Pokemon: I am Gary

With the arena cleared, Gary and Giselle took their positions at the Trainer's command seat.

Aside from a few students from the Tactical Theory department, the surroundings quickly quieted down.

Erika approached the referee's stand. "I will be the referee. Is there any objection from either side?"

Giselle nodded, "No objections."

Gary confirmed, "Of course not~"

"Then, Professor Gary against student Giselle, the battle rules are one-on-one. Please, Professor Gary, send out your Pokémon first!" Erika called out with a wave.

Since the teacher goes first, it was a concession rule, as going first could be targeted by type advantages.

Gary smiled and took out a white commemorative Poké Ball. "Well then, Eevee, go have some fun with her."

"Eevee!" Eevee rolled into the arena, lowering its body into a defensive stance.

As if to say, "Come on! Do you think I'll be targeted by type advantages? Unless you bring out Arceus or something like that…"

"Hmph~ So it's Eevee. Pretty but useless," Giselle squinted her eyes and clapped her hands. A student immediately brought over a suitcase filled with numerous Poké Balls.

With her slender fingers gliding over the box, Giselle smiled slightly. "This will do nicely against a Normal-type!"

The Poké Ball was thrown into the air—

"Wow~" A round and plump Graveler appeared in the arena.

"Oh~?" Gary shook his head. If you had used a Fighting-type Pokémon, I might have given you some credit.

Using a Rock-type Graveler? You're really trying too hard…

Giselle proudly lifted her chin. "Eevee may know many moves, but against my Graveler, its skills will amount to nothing but tickling!"

"Overestimating yourself…" Gary shook his head. "You go ahead."

"Graveler, use Magnitude!" Giselle directly attacked without waiting for Erika to give the command.

"Eevee, jump up!" Gary's command came simultaneously.

Boom! Graveler slammed down onto the ground, causing violent tremors.

However, Eevee simply left the ground; there was quite a commotion, but unfortunately for Graveler, it suffered zero damage.

"How is this possible?!" Giselle exclaimed in shock.

"It's nothing; you're just too predictable," Gary shrugged.

"Impressive as expected of Professor Gary" Erika nodded. In battles between trainers, it was usually about countering moves and adapting on the fly.

Gary had taken it a step further; by observing Graveler's initial move and understanding Giselle's mindset, he had anticipated his opponent's tactical intentions.

This kind of predictive ability is known in professional terms as "reading ahead"! It's a dominant result that only occurs between trainers with significant level differences.

"Eevee, use Water Gun." Gary continued lazily.

"Hmph! Geodude, use Rollout!" Giselle had high hopes; she believed that with level pressure, even with type disadvantages she could bulldoze through to victory.

Eevee steadied itself on all fours as water elements compressed in its mouth.

Boom! The powerful Water Gun shot out directly at the rolling Graveler for a point-blank critical hit.

Squeak!! A sound of slipping echoed as Graveler spun in place!

With the continuous impact of water pressure, Graveler finally stopped rolling and was sent flying to the corner of the arena.

Eevee followed up with another Quick Attack; Graveler rolled its eyes back and fainted completely.

"How is this possible? Graveler's Rollout can't even withstand an attack from a Water-type Pokémon! This Eevee must be hacked!" Giselle knelt in disbelief.

Gary shook his head and encouraged Eevee before walking over to Giselle and raising a well-manicured finger.

"First of all, your tactical intentions were too obvious; your opponent easily predicted your attack.

Secondly, your verbal provocation is just trash talk. I merely stirred things up a bit and you lost your composure; that's a taboo in battles.

Thirdly—didn't you observe the arena before battling? The muddy ground becomes slippery with just a little water; how could Graveler not slip being so heavy?

Now tell me—are you really a qualified Pokémon trainer?"

Giselle lowered her head and shook it in confusion.

Erika sighed as well; this girl had some talent but was simply spoiled by her family.

"Well then, as I said before—go travel. Experience the world of commoners." Gary shook his head. "If you can earn eight badges on your own and make it into the Indigo League, I can advocate for your reinstatement as a student so you can graduate smoothly."

"Thank you, Professor Gary…" Giselle nodded with a slight blush before awkwardly leaving the battle arena with an inwardly turned foot stance.

"Gary is amazing~" Caitlin transformed into an atmosphere creator on the sidelines cheering for Gary enthusiastically.

Gary smiled and turned to Erika. "The teaching match can begin now; students should be getting out of class soon."

Erika checked her watch. "There are still five minutes left; just enough time to prepare the arena. Are we still using the Grass-type field?"

"Since it's a Gym teaching match, of course we'll use your best Grass-type field," Gary replied with a shrug.

Erika clapped her hands, and staff members immediately approached the edge of the arena to find and press the Grass-type button.

With a rumbling sound, the previous rocky muddy field slowly descended while lush green grass fields began to converge from both edges of the arena.

Ultimately transforming into a complete Grass-type battlefield.

"No wonder it's Celadon University; even their infrastructure specifications rival those of Indigo Plateau," Gary couldn't help but exclaim.

