The Zapdos hovered in the air, not even attempting to dodge—it just floated there blankly, as if stunned.
"Bulldoze!"
Suicune's two front hooves slammed down viciously on Zapdos's body.
With a thunderous impact, Zapdos was stomped by Suicune and fell from the sky like a meteor crashing down to earth.
At the same time, Mewtwo and Frosmoth had begun to awaken from the effects of Hypnosis.
"Mewtwo, use Mega Punch on Zapdos!"
Seeing Mewtwo regain consciousness, Nathan quickly issued his command.
Without hesitation, Mewtwo rushed toward the falling Zapdos. Given Zapdos's uncontrollable descent, there was no way it could evade in mid-air.
Mewtwo caught up and delivered a devastating punch.
The strike landed squarely on Zapdos's chest. Already injured, Zapdos's wounds reopened from the force of the blow, and blood began to flow freely from its body once again.
"Frosmoth, use Dazzling Gleam!"
Right after Mewtwo's attack, Nathan called out his next move.
Frosmoth's body glowed with a blinding white light, and as the dazzling glow faded, the injured Zapdos was struck again.
This time, the impact of the move caused Zapdos's special defense to decrease slightly as well.
"Round! All three of you!"
Mewtwo opened its mouth and began to sing, its powerful voice forming soundwaves that surged toward Zapdos.
As Mewtwo finished its Round, Frosmoth followed up seamlessly with its own.
The move Round was stackable—each successive user increased its power.
Frosmoth's soundwave hit Zapdos squarely, blood once again spurting from its body.
Finally, it was Suicune's turn.
Suicune's elegant yet majestic voice rang out like a high-pitched melody across the battlefield. Compared to Mewtwo and Frosmoth, Suicune's power was on a whole different level. Naturally, its Round attack was significantly stronger.
Combined with the power-up from the two previous Rounds, Suicune's version of the move was performing at 180% of its normal power.
The soundwave Suicune released was visible to the naked eye—it traveled like a forceful ripple of air.
When the wave struck Zapdos, there was a loud "Boom!"
Zapdos crashed into the ground and didn't rise again.
Silence fell across the entire stadium.
A Legendary Pokémon—defeated!
And Nathan, at this very moment, became the first person in World Championship history to defeat a Legendary Pokémon on the battlefield.
This moment was bound to be immortalized in the annals of Pokémon history.
"You lost. The reason you lost… is that you don't truly understand your Pokémon."
Nathan spoke calmly.
Two powerful Legendary Pokémon, when used by Gregor, were unable to unleash even 70% of their potential.
Rather than forcing Pokémon he didn't understand, it would've been better for Gregor to fight with his own team.
"Impossible... No! Even if Zapdos is down, I still have Darkrai! I don't believe it!"
Gregor was beginning to lose his mind.
After suffering repeated defeats at Nathan's hands, Gregor's already fragile psyche was reaching its limit.
Nathan glanced at the frantic expression on Gregor's face and simply shook his head.
With a temperament like his, he was far from ready to compete on this level.
Nathan ended their synchro-link.
Under the coordinated assault from Suicune, Mewtwo, and Frosmoth, Darkrai was quickly defeated as well.
And just like that, the World Championship was over.
Although Calica's team still had other contestants yet to compete, it no longer mattered.
Even two Legendary Pokémon had lost to Nathan—what could the others possibly hope to achieve?
At best, they'd be stepping into the ring only to be humiliated by Nathan.
With the match concluded, the tournament staff began sailing the competitors back to the main island.
By now, the main island was already in ruins—devastated by the intensity of the final battle.
The championship referee found a relatively intact platform and solemnly announced the final result:
"This year's World Champion… is the Nation of Celestia!"
In an instant, cheers erupted across every corner of the nation.
Groups of friends gathered together to celebrate, parades and fireworks filling the streets.
They were celebrating their country's victory—the championship title at the World Tournament.
This was a night destined to be sleepless for millions.
With the tournament concluded, Nathan had successfully won the championship title.
Even more importantly, he had completed the mission assigned to him by the system.
However, Nathan wasn't in a hurry to claim his mission rewards.
