Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

Got it, filial piety has gone awry, right?

Darkrai suppressed his slightly bitter smile and looked up at Xia Chen. "I learned a lot from you in this match. I never thought that humans could play such a significant role in the battles of legendary Pokémon, while I, on the other hand, dragged Darkrai down."

Xia Chen originally wanted to comfort him by saying, "Don't compare yourself to me. I have superpowers and the power of aura. You can't learn this stuff." But no matter how he thought about it, it seemed like he was just stirring up trouble, so he nodded slightly and said, "Good luck."

Darkrai smiled gratefully and then said, "I will continue my training with Master Darkrai in Aspen Town, hoping to gain its approval one day. You are also welcome to visit Aspen Town."

Xia Chen twitched the corner of his mouth and replied, "If there's a chance... I probably will."

His reluctance stemmed not from any personal grudge against Dakdo, but from any personal grudge against Baiyang Town.

If things really turn out badly, and the two gods of time and space start fighting, he'll have nowhere to run.

Unless absolutely necessary, Xia Chen didn't want to go to that place.

But agreeing verbally won't hurt you. Just like that Pidgeot, hasn't it been waiting for that scumbag in Viridian Forest for over a decade?

I wonder how they are doing now...

Xia Chen and Dakdo's conversation began with an introduction to Baiyang Town and ended with an invitation from Baiyang Town.

After accepting Darko's invitation, it was almost time for the awards ceremony, so the two headed to the main venue of Raven Arena together.

Raven Arena is hailed as the "most technologically advanced arena" for a reason.

When Xia Chen left, it was a dilapidated scene of broken walls and ruins, but when he returned a few hours later, it had been completely renewed.

Because this arena uses a floating island-style battlefield, if a battlefield breaks down and becomes unusable, it doesn't need to be repaired immediately. Instead, a massive underground mechanical device can be used to lift the arena down and replace it with a brand new battlefield.

The venue that has been replaced is a space specifically designed for the awards ceremony.

The huge awards stage is divided into three platforms of different heights, naturally representing the champion, runner-up, and third-place winners.

Each platform is large enough for the trainer and all his Pokémon to stand on, with room to spare.

Of course, for a trainer like Steven who has big Pokémon like Aggron and Metagross Skarmory, standing on it is still a bit crowded.

…………

Half an hour before the awards ceremony, the stands at Raven Arena were already packed with people.

With the competition over, there were no longer any safety concerns about being caught in the crossfire, and the spectators were allowed in to wait for what might be the most exciting and unique World Youth Championship awards ceremony in history.

The number of viewers in the Pixiv livestream room was no less than during the decisive battle in the morning; no one wanted to miss this historically significant moment.

At this moment, there was no more arguing in the comments section.

They were either reminiscing about the morning's competition, cheering for the athletes who achieved excellent results, or offering encouragement and support to the athletes representing their region...

In short, the unusually harmonious atmosphere was hardly like a live stream with hundreds of millions of viewers watching online.

In the face of this truly great match, everyone set aside their prejudices and biases, and wholeheartedly devoted themselves to enjoying the game itself.

Time ticked by, and with the increasingly rousing background music, the final and most anticipated segment—the awards ceremony—finally began.

Starting with Daigo and his Pokémon, followed by Darkrai and Xia Chen, the top three in this competition took turns ascending the podium under the spotlight, enjoying the thunderous cheers from the audience surrounding them.

On the enormous platform called "The Podium," the three people and their respective sprites huddled together.

So Leton and Darkrai leaned together and whispered, seemingly discussing legendary secrets among the elves.

Cypher was particularly interested in the Metagross, which shimmered with a platinum-gold luster—it always liked shiny objects, like coins.

Milotic nestled proudly behind Xia Chen, basking in the admiring gazes of Garchomp and Cradle Lily...

Although he did not participate in this competition, it did not prevent him from being the most eye-catching Pokémon besides the two legendary Pokémon.

Xia Chen did not stop the elves from their "social activities." On the contrary, he was also chatting with the young master of the Devon Group beside him.

…………

"To be honest, I'm also a stone enthusiast."

Xia Chen's approach immediately hit Daigo's sweet spot, and the latter raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking up at Xia Chen.

He made this move not because he was short, but mainly because the platform for third place was much lower than that for first place.

"What kind of stones do you like to collect? Energy gems? Evolution stones? Or those diamonds? I personally have a lot of gems with unique shapes and colors. If you'd like to see them, I can take you to my house in a bit, but we need to go back to Hoenn first..."

As soon as the topic of rocks came up, Daigo immediately woke up and began to chat animatedly with this fellow enthusiast.

He didn't doubt that Xia Chen was the kind of person who would use the topic of stones to get closer to someone.

He has no shortage of strength, connections, resources, or even Daigo's most powerful asset: "money power." He doesn't need any of them.

Therefore, Daigo naturally assumed that Xia Chen was indeed very interested in stones, just as he himself had said.