"I think it's still pretty good~" Caitlin said, holding an ice cream McFlurry she had somehow acquired. "It's just a bit lacking compared to the Elite Four's castle in Unova."

Gary twitched at the corner of his mouth; when did the Unova Champion's castle become the Elite Four's castle? Do you really not see Alder as a person?

He didn't have to wait long before the school bell rang, and a crowd of bright-eyed university students poured out of the classrooms.

They rushed towards the battle arena in droves.

Soon, the arena was surrounded by layers of students, but what was comforting was that these university students were much more orderly.

The first row sat on the ground, the second row occupied the bleachers, and the third row stood.

Gary looked over and thought: "Wow, these are indeed high-achieving students from Celadon University; they've arranged themselves so well… They even staggered their heads to ensure everyone could see what was happening in the arena."

"Wow~ so many people~" Caitlin said, nervously hiding behind Gary while biting her ice cream spoon.

"It's fine; university students are easy to get along with. Just look at their eyes—how… um… naive!" Gary found himself momentarily speechless.

The clear-eyed foolishness of these kids was almost overflowing; they looked like purebred university students…

Caitlin tilted her head. "Are you trying to say they look silly and don't seem like bad people?"

Gary cleared his throat twice. "Ahem, Ms. Erika, are all the students here?"

Erika had a strange expression. "They're all here… I should say they came in too many numbers. Even students from the Theory department showed up."

Gary scratched his head. "Huh?"

"Go for it, Professor Gary! We're from the Theory department!" a group of students shouted from the sidelines, waving flags.

"Professor Gary is mighty! Let's show the Battle department our scholarly strength!"

"Exactly! We from the Theory department can be strong when we take things seriously!"

On the other side, students from the Battle department were not having it.

"You're talking nonsense! Professor Gary is a real tactical theory professor; he should be considered one of us in the Battle department!"

"Exactly! You guys only know theory; Professor Gary is clearly better at dealing with theorists!"

"Alright! Stop arguing!" Gary groaned as he held his forehead; what was there to debate about?

"Students, tactics are a pathway to improving battle skills. Practical battles are ultimately the purpose of battle theory. If you can put aside your prejudices and help each other, I believe you will all learn much more," Erika explained.

After hearing Erika's words, both sides of students turned to look at Gary, seemingly waiting for his final verdict.

Gary rolled his eyes. "You're all waiting for me to say something?"

A group of university students nodded in unison.

"Well then, just wait~" Gary smirked. "I can't even be bothered to criticize you.

You should know that understanding Pokémon is the foundation of all battles.

Pokémon are mysterious, powerful beings full of unknown possibilities.

Types, abilities, hidden abilities, hundreds of different forms, and thousands of different moves—all require rich theoretical knowledge to support them.

Thus, theory and battle are not opposing sides; what you should do is achieve mutual success rather than look down on each other.

Winning a single match with clever tricks won't win you a complex series throughout a season, let alone in a league competition filled with experts.

Battle isn't just about technical command; it's an art of command.

Next, Erika and I will break down an entire Gym match; I hope you will study seriously."

With that, loud applause erupted from the sidelines as all students looked bright-eyed and full of anticipation towards the battle arena.

Erika excitedly clapped her hands. "As expected of Professor Gary; I've learned so much!"

Gary smiled modestly. "Then let's get started."

A teacher from the referee department walked solemnly onto the referee platform and raised both hands. "The Gym demonstration match is about to begin; both sides prepare."

Not far outside the crowd stood an elderly man with a square face and two large mustaches, dressed meticulously in a gray trench coat alongside Principal Monet.

"Hmph~ That Oak guy has quite a good grandson," Professor Rowan commented seriously.

"Of course! Just look at who taught him," Principal Monet replied cheerfully as his mustache seemed to float with joy.

The Sinnoh academic delegation had arrived at Celadon University. Led by Professor Rowan and consisting of over a dozen doctoral scholars, they brought with them their latest academic achievements!

"Oh~ It looks like Caitlin is having fun here," said a female scholar with flowing golden hair dressed in a black trench coat and wide-legged pants as she slightly smiled.

Principal Monet took a sneaky glance at the golden-haired beauty; she was no ordinary person—she was renowned in Sinnoh as a historian and myth researcher and also considered one of Sinnoh's strongest women ever.

Gladion suddenly turned around amidst the crowd, her smile blooming like a flower. "Cynthia!"

The two golden-haired girls exchanged smiles.

Gary turned back in surprise as Professor Rowan approached with a group of scholars. "We originally wanted to attend one of your lectures, Professor Gary, but we heard from Principal Monet that you would be holding a teaching demonstration match this afternoon. Would you mind if we joined?"

"Of course not; it would be my honor," Gary politely bowed; after all, this was a senior to Professor Oak—bowing wouldn't hurt!

Professor Rowan nodded and quietly led his group of scholars to stand by.

And so, under everyone's watchful eyes, Gary's teaching demonstration match officially began.