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Roy had started sleeping in the afternoon after the match, and when he finally woke up, it was already the morning of the next day. He had slept for a full fourteen hours straight.
The disorienting feeling that came from sleeping too long made him want to go back to sleep immediately. His stomach made a loud growling sound like a Hoothoot's call, and he felt the sharp pangs of hunger from his empty stomach.
Not only that, but his entire body was sore and aching. He couldn't summon any strength at all in his limbs.
Various uncomfortable sensations surfaced throughout his body. In short, his physical condition was absolutely terrible.
Just as Roy was about to stand up from the bed, he gasped and took in a sharp 'hiss' of breath. A shivering sensation rushed from the soles of his feet all the way up to the back of his brain, making his whole body feel completely numb.
"This is really difficult to handle..."
Aura fusion and Z-moves, although these powerful techniques were incredibly effective in battle, they caused far too much harm to his body when used.
If he remembered correctly, Mega Evolution also seemed to consume a significant amount of the Trainer's energy and stamina as well.
When the time came for him to use all three techniques together in a single battle...
Good grief.
Roy could already imagine the future interview where someone would ask him, 'Why did you become so much thinner and lose so much weight after becoming a professional Trainer?'
Ninetales had opened its eyes the moment Roy woke up from his long sleep.
Seeing Roy's obvious weakness and discomfort, the Pokémon gracefully stretched its tails over toward him. Its nine fluffy tails gently bound his aching limbs and began to massage him with careful, soothing movements.
"Nine?"
"Mmm... that feels very comfortable."
Roy closed his eyes and enjoyed the relaxing massage for a while, letting the tension slowly leave his muscles.
After about half an hour of this treatment, Roy finally felt relief from the overwhelming fatigue. He got up from the bed, washed up properly, and started to address the eating problems for both himself and his Pokémon team.
Because he had fallen asleep so deeply, none of his Pokémon had eaten anything all day yesterday. However, little Cosmog had been hungry during the night. When Roy looked over at the small Nebula Pokémon, it was holding onto Metagross's metallic appendage and gently nibbling on it for sustenance.
Fortunately, it hadn't been Electabuzz that Cosmog had chosen to nibble on, otherwise the little Nebula Pokémon would probably have been paralyzed by the Electric-type's natural electrical current.
Roy's phone had not been charging and had completely turned off during his extended sleep.
After Roy finished eating his breakfast, he picked up his mobile phone, which had been charging for a while. When he turned it back on, he discovered thousands of text messages waiting for him.
Many domestic relatives and friends, including Serena, Elon, Anya, and others, had all sent congratulatory messages praising his incredible performance in yesterday's match.
After Roy replied to each message one by one, he focused his attention on two particularly important text messages that required his immediate attention.
One was a text message from Sebastian.
Sebastian had written in his message that he was sending a professional-level trainer named "Cole" to France to protect Roy's safety and security. He hoped that Roy would not refuse this protection.
If there were no unexpected complications, Cole would arrive in France within two days.
Ah...
Roy immediately thought of the bespectacled man who had reminded him to pay careful attention to 'team battle system construction' during their previous encounters.
Having a professional-level trainer as a personal bodyguard was quite an impressive arrangement, and Roy had no objections to it, especially since it would be someone he already knew and trusted.
During the meetings in the Twin Gods Spiritual Realm, Roy had often consulted Cole and other professional-level trainers about tactical decision-making and team battle strategy, learning a great deal from their experienced perspectives.
The other piece of important news came directly from the tournament organizers.
"Dear Roy, you have not yet collected the prizes for advancing to the Round of 32, Round of 16, and Quarterfinals. Please visit the main prize counter on the first floor of the Kalos Battle Tower as soon as possible to claim your rewards."
In the European Youth Championship, as long as participants made it to the main tournament bracket, even if they lost in the first round, they would still receive consolation prizes for reaching the top 32.
Every time a trainer advanced to the next round, they could choose from the corresponding prize selection for that achievement level.
Roy, who had won two consecutive matches, now had three different tiers of prizes waiting for him to choose from.
As long as he won just one more match, he would be able to exchange his winnings for the special 'Key Stone' that could only be selected as a reward starting from the fourth round.
Thinking about this exciting possibility, Roy felt that his tired and aching body suddenly gained renewed strength and energy. After taking a refreshing shower and changing into clean clothes, he headed out toward the Battle Tower.
Once he stepped onto the main road, Roy immediately realized that he had become genuinely famous.
His characteristics as a native of China were far too obvious and recognizable, and his head-turning rate reached an astonishing one hundred percent. After everyone saw him walking by, they whispered and talked excitedly about him among themselves, continuously looking in his direction with obvious interest.
The French girls, who had always been known for being enthusiastic and romantic, proved to be very bold in their approach. After only three minutes of walking down the street, Roy had already encountered more than a dozen young women who came forward to ask him for autographs and phone numbers. Some girls even asked Roy to sign their names on various parts of their clothing.
Of course, any signatures were made through their clothes rather than directly on skin.
There were also men who approached him and asked for group photos, and their attitudes were consistently warm and friendly toward him.
