Chapter 53: The Tournament Ends, Popularity Bursts
Draco recalled Dragonite and walked over to Ryan, saying, "Damn it! You're too strong! I guess my chances of succeeding Cousin lance are in thin ."
Ryan shook his hand and said, "You can gain more experience. But you're too extreme in your approach. I've been mentored by Steven, the Champion of the Hoenn region, and I can tell you that a trainer's strength is always determined by their weakest area. Your Pokémon have obvious strengths and weaknesses. By exploiting those weaknesses, you're at a disadvantage."
Draco scratched his head and said, "Cousin Lance told me that too. But that's just my style, and I probably can't change. But I'll find other ways to compensate."
Ryan remained silent. This was someone else's path, and he had no right to interfere. The tournament finally concluded, and the awards and closing ceremonies followed. After receiving the championship trophy and the system rewards, he would also need some time to recuperate. Then, he would follow Lillie to Alola to prepare to challenge Tapu Bulu.
The closing ceremony of the tournament began. All the contestants entered, and President Goodshow presented medals to everyone. Lillie also received a medal. It had a black base, white wings on either side, and a crystal crown in the center, with a small golden Poké Ball icon at its heart. It was quite beautiful.
Then, the top three winners were announced, and President Goodshow handed them medals and trophies. These three were Ryan, Draco, and Assunta. Ryan received a gold medal and a golden trophy. The trophy was topped by a Poké Ball with fluttering golden wings on either side.
"Ding. Congratulations to the host for completing the main quest - Path to Master. Rewards: One Master Ball, Charizard Mega Stone X, Ten Evolution Stones, and a random Legendary Beast Map."
"Ding. Main quest two begins: capture six Pokémon from the Johto region to participate in the Silver Conference (Lottery Pokémon are not allowed, and Pokémon drawn by the system do not count). Rewards: Two Master Balls, Mewtwo Mega Stone, ten Evolution Stones, a random Legendary Beast Map, and unlocking Healing Power and Psychic abilities."
Ryan licked his lips. It seemed stricter, but the rewards were still tempting. This meant that, aside from Charizard and Sylveon, none of his current Pokémon could enter the battle. No, wait—it seemed like dragonair and the others weren't excluded from this tournament. Ryan quickly checked the system, and it confirmed that his Kanto-caught Pokémon could participate in the Silver Conference, which reassured him.
This meant that the Silver Conference roster now reached three Pokémon, and all he needed to do was capture three more Pokémon from the Johto region.
Ryan stepped off the stage and stood with Lillie. The lights dimmed, and fireworks shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire venue. Lillie leaned against Ryan and said, "It's beautiful."
Ryan smiled silently, quietly enjoying the atmosphere.
After the closing ceremony, everyone returned to the Pokémon Village for the night. After saying goodbye to each other, Ryan and his group returned to Pallet Town.
They planned to hold a celebration party to celebrate Ryan's victory and Ash's place in the quarterfinals. It was originally planned to be held at the Oak Research Institute, but Lillie's friends insisted on seeing Ryan's breeding ranch, so the venue was changed to Ryan's current home.
Ryan didn't mind. He spent some money on food and drinks, and had his Jellicent help cook a meal for everyone. Delia also came to help, and soon everyone was having fun.
Lana and the others began to explore the huge ranch. After a while, they returned, each of them leading a Pokémon. Ryan was practically sick to his stomach. The four of them were incredibly lucky, each getting a championship-level Pokémon. He couldn't quite accept their money, so he let them take all four Pokémon.
A championship-level Gyarados for Lana, a championship-level Alakazam for Mallow, a championship-level Alakazam for Kiawe, and a championship-level Magnezone for Sophocles. Ryan's heart was bleeding—four million Pokédollars were gone just like that!
Professor Oak, knowing Ryan was going to Alola, immediately asked him to help capture some Alolan Pokémon for research. Of course, Ryan agreed. After all, his own breeding facility needed plenty of Pokémon, and with his Master Balls and resources, he had no problem capturing Pokémon.
Professor Oak also requested that Ryan loan him Greninja and Beedrill for research. Ryan thought about it and agreed. After all, his Pokémon were now almost level 80, approaching 90. He had given them everything he could, and now it was up to them to develop further. Of course, he'd give them their enhancement items and TMs first, then leave them with Professor Oak.
Speaking of enhancement items and TMs, Ryan realized he hadn't even checked his popularity points yet, wondering if they were enough.
He opened the system interface and glanced at his popularity points. He shuddered, rubbed his eyes, counted them again, and took a long time to recover. He sighed, "Finally, I feel like a rich trainer! The system gave me enhancements! I want a dozen TMs too!"
Winning the championship this time had skyrocketed his popularity points to 1.2 million, which made the usually broke Ryan a little complacent. After selecting his items, he proceeded to check out.
"Ding. Insufficient balance, unable to purchase."
"You're telling me 1.2 million Popularity Points aren't enough for this little thing?" Ryan was immediately furious.
"Ding. Maximize Attack EV training for 50,000 Popularity Points, Maximize Special Attack EV training for 50,000 Popularity Points, Experience Share x8 for 300,000 Popularity Points, and the Pokémon Custom TMs for a total of 1.1 million."
Ryan was speechless and thought for a moment. Creating two attack enhancement items would complete his plan. He still had to create an Experience Share multiplier—after all, leveling up after level 90 was incredibly difficult. Ryan pondered the remaining Popularity Points for a long time. Primarina didn't really enjoy fighting, so there might not be many opportunities for her to battle in the future, so he ruled her out for now. The same applied to Sylveon—they were both pacifists and not prone to fighting.
The remaining fighters were all battle-lovers. After some consideration, he gave custom TMs to Charizard, Greninja, Mewtwo, and Beedrill. With the remaining 300,000 points, he bought a set of custom Claw-type moves for Charizard, a set of custom Blade techniques for Greninja, and a set of custom Psychic mastery for Mewtwo.
These corresponded to Charizard's Dragon Claw techniques, Greninja's Cut and Water Shuriken mastery, and Mewtwo's Psychic-type move enhancement.
Everyone played and laughed until nightfall. After everyone dispersed, Ryan pushed open the door to his villa and came to the second-floor terrace where Charizard rested. Charizard heard Ryan's footsteps and opened its eyes.
Ryan said nothing as he handed Charizard a pill glowing with strange energy. He then left and went back to sleep.
Charizard watched Ryan disappear and swallowed the pill without hesitation. The powerful enhancement properties filled its body. Charizard endured the excruciating transformation as the flames from its tail blazed fiercely, enveloping it completely.
A flash of light appeared in the sky, and Mewtwo materialized above Charizard, quietly observing the flames. Another Mewtwo then emerged from its resting place. The two Mewtwo exchanged glances and departed without a word, their destination unknown.
Charizard struggled for a long time before the flames dissipated. Feeling the increased power within itself, Charizard nodded in satisfaction.
Glancing at the scorched rock surrounding it, Charizard moved to another spot and fell into a deep sleep.
(End of Chapter)
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