"What did you say!" Ash said anxiously.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. You are all the rising stars of Pallet Town." Professor Oak soothed.
"Rising star? That guy?" X2
Ash and Gary pointed at each other in surprise, their faces full of disbelief.
"That's right. There are actually four promising newcomers who may become Pokémon Masters in the future. I'm truly delighted!" Professor Oak said with satisfaction.
In previous years, most rookie Trainers departing from Pallet Town were only one or two who barely managed to qualify for the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Unexpectedly, in Red's generation, there are actually four, and not a single one is missing. This made Professor Oak, who distributes Pokédexes, extremely proud.
At that moment, the poorly developed Kingler that Ash had caught walked over, carrying freshly brewed tea and placing it on the table.
"Alright, thank you for your hard work." Professor Oak praised.
"Kingler, long time no see. Have you been well lately?" Ash waved with a smile.
"Hmm? Long time no see? Heh—"
In an instant, Gary guessed what Ash had been doing. He felt disappointed in Ash's behavior and planned to properly put him in his place later so Ash would remember this lesson.
Seeing this, Red silently pressed down his cap and said nothing.
Sometimes, Gary's words were more memorable than those of his older brother. After all, Ash didn't want to keep being mocked by Gary, so he would naturally remember what Gary said.
Professor Oak had gathered the four of them here to praise them and also to share the number of League badges each had obtained.
Red had obtained ten League badges and was the only one to acquire the Green Badge, having defeated all eight major Gyms in the Kanto Region.
Ash had obtained nine League badges, including the qualification badge that allowed him to independently participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Gary had obtained ten League badges as well, though most were from lower-tier League Gyms.
Leaf had obtained eight badges. Aside from failing to challenge the Viridian Gym successfully, she had challenged the other eight major Gyms and also earned the Black Badge in Dark City.
"You've all obtained the qualifications to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference. You've all done very well." Professor Oak praised.
"Thank you, Professor." X2
Ash and Leaf said modestly at the same time.
"Yeah right, it's Pikachu and the others who worked hard, isn't it?" Misty teased.
"Pika!"
Pikachu nodded knowingly, going along with Misty's joke.
"I worked hard too…" Ash said awkwardly.
"In any case, all four of you have achieved your goal of participating in this year's Indigo Plateau Conference." Professor Oak said.
Red and the others nodded at the same time, looking forward to the upcoming conference.
But Ash was clearly overly excited. He immediately stood up and said excitedly,
"Alright! In that case, let's charge into the Indigo Plateau Conference right away!"
After saying that, Ash even lowered his head to look at Pikachu.
"Let's go, Pikachu!"
Just as Ash and Pikachu took a step forward, preparing to leave Professor Oak's Laboratory, Gary called out to stop him.
"Hey Ash, do you even know where the venue is?"
"The Indigo Plateau! Brother already told me!" Ash replied, not giving Gary a chance to mock him again.
"Oh? Then do you know when it takes place? The Indigo Plateau Conference is held at a fixed time every year. It's still early."
Although a bit surprised that Ash knew the location, Gary still slowly revealed a smile when he saw Ash's confused expression.
"Ash, it's still early. It's scheduled for two months later. There should be over two hundred participants, though the overall quality remains to be seen."
Red explained, taking the freshly brewed tea from Leaf.
"Two hundred people?! Wow! I can't wait for two months later!"
Upon hearing the number of participants, Ash clenched his fists excitedly, wishing he could join the conference immediately. After all, he had even dreamed about it that morning.
"Ash is a bit too excited…" Leaf said helplessly.
"Before that, you should focus on proper training and prepare thoroughly for the Indigo Plateau Conference." Professor Oak suggested.
"That's right, especially you, Ash. You need to put in double—no, triple the effort compared to before!" Gary mocked.
"What did you say!" Ash demanded.
Gary slowly stood up from the sofa and walked over to Ash.
"Since you're also a rising star, you should at least reach my level."
"What do you mean?" Ash said unhappily, feeling like Gary was targeting him on purpose today.
"Ash-kun~ earlier you said 'long time no see' to Kingler, right?" Gary teased.
"So what?" Ash asked, confused.
"This is what I mean."
After saying that, Gary took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and released the Pokémon inside.
The white light faded, revealing a well-developed Kingler, forming a stark contrast with Ash's Kingler beside it.
[Dwarf and Giant]
"So big!" Misty exclaimed.
"It looks so strong!" Leaf said in surprise.
"They're completely different!" Brock added.
"I regularly rotate my Pokémon into battle, because I believe that only by training all Pokémon to be strong can one be considered a true Trainer." Gary said proudly.
Gary's words were also recognized by Red, who nodded in agreement.
"In a way, that theory is correct." Brock sighed, unable to refute Gary's view.
"But you, Ash, that one sentence just exposed the fact that you haven't trained Kingler at all. I bet in every battle, you only use a few fixed, commonly used Pokémon."
As Ash's childhood friend, Gary understood his personality very well and saw right through his battle style.
"Bingo, you got it right." Misty replied.
Ash gritted his teeth, unable to refute Gary's mockery. At that moment, he secretly regretted his past choices.
"Battling without using your brain really isn't impressive. How annoying~" Gary continued sharply.
"Red, is this really okay?"
Brock moved closer to Red and asked worriedly.
"Don't worry. These two have been childhood friends since they were little. I'm used to scenes like this. Nothing will happen."
Red said calmly, taking a piece of yokan from Professor Oak and savoring it carefully.
"For example, in Gym battles, although each Gym Leader specializes in different types, I always make full preparations in advance and switch to Pokémon with advantageous type matchups." Gary said calmly.
"As expected of my grandson. Very diligent." Professor Oak praised.
"Of course, I also take my opponent's strength into account." Gary added.
"Then how do you deal with Rock-type Pokémon?" Brock asked.
"Basically Water-type. But if you're more experienced, you'll also choose Grass-type Pokémon that have the same advantage. What about you, Ash?" Gary said.
"He used Pikachu~" Misty explained with a smile.
"See? Using Electric-type against Rock-type—worse than a beginner. That's just unacceptable." Gary mocked.
"I still got my League badges, so it's fine, right!" Ash retorted. Though he knew he was at fault, he couldn't swallow his pride.
(Hope Ash learns from this and gains more experience with type advantages…)
Red silently watched the two arguing and chose not to intervene.
Seeing that Red said nothing, Leaf, sitting nearby, also felt it inappropriate to step in.
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