Pokémon: When the World Changed

Chapter 602 597: The Appearance of Moltres

Three days later.

Ethan looked at the Pokémon Hunter certificate in his hand and smiled slightly.

Although the process had been somewhat eventful, he had finally obtained the certificate he wanted.

From now on, with it in his possession, he could freely enter and exit the small Secret Kingdoms under the League's jurisdiction.

Although most of these Secret Kingdoms had already been developed by the League, there were still some that were in the process of exploration, as well as others that had not been developed at all.

Moreover, certain special Secret Kingdoms, such as the Charizard Secret Kingdom or the Steel Secret Kingdom, still held great exploration value in specific situations or for certain Pokémon.

"The exploration of Secret Kingdoms can wait. The most important thing right now is the upcoming Tournament for the World Championship Slots."

"There's only a little more than half a month before the competition begins, and intensive training will no longer have much effect. During this time, we should focus on consolidation, adjusting the condition of all Pokémon to the best possible level."

Ethan pondered as he took out the notebook in which he had recorded the data of his Pokémon.

At that moment he had a total of twelve Pokémon: Sandslash, Cacturne, Slowking, Meltan, Vibrava, Charizard, Tyranitar, Magmortar, Rhyperior, Lucario, Litwick, and Shuckle.

Among them, the first seven had already reached the professional level, while the other five were at the Advanced level.

"Magmortar's Thunderflame Dragon Mode is about to be completed. If that happens, its combat power will probably also reach the professional level."

"Besides, there's Rhyperior. It just evolved, so it's about time to take it to see Professor Harris. I wonder what expression Professor Harris and Rhyperior's parents will have when they see it."

A faint smile appeared on Ethan's face, with a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes.

Soon after, after tidying himself up briefly, Ethan took Rhyperior's Poké Ball and headed toward Professor Harris's laboratory.

Boom, boom, boom!

As he approached the laboratory, Ethan suddenly heard a series of loud crashes.

In the open field in front of the lab, a Lucario was battling against a Rhydon.

"Lucario!"

Seeing that scene, Ethan showed surprise.

"Ethan, you're here already."

Professor Reynolds smiled when she saw him approaching, clearly in a good mood.

"Greetings, Professor Reynolds. Greetings, Professor Harris."

Seeing that both professors had turned toward him, Ethan greeted them politely.

"You arrived just in time. My Riolu has just evolved into Lucario."

Professor Reynolds and Professor Harris stopped the Pokémon battle and walked toward Ethan.

"That's right. Lucario is a Steel-type Pokémon. A long time ago I began researching its evolution method. After you proposed the concept of Friendship evolution, I happened to have a Riolu by my side."

"So during this time I took it traveling with me. And during the journey, it indeed evolved thanks to our Friendship."

Professor Reynolds looked at Ethan with a certain excitement.

Problems that those old professors had not been able to solve had been resolved by a young man of the new generation.

"The bond between a trainer and their Pokémon is, in itself, a very powerful force."

Ethan smiled slightly and opened his Poké Ball; his Lucario appeared at the same time.

"Luucaarr!"

"Luucaarr!"

The two Lucario looked at each other and narrowed their eyes, clearly communicating with one another.

While the two Lucario exchanged impressions, Ethan walked beside Professor Reynolds and Professor Harris.

Boom, boom, boom!

At that moment, two Rhydon approached from the distance.

The female Rhydon looked anxiously toward Ethan; it didn't take much thought to understand her intention.

"Come out and meet your parents."

Ethan smiled with a playful hint.

The Poké Ball opened and a white light emerged, revealing Rhyperior's figure.

"This is...?"

Upon seeing Rhyperior, so similar yet so different from Rhydon, both Professor Harris and Professor Reynolds froze in place, just like the two Rhydon.

After a long moment, Professor Harris spoke with some disbelief:

"Rhydon... has evolved?"

"Yes, this is Rhyperior."

Ethan nodded, smiling at everyone's surprise.

"So it really evolved."

"Rhyperior...?"

After the initial shock, Professor Harris's expression calmed.

When he had handed Rhydon over to Ethan, he had already known that he would manage to evolve it.

In contrast, the two Rhydon looked at their son in amazement, surrounding him and observing him from head to toe.

"Professor Harris, this is Rhyperior's evolution method."

Ethan took out the evolution method he had already summarized and handed it over.

"This is... a Protector?"

"Something like this can be used as an evolution item?"

Upon seeing the evolution item, Professor Harris was deeply shocked.

