🎆 Happy New Year! 🎆
Thank you all for the amazing support throughout this year. 💙To celebrate the arrival of the new year, here is a special New Year code:
🎁 Code:NewYear: F3B16
📅 Code validity:
Start: December 30, 2025 at 11:55 p.m.
End: January 2, 2026 at 11:00 p.m.
Enjoy it and let's start this new year strong. 🚀✨Here's to an amazing 2026! 🎉
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Upon seeing this alternate space, Kagen immediately let go of all the distrust in his heart.
Being able to use this kind of ability could only be done by someone from the Sacred Church.
Although it gave him some doubt as to why it wasn't the same person he had been in contact with before, he hadn't been in the Sacred Church for very long and therefore didn't know many of its rules in depth.
All of this should have been under the responsibility of that middle-aged man in black who had faced Cain.
But now it seemed there was no longer any opportunity for that.
Cain and Kagen walked together into the alternate space that Cain himself had created.
"Give me the mission card," said Cain, calmly extending his hand.
Kagen didn't suspect anything and immediately took out a black card from his storage space.
A black card, huh...
Cain received it and, using the system, deciphered the mission contained in it.
There was only one: to obtain victory in the current tournament, challenge an Elite Four, and take their place.
The prize for completing the mission would be rare Pokémon and a divine stone.
Once finished reading, he slid his palm over the card and completely modified its content.
"This is the new mission. The current one is suspended for now, the plan has changed. From now on, your contact will be me. When you complete the task, I will meet you again," said Cain, returning the card to Kagen.
He left the alternate space and, without saying anything more, leapt through the window, disappearing into the night.
Kagen remained in the room, watching as Cain's silhouette moved away. Then he passed the black card through a special machine.
He confirmed that the content had indeed changed.
The tournament mission had been canceled, replaced by the task of assassinating two people.
Both names and details were written there.
If that middle-aged man in black had been present, he would have immediately recognized them as two of his other subordinates.
Now Cain was ordering Kagen to kill those two, which meant provoking an internal struggle.
At best, the mysterious group would end up divided.
Although, being only three minor figures, they probably wouldn't cause a great storm.
Leaving no trace, Cain returned to his room, sat on the bed, and began to test that new method of training his psychic powers.
...
The next day, the matches continued as usual.
Kagen, however, for special reasons, suddenly withdrew from the competition, disappointing many who saw him as the dark horse of the tournament.
That way, Lance went directly to the final without needing to fight.
The second battle between Koga and Flint was extremely exciting.
Both fought back and forth, but in the end the victor was Koga.
Although he didn't excel in frontal confrontations, Poison-type Pokémon were incredibly troublesome in prolonged battles.
Not even Flint's Rock-type Pokémon escaped from it.
Koga's Poison-types had exceptional mastery of their Poison-type energy; even Rock-types, after a long battle, ended up giving in.
That's why Flint lost.
However, despite the defeat, Flint smiled happily.
Being the oldest of all the tournament participants, he felt he had already done all he could.
He planned, after the tournament, to return to Pewter City to spend time with his wife and children.
That's why he wasn't sad about losing.
The pace of the competition quickened.
That same afternoon, the match between Lance and Koga was held.
Since Lance hadn't fought in the morning, he had the advantage of being fresh.
Koga, although he had defeated Flint and, thanks to the effort of the Nurse Joys, his Pokémon had recovered their optimal physical condition, mentally they were still exhausted.
So, to everyone's eyes, Koga barely held out a little before surrendering.
But to Cain, Koga had been smart.
He knew that achieving second place was already the best possible result; defeating Lance was unthinkable.
It wasn't just about strength: anyone could see that this tournament was staged as a spectacle for Lance. The rest were merely companions.
Whatever the Drako family had arranged with the League, Lance's rise to the title of Champion was inevitable.
Even Master Seiji, who had held a seat among the Elite Four of the Kanto region for more than thirty years, was willing to hand over the place.
If Koga had ruined the League's plans, he would never have been considered for entry into the Elite Four. Neither now nor in the future.
But by surrendering in the end and letting Lance shine, the result was different.
He obtained second place, proved his strength, and showed that he had the capacity to aspire to the position.
At the same time, he didn't destabilize the League's plans and, even more, strengthened ties with the Drako family, granting them a favor.
In the next vacancy in the Elite Four, Koga would be one of the first candidates.
It couldn't be denied: he had thought everything through very clearly.
Time proved him right. When the Kanto League split, he was the first to become an Elite Four of the Johto region.
One of the most influential families in the Johto region was, precisely, the Drako family. Who could say they hadn't intervened in that?
By then his strength was greater, but what he had done in this tournament had undoubtedly laid the foundation to achieve it.
Thus, another day passed.
The spectators were excited.
After such a long wait, the most anticipated showdown was finally arriving.
Especially for Steven, Cynthia, and Cain, whose main interest was to measure the difference between themselves and the Elite Four.
The next day would bring the battle between Lance and Master Seiji.
On their way back, Cain and the others ran into Professor Oak, whom they hadn't seen for several days.
At his side was his own teacher, Matsuda Takashi, chatting cheerfully.
They seemed to be waiting for them.
"Master, Professor Oak," greeted Cain, stepping forward.
The others also bowed respectfully.
"Very good, very good. Lance, tomorrow do your best," smiled Professor Oak, nodding, and then addressing Lance.
From a strict point of view, Master Seiji even had more seniority than Professor Oak and old Matsuda.
For that reason, even they showed him respect.
"Yes!" Lance nodded, seriousness reflected on his face.
He had been preparing for this battle for a long time.
Ever since he returned from Kalos and accepted the support of the Drako family, his third uncle—the current head of the family—had warned him to prepare for this battle.
Why his third uncle? Because Lance's father was the eldest brother, although he had left very early. The second son had disappeared, leaving leadership in the hands of the third.
As for Master Seiji's Pokémon and data, Lance had memorized them all.
Although the master hadn't fought in a long time and no one knew his current strength for sure, the fact that he was giving up the position meant he wouldn't put up obstacles.
Moreover... he probably wouldn't even use his main Pokémon.
(End of chapter)