I, Gary, Want to Become a Pokemon Master

Chapter 718 - 718: Return to Naranja Academy

"Awakened Shadow Claw, that's not bad.""I'll go… its Friendship is already maxed out!"

Gary was a little confused when he saw that Ceruledge's Friendship had reached 255.

He had only just helped Ceruledge evolve, yet its Friendship had immediately maxed out. This Ceruledge was far too easy to bond with.

"It's a pleasant surprise, but it isn't especially useful now. Let's teach it some moves first."

Gary began teaching Ceruledge new moves.

Soon, Ceruledge was completely absorbed in the joy of learning them. At the same time, its trust in Gary grew even stronger, and it became determined to remain loyal to its Trainer for the rest of its life.

After finishing the move tutoring, Gary recalled Ceruledge, even though Cyclizar was reluctant to see it go. He then released Togekiss and had it lead the way.

Gary had chosen to travel by land earlier because he needed to capture a Charcadet. Now that he had successfully captured one, there was no reason to waste any more time.

Although riding Cyclizar was very cool, its speed still couldn't compare with that of a Flying Pokémon. The land was full of uneven terrain and obstacles, while the sky was open, allowing a Pokémon to fly in a straight line.

After an hour of flying, Gary arrived in Alfornada.

Alfornada was a fashionable town and a famous center of pottery. Its location was also somewhat unique—it had been built on top of a huge rock.

If someone traveled there by land, they had to pass through Alfornada Cavern. Because of this, Cyclizar had become an important means of transportation in Alfornada.

Of course, anyone with a Flying Pokémon could simply fly there directly.

Gary didn't immediately go to challenge the Gym. Instead, he handed his Pokémon over to Nurse Joy for a checkup and some maintenance. It wasn't until 2:00 PM that he set out for Alfornada Gym.

Like the other Gym Leaders in the Paldea region, Alfornada's Gym Leader had also converted the Gym into a business to support herself.

The Gym Leader of Alfornada was named Tulip. She was a makeup artist and a model, so it was only natural that she had turned the Gym into a cosmetics store.

With Tulip's popularity as a Gym Leader, the cosmetics store's business was naturally extremely lively.

When Gary arrived at Alfornada Gym, many girls were still browsing the cosmetics inside.

One of the available shop assistants noticed Gary and approached him.

"Excuse me, sir. Are you here to buy cosmetics for your girlfriend?"

"No. I'm here to challenge the Gym. Is the Gym Leader here?" Gary asked.

"The Gym Leader is away on a business trip right now. If you want to challenge the Gym, you'll have to come back next Monday," the woman replied.

"Next Monday?"

Gary was confused. This was the first time he had encountered a Gym Leader who was away on business.

Today was only Thursday, so he would have to wait several days. Gary didn't have that much time to spare.

If he had known this would happen, he would have gone to challenge the Glaseado Gym instead.

Unfortunately, he had changed his itinerary in order to capture Charcadet. Although he had successfully captured it, he no longer had the opportunity to challenge the Gym. It really was a case of both gain and loss.

It was obviously impossible to rush to Glaseado Mountain now. Togekiss wasn't suited to that kind of cold climate, and there wasn't much time left before they had to go to the Great Crater of Paldea. Gary couldn't afford to waste any more time here.

"I understand. Then I'll come back when I have the opportunity," Gary said.

Since he couldn't challenge the Gym, Gary didn't take it too seriously. After all, he had already challenged six Gyms in the Paldea region (Katy, Iono, Brassius, Kofu, Larry, and Grusha). Even if he challenged only the remaining two, or chose not to challenge them, it wouldn't matter much.

Besides, there were more than eight Gyms in the Paldea region.

Since he couldn't challenge Alfornada Gym, Gary recalled Togekiss and returned to Mesagoza City.

Gary landed at the entrance of Naranja Academy. After entering the academy, he went straight to Geeta's office.

The previous afternoon, Geeta had called Gary and told him that he would come to the academy two days later. After that, he would go to the Paldea League headquarters to prepare for his trip to the Great Crater of Paldea.

In order to protect the Great Crater of Paldea, the Paldea League headquarters had been built to the south of the crater.

Since Alfornada Gym couldn't be challenged, Gary didn't intend to challenge the remaining Gyms for now either. He decided to come to Naranja Academy ahead of schedule.

At Geeta's office, Gary entered directly after receiving permission from her secretary.

"Gary, didn't I say you were coming the day after tomorrow? Why are you here so early?" Geeta asked.

"I originally wanted to challenge Alfornada Gym, but the Gym Leader was away on a business trip, so I came here early instead," Gary replied.

"Oh! You actually went to challenge the Gyms?" Geeta asked in surprise. "Which Gyms have you challenged during this period?"

"Quite a few. I challenged Katy, Iono, Brassius, Kofu, Larry, and Grusha," Gary said.

Geeta was slightly confused.

In less than a week, Gary had challenged six Gyms. He had even challenged Grusha, the strongest among them. That was far too fast.

Although Gary's strength made it easy for him to challenge the Gyms, the real problem was the speed at which he was doing it. He had practically challenged one Gym every day, and sometimes even two in a single day.

"Then how strong do you think the Gym Leaders of the Paldea region are?" Geeta continued asking.

"If we judge them by the standards of rookie Trainers, they're qualified," Gary said. "But…"

Geeta listened carefully.

As the president of the Paldea League, she naturally cared about the situation of the region's Gym Leaders.

Geeta knew very well that the Gym Leaders in Paldea were too relaxed. After all, they had all turned their Gyms into businesses, so it was inevitable that they would neglect their responsibilities as Gym Leaders.

"They're strong enough to test ordinary Trainers," Gary continued. "But if the challenger is comparable to an official League Conference competitor, some of the Gym Leaders aren't particularly strong."

Gary had initially been reluctant to say this, but since Geeta had asked, he couldn't blame anyone for his answer. Some of the Gym Leaders weren't very motivated, and they couldn't even bring out a proper Elite-level Pokémon.

During this period, the only Gym Leader who had truly satisfied Gary was Iono.

"Which Gym Leaders do you think are weaker?" Geeta asked.

"That's difficult to say."

Gary could discuss the general problems with the Gym Leaders, but naming specific people would be too offensive. After all, he would likely return to the Paldea region in the future, and he might encounter those Gym Leaders again.

"Don't worry. I won't repeat your words to them," Geeta promised.

Gary thought about it and decided that there was no harm in answering. Geeta seemed to genuinely want to help improve the experience and strength of the Trainers in Paldea.

After all, judging from the rankings in the World Coronation Series, very few Trainers from Paldea had made the list. There wasn't even a single Paldean Trainer among the Masters Eight.

Not only was there no one in the Masters Eight, but there were hardly any Paldean Trainers in the top fifty of the overall rankings either.

From this alone, it was clear how weak the Trainers of the Paldea region were.