Chapter 222: The Costly Pokémon Gym

Early the next morning, Ryo was still dreaming of having fully popularized Pokémon across the ninja world.

In his dream, the Naruto world had transformed into a strange, hybrid version of the Pokémon universe. People and Pokémon lived in harmony, walking side by side on the streets, their faces glowing with joy from afar.

The entire world had become peaceful thanks to Pokémon, brimming with happiness and warmth everywhere he looked.

Bang bang bang—

But just as the dream reached its peak, with the Five Kage gathered around to discuss the next Pokémon tournament, Ryo's door was suddenly pounded on. A loud, urgent voice followed immediately.

"Ryo! Ryo! Hurry up and get out of bed! Today's the Pokémon battle tournament and you're still sleeping!"

Bang bang bang—

"Wake up already!"

The constant banging and shouting forced Ryo's eyes open. His smile vanished, replaced by a bitter, exhausted expression like he had lost the will to live.

He glanced out the window. The sky was still dim, just barely glowing. His expression soured even more.

Bang bang bang—

But his frustration didn't make the knocking go away, nor did it quiet the voice.

"Ryo, come on! Today's important—how can you still be asleep?!"

"Ugh—" Ryo groaned as he pulled the blanket over his head. He shouted in frustration, then yanked it down again and stared blankly at the door. "Alright, alright, I'm up! Stop shouting already."

Outside, Cynthia heard him and finally stopped knocking. She responded with one last shout, "Good! Then hurry up, I'll be waiting in the backyard!"

Her footsteps faded into the distance.

"Sigh—" Ryo sighed quietly, sitting up in bed. "I just wanted one decent night's sleep to relax a little... and of course, that was too much to ask."

Ever since awakening his mental powers, Ryo had stopped sleeping at night, using meditation and training instead.

But after breaking through yesterday, he decided to give himself a break—a full night's rest. Unfortunately, that plan had gone up in smoke.

While his training did leave him feeling just as refreshed as real sleep, as someone from the modern world, he still had a deep emotional attachment to sleeping.

It wasn't like he slacked off all the time. He only gave himself a day off after long periods of effort.

Sadly, this rare moment of rest was ruined.

"Forget it, I better get up. Otherwise Cynthia's gonna come knocking again."

He shook his head and stopped dwelling on it. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he slipped on his shoes.

"Ah—" Ryo stretched, rolling his neck. "Sleeping still feels the best... well, it would've if Cynthia hadn't interrupted."

Muttering to himself, he shook his head again, then washed up, got dressed, and headed toward the backyard.

As the sun slowly rose on the horizon, the crisp morning air and cool breeze helped clear his lingering drowsiness.

Soon, Ryo arrived in the backyard to find a group of people who clearly hadn't woken up fully—except for Cynthia.

She looked like she was on a sugar rush, full of energy and enthusiasm, completely opposite to everyone else around her.

"Ryo, you're so slow! Come on, Gardevoir's already made breakfast. We've got a lot to prep for the tournament today."

Seeing Ryo walking sluggishly toward them, Cynthia started urging him again.

Ryo gave her a helpless look. "Cynthia, the tournament doesn't start for a while yet. Why are you in such a rush? And haven't we already prepared pretty much everything? What's left?"

Even as he said this, he continued walking toward the table.

"Yeah, Cynthia, is there really still something left to do?" Konan chimed in, curious.

"There's still... a ton to do! Just eat your breakfast already," Cynthia replied awkwardly, giving Ryo a fierce glare.

Ryo didn't argue. Seeing her like that, he just sat down and began eating the breakfast Gardevoir had prepared.

Before they knew it, breakfast was over. Under Cynthia's constant nagging, the group headed off toward the tournament venue.

"Hurry up, let's check if anything still needs finishing. This is our first Pokémon tournament, remember!"

Cynthia tugged Ryo out the front door of the Pokémon House and led the group toward a nearby open space that had already been set up for the competition.

The venue wasn't far—just next door to the Pokémon House on what used to be an empty lot.

Of course, calling it an empty lot only applied in the past. Thanks to Ryo's renovations, it had already become a full-fledged tournament arena.

"Wow... it really looks like the battle arenas from our world," Cynthia said in admiration as they arrived at the entrance.

Beside her, Ryo's face twitched slightly. Of course it did—he had literally copied the design from the Pokémon world.

It wasn't a perfect replica, but it was at least 70–80% similar.

"Alright, save the admiration. Let's head inside."

He took the lead and stepped through the entrance.

"Wait up, Ryo! I've been meaning to ask—why do you call this place a 'Pokémon Gym'? Isn't it just a tournament venue? Why call it a gym?"

Ryo shook his head. "You wouldn't get it."

And with that, he ignored her and kept walking.

Truth be told, he didn't really know either. Maybe he was just used to the name. In the end, it was just a title—no big deal.

"Fine, don't tell me," Cynthia muttered. She hadn't expected a real answer anyway. She was just curious, not desperate to know.

The group continued forward and quickly reached the central arena, where several durable-looking battle platforms had been laid out.

Surrounding the battlefield were countless seats stacked layer upon layer, rising like a stadium around the center.

Staring at the battlefield, Ryo felt a mix of pride and pain. Setting up these platforms had cost him a fortune.

They were all specially reinforced—tough enough that even Kage-level attacks wouldn't damage them.

After all, it would be a mess if a platform broke in the middle of a Pokémon battle.

Because of their durability, they were extremely expensive—five million points per platform.

And he had exchanged for four of them all at once—twenty million points gone.

That amount of points could've bought him a full set of Mega Evolution Stones.

And that was just the cost for the platforms. Including all the additional facilities, this gym had drained nearly fifty million points—and several hundred million ryō.

The seats and construction materials weren't bought with points but with money from the Naruto world.

Still, compared to money, the points were the real burden. If you tried converting fifty million points into ryō... the number would be insane.

>>>>><<<<<>>>>><<<<<

[If you like this story, please don't shy away from adding to the collection, giving a power stone, and leaving a review. You can even follow my patreon.com/Yueru1 for 50+ advanced chapters]