If Ethan had not managed to evolve Rhyperior, no one would ever have associated Rhydon with a Protector.

"Rhhydodnn!"

Professor Harris's main Rhydon was clearly excited.

Its power had long been stuck at the Quasi-Elite level, and this evolution represented an opportunity to become stronger again, perhaps even directly reaching the Elite level.

"I understand. From now on I'll set aside my other experiments and focus completely on the research of Rhyperior."

Professor Harris's eyes shone with fervor.

Ever since he had become a Pokémon Professor, his energy had been devoted to research, and his Rhydon's strength had not increased in a long time.

Now, at last, his desire to grow stronger had been rekindled.

"I'll help as well."

Professor Reynolds smiled.

Soon, both professors got to work in a hurry.

As expected, Ethan's Rhyperior was also taken to assist in the research.

Seeing the scene, Ethan touched his nose, suddenly feeling a little like an outsider.

But with Professor Harris, Professor Reynolds, and Rhyperior's own parents guiding it, there was not much to worry about.

Thus, the training of his Pokémon continued in an orderly manner, preparing for the battles that were about to come.

...

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, March arrived.

At the same time, the Tournament for the World Championship Slots officially began.

The venue of the competition was still the Phoenix Pokémon Stadium, in Imperial City.

Upon arriving at the stadium, Ethan could not help but feel somewhat emotional.

The last time he had been there was to compete for a starter Pokémon slot; this time, the stage was much larger.

Since what was being contested were slots for the Pokémon World Championship, the entire Daleron League was in an uproar.

Countless young genius trainers gathered there, turning the competition into a national-scale event, with a level of attention even higher than that of the National Pokémon University Tournament.

"A World Championship held once every four years... this time there are so many participants."

Inside the stadium, Ethan met with Lucas Silver, Marcus Foster, and others. Practically all the young trainers with some renown were present.

"Be careful. This time there are more than three hundred participants. Almost all of them are the strongest from their respective Universities. And besides those from the Universities, there are those heirs of hidden lineages; they are the hardest to detect. So don't underestimate anyone. In battle, use your full strength from the very beginning."

Lucas constantly reviewed the participants' data on his computer, and his expression became increasingly serious.

In this tournament, only the top eight would obtain the slot for the world championship, so he could not afford any carelessness.

Moreover, depending on the final ranking, the resources allocated would also vary; if it was possible to fight for a better position, it had to be done.

"Look at that! What is it?!"

"A phoenix! A phoenix has appeared!"

Suddenly, cries of astonishment erupted throughout the stadium.

Then, a huge bird wrapped in flames appeared in the sky and flew toward the venue.

"That is... Moltres!"

Upon seeing the figure in the air, Ethan's eyes widened slightly.

Moltres is the legendary bird Pokémon that controls fire. Its beak is straight and sharp, and its skin is a dark brown tone.

It possesses a long aerodynamic crest and a waving tail like flames, both formed of fire. Its wings, covered in fiery feathers, give it a noble and mysterious appearance.

"A legendary Pokémon..." Ethan murmured. If Meltan was not counted, this was the first legendary Pokémon he had encountered in this world.

"Graaah!"

Moltres's cry echoed through the air.

Its figure dived toward the stadium, quickly igniting the sacred flame.

Then it rose into the sky again and gradually disappeared into the distance.

"Using Moltres just to light the fire?"

"No... it seems the League does it to create excitement and awaken the trainers' competitive spirit."

As Moltres made its appearance, the sacred fire was ignited, officially marking the beginning of the tournament.

The presenter then announced the championship rules.

In the early rounds, a double-elimination system would be used, divided into a winners' bracket and a losers' bracket.

In the winners' bracket, the victor would advance directly to the next round, while the defeated would move to the losers' bracket.

In the losers' bracket, whoever lost again would be eliminated.

In short, after accumulating two defeats, a participant would be out of the tournament.

The early rounds would be 2-on-2 battles; from the top 32 onward, it would change to 3-on-3, and from the quarterfinals onward, the format would be the standard 6-on-6.

The top eight would obtain a slot for the Pokémon World Championship and a huge reward in resources from the League.

The first step was the draw for the first round.

On the giant screen, the participants' information cards flashed continuously, quickly pairing up to form the matchups.

"Huh? My battle is the first one?"

Seeing the data on the screen, Ethan was a bit surprised.

The others, after checking the list of matchups, also turned their gaze toward him.

(End of Chapter)