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"Shocking! The 21-Year-Old Champion of China"
"The Strongest Genius in China's History"
On the day Chris became China's Champion, news outlets around the world were flooded with this story.
Becoming a Champion at the age of twenty-one was rare in any country, and this was in China—the world's second most populous nation—which made it even more unbelievable.
Especially after learning about Chris's background and accomplishments, he was immediately regarded as an idol by the younger generation of Trainers and Breeders.
Even before going abroad, Chris already possessed terrifying international influence.
However, this didn't have much impact on Chris himself.
That night, Teacher Vladimir held a celebration banquet for Chris.
Chris hadn't drunk much yet, but Teacher Vladimir was already drunk. It was clear that his teacher was extremely happy this time.
Chris remembered the last time Teacher Vladimir had been this happy was when Chris became an Elite.
After sending his teacher home, Chris returned to his own manor.
Sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the lights of thousands of homes twinkling in the distance, he silently played with his handheld device.
"Dark Mewtwo is so incredibly difficult," Chris muttered. He'd just attempted to solo Dark Mewtwo again and had been defeated soundly.
After all, it was a top-tier legendary Pokémon, and its level wasn't even at 100 yet.
If he wanted to defeat it, he'd have to improve his strength further.
It would be better to obediently find Champions to battle and first meet the entry conditions for the Pokémon World Championship.
But where to find these Champions—he'd still need to think about that.
Just as he put down his phone, Chris received a message from Wanda.
"Boss, the official announcement for the World Pokémon Contest has arrived, and they've sent an invitation letter for the Eight Masters."
Chris clicked to accept the invitation.
The content was simple—it offered congratulations and greetings, then invited him to participate in the Eight Masters tournament two months from now.
However, before the Eight Masters competition in two months, he would need to travel to the official headquarters of the World Pokémon Contest and remain there to accept challenges from others.
The Eight Masters of the World Pokémon Contest was essentially a competition for the top eight spots in the world Trainer rankings.
As for the eight Trainers who had already secured their places as Masters, the only way for other Trainers to participate in the Eight Masters was to improve their rankings and then challenge these eight Masters.
If the challenge succeeded, they would take the place of the defeated Master.
However, whether to accept challenges depended entirely on the Master's decision, so Chris didn't know if he would receive any challenges.
Chris figured that judging from his record of defeating Marvin, who had been ranked second in the world, no one should challenge him recklessly.
But... considering his age, he couldn't rule out that someone or some country might be preparing a "sneak attack."
"Help me book a flight to Sky Island," Chris instructed Wanda.
The official location of the World Pokémon Tournament was quite unique. It didn't exist in any particular country, but rather on an island that floated in mid-air and drifted around the world.
If you wanted to go there, you could only take a special flight, and you couldn't just go whenever you pleased. At minimum, you needed to be Elite-level or ranked in the top one hundred of the World Pokémon Contest to be eligible.
"Understood, Boss."
Putting down his phone, Chris stretched.
He'd been busy all day—maybe he wouldn't practice leveling tonight. He'd give himself and his Pokémon a vacation and get some proper rest.
Just as Chris was preparing to relax, his handheld device suddenly lit up on its own.
"Garde~" Gardevoir noticed and used Psychic to float the handheld device to Chris's face.
"What's wrong?" Chris took the handheld device, and a notification popped up on the screen.
[The "Slumber Cocoon" in your backpack has changed.]
"The Slumber Cocoon has changed?!" Chris's eyes widened.
He'd almost forgotten about the Slumber Cocoon.
He remembered that the Slumber Cocoon was a valuable item he'd accidentally discovered in some ruins long ago, when he'd first entered university.
Chris knew that Jirachi lived inside the Slumber Cocoon, but Jirachi normally only emerged once every thousand years. Since he didn't know how long Jirachi had been asleep or when it would awaken, he'd simply kept it as a rare item in his character's backpack. He hadn't expected there would be a change now!
Chris quickly retrieved the Slumber Cocoon from his backpack.
Immediately, a huge purple crystalline stone materialized on Chris's bed, its surface emitting a faint glow that grew increasingly intense.
"Wurrr~~~"
Chris could hear a soft whisper.
This appeared to be Jirachi's cry.
"It's about to emerge!" Chris held his breath and stared at the stone, which was growing brighter and brighter before him.
The entire room gradually filled with light.
The dazzling brilliance made it impossible to look directly at it.
When the light finally faded, the purple crystalline stone had vanished. In its place, a snow-white Pokémon with a yellow star on its head floated in mid-air.
It was Jirachi, the legendary Wishing Star that awakened once every thousand years.
Jirachi opened its sleepy eyes. A pair of bright, golden eyes spotted Chris immediately, and a cheerful smile appeared on its face.
"Hello~~"
Jirachi happily circled around Chris in flight and communicated with him through telepathy.
A child's voice sounded in Chris's mind, soft and gentle.
"Hello," Chris greeted back.
Then he immediately extended an invitation.
"Would you like to be my partner?"
Regarding the Slumber Cocoon, Chris understood it to be similar to Jirachi's egg. As the first person Jirachi saw after being born, it shouldn't be too difficult to catch it directly.
"Partner? What does that mean?" Jirachi tilted its head, considering the meaning of the word.
"A partner is your good friend—someone who will battle and play with you," Chris thought for a moment and explained.
"Good friends to play together with?" A smile appeared again on Jirachi's innocent face. "Okay, okay~"
"Then enter this Poké Ball first, so I can take you with me at any time." He pulled out a Luxury Ball and handed it to Jirachi. Chris felt somewhat like a suspicious stranger luring in an innocent child.
Jirachi didn't suspect anything and instead dove headfirst into the Poké Ball.
Without the slightest shake, it was successfully caught immediately, and then it jumped back out on its own. Clearly, after spending a thousand years inside the Slumber Cocoon, it didn't want to stay alone in an enclosed space for even a moment.
However, since it had entered the Poké Ball, it now belonged to Chris's team of Pokémon, and he could check its information through his handheld device.