As Nathan thought about the things he still needed to do, he could not help but sigh with emotion.
"By the way, Nathan, I've been meaning to ask you something. Ever since Chiyou was wiped out, it feels like you've been constantly on the move. You even said just now that you don't have enough time. Why is that?"
As someone who could already be considered Nathan's assistant, Kelly naturally knew about his movements.
Ever since Nathan had returned, he had almost never stopped. Of course, Nathan had been busy before as well.
But at that time, most of his energy was spent diving into mystic realms and improving the strength of all his Pokémon.
Now, however, things were completely different. Nathan had already begun raising high-level Pokémon with the clear goal of pushing them toward the legendary tier.
Yet this sort of endeavor didn't exactly come with any kind of strict time limit, did it?
"There are some things you don't really need to know."
Nathan didn't explain any further. The matter of the Shadow Mewtwo was something he felt absolutely unnecessary to reveal.
After all, being targeted by a powerful Pokémon was no small matter. Speaking about it would only serve to spread fear and accomplish nothing good.
Seeing that Nathan was unwilling to say more, Kelly wisely did not press the issue.
"Then how about this—can I show the videos I've been recording to other people? For example, perhaps they could be used as references for those military Pokémon units."
Kelly shifted the subject.
He had already recorded the entire battle of Nathan challenging the legendary Pokémon.
Such a video, no matter where it was placed, would be no less than a textbook-level demonstration of battle.
But since this involved Nathan directly, he still needed his permission.
"It doesn't matter. Even if you showed it to the whole world, I wouldn't mind. In fact, if someone could be inspired to bring a legendary Pokémon over to challenge me, that would be even better."
Nathan's eyes lit up suddenly as he spoke.
How could he have forgotten such a simple thing?
There were so many people in this world—why should he be the one to always go searching for legendary Pokémon?
Why couldn't it be that others came to him instead?
If this video reached the eyes of people all over the world, it was entirely possible that someone would be provoked by it and come to challenge him.
And if that happened, wouldn't it make his Pokémon evolve toward the legendary tier even faster?
"How about this—why don't you release the video directly for me?"
Nathan said excitedly, as though he had stumbled upon a brilliant idea.
"You're seriously saying you want this video released for the entire world to see?"
Kelly asked in disbelief.
Wasn't the strength of one's Pokémon supposed to be considered a trump card, something to be hidden?
If the entire world saw it, wouldn't that mean completely exposing his hand?
"Forget it, just send me the video. I'll release it myself."
Nathan chuckled, clearly not bothered.
That night, after returning to his manor, Nathan opened the computer and looked at the video and files Kelly had sent over.
A grin spread across his face.
He uploaded the video and gave it a deliberately provocative title:
"I, Nathan Vesper, declare that everyone else is trash. If you want to challenge me, then bring your legendary Pokémon and come face me!"
Looking at the title he had carefully crafted, Nathan couldn't help but laugh out loud in satisfaction.
It was already nighttime. After sending the video, Nathan simply shut down the computer and went straight to bed.
…
Somewhere else, a homebody otaku was browsing videos online late at night out of boredom when a certain title caught his attention.
"Heh, probably just another guy trying to milk Nathan's matches for cheap clicks."
He had seen plenty of such videos before.
Usually they were made by nobodies, just re-uploading clips from Nathan's tournament battles.
But when he actually clicked into the video and began to watch, he quickly realized—this wasn't one of those recycled competition clips.
It was an entirely new battle video, one he had never seen before!
Checking the uploader's account, the otaku was stunned to discover that it seemed to really be posted by Nathan himself.
"Holy crap—it's actually him! It's really Nathan's own account, uploading his own video!"
The otaku was completely shaken.
Nathan almost never released videos online, and yet here he was, posting a recording of his Pokémon's battle.
And with such an explosive title on top of that!
Ecstatic, he watched the video all the way through, only to be left utterly overwhelmed.
So, this… this was Nathan's true strength.
Using Champion-level Pokémon to challenge a Legendary Pokémon—and even managing to win one of the battles.
And this was a one-on-one duel!
Back during the World Championships, Nathan had indeed defeated legendary opponents as well.
But in those matches, he had used legendary Pokémon of his own.
This was on an entirely different scale—directly sending out his own Pokémon to face a legendary head-on!
And the result? A real victory.
Just like him, many others across the country who couldn't sleep that night stumbled upon the video.
The night in their nation quickly turned feverishly electric.
Within hours, the video was spreading like wildfire online, soon even being viewed in other countries as well.
At home, the response was ecstatic—people were cheering wildly.
"This is our champion! If you're not convinced, come challenge him!"
But abroad, the reaction was very different.
