After selecting his three rare treasures, John entered the Grassmere Gym as his delivery address. With Team Asura defeated and his early graduation exam completed, it was time to head home. The Pokemon Association's aircraft was already waiting on the rooftop to take him back to Riverstone University.
"I'm heading back," John announced to Mira and Hugh.
"We'll see you off!" Hugh jumped to his feet immediately, with Mira following close behind. As an official Pokemon Investigator, she would remain here to help with the post-operation cleanup.
Together, they accompanied John to the rooftop of the Trainer Association and watched as he climbed aboard the helicopter.
"Goodbye, John! I'm waiting to see you become the strongest champion in the country!" Hugh called out, waving enthusiastically, his eyes filled with admiration. Such a young and powerful Gym Leader, Hugh truly believed the future belonged to John, his eternal hero!
John smiled and waved back at the pair.
Mira reached for the notepad in her pocket, intending to write something, but hesitated and put it away. Instead, she pulled off the mask she hadn't removed even during breakfast, revealing her delicate face. She waved to John and shouted, "Goodbye!!!"
After speaking, John noticed Mira's face turning crimson from within, heat seemingly radiating from the top of her head like a cartoon character.
Is this anime logic in real life? John was dumbfounded.
He realized Mira wasn't socially anxious, just incredibly shy.
"You look pretty cute when you talk! You should speak more often!" John called back.
The helicopter's roaring propellers drowned out the second half of his sentence. Mira only heard that he thought she looked cute, causing her cheeks to flush an even deeper shade of red. Steam practically rose from her head, not figuratively, but literally.
John wondered if she might actually die of embarrassment.
The thunderous propellers carried John away into the sky. Daisy, who had just finished cleanup operations, arrived at the Inspectors Headquarters gates and looked up.
"Is that guy leaving already?" he muttered. "I didn't even get to say hello."
On the flight from the Pokemon Inspectors HQ back to Aethermere City, John took a much-needed nap. Boarding at 8 AM and arriving at noon, he wasn't hungry since he hadn't exercised after breakfast.
After disembarking, John immediately found a secluded wall and had Gardevoir use Secret Power to open his hidden base, then promptly collapsed into bed. A single night without sleep wasn't something his usual seven or eight hours could compensate for.
John slept until 7 PM, still feeling groggy when he woke. He couldn't keep sleeping, though, that would only make it impossible to fall asleep at night, creating a vicious cycle. He'd need to stay up until 11 PM before going to bed again.
After waking, John was about to head out for dinner in Aethermere City when he checked his phone and found three missed calls from Emerald, his secretary. One at 1 PM, another at 3 PM, and one more at midnight.
"Speak of the devil..." Just as John wondered if she'd call again at 7 PM, Emerald's name flashed on his screen.
He answered. "Hey, what's up?"
"The Trainer Association couldn't reach you, so they asked me if you're interested in participating in the World Pokemon Championship rankings?" Emerald's voice came through clearly. Ever since John had gained fame, he'd set up his phone to block unknown numbers, making Emerald his de facto secretary for communication.
"The World Pokemon Championship..." John pondered aloud.
The World Pokemon Championship was the most standardized and highly recognized battle competition globally. Virtually all strong Trainers worldwide participated in this prestigious event.
The contest ranked Trainers across the globe. Every four years, there was a "Masters Tournament" featuring the top eight Trainers, the "Eight Masters Tournament." These eight elite competitors stood at the pinnacle of the Trainer world, battling to determine the absolute best.
The ultimate winner received the lifetime title of "Pokemon Master", the highest honor any Trainer could achieve and the lifelong aspiration of everyone who trained Pokemon!
It was too early for John to compete for the "Pokemon Master" title, but that wasn't a concern since the Eight Masters Tournament had been held just two years ago. The next one was scheduled for September of the following year.
In other words, John still had eighteen months to improve his strength. Was a year and a half enough time to reach champion-level combat effectiveness?
John believed it was.
"I'll participate. Just let me know the schedule, I'm heading back to Grassmere City tomorrow," John decided.
Choosing to enter the World Pokemon Championship rankings would bring one complication: more and more Trainers would seek him out for challenges. After completing the ranking battles, Draconia's Gym Leaders were automatically placed in the "Ultra Ball Group."
The World Pokemon Contest was divided into four tiers, from strongest to weakest: Master Ball group, Ultra Ball group, Great Ball group, and Pokeball group.
The Master Ball class ranked 1-100 globally. The Ultra Ball group ranked 101-1,000. The Great Ball group ranked 1,001-10,000. The Pokeball group ranked 10,001-100,000.
Each tier contained ten times more slots than the one above it. As a Gym Leader who had just passed the World Pokemon Ranking Competition, John would be directly included in the Ultra Ball group, a privilege exclusive to Draconia and other powerful nations!
After all, champions from smaller countries might not even match up to a Draconia Gym Leader.
The lower-ranked Trainers in the Ultra Ball group faced monthly challenges from Great Ball Trainers. John had just become a Gym Leader, and the battles in the coming months would be frequent.
Oh well, he could treat it as intensive training.
Additionally, to improve his ranking within the Ultra Ball group, John would need to challenge higher-ranked opponents. Many of these Trainers lived abroad, meaning he might need to travel internationally to advance his standing.
But that was a problem for another day.
After hanging up, John went out to find dinner, then returned to his villa in Riverstone University to rest. It was too late to do anything else today, he'd collect his early graduation certificate from his teacher tomorrow.
"I haven't seen Delibird and Togepi in ages!" he thought with a smile as he drifted off to sleep, content with the path ahead.