In some ways, Xia Chen is indeed interested in stones, like Key Stones, Mega Stones, and Shining Stones...

He wanted to get to know Daigo, and he did indeed have some ulterior motives in that regard.

Of course, putting that aside, Xia Chen also really wanted to get to know this very charismatic person.

But let's head to Hoenn today...

Xia Chen politely declined, saying, "I still have some things to take care of in Padiya. Let's wait a while."

Daigo shrugged. "Whatever you want, but I might not be in Hoenn by then."

Xia Chen nodded in understanding, "No problem, let's keep in touch if we find any special stones in the future."

After chatting with the future Hoenn champion for a while, the three award presenters came up from the audience.

They are the current Unova Champion, Wanlong; the former Unova Champion, Adeq; and the current Unova Champion, Gadria.

In competitions hosted by Hezhong, the award presenters are naturally Hezhong members.

Based on their respective statuses, Wanlong presented the award to Daigo, Adeker presented the award to Darko, and naturally, Gadria presented the award to Xia Chen.

The superpowered champion, whose appearance and figure were both exquisite and youthful, slowly walked up to Xia Chen, with a golden trophy floating beside her, which she controlled with her superpowers.

Xia Chen silently recited in his heart, "Reject childish aesthetics, starting with you," and for a moment forgot to accept the trophy.

…………

"What are you standing there for? Come on."

To outsiders, Cattleya is a cold and aloof girl, or at least that's how she appears.

She used a voice that would excite countless perverts to shout, "Miss Cattleya, hurry up and curse me!" to remind them.

Xia Chen snapped out of his daze and used his superpowers to accept the trophy.

The World Youth Championship trophy is very cool. The main body of the cup is embossed with two lifelike dragons, so vivid that it seems as if they could fly out of the cup if you touched their eyes.

The champion trophy changes depending on the location of each competition. In the Unova region, it is naturally the dragon god brothers who are said to have created this continent.

Another championship trophy added!

Xia Chen admired the newly acquired trophy for a while, then passed it around to the next person.

The eldest sister, Sylveon, took it first, followed by Milotic, Gardevoir... and finally it ended up in the hands of Gulliverton.

Holding this trophy, which was not heavy in terms of material weight, but weighed heavily on him and made him breathe rapidly, Leighton had mixed feelings.

This championship trophy carries the weight of its own efforts and the hard work of all the partners it has made over the past few months.

In its dull and long life, this was by no means the most important moment, nor an exciting event, nor a life-or-death situation.

But at this moment, a strange, warm feeling of emotion flowed through my heart.

"What are you standing there for? Raise your glasses and take a group photo!"

Just as Leighton was pondering the source of this emotion, a voice told him the answer.

A smile appeared on its wild and unrestrained face as it raised the trophy in one hand and lifted Xia Chen up in its arms with the other.

The image froze at the sound of someone's surprised and embarrassed shouts.

Chapter 294 My Initial Dream: Opening a Dojo? (5.2k views)

"So, in the end, this is all the prize money the World Youth Championship winner gets... Isn't your Unova region always the richest and most powerful?"

In the hotel room after the match.

Looking at the list of champion prizes sent to him by the event organizers, Xia Chen jokingly complained to the current champion of the United Nations.

To be honest, as a world-class competition, the World Youth Championship, nicknamed the "Youth Version of the Eight Masters," only has a prize worth a few million, which is a bit underwhelming.

Cattleya replied defiantly, "I won the championship challenge but didn't get any reward."

"Because the title of champion is the best reward in itself."

Xia Chen exposed the truth behind that statement.

"You're right, the championship itself is the best reward."

Cattleya nodded in agreement, a hint of teasing amusement in her eyes.

Xia Chen was furious.

No, can these two champions even be compared?

Your league champions wield great power and enjoy a prestigious status, while my World Youth Championship title, aside from sounding nice, is nothing special.

He had intended to refute it that way, but seeing the perfectly curved corners of Cattleya's mouth, he ultimately just clicked his tongue lightly.

Bad woman.

Cynthia stepped in to mediate, saying, "Alright, stop arguing. This competition is actually similar to the Masters Tournament. Although the prize money isn't high, it's very prestigious."

It seems that neither the best friend nor the other...good friend showed favoritism.

She suddenly remembered something and added, "And didn't Adek and Big Leaf add a bit of excitement to the championship?"

Xia Chen had been busy with competitions and preparing for them these past few days, so he hadn't heard anything like this before and was naturally full of questions.

Gadria explained simply, "It's probably because those two guys bet on your starting Pokémon, choosing three out of eight, and neither of them guessed correctly, so they used the bet as the prize for the championship."

Xia Chen understood; he guessed they were betting on the match against Daigo's starting lineup, Doronchi.

He pressed on with curiosity, "So what were their stakes?"

Caldelia answered every question, “The offspring of Adek’s Volcano, and a Volcanic Stone that can greatly help the growth of Fire-type Pokémon in the early and mid-stages.”

"Volcanic Stone..."