Chapter 270: The Pokémon Regional Tournament
Early League Year 185.
During their month-long rest on Four Island, Lapras successfully became the second Pokémon on the team to reach Elite Four level.
Slowbro also reached Gym Leader level around the same time.
With this, Lorelei finally surpassed the Gym Leader level and became a Quasi-Elite Four-level trainer.
One day at the dinner table.
"Did you know the League is starting a Regional Tournament this year?"
Lorelei's mom looked at her eldest daughter across the table.
Eighteen-year-old Lorelei was growing more beautiful by the day. Especially after she started taking modeling jobs two years ago and learned how to do her makeup.
And now that she was an adult, her mom no longer forbade her from wearing high heels. So now Lorelei clattered around the house in heels every day.
"Mhm." Lorelei's eyes lit up, and she smiled slightly.
Will, sitting in Lorelei's mom's lap waiting to be fed, paused for a moment.
He had researched this so-called Regional Tournament. It was essentially the future World Coronation Series (Pokémon World Championships). But for now, it was held regionally, allowing only local trainers to participate.
The Indigo League, governing two regions, was unique and split the event accordingly.
The current Pokémon Regional Tournament was divided into:
Kanto Gym Leader Tournament & Johto Gym Leader Tournament
Type Expert Tournament
Rental Tournament
Elite Four Tournament
With these four types of tournaments, the regional conferences were completely relegated to the "baby cup" status.
Because these four tournaments had their own entry requirements, many rookie trainers participating in the regional conferences couldn't qualify.
The Gym Leader Tournament:
This was essentially a merger of the old Gym Leader Selection Tournament. Participants could be local Gym Leaders or trainers who had won a regional conference championship at least once.
If a trainer won this tournament, they would get a chance to challenge a Gym Leader. If they won that, they could take the Gym Leader's position.
But winning this tournament was incredibly difficult, as local Gym Leaders could also participate.
The Type Expert Tournament:
This required participants to have a team of six Pokémon sharing a single type, all at Gym Leader level or higher.
Even Lorelei couldn't meet this requirement unless she swapped out Froslass for a Water-type Pokémon.
The winner would become a League-recognized Type Expert. There were almost no substantial rewards, mostly just the title. How the winner used that title was up to them.
The Rental Tournament:
The entry requirements weren't strict; anyone who had reached the Top 4 or higher in a regional conference could participate.
This was a pure test of a trainer's skill. The League provided a pool containing most local Pokémon, all at almost the exact same level (max difference of 2 levels).
Participants were not allowed to use their own Pokémon. Before each battle, they had to select six Pokémon from the pool to fight with.
This was an "entertainment tournament," full of fun. Currently, it had the most enthusiastic response. Since ordinary people couldn't really touch the other tournaments, this one felt closest to them, so it got a lot of attention.
Winners received rewards from the League, which changed every year. They could also make a reasonable request.
The Elite Four Tournament:
Undoubtedly, this was the highest-level event in the current tournament circuit.
It was also Lorelei's next goal.
The requirements were the same as the Gym Leader Tournament: must be a regional conference champion or a current Gym Leader.
This wasn't just a spectator sport; it was one of the ways the League selected its high-ranking officials.
The Elite Four held a higher status than Gym Leaders. They were the face of a region, sometimes sent on missions to other regions, representing their region's image.
If they could choose, the League would naturally pick powerful and reputable trainers directly. But in the end, they adopted this tournament format, establishing the Top 4 participants as the region's Elite Four.
This tournament was unique because it involved trainers from both Kanto and Johto competing together.
This surprised Will a bit. In the original story, Elite Four members were directly "invited" by the current League Champion or President. For example, when Professor Kukui established the Alola League, he invited Nanu to be an Elite Four member (though Nanu refused).
He didn't expect it to become a selection tournament.
But this was good. If it were by "invitation," Lorelei might not be qualified yet. Her strength wasn't quite there. But with a tournament, she had time to prepare.
Although... at their current level, eight or nine months wouldn't increase their strength much. Maybe not even a single level.
