Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

"Woo!"

"That's... Little Silver?!" Lucia covered her mouth in surprise. She never expected to see the little Lucia from before again.

She watched it hover over the sea, its once petite body now mature and strong, looking just like the real Lugia.

The other creature tumbled and flew through the air, and after playing around for a while, it actually flew towards her and stopped in front of her.

On that still somewhat childish face, Rukia clearly saw a hint of joy!

Yes, it must remember itself too!

"Xiao Liu?"

"Huh?" Rukia was taken aback when she suddenly heard a clear child's voice beside her.

"Little...Little Silver, is that you?" Rukia asked in disbelief.

"It's me! It's been so long!" Xiao Yin nodded hurriedly, her smile growing even brighter.

Back in the Whirlpool Islands, Silver and Ryukia got along very well, and Silver has always remembered having such a friend.

However, Gin usually can't show his face when traveling, so he doesn't have a chance to greet Ryukia.

“Little Silver…” Lucia stared blankly at the little Lugia in front of her. She subconsciously reached out her hand, but dared not touch it as casually as before.

So much time has passed, she really feels that things have changed and people are no longer the same.

Those happy times in the Whirlpool Islands are probably gone forever...

"Hey~" As Ryukia hesitated, Silver happily bumped into her and started rubbing its forehead against her palm.

"It's a rare opportunity to catch up, so stay a little longer. After all, it's not easy to meet again." Seeing this, Xiao Zhi didn't urge them and left the beach alone.

Honestly, if Ash hadn't sensed Silver's unusual behavior while thinking about Milotic's training plan, he would have almost forgotten about this storyline.

Back in the Whirlpool Islands, Rukia and Gin presented themselves to him in various ways, and those scenes gradually became clearer.

Ash has to admit that he now naturally interacts with Silver as a father, which is probably related to Rukia's repeated emphasis on this.

...

The group's journey continued, and with Ryukia finding something to do, their daily routines gradually became more fulfilling.

When problems arise, it's important to ask questions and find solutions promptly. At the same time, it's also crucial to be mindful of boundaries and appropriate boundaries. This kind of finesse in interpersonal relationships used to be far removed from Ryukia's life, but she is now learning it gradually and subtly.

But then again, this is just the daily life of ordinary people.

During this journey, what Rukia is actually embracing is real life.

She is no longer a pampered young lady from the Glass People who lives a life of luxury, nor a glamorous idol who needs to maintain a professional smile in front of the camera; she is simply a member of the travel companions.

Every day, they care for and train their Pokémon, discover interesting things on their journey with everyone, and gradually uncover part of the truth about Hoenn.

Fragments of words from Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, praise for Ash from a trainer he met on the roadside, and countless blessings for Ash to become the Hoenn Champion!

It seems that at the level of ordinary people, there is no rejection of Ash taking over Hoenn, and many people even strongly support it.

The most common reason they gave was that Ash was a savior.

No matter how the authorities and the media try to smear and cover it up, justice will prevail.

While the high-ranking figures of Hoenn were touting the defense of the entire region while secretly scheming to seize profits, Ash, in the previous Alola defense battle, risked giving most of his strength to the people of the four islands, just to encourage them to seek refuge!

This made Rukia start to reflect on whether her family and the current high-ranking members of Hoenn might indeed have problems...

Another thing is that her uncle hasn't come to see her.

Ash was also a little surprised by this. In his mind, Wallace should have been furious and even come to fight him.

But he's been unusually quiet lately, and even Naki hasn't noticed him harassing anyone.

This guy is definitely plotting something...

This mystery wasn't fully solved until Ash actually arrived in Lilycove City and the date moved forward to the day before the tournament.

"Ash, have you heard? There's been a change in the Elite Four!" On the eve of the tournament, Yuuki, who was meeting Ash in Loose City, knocked on his door with the latest extra edition.

"Mr. Michael... he's just been confirmed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings!!"

Through Yuuki's breathless explanation, Ash quickly learned the whole story.

It was probably after Ash and his friends left Lilycove City that Wallace, as the Gym Leader of Sootopolis City, submitted his application to challenge the Elite Four.

His opponent was Fujiki, who had already won the title of Fighting King but whose identity the league had never revealed!

Thus, the league officially announced that Fujiki would become the Fighting Champion, the Sootopolis Gym Leader publicly challenged the Fighting Champion, and Wallace was confirmed as the Water-type Champion…

On the eve of the Hoenn Tournament, the Hoenn media was hit with a stunning triple headline!

