After all, in just half a year, few can train their Pokemon to Elite Level, and that's not just one Pokemon, but at least three Elite Level Pokemon.
The trainers participating in the Quartz Conference, while not yet true Professional Level trainers, already have that kind of potential. Among all the trainers, they could be considered at a genius level.
The powerful trainers don't care for the Quartz Conference, not because the conference is too low-level, but because, considering their age group, participating in this conference feels like bullying the younger ones. One to two years is the time when gaps between trainers widen.
"The strong become stronger," as they say, this is the situation. At least before reaching their limits, these trainers will have a period of rapid improvement.
This is also why they choose not to participate in the Quartz Conference, but the people participating are also the best of the best!
After all, being able to participate in the Quartz Conference in less than a year's time is enough to demonstrate their talent. Unless the difference in strength is truly too great, no one would think they are worse than anyone else!
Even if they fail for a moment, they just think they're a bit behind, given enough time, they might not surpass the other!
Only when there's an absolute gap would these trainers willingly concede, like the existence of the Elite Four level.
That's a realm that can't be caught up with time alone; more importantly, it's about the talent of the Pokemon and the trainer themselves. Ordinary people might not have an Elite Level Pokemon in their lifetime, and as for a Champion, they don't even dare to think about it, but Ash…
He's that kind of super genius who can surpass an ordinary lifetime's work in just a few months. After battling with him, Mandi was only left with despair.
No way to win, simply no way…
From then on, another dream-crushed "loser" emerged in the trainer's world.
...
After defeating Mandi, Ash was swarmed by a group of reporters for an interview. Initially, Ash was all smiles, handling all sorts of questions, but as the questions poured in more and more, they became increasingly loud, and he could only feel his ears buzzing.
So he quickly sent out Gardevoir, then teleported to Misty and the others.
"Good grief, those reporters are terrifying! Why would they ask about what underwear I'm wearing today?" Ash complained, exasperated.
The interview started normal enough, but went more and more off the rails as it went on!
Misty and Brock couldn't help but cover their mouths and giggle.
"This is what you get for liking the spotlight, happy now? Satisfied with the attention you got?" Misty teased with a smirk.
"Heh, if I get tangled up with them like this again, I'm a little dog!" Ash said with an eye roll, looking resolute.
"Alright, alright, let's go watch Gary's match, it's just starting, Professor Oak and Aunt Delia are already there." Brock said as he stood up from his seat and took the lead.
"Huh? Mom and Professor Oak went to see Gary's match? Don't they care to watch mine?!" Ash complained as he followed.
It's understandable for Professor Oak to go watch Gary's match, but why did his mom run over there too?
"Because Aunt Delia thought your match's outcome was pretty much decided, so she went with Professor Oak to cheer for Gary." Misty explained as she walked alongside Ash.
Professor Oak and Delia were here at first, but after seeing Ash's match was settled, they went over to Gary's side, since his match was just starting.
After hearing Misty's explanation, Ash felt slightly better: "Well, that's fair enough..."
Soon, the three of them arrived at another arena where Gary was intensely battling his opponent, named Ah Qing, who had sent out a Venusaur with formidable strength.
The level of that Venusaur had already reached Elite Peak, placing Ah Qing as a notable participant among all contestants.
It was hard to tell if it was Gary's bad luck or Ah Qing's.
Gary has bad luck, encountering an Elite Peak, and Ah Qing has bad luck... meeting a Professional Level trainer.
A month and a half ago, Gary's Blastoise had already reached Professional Level, and now it has rapidly advanced to Professional Senior Level, a level only slightly inferior to Ash's Blastoise.
Initially, Ash's Blastoise was at a lower level than Gary's, but eventually it overtook step by step. However, Gary's Blastoise isn't just his starter Pokemon, it's also his trump card.
Gary invested more effort into Blastoise than in his other Pokemon, be it in energy, resources, or other aspects, so the gap between Ash's and Gary's Blastoise isn't too wide.
Relying solely on his Blastoise, Gary could shine brightly in the Quartz Conference; a Blastoise close to Professional Level Peak was the best seen in previous Quartz Conferences. While not guaranteed to win the championship, its battle prowess was at least in the top three.
But in this year's Quartz Conference, that's not quite enough.
Not to mention Ash's presence, even other contestants aren't pushovers; Gary's Professional Senior Level could only be considered above average.
That said, against his current opponent, it was more than enough.
In this match, Gary didn't even send out his Blastoise, instead using his Alakazam to sweep through the opponent's team.
Gary's Alakazam is also one of his main Pokemon and has reached Professional Junior Level.
Gary's one-against-three victory was met with enthusiastic cheers from the audience, and some contestants silently upgraded Gary's danger level several times over.
Gary didn't have much of a record, with hardly any documented battles to speak of, his travel experience only half a year. If not for being from the same Pallet Town as Ash and having a famous grandfather, not many would have paid attention to Gary.
But now, Gary has captured everyone's attention with his strength - reaching the Professional Level in just half a year - he's a monster too!
"What's up with Pallet Town? Do they produce monsters exclusively?"
"Yeah, Ash is one thing, but now there's a Gary as well? Are all the young folks so fierce nowadays?"
"Half a year Professional Level… oh my, talk about potential!"
"Haha, when I traveled for half a year, I'd consider it lucky to have an Elite Level..."
"..."
The lively discussions around made Gary, who loves the spotlight, hold his head high with pride, and then he caught sight of Ash.
His initially prideful mood instantly dropped to the bottom.
Pride? What pride! Compared to Ash, he wasn't even worth mentioning. Others might not know Ash's true strength, but he knew.
He's still pondering at the Professional Level, whereas Ash was probably arm-wrestling Champion Level by now.
The two weren't even comparable.
Gary got off the stage, nodding slightly at Ash: "You're done too?"
"Yeah, looks like it was easy for you here too."
"It's just the first match of the preliminaries, the tough opponents are behind."
"Hey, don't lose before you meet me!"
"That's what I should be saying to you." Gary, not one to be outdone, didn't care how much stronger Ash was, nor whether Ash could dominate the Quartz Conference, he had to throw down the gauntlet.
"If you fall in the Round of 64, I'll laugh at you for a year."
"Hah, Round of 64, what a joke…" Gary started to say but suddenly shuddered. He felt that saying this would set a terrible flag, so he quickly shut his mouth.
He certainly wouldn't fall at such a point, but an ominous feeling lingered at his heart. He decided to go back and study the participants in this competition more thoroughly...