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

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 close 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 Suppressant Stone."

Xia Chen was slightly taken aback. Wasn't this thing related to Xiduolanen?

Da Ye, or rather, the others, seemed unaware of this, otherwise they wouldn't have gambled it away so casually.

Did I just get a lucky break?

It's hard to say, but in any case, the prize of the Adek Volcano's offspring alone is enough to cover all the prizes offered by the official team.

Alder's Volcarona needs no further praise; it's on par with Cynthia's Garchomp and Leon's Charizard.

Her offspring are even more valuable than ordinary champion-level quasi-god cubs.

Volcarona, with its Fire and Bug typing, is indeed a type that's lacking in the team.

Moreover, it is impeccable in both appearance and strength, not to mention that it is a descendant of the Volcano moth from Alder.

Thinking of this, Xia Chen asked excitedly, "Then where is that burning insect? Has it hatched or is it still in its egg?"

Cattleya said quietly, "It's still inside the Vulcan moth's belly."

Xia Chen: "..."

Well, it was all for nothing.

Another long wait is coming.

But it doesn't matter. Xia Chen has waited for Sticky Treasure before, so he's not afraid of waiting for another Burning Worm.

…………

"What are your plans next?"

After Xia Chen roughly understood the prize information for the World Youth Championship, Cynthia, who was lying on the sofa, asked him about his upcoming schedule.

"Well, I'd like to finish up the secret seasoning thing first, but I might have to wait for Papa's news."

Xia Chen is a man of his word. He has already found three of the five secret seasoning ingredients. Whether it is for the sake of curing Gu Leton or for other reasons, this is what Xia Chen will be doing in the coming period of time.

However, as he said, they still need to wait for information from Pipa before that.

"So, would you like to travel around the Unova region for a while? If you ask me, I can consider being your tour guide for a bit."

Cattleya spoke in a cold, arrogant tone, using the most haughty words.

Traveling in the Unova region?

Xia Chen gave Cattleya's suggestion a serious consideration before choosing to decline.

"Forget it, the Padia affair isn't over yet, and I don't want to cause any more trouble."

He felt that he didn't have the protagonist's advantages, but he did have the protagonist's tendency to cause trouble.

Carlos and Padia seem to bring a lot of trouble wherever they go. As for the two dragon gods, one ideal and the other reality, I have no intention of provoking them.

Cynthia suddenly said, "I remember you said you wanted to become a gym leader? Do you still have that idea? If so, with your strength and reputation, you should already be preparing to apply."

Xia Chen was slightly taken aback; this suggestion had indeed awakened his oldest memories.

My thoughts drifted back to two years ago.

At that time, he was just an ordinary person whose parents had disappeared and who had nothing.

He had no starter Pokémon, no resources, no money, and no superpowers. All he had was an ordinary handsome face and memories that didn't belong to this world.

The ideal life is to work hard for more than ten years, raise a bunch of cute or cool Pokémon, and become a gym leader who just lazes around and does nothing.

However, this ideal life trajectory has been going further and further off course ever since they picked up that little guy.

My current self: A renowned Pokémon researcher, a world-leading young Pokémon trainer, a young billionaire, and a self-media blogger with millions of followers.

If you include all the titles, big and small, it would be enough for a crosstalk performer to deliver a rapid-fire monologue.

The changed circumstances made Xia Chen want to sigh with melancholy, "The happiest time of my life was when I was earning 91 yuan a month as a small content creator in the food section."

Of course, this was just a thought. If Arceus really came out and let him choose what kind of life he wanted, Xia Chen would definitely still choose the current one without hesitation.

So, what about the original dream?

Just as Xia Chen was feeling lost, a delicate, fair hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

"There's no need to rush into making such an important decision. Take your time to think it over."

It was impossible for Gadriya to be so gentle. Xia Chen turned his head and saw that it was indeed Cynthia looking at him with her beautiful eyes.

Xia Chen suddenly said, "I'm thinking of going back to Donghuang."

…………

The World Youth Championship victory was a great success not only for Xia Chen, but also for Gu Leton.

However, Xia Chen's rewards came from the event organizers and two big shots, while Gu Leton finally completed the system's newbie quest that had been stuck for three or four months.

[Ding~ Congratulations, host, for successfully winning the championship alongside your trainer and completing the beginner's mission: Showing promise! Rewards are now being issued based on your performance in the mission. Please check your account.]

[Task Performance Rating: A+ (Although you only appeared once, you delivered a performance that impressed everyone!)]

[Basic Rewards: 2 Magic Candies (If your strength isn't enough, make up for it with your level. Powerful strength is the foundation for navigating the world, young sprite, so please don't be shy!); Unlocks basic system function: Sprite Information.]

[Bonus Reward: 100000 Store Points.]

A+?

Therefore, Leighton was somewhat surprised, as this rating was much higher than the B- for the first mission.

It is estimated that the competition's reputation, prestige, and the level of the opponents were taken into consideration.

Although the extra reward points were much higher than the 1000 points I received last time, they were still half the price of the advanced all-purpose healing capsule I wanted to buy.

It seems we'll have to wait for the next task.

Ignoring the mission, Leighton first began to study the item called "Magic Candy" in the basic rewards.

The descriptions of "experience" and "level" are quite gamified, so Leighton guessed that the system had quantified the strength of the sprites into something similar.

For a moment, it was curious about its level of existence in the eyes of this mysterious system.

Therefore, Gu Leton silently said in his mind, "System, open [Sprite Information]".

[Opening your information panel. Your information is as follows.]

[Race: Guleton]

[Attribute: Fighting/Dragon]

[Gender: None]

[Level: 93 (80)]

【Trait: Crimson Pulse (Activates [Sunny Day] weather and grants a 33% attack power boost while in Sunny Day.)】

[Mastered Moves: Full Power Charge, Close Combat, Flame Charge, Dragon Claw, Reverse Scale, Drain Punch, Meteor Shower]

…………

So, does rank really represent strength?

Therefore, Leighton understood.

But my level is only 93?

Therefore, Leton was somewhat surprised, as it had thought that Leton would be at least level 95. It seems that there are many elves in this world stronger than itself.

After a brief moment of reflection, Leighton pulled himself back to the story and continued reading.

As for level 80 after level 93, that should be my current level after I got injured.

Knowing his own condition, Leighton was not surprised that he was now 13 levels below his prime.

It wasn't lying when it told Xia Chen that it had returned to the legendary level, but what it didn't add was that the scope of "legendary" power as defined by humans was far too vast.

Using the system's assigned levels, reaching level 80 allows one to surpass the champion and reach the legendary level.

However, there are discrepancies between the legends.

Are level 80 and level 99 the same thing?

Having reached the pinnacle and also fallen to the depths, Guleton knows best the answer to this question: the difference is like night and day.

Regigigas can drag continents, Kyogre can create land and sea, the Chrono Dragons can destroy time and space at will, and Xerneas has the power to grant life.

Today's battles in the arena, dubbed "battles of legends" by outsiders, are no different from children playing house in the face of the real legends.

Based on rational self-analysis, Leighton felt that his abilities were indeed inferior to those legendary big shots in various regions, so a level of 93 was reasonable.

So what is the effect of that item called [Magic Candy]?

Curious, Leighton opened the shop panel and searched for "magical candy," and the dazzling array of products instantly dwindled to just one.

[Miracle Candy: Raises one Pokémon's level by 1 (Price: 100000 / Limited to 2)]