After evolving, Togekiss awakened Air Slash—a perfect move.
EX Serene Grace working together with Air Slash meant Rival would be repelled at a 100% flinch rate.
After improving his Pokémon, Gary stayed in the contestant village and waited for the qualifiers to begin.
Three days later.
Gary arrived at his assigned venue right on time.
The qualifiers were held at the fields inside the contestant village. Gary was assigned to Arena A.
When he arrived, many contestants were already waiting there. Gary looked around to see if he could spot Tobias, but even by the time the match schedule started, he still couldn't find him.
"He must have been assigned to a different arena."
Gary wanted to know exactly what level Tobias's Darkrai was.
Ash had defeated Darkrai and Latios using Pokémon he'd caught in the Johto and Hoenn Regions. That confirmed that both Darkrai and Latios were at Elite-tier strength, possibly even high Elite-tier. Their levels should all be above 65.
But Tobias also had four other Pokémon that had never been used. Gary guessed their level might only be Elite-tier as well, so they probably weren't above Champion-tier.
It was still frustrating that he didn't have enough resources. Otherwise, Gary could have pushed all of his Sinnoh Pokémon to Level 70.
The bigger problem was that Mega Stones weren't allowed to be used in this competition. That was a huge limitation for Gary.
"Contestant Gary and contestant Yamaguchi, please enter the field."
After watching five matches in a row, it was finally Gary's turn to battle.
Gary walked onto the field, keeping an eye on the opponent who entered alongside him.
Yamaguchi was a young man who looked a few years older than Gary. Since this was still the qualifying round, Gary didn't know anything about him, but based on his plain appearance alone, he didn't look particularly strong.
Even a minor character needs some kind of presence—just look at how unique Tobias's outfit was.
Seeing that both contestants were ready, the referee immediately announced, "The qualifying match between Gary and Yamaguchi will now begin. This is a one-on-one battle. Both contestants, please release your Pokémon at the same time."
Gary and Yamaguchi threw their Poké Balls simultaneously.
Flash!
The Pokémon Yamaguchi sent out was a Roserade wearing a mask and cloak.
[Lv.47 Roserade / Gym-tier]
Gary had been hoping to prepare himself for Tobias, but seeing the level of Yamaguchi's Roserade, he was immediately disappointed.
To avoid any risk of an upset, Gary's first Pokémon was Togekiss.
Level 70 versus Level 47—was there really any suspense left?
"Yes! Type advantage!" Yamaguchi had no idea about the actual gap between him and Gary, and secretly celebrated because of the type matchup.
"The match begins!"
As the referee announced the start, Yamaguchi attacked first. "Roserade, use Sludge Bomb!"
Roserade's hands released purple, mud-like orbs that shot toward Togekiss.
"Psychic!" Gary ordered.
"Gekiss!"
Togekiss was clearly unhappy—it hated Poison-types. A powerful wave of Psychic energy erupted instantly, knocking the incoming Sludge Bomb out of the air. The overwhelming force then locked onto Roserade completely.
"Roserade!"
Yamaguchi was stunned. He hadn't expected Togekiss to use Psychic to restrain his Roserade so completely. That kind of control took an enormous amount of mental strength—normally, only dedicated Psychic-type Pokémon dared to attempt something like that.
"Gekiss."
Togekiss flapped its wings up and down, and Roserade's body was slammed up and down in midair, repeatedly crashing into the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
After several hits, the ground was smashed into a crater, but Togekiss kept going.
"Alright, that's enough." Seeing this, the referee quickly stepped in to stop it.
Hearing the referee's call, Togekiss finally stopped. Roserade was nearly unrecognizable at that point, its eyes spinning in circles. It couldn't get back up.
In truth, Roserade had already been defeated much earlier, but Togekiss had deliberately slammed it a few extra times out of spite.
The reason for Togekiss's little revenge was simple—it was because Roserade was a Poison-type.
"Roserade has lost the ability to battle."
"Contestant Gary wins."
After the referee's announcement, Gary recalled Togekiss.
"You really didn't hold back at all. Even though it's a Poison-type, it never actually provoked you," Gary said to the Poké Ball with a headache.
Gary genuinely had trouble dealing with Togekiss. He had thought that with enough care and attention, he could influence its personality, but it hadn't worked at all.
This Togekiss wasn't just born with a mean streak—it was also extremely aggressive in battle. To achieve its goals, it was willing to sacrifice a large amount of its own stamina without hesitation.
Among the Sinnoh Region Pokémon Gary had captured, Togekiss had become the undisputed boss. Even Garchomp had to show it a certain level of respect and acknowledge its position.
Even during training camp, Togekiss had used Taunt on Tyranitar multiple times. Fortunately, Togekiss had still been a Togetic back then—otherwise, Tyranitar might have actually ended up beating it senseless.
Gary didn't need to visit the Pokémon Center since Togekiss hadn't taken any damage and could keep competing. His second match was scheduled for the afternoon, which left him some free time.
Gary decided to use that time to check out Tobias's strength by visiting a few other arenas.
Every time he arrived at a new arena, Gary looked around for Tobias, and if he couldn't find him, he moved on to the next one. He even spotted Barry and Paul along the way, but Gary didn't stop to greet them—he stayed focused on finding Tobias.
"Finally found him!"
Gary spotted Tobias at Arena H.
Tobias was standing outside the arena, watching the ongoing match. Gary wasn't sure if he was just passing by or specifically waiting for his own turn, though he suspected it was the latter.
After all, Tobias had made it to the finals using only Darkrai—he probably had little interest in watching ordinary Trainer matches here.
Tobias also seemed rather withdrawn, deliberately keeping his distance from the other contestants, even though that distance made him stand out even more.
Gary hesitated over whether to approach and talk to him, but then Tobias suddenly turned to look directly at Gary.
It might have been because Gary had been staring at him for so long that it caught Tobias's attention.
Gary didn't say anything. He simply gave Tobias a small smile.
Tobias saw it, showed no reaction whatsoever, and turned back around to continue watching the match on the field.
Gary didn't pay him any more attention and turned his focus back to the ongoing battle as well.
After watching three matches—
"Tobias, Ueno, please enter the field," the referee announced.
"Finally!"
Gary immediately perked up, glad he would finally get to see Tobias's actual strength.
Tobias and his opponent walked onto the field and took their positions in the command area.
"This will be a one-on-one match between Tobias and Ueno. Both contestants, please release your Pokémon at the same time."
"Go, Tropius!"
Ueno threw his Poké Ball.
Tobias threw his Poké Ball in complete silence.