Paul possessed far more Pokémon than just Torterra.
Gary and Ash had spent the entire night poring over data, and Paul had been their primary focus throughout. Aside from Paul, there were other powerful Trainers as well, such as Conway, another Sinnoh native with formidable Pokémon of his own.
What truly made Conway dangerous, however, wasn't his team, it was his mind.
According to available information, Conway excelled at gathering intelligence and could construct complete, highly targeted strategies based on whatever data he had. Coupled with Pokémon that were far from weak, he was widely considered one of the favorites to win this year's Indigo Plateau Conference.
Over the course of the morning, Gary listed nearly all the high-priority targets they had identified the night before. There were quite a few.
Among them, Ash noticed a name he hadn't expected.
"Giselle? That girl from the Pokémon Academy?" Misty blinked in surprise. "She actually came to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference?!"
She thought for a long moment before finally dredging the name up from memory.
They had only met her once, but the impression she left had been deep. On one hand, she was strikingly beautiful. On the other, her arrogant and domineering personality had made her hard to forget.
"I remember her saying back then that she planned to enter the Indigo Plateau Conference," Brock said, looking slightly puzzled. "I just didn't expect her to actually make it… But her strength wasn't anything special, right?"
To be honest, Brock didn't clearly remember the level of the Pokémon she'd used back then. What he did remember was that Ash had defeated her effortlessly.
And at that time, Ash had only been traveling for a few days and hadn't even earned his third Gym Badge.
Back then, Giselle's strength had been only slightly above that of a novice Trainer. For her to appear at the Indigo Plateau Conference now, wasn't she just handing out a free win?
This year's conference wasn't like the past ones.
Unless she had experienced explosive growth in just a few months, like Ash had, she was probably only here to make up the numbers.
"She didn't enter by collecting Gym Badges, did she?" Misty suddenly remembered the special entry quotas granted by the Pokémon Academy and asked Ash.
Ash nodded. "According to the data, she entered through the academy's special quota. But she's already passed her first preliminary match, and the Pokémon she's using are at Mid level."
Superior level was actually quite impressive.
Raising a Pokémon to that level in half a year was enough to prove that her talent wasn't weak. If she chose to become a serious Trainer, there was still a real chance she could make something of herself in the future.
But if she continued wasting her time in the academy, that talent would be truly squandered.
"Which group is she in?" Brock asked.
"My group," Ash replied.
Misty and Brock fell silent.
Poor girl.
It had been bad enough getting crushed by Ash at the academy. Now she'd been sorted into the same group as him.
While being in the same group didn't guarantee they'd face each other, the possibility always existed, and it only increased the further they advanced. Her luck was genuinely terrible.
"It looks like the matches have already started," Ash said, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was already past 9:30 a.m. "Paul and Conway both have matches today. Let's go watch."
Neither of the two they were tracking was up just yet, Paul's match was scheduled for 11:00, and Conway's around 1:00, but now was the perfect time to head over.
"Alright, let's go after we clean up," Brock said, already beginning to clear the table.
Gary and Misty quickly joined in.
They hadn't helped with breakfast, there was no way they were letting Ash and Brock handle the cleanup too.
Gary even snatched dishes straight out of Brock's hands, leaving Brock and Ash exchanging helpless smiles.
Although Gary had grown up pampered, he was genuinely excellent when it came to friends. He never took things for granted, if he received help, he always found a way to repay it. That was the result of Professor Oak's upbringing.
As for Gary's parents…
Those two lived in the research lab. In over ten years, Ash had seen them fewer than three times. Gary might have seen them more often, but not by much. In practice, Professor Oak had raised him entirely on his own.
To balance doctoral research while raising a grandson with few flaws, aside from a slightly arrogant personality, Professor Oak could only be described as extraordinary.
After finishing the dishes, everyone headed together toward the preliminary arenas beside Indigo Stadium.
The four preliminary grounds surrounded the stadium itself. Each arena's spectator area included special seating reserved for distinguished guests, members of the Elite Four, the League President, and others of similar status.
Cynthia and Leon's arrival the day before had caused an enormous stir.
Aside from Ash's match, nearly all attention had been drawn toward the two of them.
In terms of fame, they were equivalent to global superstars, figures whose mere appearance could send crowds into a frenzy of cheers and screams.
If not for the security barriers, the moment they arrived at the Indigo Plateau Conference, the event wouldn't have been able to proceed at all. It would've descended straight into chaos.
That was the real reason special spectator seating existed, not discrimination, but protection. It allowed distinguished guests to watch matches in peace without being overwhelmed by the crowd.
If Cynthia and Leon had sat in the general seating, the matches wouldn't have mattered anymore. The entire venue would've revolved around them.
Even so, on the day they arrived, they still drew the attention of the vast majority of spectators. The arena they visited was packed beyond capacity, not even standing room remained.
That arena happened to be the one where Ash was competing.
If Misty and the others hadn't had access to relatives' seating for contestants, they wouldn't have found a seat at all. After all, a single preliminary ticket granted access to all four arenas, allowing spectators to freely move between them.
This system existed so fans could watch the battles of Trainers they supported. If spectators were locked to a single arena, ticket sales would be a gamble, who knew which Trainers would end up battling there?
Many spectators attended the Indigo Plateau Conference for specific contestants, Ash's fans among them.
