Kapitel 185: The Closing Ceremony

As we stepped out onto the deck we were greeted by a cacophony of noise, people and pokemon cheering, fireworks exploding, and the steady slapping of the waves against the hill of the ship.

Nemona, while trying to not look too obvious with her abused and bruised butt, hurried to join the rest of the Champions on the stage in the middle of the hastily erected stands. Meanwhile the girls went to find a place to sit, and Marnie and I went to join the others as they walked out to the middle of the cleared space. Thankfully, none of us were actually late.

"Of course YOU won." Gary grumbled as we joined them, to which I smirked cockily even as I greeted the others.

"I think that's just to be expected at this point." Hilbert said with a shrug, as if it couldn't be helped.

"Right? The rest of us at least struggled against one another. Ace just breezed by those he faced." Victor added while shaking his head.

"Speak for yourselves. I'm pretty sure he was intentionally mocking me." Brendan said while looking at me pointedly.

"Don't take it personally. I'm a dick to just about everyone who doesn't have a pussy." I commented offhandedly, resulting in several of them coughing and sputtering while Marnie just turned crimson.

Gary looked as if he was about to retort, when suddenly Lance spoke over the speakers.

"Greetings all and welcome to the reward ceremony of the first ever Inter-League Tournament!"

Silence immediately descended as everyone turned their attention towards Lance and the other Champions.

"First off we would like to thank each and every one of you for supporting this event and making it a resounding success!" Cynthia declared this time.

"Yes! Without all of you, this tournament would not have been possible!" Iris stated this time, looking fairly out of place amongst the other Champions.

"And after we all leave this great ship, I hope you all remember what it was to meet all of these wonderful people! To eat, drink and battle with them like one big family!" Professor Kukui declared with a wide grin.

"Yes." Lance said, stepping forward so that he was the center of attention once more.

"We hope that from this day forward, you all remember the bonds formed in the last few days or weeks. That thanks to this tournament, and those following it, that the people of each and every region will grow closer while the conflicts of the past stay in the past!"

A contemplative silence descended over us at the last part of Lance's declaration, as we all recalled the stories of the wars that had ravaged every region in the past. In the Kanto region specifically were the numerous wars that had occured between us and Johto, while other regions once experienced infighting amongst differing factions, like the cults of land and sea in Hoenn, or the Diamond and Pearl clans of Sinnoh.

"That's enough of the depressing stuff though!" Steven declared, drawing attention to him as he gestured to us dramatically. "Let's get to the reason we're all here!"

As Steven declared such, the Champions tossed out four balls that exploded to reveal four baskets laden with items.

"Gary of Pallet, Marnie of Spikemuth, Victor of Postwick, and Hilbert of Nuvena, please step forward." Steven said, calling those who were eliminated in the first round.

I literally felt Gary and Hilbert grimace as they were called forward, as it probably felt to them that they were being called out for losing. But they still stepped forward with Marnie and Victor while Steven directed them to specific baskets.

"These baskets are for each of you, and were specifically arranged with each of you in mind as congratulations for reaching the final eight amongst hundreds of contestants." Cynthia stated as they reached the baskets, and peered into them curiously.

"Inside you will each find an assortment of items to assist you on your respective journeys, and to help your pokemon grow stronger. We even included a few select items that were personalized to each of you."

As she continued speaking, I noticed Marnie hold up what looked like a spandex uniform similar to what the Galarian Gym Leaders were wearing. Each one however was personalized in design to the trainer, and they each had their home towns stitched onto the back shoulders.

But then they each picked up a couple items that genuinely surprised me, Keystones and Mega Stones, along with a pokeball each.

"Open them up." Iris stated excitedly, acting completely childish despite constantly criticizing others for the same. And so they did, revealing pokemon that made my brows shoot up in surprise.

In front of marnie was a Larvitar, the baby form of Tyranitar. Gary had a Dreepy from Galar, which was the first form of Dragapult if I recalled forrectly. Victor had a Jangmo-o, which originated from Alola I believe. And then finally Hilbert had a Gible from Sinnoh.

"In each basket prepared for our final eight contestants, we each prepared a powerful pokemon from each of the nine primary regions that were selected at random!" Lance declared with a dramatic flare of his cape, before continuing, "From Kanto I have contributed a Dratini, and from Johto I picked Larvitar!"

"From Hoenn I selected Beldum." Steven said, though I noted he looked a bit bitter.

"From Sinnoh, I brought a Gible." Cynthia stated.

"From Unova I decided to being a Deino." Iris continued after her, before adding, "And though she could not be here, Diantha of Kalos contributed a Goomy."

"And from Alola I brought a Jangmo-o!" Professor Kukui declared dramatically.

"From Galar, the Champion Leon selected a Dreepy, and Geeta of Paldea provided a Frigibax!" Nemona declared energetically.