But every bit helped.
Since this was the first Regional Tournament, powerful trainers might be more interested in the other three types of events, and since all four were held around the same time, the competition here would inevitably be lower.
Lorelei might actually have a chance to become an Elite Four member.
"When do we leave?"
"This afternoon."
"Kanto or Johto?"
"Kanto first, maybe other places later."
The next day.
Stepping onto Kanto soil again, Will yawned. Thanks to Lorelei, he was incredibly familiar with Kanto and Johto now. Sinnoh was a close second.
"Sigh... starting again, huh." Will sighed.
"Piplup, don't be so lazy! You've been lying around the house for half a month." Lorelei hefted Will in her arms, testing his weight, then tilted her head in confusion. "Did you get lighter?"
"You got stronger." Will yawned.
His weight had increased, but Lorelei was growing too, and her strength was increasing faster.
"That's true. Now that you mention it... Piplup, you're so small. When I was little and held you, my chin could touch your head."
Lorelei looked down at the round head in her arms and smiled. Time passed so fast. In the blink of an eye, it had been ten years since she met Piplup.
"You haven't changed at all, Piplup. That's nice." Lorelei rubbed Will's head, looking up at the sky with a slightly lonely expression.
"Hey, you're only 18. Mom isn't even worried about aging yet, what are you moping about? Stop acting like an old lady."
Will seemed to sense her thoughts and rolled his eyes at her.
"Hehe, you're right." Lorelei paused, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.
The journey began again.
This time, the goal was the Elite Four Tournament. There were no Gyms to challenge, so Lorelei decided where they went.
After two weeks in Kanto, Lorelei got bored and took Will and Lucario to the Sinnoh region.
Back to Snowpoint City.
"Here again."
As soon as they got off the ship, Will turned to look toward the small snowy mountain. Regice and Heatran should still be there. Or maybe they were asleep.
"Let's go to Celestic Town and visit Ms. Carmela? We haven't been there yet."
"Whatever."
The itinerary was set. Their destination was the ancient town at the foot of Mt. Coronet.
'Celestic Town...' Will muttered internally.
Celestia's hometown. In his past life, Celestia had invited him and Meowscarada to visit Celestic Town, but they never went.
No. He should say he never went. He didn't know if Meowscarada went later.
A week later.
They arrived in Celestic Town.
"Huh, it's more developed than I thought." Will looked around from Lorelei's arms, finding it very different from his imagination.
This was clearly a modernized city. How was this a "town"?
He remembered the game description: "A tiny town that preserves the history of Sinnoh and the old ways of life."
But looking at it now, it didn't seem much different from other towns, just smaller in scale.
"I know what you're thinking. It's different from the little village on TV, right?"
"Mm."
"Celestic Town is actually divided into two parts, like Blackthorn City in Johto," Lorelei explained as she checked directions. "The Dragonite territory in Blackthorn is only accessible to the Dragon Clan. And the real part of Celestic Town is only accessible to the Celestic people, because only they can protect the historical relics."
"So how do we get in?"
"We'll find a cafe first and wait for Cynthia to pick us up."
Lorelei found a quiet-looking cafe by the roadside and led Will and Lucario inside.
"Wait here for me. I'm going to ask the owner to use the phone." Lorelei patted Will's head, placed him on a table, and walked away.
"Lord Will, that woman in the corner is watching us." Lucario's voice reached Will's ears.
"Hm?"
Will turned to look. Indeed, a girl with double buns was looking their way. She looked about Lorelei's age, but her makeup and clothes were a bit youthful, making her look younger.
"Ignore her. She probably recognized us." Will shook his head.
The woman only had curiosity and confusion in her heart, no malice. Lucario nodded and withdrew his attention.
"By the way, I haven't seen you fight in a while. What level are you now?"
"Umm... I don't know exactly, but probably a bit stronger than you are now."
"That should be mid-to-high Elite Four level. If you don't work harder, we're going to surpass you. Especially Lapras; that kid has great talent and is improving fast."
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