At the arena where Ash competed, nearly ninety percent of the audience focused solely on him whenever his matches were underway. At all other times, the crowd drifted toward Cynthia's peerless beauty and Leon's… frankly unfairly stylish cape.
Today, however, neither Cynthia nor Leon appeared. And since Ash didn't have a match scheduled, the overall excitement was noticeably lower than yesterday.
Still, there were popular contestants competing, namely Paul from Sinnoh in the morning, and Conway at noon.
The organizers weren't fools. They couldn't stack all the big names on a single day; otherwise, attendance on the following days would plummet.
The Indigo Plateau Conference only lasted so long, and during that time, surrounding merchandise, Pokémon food, drinks, items, and related sales generated enormous revenue. Naturally, the matches of popular contestants were deliberately staggered.
Among today's competitors, only Paul and Conway had any real name recognition.
Even so, compared to Ash, their fame still fell short.
They were undeniably strong Trainers, but Ash had already reached a level where he could contend with Elite-tier opponents in just half a year, while they had only reached the point of defeating ordinary Gym Leaders.
In terms of strength, they couldn't compare to Ash.
In terms of age, they were older than him.
Overall, the gap was obvious.
Yet paradoxically, they were still the contestants with the highest chance of defeating Ash in this year's Indigo Plateau Conference. After all, aside from a very small handful of competitors, anyone else who ran into Ash, even his second-string Pokémon, would essentially be handing over a free win.
Ash and the others arrived at the Rock Field.
The number of spectators was less than half of what it had been during Ash's own match, but everyone present was focused on the battle underway, so no one noticed their arrival.
Time passed quietly.
Then, finally, it was Paul's turn to step onto the field.
Paul walked out slowly from the player's bench. He wore the same blue long-sleeved jacket as always, a small backpack slung over his shoulders. His expression was as cold and unreadable as ever.
His opponent was a young woman around sixteen or seventeen, strikingly beautiful, with a determined look in her eyes. Her name was Scarlett, a Trainer who had been traveling for nearly two years and was among the oldest contestants, having entered just under the age limit.
Because of her age, Ash and Gary had paid special attention to her profile.
The conclusion was simple.
She was… just older.
After nearly two years of travel, the Pokémon she brought out were, at best, Mid level. The exact tier within Mid was unclear, but they definitely hadn't reached High level, unless she was deliberately concealing her strength.
For someone with two full years of experience, this was below average.
Whether it was due to her own lack of talent or the limited potential of her Pokémon was hard to say.
In previous Indigo Plateau Conferences, she might have had a real chance at a top-three finish.
But this year?
She might as well have given up.
And her first opponent being Paul made her situation even more tragic.
The match began.
Paul's first Pokémon, Chimchar.
Gasps rippled through the stands.
Chimchar was one of Sinnoh's starter Pokémon, but Paul's hadn't even evolved.
Bringing out a Pokémon that hadn't undergone its first evolution in a League match was baffling. Borderline irrational.
"What's with this guy? Isn't he supposed to be a Sinnoh elite? Is this what that means?"
"Chimchar? Seriously? Is he looking down on his opponent? How is this different from us Kanto folks sending out Charmander?"
Paul's choice ignited heated debate.
Using an unevolved starter in a League match meant one of two things: either it was being deliberately trained while holding an Everstone, or Paul simply didn't care whether he won.
A starter Pokémon's first evolution typically occurs at the Low-High level. If it hadn't evolved at all, then even with good training, it usually wouldn't surpass that level.
Which meant, wasn't this just throwing the match?
Of course, there were exceptions.
Ash's own Bulbasaur had once reached Mid level without evolving.
But cases like that were vanishingly rare.
And this Chimchar was no Bulbasaur.
Species: Chimchar
Gender: Male
Type: Fire
Ability: Super Blazefire
Moves: Ember, Flamethrower, Flame Wheel, Fire Spin…
Six-Dimensional Stats:
Attack: C → A (S)
Special Attack: C (A)
Defense: B (B)
Special Defense: B (B)
HP: A (S)
Speed: A (S)
The data unfolded before Ash's eyes.
Even with his vast experience, Ash couldn't suppress his shock.
Triple-S potential.
This was the first time he had ever seen a Pokémon with Triple-S rank potential outside of his own team, excluding Mythical and Legendary Pokémon.
Even Lance's Dragonite only possessed Double-S potential.
Triple-S Pokémon were rarer than Mythicals. Rarer than Legendaries.
Ash's own absurd roster had more to do with sheer, explosive luck than anything else.
Among all his Pokémon, only Charmander, Riolu, and Ralts had been born with Triple-S potential.
Later, Venusaur joined them.
The rest possessed mostly Single-S or Double-S ranks.
Potential didn't decide everything, but high potential meant a higher ceiling and fewer bottlenecks during growth.
Ash had realized this long ago.
Pokémon like Charizard and Gardevoir not only had high levels, they also had to push their stats to the absolute limit of each tier before advancing. Logically, they should've progressed slower than average Pokémon.
Yet instead, they pulled further and further ahead.
The world loved to say that even ordinary Pokémon could create miracles through bonds with their Trainers.
What it failed to acknowledge;
Was that a gifted Pokémon, bonded to the right Trainer, could create miracles far greater still.
As the saying went:
'If a genius works harder than you… why shouldn't they be stronger than you?'