gone—darting out of the Pokémon Center with the same reckless energy he brought to everything.

Gary watched him disappear through the sliding doors.

Then turned back toward the registration counters.

—

Despite the massive number of Trainers gathered for the conference, the Pokémon Center was operating with impressive efficiency. Multiple counters handled registration simultaneously, and the lines moved quickly.

Gary stepped into one of the shorter queues.

The atmosphere around him hummed with barely contained anticipation. Trainers discussed strategies in low voices, compared badge collections, and discreetly sized one another up. The energy was palpable—nervous, competitive, electric.

More participants than usual, Gary noted.

It made sense. The overall standard of Sinnoh's Trainers had been steadily climbing in recent years. Compared to most other regions, the baseline strength here was noticeably higher, which naturally attracted larger fields to the League.

When his turn arrived, Gary stepped forward.

"Hello. I'd like to register for the Lily of the Valley Conference."

Nurse Joy smiled warmly from behind the counter. "Of course. Please provide your Pokédex."

Gary handed it over.

Joy inserted the device into a connected terminal. The machine hummed softly as it processed his Trainer data—ID, badge count, registration status.

A few seconds later, the Pokédex slid back out.

"You've been successfully registered," Joy confirmed. "Please report for the qualifying round in three days."

Gary accepted the Pokédex with a nod.

"Thank you."

The moment the words left his mouth—

[Ding! Mission Released:]

Win the Lily of the Valley Conference Championship.

Rewards:

Intermediate Rare Candy ×10

Advanced Rare Candy ×10

Master Rare Candy ×5

Bronze Bottle Cap ×1

Silver Bottle Cap ×1

Gold Bottle Cap ×1

Ability Enhancement Fossil ×3

Ability Expansion Fossil ×1

Bonus: All rewards are doubled if only Sinnoh-region Pokémon are used.

Gary's eyes flickered.

So it finally triggered.

That answered the question he had been carrying since arriving on the island.

He stepped away from the counter and flipped open the competition guidebook he'd been handed with his registration.

The tournament structure was straightforward.

Three stages.

The first stage—the qualifiers—would begin in three days. A closed-format elimination round consisting of one-on-one battles. Each Trainer would fight multiple matches, and the field would be narrowed down to sixty-four participants.

The second stage—the preliminaries—would follow the opening ceremony. Each qualifying Trainer would compete in three separate three-on-three matches, with the battlefield randomly selected from grass, rock, ice, or water arenas.

Only eight Trainers would advance.

The third and final stage—

Full battles.

Six-on-six.

The true test of a Trainer's strength and depth.

Gary closed the booklet.

"Time to prepare."

—

Later that evening, in a quieter section of the Pokémon Center, Gary began making final adjustments to his team.

He opened his system inventory.

Advanced Rare Candy.

Without hesitation, he began distributing them.

Garchomp.

Weavile.

Glaceon.

Each of his core Sinnoh Pokémon needed to reach at least Level 60 to compete effectively at this stage. One by one, their levels rose as energy surged through their bodies, reinforcing foundations and sharpening their combat readiness.

When he finished, all key members of his Sinnoh roster had reached the same threshold.

Gary exhaled softly.

"Good."

Next—

"System. Exchange the Electric-type TM for Wild Charge."

The flexible TM reward from Sunyshore Gym had been sitting in his inventory, waiting for this exact moment.

Wild Charge. A powerful physical Electric-type move with a base power of 90. It hit hard, though the user took recoil damage in return.

Worth it.

Several of his Pokémon could learn it, significantly broadening their offensive coverage against Water and Flying types.

"Done."

Gary nodded to himself.

Then his attention shifted to one last matter.

"Togetic…"

The small Fairy/Flying-type fluttered down and landed in front of him.

"Toge!"

Gary studied it for a quiet moment.

"It's time."

He reached into his bag and produced a Shiny Stone.

Togetic's eyes went wide.

"Toge…!"

It drifted closer, excitement radiating from every movement. Without hesitation, it extended its tiny hands and lifted the Shiny Stone with delicate psychic force.

Then—

It pressed the stone firmly against its chest.

Light erupted.

A brilliant white glow enveloped Togetic's entire body, and its form began to shift within the radiance. Its shape elongated. Its wings broadened dramatically. The soft, rounded silhouette gave way to something far more refined—streamlined, graceful, powerful.

The light intensified to a blinding peak—

Then slowly faded.

"Toge…kiss!"

A new form hovered before Gary.

Togekiss drifted in the air, its wide, elegant wings barely moving as it gazed down at him. Its body was pristine white, accented with red and blue. The transformation was complete.

But something about it had changed beyond the physical.

Its eyes.

They were sharper now. More focused. More intent.

This was no longer a gentle, carefree Pokémon.

This Togekiss carried presence.

And power.

Gary opened its status panel.

[Pokémon: Togekiss]

[Type: Fairy / Flying]

[Level: 70]

[Potential: Pseudo-Legendary-tier]

[Ability: EX Serene Grace — Doubles the chance of additional move effects. If the probability exceeds 100%, the additional effect is guaranteed to activate.]

[Moves: Growl, Pound, Sweet Kiss, Life Dew, Metronome, After You, Double-Edge, Safeguard, Baton Pass, Wish, Fairy Wind, Air Slash]

[TM Moves: Attract, Psychic, Flamethrower, Mega Kick, Reflect, Rest, Signal Beam, Rain Dance, Fire Blast, Protect, Body Slam, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Defog, Drain Punch, Hidden Power]

[Friendship: 255]