At the same time, Ash's trio arrived at the nearest Pokémon Center.
"Hi, Ash!"
"Professor Oak, why did you call me?"
Coming to the phone booth, Professor Oak's image appeared on the screen. Ash looked puzzled at Professor Oak, not understanding why the professor had suddenly called him.
"I thought we could trade Pokémon now. Gary just traded Pokémon with me to prepare for his first match," Professor Oak explained, as Krabby's figure suddenly appeared beside him.
"Krabby! Right, I almost forgot you were there. Professor, please send Krabby over now," Ash said excitedly, suddenly remembering he had a Water-type Krabby that would be perfect for the Water venue.
"Excellent thinking, Ash! Krabby will be perfect for the Water venue!" Professor Oak smiled. Krabby nearby also showed an expectant expression, ready to fight hard for Ash.
After a moment, Ash received Krabby's Poké Ball from Professor Oak and prepared for his upcoming Water venue match.
Meanwhile, Gary was conducting his first round Ice venue battle.
"Rhydon, use Stomp!" Gary commanded.
"Poliwhirl, Ice Punch!" the opponent commanded.
After hearing the trainer's command, Poliwhirl showed no fear and charged at Rhydon, planning to hit Rhydon's body with its cold-emanating right fist.
Seeing the charging Poliwhirl, Rhydon showed a disdainful expression. After all, in Rhydon's view, Poliwhirl's size was far too small.
Rhydon heavily stomped the ice surface with its thick legs, the violent impact directly creating several deep cracks across the entire ice surface, looking extremely intimidating.
"Gulp!"
Seeing this scene, the opponent couldn't help but swallow fearfully, regretting why he had provoked Gary at the beginning, only to be one-sidedly dominated by Gary's Rhydon.
The shaking from Stomp made the charging Poliwhirl unable to maintain balance, getting hit by Rhydon's follow-up Stone Edge. Countless sharp stone blades mercilessly shot toward Poliwhirl.
After the Stone Edge offensive ended, Poliwhirl fell on the ice surface covered in wounds, no longer having the strength to get up.
"Poliwhirl is unable to battle!"
Seeing this scene, the referee quickly announced, looking at Gary with surprise, not expecting Gary's strength to be so outstanding.
"Worthy of being Professor Oak's grandson! Our contestant Gary defeated his opponent's two Pokémon with just one Rhydon, without even taking much time. It was practically a one-sided domination!"
The announcer explained excitedly, taking the opportunity to explain Gary's distinguished background to the puzzled audience.
Sure enough, upon hearing that Gary was the grandson of the authoritative research figure Professor Oak, they all showed shocked expressions, looking incredulously at Gary on the command platform, not expecting Gary to have not only outstanding strength but also such an enviable background.
"Tch! What a useless reputation," Gary said disdainfully. Gary preferred to be recognized through his own strength rather than relying on the empty title of being Professor Oak's grandson.
Gary preferred to use his own strength to ruthlessly shatter others' stereotypical impressions of him.
He was himself. Gary was Gary, not some "Professor Oak's grandson."
"I'm counting on you for the end, Cloyster!"
In desperation, the opponent finally sent out his only remaining battle-capable Cloyster, but obviously Cloyster's appearance didn't satisfy Gary as an opponent.
"So this is all the strength you have..." Gary said calmly, signaling Rhydon to quickly finish the battle.
Although Cloyster had excellent defensive capabilities, in front of the brutally strong Rhydon, it was just a slightly more durable wall.
"Cloyster, use Ice Shard!"
After hearing the trainer's command, Cloyster instantly condensed an ice chunk and swiftly hit Rhydon's cheek with it.
"Roar!"
Rhydon, hit by Ice Shard, took no obvious damage but instead fell into a completely enraged state due to Cloyster's extremely humiliating attack.
Rhydon's roar also intimidated Cloyster, which hadn't expected to anger Rhydon like this.
"Rhydon, charge up and use Hammer Arm!"
Gary commanded, giving the opponent no mercy, directly planning to have Rhydon create a one-versus-three performance to intimidate future opponents.
"Cloyster, quickly withdraw into your shell!" the opponent said urgently upon seeing this.
After hearing the command, Cloyster immediately closed its body, planning to use its excellent double-shell defense to defend against Rhydon's incoming fierce attack.
"BANG!"
Rhydon's white-glowing right fist heavily struck Cloyster's body, the impact directly cracking Cloyster's entire shell. Then Rhydon followed with an Iron Tail, easily launching Cloyster's entire body to the wall corner, knocking it unconscious.
"It seems Gary has done plenty of preparation these past two months," Red nodded approvingly from the spectator seats.
With Red as such a powerful rival, the originally arrogant Gary had obviously tempered his attitude considerably, becoming more actively focused on training his Pokémon to deal with Red's powerful lineup.
For this reason, Red was certain of one thing: the Gary of this moment would definitely not stop at the fourth round.
At this moment, Ash's trio came to a restaurant, preparing to discuss the Pokémon lineup for the upcoming Water venue battle.
"Ash, are you really okay with this? Since you've never used Krabby before, suddenly using it in such a big competition... I think your approach is too risky," Misty said with concern.
"I don't need your help, Misty!" Ash said stubbornly. He was determined to do things his own way, no matter what anyone else thought.
"What's with that attitude? I'm worried about you!" Misty said displeasedly.
"Misty's right, Ash. You can only use three Pokémon in the match. Choosing which Pokémon to battle with is already a test in itself," Brock advised, telling Ash to pay more attention.
While Ash was still thinking about lineup strategy, the TV nearby suddenly erupted with enthusiastic cheers.
Ash turned to look and found the victorious Gary being interviewed by TV reporters.
"This is the Ice venue, where Gary from Pallet Town created a memorable victory. What are your thoughts right now?" the reporter asked.
"The first match is important, and I'm happy to have won. Of course, this battle situation was completely within my expectations, so I can relax for now," Gary answered calmly, with neither arrogance nor humility in his words, accepting the interview with a matter-of-fact attitude.