However, Roy recognized through his Aura sensing abilities that many people among this enthusiastic crowd were the exact same individuals who had been booing him loudly during yesterday's match.
These viewers and fans, when they were online, would aggressively criticize and attack Roy with harsh comments and negative remarks.
But after seeing the real Roy in person, they all called out respectfully, "Brother Roy!" and "Master Roy!" Each of them spoke more politely and admiringly than the others.
The contrast was incredibly genuine and revealing of human nature.
Roy shook his head and sighed at this display of fickleness. He temporarily bought a face mask from a nearby convenience store to cover his highly recognizable features, and then successfully made his way to the Battle Tower without further interruption.
He was not in any hurry to immediately collect his prize rewards, but instead patiently waited until today's quarterfinal matches were scheduled to begin.
Roy's opponent in the quarterfinals was a local European Elite-level trainer named Cyril.
Although Cyril had been fortunate enough not to face any professional-level trainers in his first two tournament rounds, he had managed to win consecutive victories against two Elite trainers of the same skill level as himself. This clearly demonstrated that he was undoubtedly a very skilled and capable trainer.
But... he was simply 'excellent' rather than extraordinary.
Cyril also knew very well that it would be completely impossible for him to defeat the monster-level trainer standing across from him. His goal for this tournament had never been to win the championship, but rather to earn some valuable rewards and gain the opportunity to communicate and learn from geniuses of his same generation.
Therefore, in this upcoming battle, he approached it with a 'learning' mentality, wanting only to give his absolute best effort and leave the competition with no regrets about his performance.
In the quarterfinal match, Roy summoned Blastoise, Electabuzz, and Metagross respectively, allowing each of them to experience the excitement and challenge of competitive battle while also earning some additional popularity points in the process.
Without any dramatic twists or unexpected complications, Roy successfully advanced to the semifinals with a convincing victory.
The other three remaining finalists were yoga master Alora, Arlo who was also from China, and a professional-level trainer representing France. This French trainer was being hailed as the "last hope of Europe" among the final four competitors.
Roy approached the prize counter, and after completing all the necessary paperwork and verification procedures, he received a detailed list of available prize options.
Rewards for reaching the Top 32: 2 million euros, one Basic-level technical manual, a Pokémon egg with an A-grade racial limit value, and various magical items.
Rewards for reaching the Top 16: 10 million euros, Advanced technical manuals, rare pearls, Tree of Beginning gems, and other expensive collectible items.
Rewards for reaching the Top 8: 30 million euros, one master-level technical manual, and a Pokémon egg with an A+ grade racial limit value.
Rewards for reaching the Final Four: Key Stone, three master-level technical manuals, and one of the three starter Pokémon from any region.
Champion Reward: One copy of Transcendence-level technical manual and a pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
For each achievement level, participants could select only one reward from the available options.
It was worth noting that the rewards available to the runner-up were identical to those offered to the semifinalists. This seemed somewhat discriminatory against the second-place finisher, if one thought about it carefully.
Roy considered his options thoughtfully for a moment, then made his selections for each tier in turn.
Two million euros for the Top 32 achievement.
Mega Stone for the Top 16 achievement.
Thirty million euros for the Top 8 achievement.
Key Stone for the Final Four achievement.
"This is..." The staff member working at the prize counter felt very confused and surprised when they saw his unusual choices.
Trainers in this competion typically came from wealthy backgrounds and were rarely short of money. The goal of participating in this type of prestigious competition was usually to obtain rare Pokémon eggs, valuable technical manuals, or magical items and other scarce resources that couldn't be purchased with money alone.
This was the first time the staff member had encountered someone who seemed to perfectly avoid all the 'correct' and optimal choices.
Selecting only money and two mysterious stones seemed quite strange.
The Mega Stone was at least a valuable collectible that could be exchanged for money later or held for potential appreciation in value, which was somewhat understandable from an investment perspective.
However, although the Key Stone held a very high strategic position in research circles, various countries had been studying it for decades without making any meaningful progress. They had invested enormous amounts of scientific research funding and talented researchers without achieving any practical results, let alone individual Trainers working on their own.
From the staff member's perspective, this item was similar to a "national cultural relic." While it was certainly important in theory, when one thought about it practically, this object seemed to have no immediate practical applications or uses.
The puzzled staff member could only attribute Roy's choices to the "eccentric preferences that sometimes characterize genius-level individuals."
Five minutes later, Roy finally laid eyes on the Key Stone and saw what this legendary item actually looked like in reality.
The stone was composed of five distinct colors—pink, blue, navy, green, and yellow—arranged in well-defined layers. In the center of the stone, there was a pattern that resembled the shape of a leaf in black coloring.
Many researchers in the past had attempted to connect Mega Stones and Key Stones because of their similar 'leaf' patterns, but no matter how extensively they researched and experimented, they had never been able to find any concrete connection between the two types of stones.
Roy grasped the Key Stone with an outwardly calm expression, but internally his heart was beating much faster than he had expected.
All the necessary conditions for Mega Evolution were now finally complete and within his grasp.