But abroad, the reaction was very different.
Even if the language was different, the meaning of Nathan's title was crystal clear. Many of those who had been defeated by him in the past expressed outrage.
This Nathan dared to be so arrogant—actually calling them trash!
Yet at the same time, there were also a few fans overseas who admired his boldness, openly cheering him on and declaring their support for his challenge.
Some professional trainers who were fast asleep were even tagged relentlessly by their own fans until they were forced awake.
Because of a single video Nathan posted, trainers from across nations suddenly felt a tremendous weight pressing down on them.
Meanwhile, the man responsible was peacefully sleeping, completely unconcerned.
He had known from the start that once his video went out, it was bound to cause a stir.
But he thought it might take days for the buzz to spread.
Never would he have expected that in just a few short hours, the effect he wanted had already been achieved.
The next morning, when Nathan opened his phone and saw it completely flooded with notifications, he was thrilled.
This meant his video had already reached a massive audience.
And more importantly, it meant challengers might start showing up at any moment.
"Perfect. Come on, my little babies—hurry and challenge me! Let my Pokémon advance to the legendary tier already!"
Nathan laughed gleefully as he scrolled through the endless replies.
But there were simply too many comments. At this rate, it would take him forever just to sift out the ones that were actually useful.
So he immediately called Grog over.
Then Nathan made another post, this time tagging Grog's account.
"Anyone who wants to challenge me, contact this person."
With that single line, Nathan had shamelessly sold Grog out.
The moment the post went live, not even twenty seconds later, Grog's phone started ringing nonstop.
And that was just the beginning.
"Alright, Grog. The rest is up to you now. Go filter out the people who really have legendary Pokémon. Once you've got them, register them. I'll decide what to do after I get back."
Leaving those instructions, Nathan turned and walked away.
He still needed to use this window of time to help Volcarona recover from its injuries, while also strengthening Frosmoth and Mewtwo.
The video had created results already, but in truth, not many people would actually come with real legendary Pokémon to challenge him.
In the meantime, Nathan hadn't been to the system shop in a long time. Now it was time to indulge in a massive spending spree—make the system happy for once, and at the same time let his Pokémon grow stronger.
Back then, whenever something good appeared in the system shop, Nathan would immediately buy it for his Pokémon.
But ever since the system update, he had been tied up with the World Championships.
Then afterward, one responsibility after another piled up, delaying him again and again.
…
Arriving alone in his personal mystic realm, Nathan released all of his Pokémon.
Even the lowest-leveled Charmander was brought out.
A whole line-up of rare Pokémon—each and every one of them could cause a storm outside if shown off individually.
And here they all were, gathered under Nathan's command.
He began with Charmander, the weakest of the bunch.
(TN: Guys, I'm sorry, I think I made a mistake with the Charmander, I think it didn't evolve to Charmeleon but change to a new form instead because right now the raws still use the Chinese name of Charmander rather than Charmeleon.)
From the day it hatched until now, aside from natural leveling, it had barely received any special training resources.
That would change today.
From the system shop, Nathan began purchasing items one after another—special defense tonics, power boosters, speed enhancers…
Every time he spotted something that could enhance a Pokémon's attributes, he bought it without hesitation.
Within minutes, a pile of resources was stacked high in front of Charmander: thirty to forty rare fruits, along with more than twenty bottles and jars of potions.
"Alright, you know what to do. Eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink—don't waste a single thing."
Nathan gestured at the mountain of resources as he spoke.
Charmander could sense the potency of these items. At Nathan's command, it immediately buried its head into the pile, gobbling them down one after another.
Next was Eevee, then Grovyle…
Nathan's balance of Pokémon Coins, which had stood at just over ten billion, began plummeting rapidly.
But at the same time, the stats and strength of his Pokémon soared at an astonishing rate.
Once all the consumables were distributed, it was time for Technical Machines.
Now that the system shop stocked most of them, Nathan bought every move his Pokémon were capable of learning—except for a handful of extremely rare ones that weren't available.
"Alright. For the next two days, your mission is simple: eat, drink, and learn these skills properly."
After finishing his purchases, Nathan looked at his Pokémon with satisfaction, though his heart ached a little when he saw that nearly five billion Pokémon Coins had disappeared in a flash.
"Money really is the root of all evil…" he muttered with a pained expression.
If anyone else had seen what he just did, they would have screamed that it was a complete waste.
Most trainers poured all of their resources into one or two Pokémon at most.
Even those with thicker wallets would rarely dare to raise more than two or three—because the cost of developing even a single Pokémon was astronomical.
And yet here was Nathan, lavishly distributing resources across his entire roster.
(End of Chapter)