He planned to wait until he was back in his home country before claiming them.
After all, there were still too many people around him at the moment—and this mission was a major one.
If the system reward ended up being large or flashy, it would be difficult to explain if others saw it.
As for the tournament organizers, there were also official rewards for the championship-winning country.
First, the indispensable championship trophy.
The trophy was shaped like a hand holding a Poké Ball.
On the base of the trophy were engraved the words: "World Championship Champion".
Aside from the trophy, the tournament also rewarded the winning nation with valuable research materials.
These documents contained research on Pokémon and various Pokémon-related items.
However, Nathan wasn't particularly interested in any of that.
After receiving the files, he casually tossed them to Kelly.
With access to the system store, Nathan could buy anything he wanted—why bother with research?
Among the scattered rewards, one stood out: a special exclusive prize awarded only to the champion.
An entry ticket to a mystic realm.
As the premier global organizer of Pokémon tournaments, the World Championship naturally had access to such mystic realms—and they used them as top-tier prizes.
-----------------------
This mystic realm had very few open slots. Even as the championship winner, Celestia only received three entry tickets.
As for the runner-up and third-place countries, they received two and one entry ticket, respectively.
What made this mystic realm so desirable wasn't just the resources—it held something every Trainer dreamed of:
Rare Pokémon Eggs.
Compared to other mystic realms, this one had a highly unstable entrance.
When the realm was first discovered, the first Trainer to enter came out with four rare Pokémon eggs.
That Trainer initially thought he could get rich by controlling access to the realm.
But dreams are dreams—and reality is often far crueler.
It was discovered that this realm had an unexplained restriction: only ten people could enter at a time.
Once ten had entered, the realm entrance would immediately close.
Over the following years, researchers slowly deciphered the pattern:
The realm opens at fixed intervals each year.
Once ten Trainers enter, it won't reopen until they return.
But it wasn't just rare Pokémon eggs that made this realm so enticing.
What truly drove people mad were the rumors of Legendary Pokémon Eggs inside.
Although no one had ever brought out a Legendary Egg, all who entered swore they had seen one.
The difficulty of acquiring them was simply astronomical.
Otherwise, after all these years, the world would be overflowing with Legendary Pokémon.
To use as tournament prizes, the World Championship spent an astronomical amount of money to purchase six slots from the country that owned the realm.
It was clear: they had gone all out.
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After sailing back to his home country, Nathan's first stop wasn't to rest.
Instead, he headed straight to the Wandering Mountains.
Since he had brought the Three Legendary Beasts—Entei, Raikou, and Suicune— with him to the tournament, it was only right to return them afterward.
"This victory was thanks to all of you. Without your help, I might not have won the World Championship."
As he released the three Legendary Pokémon, Nathan said this from the bottom of his heart.
Even though only Suicune had participated in the battle, that was purely because he wanted to complete his system mission flawlessly.
"Don't say that—we're just business partners," Raikou quickly replied.
"But since the competition is over now, shouldn't you be giving us what you promised?"
The down payment Nathan had made—the Feather of Ho-Oh—had always been in Entei's possession.
Both Raikou and Suicune had long been envious of it.
Now that the tournament was over, it was finally time to claim their own feathers.
Nathan nodded, pulling out two more Feathers of Ho-Oh from his backpack.
3 billion Pokécoins.
The stingy system hadn't given him any discount—he had to buy them at full price.
"Pleasure… doing business!!"
Raikou leaned forward, attempting to grab the feather with his mouth.
But as he tried to take it, he noticed Nathan wasn't letting go.
Left with no choice, Raikou applied a bit more force.
No matter how strong Nathan was, he couldn't possibly overpower a Legendary Beast.
Under Raikou's gentle tug, the feather was finally taken away.
Nathan watched, heart aching, as Raikou and Suicune stored the feathers.
Inside, he silently cursed the system again and again.
If it had just offered a discount, would he be this heartbroken?
After tearfully sending the three Legendary Beasts back to the Wandering Mountains,
Nathan flew directly to his own mystic realm.
All along the way, he couldn't stop thinking about the rewards waiting for him.
The ones from the system—rewards he had waited so long to claim.
(End of Chapter)