The instant the exploration mission came to a complete stop, the giant screen controlled by Rotom immediately displayed the final exploration rankings.
There was no suspense at all.
Pei Jingguo had taken first place.
In that very moment, the Pokémon Center erupted.
Some celebrated.
Others lamented.
Su Bai had never revealed the exact exploration progress to everyone, so the bookmaker had been relying entirely on the information displayed on the screen to continuously adjust the odds.
Judging from the grin plastered across his face, quite a few Trainers had apparently bet on someone else pulling off a comeback.
"Looks like it's time to call the Trainers back."
Su Bai chuckled as he stood up and stretched.
At the lower-left corner of his vision, the system notifications were already piling up, refreshing one after another.
[Congratulations, Host. Exploration complete. The Kanto Pokémon Descent Event has concluded!]
[Please gather the five Trainers with the highest exploration progress so that their rewards may be distributed.]
[The Top Five Trainers will each receive one opportunity to draw a Pokémon.]
[The Top Three Trainers will additionally receive one opportunity to draw an item.]
[The Champion will receive one additional opportunity to enter the Secret Realm Trial, in addition to the two aforementioned rewards.]
[Furthermore, the higher a Trainer ranks, the greater their chances of drawing rare Pokémon.]
[The Host's Pokémon Center has now reached a preliminary level of development. It is time to take the next step!]
[Please establish a Pokémon Center branch. Its specifications must be no lower than those of the Haicheng Pokémon Center.]
[Once established, the Pokémon Center branch will possess the Spatial Rift function.]
[In addition to the other facilities, the central counter area of the Host's Pokémon Center will simultaneously exist within both the branch and the main store.]
[The Host and employees may use the counter to travel between the main store and its branches.]
[Customers may enter the counter space and freely interact with one another, but they cannot use the counter space to travel between different cities.]
[Please establish a Pokémon Center branch as soon as possible!]
Su Bai froze halfway through his stretch.
He almost threw his back out.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and reread the final notifications several times.
The rewards listed earlier weren't particularly surprising.
The rewards were generous, but that was only natural.
It was the system, after all.
It had always been generous.
Besides, the Trainers had put in an enormous amount of effort during this exploration.
They deserved those rewards.
But the information afterward…
That was the real bombshell.
Opening a branch was one thing.
But what the hell did it mean for the counter to exist within a spatial rift?!
Su Bai had a hard time even imagining the scene.
In other words, as long as he was standing behind the counter, people in any of his branches could interact with him?
If each branch were treated as an independent space, then the counter was essentially the point where all those spaces converged.
And through that central hub, Su Bai could freely travel between different cities?!
The system could actually accomplish something like this?
This was on an entirely different level from fixed-point teleportation!
"The exploration rankings are finally out…"
"No surprise there. It's Pei Jingguo, after all…"
"Huh?"
"Su Bai…"
"Su Bai?"
Zhu Jianyuan stared at Su Bai, who was still frozen in his stretching pose with an astonished and complicated expression.
He scratched his head.
Had Su Bai…
Pulled a muscle?
With that terrifying physique of his, could he actually throw his back out?
Zhu Jianyuan discreetly knocked on his own lower back.
Looks like he needed to take better care of himself, too…
..............
Outside Haicheng.
The citizens had lined both sides of the road, forming two enormous rows.
Their cheers practically drowned out everything else.
Wang Tao and the other Trainers walked at the front of the procession.
Hearing the thunderous cheers, they couldn't help but raise their heads proudly.
"See that? That's my son!"
"There! The one riding the giant turtle!"
"I'm telling you, my son is a knight!"
"Who am I?"
"I'm Wang Tao's biological father!"
"That giant turtle cost my son's entire marriage fund!"
"Pretty damn handsome, isn't he?"
"And that kid Su Bai?"
"I watched that boy grow up!"
"I knew from the beginning that he'd amount to something!"
"You know how much he loves the sweet-and-sour ribs I make?!"
Among the crowd, a middle-aged man who looked remarkably similar to Wang Tao in both appearance and build had practically raised his chin to the heavens.
He grabbed anyone nearby and launched into a long-winded explanation.
"Dad is seriously embarrassing me…"
Wang Tao watched the scene unfold and covered his face in embarrassment.
"Seeing your ordinary son become the center of everyone's attention…"
"Uncle must be really happy."
Liu Yunlan giggled as she waved repeatedly toward her own family.
"But wait…"
"Did you really use your marriage fund to buy that Turtwig?"
"Then does that count as the dowry you gave Turtwig?"
"Turtwig is practically swimming in green now…"
"..."
Wang Tao looked down at the goofy-looking Torterra beneath him.
Then he looked at his father, who was still loudly recounting the story of his son's marriage fund.
For a moment, he felt like his entire world had collapsed.
Other than Xiao Zhang, who was earnestly studying Aura while walking and learning from Lucario, everyone else wore triumphant smiles.
Under the blue sky and white clouds, the atmosphere was simply wonderful.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
Standing at the gates of Haicheng, Su Bai clapped his hands and successfully drew everyone's attention.
"Alright, everyone."
"Don't block the city gates."
"The five Trainers with the highest exploration progress will receive mysterious grand prizes from the Pokémon Center."
"If you're interested in seeing what those prizes are, you're welcome to come to the Pokémon Center and find out."
"The Pokémon Center has limited space."
"First come, first served!"
The instant Su Bai finished speaking, the massive crowd that had only just poured out of the Pokémon Center turned around and began surging back toward it.
They were so obedient that even Zhu Jianyuan, the city lord himself, couldn't help feeling a little jealous.
..............
Inside the Pokémon Center.
The five Trainers who had secured the top five exploration rankings stood proudly in front of the counter, their chests puffed out.
The Trainers who had been pushed out of the top five were inevitably somewhat disappointed.
The sole exception was Xiao Zhang, who was still completely focused on learning Aura.
Su Bai glanced at the disappointed Trainers and smiled.
"If you didn't make the top five this time, then work harder and try again next time."
The moment he said this, Li Xiaoyu, whose eyes were practically red with jealousy, immediately looked up in shock.
"There's a next time?!"
"Then the Pokémon haven't finished descending yet?!"
The entire Pokémon Center erupted into a wave of discussion.
The arrival of Pokémon…
Wasn't a one-time event?!
Even Zhu Jianyuan looked at Su Bai in surprise.
He had always assumed that the development of Pokémon would revolve around Haicheng, with Pokémon gradually spreading outward from the city.
But apparently…
More Pokémon could still descend?
Su Bai smiled as he explained.
"The number of Pokémon species is far greater than you can imagine."
"In fact, if you include their evolutionary forms…"
"There are more than a thousand species."
"What descended this time was merely the first version."
"I told you before."
"Pokémon will change this world."
"And I'm not talking about just the areas surrounding Haicheng."
"In the future, Pokémon will descend around other cities as well."
"Of course…"
"As the people of Haicheng who were the first to come into contact with Pokémon…"
"You'll naturally have a bit of an advantage."
Su Bai's words immediately reignited the spirits of the Trainers who had failed to make the top five.
They hadn't made it this time.
But what about next time?
Su Bai smiled and nodded.
"That's more like it."
"You'll have more than one chance."
"Now…"
"Let's not waste any more time."
"The five heroic Trainers at the top of the rankings are still waiting for their prizes!"