"Oh? So that means there's a Dratini, Beldum, Deino, Goomy and Frigibax left..." I muttered quietly while wondering which one I got.

While I didn't want to be picky, I also couldn't help hoping that I didn't get Dratini or Goomy. Dratini was obvious since I already had one, and I did NOT want a dragon type like Goomy. They may be powerful in their own right, but those things were a disgrace to dragon types everywhere.

On the other hand, I also REALLY wanted to get my hands on a Beldum at some point. Metagross were goated.

Once Marnie, Victor, Gary and Hilbert were all finished examining their winnings, which also apparently included some training items, a check for prize money, and even some evolution stones/items, the quartet came back down from the stage to rejoin the rest of us.

"Next, will Brendan of Littleroot and Lucas of Twinleaf join us up on stage!" Steven requested, and the two protagonists complied as they stepped up to join the Champions.

"For making it to the semifinals, these are for you two." Cynthia said as they threw out a couple more Capsules, which opened up to reveal two more large baskets. Except these two were even larger than the ones Marnie and the others got.

"These baskets included almost everything that the others had, but also a few more items as well!" Iris declared as Brendan and Lucas displayed their contents. They had also received uniforms that were custom made, along with the same training items and evolution stones the others had. In addition, Lucas also got a Keystone and Mega Stone, while Brendan received two Mega Stones since he already had a Keystone.

Then they got to the truly interesting point, as both Lucas and Brendan reached for the pokeball that came with their baskets.

"!!!"

I blinked as Lucas' pokeball revealed his newly given Goomy, and Brendan apparently received Frigibax. I must admit, I was more than a little relieved that someone else got Goomy.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you decide who gets what pokemon?" Lucas asked them as he poked Goomy curiously, though it appeared he didnt have a problem with the blobby pokemon.

"We started with Ace, as the winner of the tournament so he would have the most choices, and chose them with a randomizer. The only variable we controlled was making it so that none of the contestants would get a pokemon they already had, like you and Gible, Ace and his Dratini, or Calem with his Goodra." Cynthia explained to him, letting us all hear as well.

Well, at least that meant I wouldn't get Dratini.

After going over their winnings, which included an even larger check than the one the other received, it was time for Calem's turn.

"Calem of Vaniville town, please step forward!" Lance requested this time, and Calem did just that as they brought out the largest basket yet.

"As the runner up you not only receive two Mega Stones, but also a Z-Ring from Alola complete with a Z-Crystal! Both of them are items recently developed by professor Kukui, who is also the reigning Champion of Alola." Lance stated, before the aforementioned professor declared excitedly,

"That's right! Through the use of a Z-Ring and the corresponding Z-Crystal, the trainer and pokemon can unleash devastatingly powerful moves together that can change the course of battle! I call these moves, Z-Moves!"

"Z-Moves?" I asked quietly, curious. It looks as if the future of battling was going to be VERY interesting.

After the Z-Ring, Calem went through the rest of his basket that had the highest number of items yet, before grabbing the pokeball within.

"Tiniii~!" The little Dratini trilled as it was called out.

"So either Deino or Beldum." I said, excited to see which one I was going to get.

After going through his basket, Calem swept the contents into his bag like the others before him before exiting the stage.

"And now will Ace Ketchum of Pallet town step up here." Steven said as he and the other Champions all looked to me intently.

I did as he bid and stepped up onto the stage, aware that eyes all over the world were on me right now as I joined the Champions.

"And here we have the first ever winner of the Inter-League Tournament, Ace Ketchum!"

At the declaration of my name people began to cheer from the stands around us, applauding the battles I had shown them over the last several days. Plus there were all of my rare pokemon that I had showed off, and even the newly discovered Ditto that I accidentally revealed to them earlier.

"As the winner of the tournament, all of us Champions are proud to present you with the Inter-League trophy!" Lance declared, as all six of the Champions presented a golden trophy cup that stood four feet tall, and was filled with various goods that dwarfed what everyone else had received, along with a few things that sat around it.

"Wow..." I uttered as I looked over my winnings.

Leaning against the trophy was the latest model electric bike, which could shift between automatic and manual modes to travel long distances quickly. Maybe I'll get one for each of the girls as well when we reach Celedon city? Thoughts for later...

In the cup I found at least two or three of every single known evolution stone, including even Dawn, Shiny, Ice, Dusk and Sun stones, as well as several evolution items like the King's Rock and Metal Coat along with a few others. I even found myself THREE Mega Stones as well, along with a label stating that one was a Venusaurite, Absolite, and Steelixite for my Bulbasaur, Absol and Onix respectively, once the former and latter evolved of course.

I had to figt the urge to smile upon finding those, even before I picked up the same Z-Ring that Calem had received as well, along with the three crystals that came with it. They also had labels calling them a Primarium, Incinium, and Decidium, which apparently belonged to the pokemon Primarina, Incineroar and Decidueye respectively. They were all basically useless to me now, but with professor Kukui giving me a Rowlet, Litten and Popplio when we reach Celedon in exchange for a Ditto, I was sure they would see their fair share of use in the future.

