"Maybe I should just go back into your Poké Ball. The way they're all staring at me is making me really uncomfortable."
Xerneas turned its head slightly and glanced behind it, where several people had pulled out their phones and were taking pictures.
Although it knew that those people didn't mean any harm, being the center of that kind of attention was still unpleasant.
Nathan nodded in understanding and returned Xerneas to its Poké Ball.
He remembered how uncomfortable he had felt when crowds surrounded him at the beginning of his journey. But now, with his fame growing day by day, Nathan had long since gotten used to being watched and recognized in public.
"Hey, bro! Where did you catch that Pokémon? It looked so cool!"
A young man, clearly extroverted and brimming with curiosity, walked straight up to Nathan, now that he had returned Xerneas, and asked his question with no hesitation.
"The Frostline Region," Nathan replied honestly, without even trying to hide the truth.
However, the young man's expression soured the moment he heard the answer. He clearly didn't believe it. He thought to himself: If you don't want to tell me, just say so. Why bother lying? The Frostline Region? As if you could even get there!
"Come on, bro. If you didn't want to tell me, you could've just said so. No need to lie to my face, right?" the youth said unhappily.
Frankly, if it weren't for the fact that Nathan was the trainer of that rare Pokémon, the guy might have already thrown a punch just based on the disrespect he thought he was getting.
Nathan just shrugged. I told the truth. Believe it or not, that's up to you.
Without saying anything more, he turned around and walked away.
"Hey, I'm talking to you! Don't you have any manners?"
The young man, clearly annoyed by Nathan's seeming indifference, reached out and slapped him on the shoulder.
After hitting him, he even wiped his hand with disgust, as if Nathan was dirty or something. Which, to be fair, he kind of was.
Although he had been traveling over the sea for a while, only a fool would try bathing in seawater. So yes, he looked a little grimy.
"You wanna try hitting me again?" Nathan stopped, turned his head, and frowned as he spoke coldly.
The young man hadn't meant to be so aggressive; he just wanted to get Nathan's attention. But maybe he'd used too much force.
Even so, the youth couldn't stand being talked down to by someone who looked as disheveled as Nathan did. A guy who looked like a vagabond dared talk back to him?
He was a trainer with a Gym-level Pokémon!
Just because your Pokémon looked rare, doesn't mean I have to take crap from you!
"What, you scared now? If you've got a problem, send out your Pokémon and let's battle!" the young man shouted, chest puffed out.
Seeing him lose his temper, one of his companions tried to hold him back. But the youth shook him off, reached into his pocket, and tossed out a Poké Ball, summoning his Pokémon.
"You want a friendly sparring match with my Pokémon?"
When Nathan saw the Pokémon the guy had sent out, he couldn't help but laugh.
A Gym-level Pokémon? Really?
Challenging him would be like a baby waving its fists and demanding a fight with an adult.
"What? Scared? If you're afraid of losing, just apologize and I'll forgive you," the young man said smugly, misinterpreting Nathan's amusement as fear.
He had no idea just how unfortunate he was.
Out of all the people in the world, he had to run into Nathan Vesper, the reigning World Champion.
The odds of that were lower than winning the lottery.
"In that case, how about this? I'll give you a chance. If you can defeat my Pokémon, then that Pokémon you saw earlier will be yours," Nathan said calmly, reaching up and pulling the Poké Ball from his chest.
One of the young man's companions noticed the motion and froze, feeling like it was oddly familiar—but he couldn't place where he'd seen it before.
Then Nathan released his Pokémon—and the whole crowd went wild.
Volcarona!
The signature Pokémon of World Champion Nathan!
As soon as Volcarona appeared, the young man's friends finally made the connection.
That pulling motion—from the chest. That exact posture. It was Nathan's classic move whenever he was about to send Volcarona into battle.
Because of Nathan, many trainers around the world had started wearing Poké Balls on their chests, just to imitate that iconic gesture. Some of them even did it themselves.
But they had never expected to run into the real Nathan today.
"Wait… you… you're Nathan Vesper?" the youth stammered, his voice trembling.
He had originally thought Nathan was just a random guy who had returned from the wild. He never imagined he would bump into the actual Nathan.