"Great! Let's play then~" After learning the details, Ash wasn't too shocked.

Mikoli's plan was to climb to the top by stepping on vines, thus gaining the opportunity to compete with himself.

But what can we do about it?

Champion Daigo, the Four Heavenly Kings Mikoli, Genji, Hanazuki, Furong...

Is the Champion Road in Hoenn of high quality?

Chapter 928 Preliminary Round, Passed Easily

Three months before the start of the tournament, a natural disaster struck. Kyogre and Groudon crossed most of Hoenn's land and sea, and finally fought a fierce battle outside Sootopolis City.

Subsequently, Hoenn's top management was plagued by scandals, and the entire league seemed headed towards disintegration.

Given this context, the Rainbow Festival should absolutely be affected, and the number of participants should be quite small...

But the reality is completely different!

On the opening day, Xiao Zhi, who was quite knowledgeable, was shocked when he saw the packed crowd at the venue, so crowded that there wasn't even a gap between them.

"No way... There are over a thousand people who signed up for the competition this time?!" Xiaoyao was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth as she flipped through the competition guidebook.

With over a thousand people, more than four times the number at the Kaina Festival, when will the outcome be decided?

“The Hoenn League Conference is always like this, except there are more people this time,” Yuuki explained. “Local trainers are very enthusiastic about participating in the League Conference, and the League has even extended the validity period of the badges for this purpose… And this time, because of the craze caused by Ash, even more people have come to join in the fun.”

"I see... So what are the previous champions and runners-up doing now?"

"Uh..." Faced with Ash's question, Yuuki could only give an awkward smile.

This is actually quite strange. Winning the championship is an honor, and in principle, outstanding contestants should not be overlooked.

The winners of major celebrations are at least respected as top-tier Coordinators, but the champions of the League Tournament are practically nonexistent.

"This situation will improve in the future," Xiaozhi said, patting Yuuki's shoulder reassuringly.

What else could it be? Trainers at the bottom level lack opportunities for advancement.

The more aristocratic a regime is governed by a family, the more popular these kinds of conferences are, because they are the only way for ordinary trainers to get ahead.

Key positions in all walks of life are basically occupied by family members, and lower-level trainers can only rely on competing for rankings in tournaments in order to stand out among ordinary people.

If they do manage to get into the top three or top four, they will be contacted by some families, who will then decide whether to recruit them.

Those who disagree, of course, simply fade back into the crowd.

The Hoenn League is happy to see this happen. The large number of trainers who sign up for the tournament means that there are still many trainers who have dreams, and they can certainly boost the economy.

True members of a family do not rise to prominence through such grand gatherings.

Relying on family resources to donate funds to become a second- or even first-class military academy owner, honing their skills and enriching their resume, and then deciding on the next step of development based on the situation—this is the typical path for scions of wealthy families.

Those who lack the ability can move behind the scenes or do other jobs, while those with strong abilities can take on important positions such as police chief or investigator, or even challenge the king of kings, and who knows, they might even win the championship in the future.

Among the upper echelons of Hoenn, there is a saying that is particularly widespread and is a true reflection of this model.

What makes you think that your efforts over the past few years of travel can surpass the accumulated wealth of my entire family over several generations?!

Xiao Zhi doesn't mind this, because social classes exist everywhere.

But you guys always try to portray Hoenn in a positive light, so what's going on now?

Ash has made up his mind to change this situation, and no one can stop him from becoming the Hoenn Champion!

...

The day after the opening ceremony, the Rainbow Festival officially began!

With over a thousand participants at the same time, it's easy to imagine that the competition would be quite lengthy.

Similar to the Silver Tournament, all participants need to compete one-on-one until only 256 people remain.

Basically, it's a four-into-one elimination process, and the margin for error is extremely low; a slight mistake can lead to elimination.

Ash certainly wouldn't stumble here. In fact, his match was quite easy, with two opponents surrendering immediately.

The only one who still showed any fighting spirit was a trainer with a Hitmonlee, who exchanged blows with Ash's Infernape for a while before being gloriously defeated.

After advancing to the top 256, the second round of the preliminary rounds was not a round-robin tournament, but still a single-elimination tournament.

Using two Pokémon in a double battle, the winner advances and the loser is eliminated, with the top 32 determined directly through one-on-one battles.

Since it was a doubles match, Ash was quite interested in this part, but he didn't encounter any particularly outstanding doubles combinations.

His first opponent used Devourer with the ever-present Tropius, and Ash, who drew the second move, immediately sent out Golem and Flamebug, a combination from Goldenrod City.