Then there was something that was called a Dynamax Band, which would apparently allow me to Dynamax my pokemon as well. Unfortunately, unlike Mega Evolution, Dynamaxing required Power Spots that can only be found in the Galar region. So it would also be useless until I journeyed there with my pokemon.

The final item that I noted looked like a crystalized pokeball.

"That's called a Tera Orb!" Nemona immediately spoke up as I reached for it.

"Tera Orb?" I asked her curiously.

"Yep! They allow you to Terastalize your pokemon during battle, which can make them even stronger depending on the type! Not only would it make any moves of the same type significantly stronger, but you can also temporarily change your pokemon's typing with them as well!

Imagine for a moment you battle Lycanroc with Charizard again, except instead of Charizard being a fire/flying type that is doubly weak to Lycanroc's attacks, you can change it to a water type that is resistant to rock and ground type attacks! That's the brilliance of Terastalizing your pokemon! It makes battles and type matchups completely and utterly unpredictable! Unfortunately, while you don't need a Power Spot like Dynamaxing, Terastalizing only works in Paldea as well..."

I blinked at everything Nemona told me and looked down at the crystalized pokeball again, awed at the limitless potential that it represented. If only it wasn't limited to Paldea...

I quickly swept everything into bag after looking it all over, including even the trophy and bike, which folded up for convience, and also the check that awarded me ten million pokedollars. That left only the uniform and pokeball, which I had intentionally left for last.

"This is..." I said while looking over the uniform, which was white and said Pallet on the back for my hometown, and was decorated with the golden rings of Arceus. I'm pretty sure they got the design from my drawings of the pokegod.

"it was suggested by Giana, and we had to agree that it felt appropriate." Lance said quietly so that none of the audiance could hear. After all, only a few of us knew of his existance.

I put the uniform into my bag with the rest of my winnings, and turned to the last item that I had won, the pokeball with the mysterious pokemon.

"Now then, let's see who you are." I said with excitment bubbling up, before activating it.

"Deino?" Uttered the pokemon who emerged, obviously a Deino from Unova.

"Nice~!" I said while kneeling down to it's level.

"Its nice to meet you Deino." I said while offering a hand and extending my aura towards the young dragon type pokemon.

"Deino?" It asked curiously, before....

*GLOMP!*

"..."

I forced myself to keep a straight face as Deino promptly bit down on my hand, and started chewing like I was a snack...

"They tend to do that." Iris said wryly as I pulled my hand from it's mouth.

"I see..." I said while also pulling out my pokedex to scan it.

~~~

Deino- the Irate pokemon

Type- Dark/Dragon

This pokemon tends to bite anything near it's mouth, and is not a picky eater. Due to them lacking sight, they also have the tendancy to bump into the things around them. These two traits make them dangerous to carelessly approach. This pokemon possesses the Hustle ability.

Moves- Tackle, Dragon Rage, Focus Energy, Bite, Headbutt.

~~~

I gave a brief nod of approval while reaching out again at Deino, being marginally more careful, and patted it on the head.

"Just wait, I'll turn you into a great and powerful dragon." I told it while slightly channeling the power of Dragonite. His blessing would only help me with his actual descendants, Dragonite, Charizard and Gyarados line pokemon, but it still granted me the aura of a dragon. That was how I was able to force Tyrantrum to submit, and it would also help teach Deino to listen to what I say.

"Deino?" The little dragon uttered, before I felt it's aura get fired up in response to my own.

"Deino!"

"That's what I like to hear." I said with a nod, before recalling Deino into it's pokeball and adding it to my belt.

"THUS CONCLUDES THE FIRST EVER INTER-LEAGUE TOURNAMENT!" Lance declared, officially closing the entire tournament as the audience began to cheer.

"!!!"

"Lance-!"

*SWITCH!*

Suddenly the lights went out right as I called out to Lance, plunging us into complete darkness with only the stars overhead to act as lights.

"KYAAAAA!"

"What's going on?!"

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Such screams and exclamations could be heard all around us as people began to panic in the darkness.

"Ace! Talk to me!" Lance ordered over the commotion.

"I just got an alert from Absol!" I told him, right as a sound cut through the commotion.

*CLAP.*

Suddenly, the lights came back on to illuminate the ship, only now nearly a hundred uniformed men and women had appeared to block us off from the rest of the ship, and the large monitor lit up to display a certain someone who was slowly clapping his hands.

"Greetings Lance, Ace ketchum." Said the figure who appeared on the monitor, a vicious sneer on his face as he leered down at us. If I wasn't mistaken, he was looking at me specifically.

"Giovanni..." I growled at the image.