And he was a huge fan of Nathan's.
He knew full well how terrifying Nathan's strength was. His own Gym-level Pokémon couldn't even survive a single hit from Volcarona.
"What do you think? You think there's someone else in the world with a Volcarona like this?" Nathan asked calmly.
Seriously... so what if my hair's a little messy, my beard's a bit long, my clothes are dirty, and I look like a vagrant? You're telling me I'm so unrecognizable now?
"No, no, no! Nathan, my idol, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have provoked you just now. I'm a big fan—I really am!"
As he spoke, the youth hurriedly ran up to Nathan and excitedly grabbed his hand, all the arrogance and disdain from before completely gone.
People nearby, having seen Volcarona, were now quickly gathering around.
Seeing the growing crowd, Nathan swiftly recalled Volcarona and turned to leave without another word.
He'd grown too used to being alone and had forgotten that he was no longer some nobody. As the reigning World Champion, his fanbase in the country was absolutely massive.
Now that he'd summoned Volcarona, he was instantly recognized.
He figured it wouldn't take more than a few minutes before he was completely surrounded by fans.
-------------------
After Nathan left, rumors began spreading online about him catching a new Pokémon.
Everyone was speculating about the strength of this mysterious new Pokémon.
Since Xerneas hadn't revealed any of its power publicly, the average person had no way of knowing how strong it actually was.
But at this point, the online crowd had already accepted Xerneas as Nathan's newest team member.
Not that Nathan minded.
He would like Xerneas to become his Pokémon, but that was still a long way off.
Eventually, Nathan found a high-end hotel.
These kinds of hotels offered all sorts of luxury services. He had the staff arrange for a hairdresser.
After two full hours of bathing, grooming, and tidying up, Nathan finally looked clean and presentable again.
Once he was all set, he turned his phone back on.
Immediately, a ding-ding-ding sound rang out non-stop.
Missed calls and messages from his parents, from Lily, from Kelly…
Over a hundred missed calls, and two to three hundred unread messages.
He called his parents first to let them know he was safe.
Then he returned Lily's call.
"You still remember how to make a phone call?" Lily said irritably as soon as she picked up.
Before he had left, Nathan had said he might be gone for a while.
But this long? And with his phone turned off the whole time?
Sure, she was used to him disappearing into mystic realms for seven or eight days, but this time it had been nearly a month. Even if she knew he had something important to do, she couldn't help but worry.
"My bad, my bad. My phone was off, okay?" Nathan said sheepishly, trying to laugh it off.
He chatted warmly with Lily for a while, then finally exhaled in relief as he hung up the call.
Women really aren't that easy to fool…
Still, he didn't mind it. In fact, he was kind of happy.
At least it showed that Lily genuinely cared about him.
Just as he ended the call with Lily, his phone rang again—this time it was Kelly.
"Well, well, look who finally has time to answer the phone! I've been calling you for a whole hour, and all I got was 'the line is busy!'"
Kelly started complaining the second the call connected.
He had seen online that Nathan had returned and immediately tried calling. But the line was busy for a solid hour.
"Cough, cough… what can I say? Gotta calm the girlfriend down when she's upset, right?" Nathan said awkwardly.
Kelly nearly exploded with frustration.
Seriously?! You've been back for one day and you're already shoving PDA in my face? Give a single guy a break!
"Anyway, let's get to the point. What about that special quota? You know the one I mean. The nation didn't ask you for a single spot this time."
Kelly wasn't just calling to complain—he was here for business.
The deadline for entering the mystic realm was rapidly approaching, and Nathan still hadn't submitted any names.
That had everyone worried.
The quota was extremely valuable—only three spots were available worldwide.
If Nathan didn't return in time, the government had even considered reclaiming all three spots for national use.
"No worries. I'll take two for myself. You guys can decide who gets the last one," Nathan said after a moment of thought.
He wasn't lacking in Pokémon now, but it was about time to start helping Lily build a stronger team.
She was the girlfriend of the World Champion, after all.
If word got out that her Pokémon were weak, wouldn't that be embarrassing for him?
(End of Chapter)