The four Elite Four members applauded both John and Wallace for the incredible battle they had just witnessed.
This fight was absolutely spectacular!
Although Wallace didn’t quite share that sentiment.
"I suppose I’m more suited to be a Pokemon Coordinator than a Champion," Wallace said with a bitter smile, unable to help but feel he was letting down his predecessor.
The Hoenn Region champion title and the pristine white champion cape had been entrusted to him by his mentor, and he had failed to protect them.
"Then the future of the Hoenn Region is in your hands! I hope you can lead Hoenn forward!" Wallace removed his championship cape and offered it with both hands.
John accepted the champion cape and walked toward the throne.
Behind him, the applause of the four Elite Four members gradually stopped as they watched John take his seat on the throne.
Sitting on the throne and looking out at the four Elite Four members and Wallace, John didn’t feel any particular emotion, he was still wondering about what came next.
According to the game’s plot, wasn’t he supposed to fight Professor Birch’s daughter now?
He should have won the championship and then battled her, right?
But looking at the current situation, she hadn’t arrived before him, so... did that mean she wanted to challenge him instead?
Great, now I’m the one being challenged.
However, what John feared didn’t happen.
Instead of Professor Birch’s daughter, the professor himself appeared.
"Ever since I handed you that first Pokeball, I knew that one day you would stand here," Professor Birch looked at John with appreciation and gestured toward a doorway. "Come, let’s register your name in the Hall of Fame!"
There was another room beyond the champion’s throne.
In the center of the room stood a mechanical console with six slots designed to hold the six Pokemon that John had brought into battle.
John placed his six Pokeballs in order:
Blaziken, Gengar, Tyranitar, Zeraora, Greninja, and Gardevoir.
There were still many Pokemon in his first-string roster, Gyarados, Salamence, and even Garchomp hadn’t been brought out today.
But for now, it was up to these six to represent all of his Pokemon.
When the image of himself and his six Pokemon appeared on the screen before him, John was teleported back to his room.
On the Gameboy screen was a photograph.
John stood in the center of the picture, the corners of his mouth slightly raised in a victorious smile. Greninja and Blaziken flanked him on the left and right.
Tyranitar stood behind John’s left side, its ferocious face attempting what could generously be called a smile while making a "peace" sign with its claws. It was clear the Pokemon wanted to look happy, but unfortunately, the harder it tried to smile, the more terrifying it became.
Zeraora had its arms crossed, showing only its profile as it leaned against Tyranitar’s side, looking undeniably cool.
Gardevoir stood behind John on the right, hands folded over its lower abdomen with a gentle smile gracing its features, elegant and composed, it was always the Pokemon standing faithfully behind John.
Only Gengar was being completely ridiculous, floating above John’s head while using its chubby hands to stretch its already enormous mouth into an even bigger grimace.
"Not bad," John said, taking a screenshot.
Then the screen went black.
When it lit up again, the protagonist had already returned home.
A large reward notification appeared on the screen.
[Special Dungeon "Victory Road" Cleared! Rewards as follows:
[1. Random Legendary Pokemon Item]
[2. Hoenn Region Champion Cape]
[3. Designated Pokemon Highest-Level Exclusive Item]
[4. Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza now appear at specified locations]
Generous dungeon rewards indeed.
John hurriedly checked his inventory.
The random Legendary Pokemon item had given him a white stone called "Titan’s Cornerstone."
[Titan’s Cornerstone: Normal-type move power increased by 100%, Physical move power increased by 100%.]
"Boosting Normal-type moves?" John frowned.
Which legendary Pokemon was pure Normal-type?
After thinking for a long time, John could only come up with two: the mythical "Meloetta" and Regigigas, known as the "Colossal Pokemon."
The Titan’s Cornerstone presumably came from Regigigas.
The effect of boosting strength really matched the terrifying legends of it dragging continents to create entire regions.
As for who should get this item, John figured that aside from Slaking, no other Pokemon would be suitable for it.
When he raised Slaking’s level to match his main Pokemon like Greninja, it would take the Titan’s Cornerstone, and with its natural strength, it might be able to single-handedly challenge legendary Pokemon of the same level.
Of course, "legendary Pokemon of the same level" referred to lower-tier legendaries like Entei.
[Hoenn Region Champion Cape: Character equipment. When battling in the Hoenn Region, all Pokemon skill damage increased by 10%, and reputation with non-evil organizations automatically raised to "Respected." (Visit Ever Grande City Hoenn Pokemon League to claim Champion duties)]
John immediately equipped the item, this was the first time he’d seen character equipment.
On the Gameboy screen, a white cape immediately appeared on the back of his doll-like character.
The third reward was the highest-level exclusive item for a designated Pokemon.
John thought for a moment and decided to give this opportunity to Greninja.
It had already absorbed several treasure-level items, but hadn’t received any legendary Pokemon items or exclusive equipment.
Rather than waiting to rely on the monthly dungeon runs to gradually obtain them, it was better to let Greninja advance in one leap.
[Designated Pokemon "Greninja"]
[Acquired item "Shadowmask Veil (★★★)"] Follow current novᴇls on NoveI★Fire.net
Immediately, a black and white mask materialized in John’s hand.
[Shadowmask Veil (★★★): Water-type move power increased by 50%, Double Team and Substitute move effects increased by 100%. When using any move, you can choose to temporarily change your type to match the move’s type. (Exclusive to Froakie, Frogadier, and Greninja, invalid when carried by other Pokemon)]
The water-type move power increase was a basic attribute boost.
The improvement to Double Team and Substitute effects aligned with Greninja’s "ninja" theme. This actually increased his confidence in the Double Team and Substitute combination tactics.
As for the final effect, "When using any move, you can choose to temporarily change your type to match the move’s type."
John felt familiar when he first saw it, then thought about it carefully.
Wasn’t this Greninja’s hidden ability "Protean"!
To be precise, this was even better than Protean.
Protean meant that after Greninja used moves, it would automatically change its type, but with Shadowmask Veil, whether to change type after using a move was entirely up to the user’s choice.