279. World PokéMon Contest

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After selecting the three secret treasures, Chris filled in the delivery address for the Green Valley Gym.

With the Team Asuka incident resolved and his early graduation exam completed, it was time for him to return home. The helicopter from the Pokémon Association that would take him back to Dragon was already waiting on the rooftop.

"I'm heading back now," Chris announced to Eliana and Josh.

"We'll see you off!" Josh quickly stood up, with Eliana following close behind. As an official Pokémon investigator, she would remain here to help with the cleanup efforts after the conflict.

Together, they accompanied Chris to the rooftop of the Trainer Association and watched as he stepped onto the helicopter.

"Goodbye, Chris! I'm looking forward to seeing you become the strongest Champion in China!" Josh waved enthusiastically, his eyes filled with admiration.

Such a young and powerful Gym Trainer—Josh truly believed the future belonged to Chris, his eternal idol!

Chris smiled gently and waved back at the two of them.

Eliana reached for the pen and paper in her pocket, wanting to write something, but reconsidered and put them away. She removed the mask she hadn't taken off even while eating, revealing her delicate face, and waved to Chris, shouting, "Goodbye!!!"

After she spoke, Chris noticed that Eliana's face was turning progressively redder, and there seemed to be waves of heat rising from the top of her head.

Like something out of an anime coming to life before his eyes?

Chris was dumbfounded.

He realized that Eliana wasn't socially anxious—just incredibly shy.

"You seem pretty shy! You should talk more in the future!"

The helicopter's propellers were spinning, and the loud noise drowned out the second half of Chris's sentence. Eliana only heard him say that she looked very shy, and immediately her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red.

Her head no longer just seemed to be steaming hot—actual white steam was rising from it.

Chris wondered if she might... die of embarrassment.

The thunderous sound of the propellers carried Chris away.

Olivia, who had just finished cleaning up the battlefield outside, arrived at the entrance of the Trainer Association and looked up.

"Is that guy leaving already?"

"I didn't even get to say hello..."

On the helicopter journey from Gumont Province back to Dragon City, Chris took a nap.

He had boarded at 8 AM and would arrive at noon.

Since he hadn't exercised after breakfast, he wasn't particularly hungry.

After disembarking from the helicopter, Chris went directly to a wall and had his Gardevoir to exit the secret base, then used Rest.

After an all-night operation, his fatigue wasn't something that could be remedied by the usual seven or eight hours of sleep.

Chris slept until 7 PM, and his eyes were still somewhat drowsy when he awoke.

However, he couldn't continue sleeping, or else he wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night, which would lead to another late night and create a vicious cycle.

He decided to stay up for a while—at least until 11 PM before going to bed.

After waking up, Chris was planning to take a stroll around the city to find something to eat. Just as he picked up his phone, he discovered he had three missed calls.

They were all from Wanda.

One call at 1 PM, another at 3 PM, and the last at midnight.

"Geez..." Just as he was wondering if she would call again at 7 PM, Wanda indeed called.

He answered the phone.

"Hey, what's up?"

"The Trainer Association couldn't reach you, so they asked me to check if you want to participate in the World Pokémon Contest rankings?" Wanda's voice came from the other end of the line.

Ever since Chris had become famous, he had set up his phone to automatically block unknown numbers. So, anyone who wanted to communicate with Chris had to go through Wanda first.

"The World Pokémon Contest rankings..." Chris pondered.

The World Pokémon Contest was the most standardized and highly recognized battle competition globally.

Almost all strong Trainers from around the world participated in this competition.

It ranked Trainers worldwide. Every four years, there would be a "Masters Tournament" featuring the top eight Trainers—the Eight Masters Tournament.

These eight top Trainers were known as the "Eight Masters"—eight powerhouses standing at the pinnacle of the Trainer world.

They would compete to determine who stood at the absolute peak!

The final winner of the Eight Masters would receive the lifetime title of "Pokémon Master."

This was the highest honor for a Trainer and the lifelong pursuit of everyone in the profession!

It was too early for Chris to join the battle for the lifetime title of "Pokémon Master." But that wasn't a major concern, since the Eight Masters Tournament had just been held two years ago.

The next Eight Masters Tournament would take place in September of the following year.

In other words, Chris still had a year and a half to improve his strength.

Would one and a half years be enough for him to reach Champion-level battle prowess?

Chris believed it would be.

"I'll participate. Just let me know the schedule—I'll be heading back to Green Valley tomorrow," Chris said.

He chose to participate in the World Pokémon Contest rankings. The only downside was that more and more Trainers would come to challenge him in the future.

He recalled that after completing the World Pokémon Contest rankings, the Gym Trainers of China would definitely be included in the "Ultra Ball Group."

The World Pokémon Contest was divided into four groups, from strongest to weakest: Master Ball group, Ultra Ball group, Great Ball group, and Poké Ball group.

The Master Ball class ranked 1-100 in the world.

The Ultra Ball group ranked 101-1,000 in the world.

The Great Ball group ranked 1,001-10,000 in the world.

The Poké Ball group ranked from 10,001 to 100,000 players worldwide.

Each tier had ten times more places than the one above it.

As a Gym Trainer who had just passed the World Pokémon Ranking Competition, Chris would be directly included in the Ultra Ball group. This was a privilege that only China and other powerful countries could enjoy!

After all, in some smaller countries, their Champions might not even be as strong as a Gym Trainer from China.

The lower-ranked Trainers in the Ultra Ball group had to face challenges from Great Ball Trainers, with at least one match per month.

Thinking about having just become a Gym Trainer—tsk, tsk.

The battles in the coming period would likely be very frequent.

Oh well, he'd just treat it as training with weights.

Additionally, if you wanted to improve your ranking in the Ultra Ball group, you had to challenge rivals ranked higher than yourself. Many Trainers lived abroad, and to improve his ranking in the future, Chris might have to travel to foreign countries.

However, that wasn't something he needed to worry about at the moment.

Hanging up the phone, Chris went out to find food, then returned to his villa in the city to rest. It was too late today, so he'd find his teacher tomorrow to get his early graduation certificate.

It had been quite a while since he'd seen Delibird and Togepi!