"Phew, I'm finally back."
After returning safely to the Daleron League, Ethan let out a sigh of relief.
After coming back, he headed directly to Solaria Town.
During the time he had been away training, the town had changed enormously once again.
At that moment, because of the boom in tourism, visitors could be seen everywhere.
In the middle of the town, the Pokémon Gym, as the symbol of Solaria Town, stood beneath the sunlight.
As soon as he returned, Ethan was welcomed with warm cheers from everyone.
Although in the Federal League Ethan had demonstrated that he possessed Elite-level strength, making the higher-ups of all the Leagues take notice of him, in the town, everything still seemed as peaceful as always.
Matters related to the Elite level already belonged to League secrets, so the ordinary people below naturally knew nothing.
If they were to discover that the current Ethan was already an Elite-level Trainer, who knew what kind of expression they would make.
"Ethan, you're finally back. How was this training expedition in the Federal League? Did you gain anything?"
Inside the Life Transition Research Institute, Professor Harris greeted Ethan with a smile.
Judging by the cheerful expression on his face, it seemed that the research on life energy was progressing quite well.
"Yes, this time I gained quite a lot."
Ethan smiled faintly and took a special Poké Ball out of his backpack.
When he opened it, the irritable Ultra Beast Naganadel appeared in the room.
"Melmetal, suppress it!"
As soon as Naganadel came out, Melmetal, which was prepared at the side, stretched out its hand and directly immobilized it.
No matter how much Naganadel struggled, Melmetal's figure remained unmoving, displaying its Elite-level strength without reservation.
"What kind of Pokémon is this?!"
Seeing Naganadel, both Professor Harris, Professor Reynolds, and the others were extremely surprised.
As an Ultra Beast, Naganadel had not yet appeared in the real world.
"This Pokémon is called Naganadel. I found it in the depths of the Pacific Ocean."
Ethan briefly summarized the information about Naganadel, but naturally concealed the matter related to the Dark League.
Now, he had already reported the matter of the Dark League to the president of the Daleron League, and had also handed over a member of the Dark League to the Federal League.
As for how the Leagues would deal with the Dark League, he also had no intention of getting too involved.
Now that he had Melmetal, which possessed Elite-level power, the threat of the Dark League to him was no longer as great as before, unless they mobilized a large-scale operation.
And if they truly dared to cause him trouble, he would not mind teaching them, through Mega Evolution, what true power meant.
"I see, Naganadel. And moreover, you say that it also contains information related to the Totem aura?"
"And that so-called Sparkling Stone... can it really strengthen the Totem aura?"
"It seems the secret of Totem Pokémon is about to be revealed."
As he listened to Ethan, Professor Harris spoke with sincere excitement.
"Yes. In fact, the research on Totem Pokémon is also related to Life Transition."
"I plan to have the Life Transition Research Institute take charge of this project. Afterward, we will research Totem Pokémon together with other research teams and share the results."
Ethan smiled. If they could directly obtain information about Totem Pokémon in this way, it would also be of great importance to the research on Life Transition.
Of course, that was also very important for Sandslash. If it could inherit a perfect Totem aura, Sandslash's strength would definitely undergo a qualitative leap, and that might become the opportunity for Sandslash to enter the Elite level.
"It really is a very good research topic."
Professor Harris thought for a moment and then nodded.
If it were not because he already had too many projects in his hands, he really would have liked to try this one too.
That Naganadel, as a Pokémon that had not yet been discovered, also had great research value.
In addition, he also felt a very deep interest in what Ethan had said about the depths of the Pacific and those Pokémon that had not yet been discovered.
...
While Ethan was discussing Naganadel and Totem Pokémon there, at the headquarters of the Pokémon Researchers Guild, President Beckett and the others were also analyzing the project Ethan had submitted.
"Totem Pokémon, Ultra Beasts, and the Sparkling Stone. I never imagined there could be a connection between those three things."
Reviewing the information included in Ethan's paper, the researchers fell into deep thought.
Although during this time, thanks to extracting Totem serum from Totem Pokémon, they had managed to make ordinary Pokémon become Totem Pokémon, the research on Totem Pokémon and the Totem aura had entered a bottleneck.
Now, with the new line of thought provided by Ethan, everyone suddenly felt that a new perspective had opened up before them.
"The depths of the Pacific Ocean... It seems that, if we want to research the Totem aura, we will also have to go there and take a look."
"Perhaps, just as Ethan said, that place is very likely the origin of Totem Pokémon. And besides, that Totem Raticate... it really is a place that gives much to look forward to."
The researchers spoke one after another, suddenly filling with energy and motivation.
"Let's set that aside for now. The appearance of the Dark League in the depths of the Pacific is no small matter."
"Vaguely, I feel that the Dark League seems to be plotting some kind of conspiracy in the depths of the Pacific. It would be best to wait until the World League investigates it clearly before acting."
President Beckett showed a thoughtful expression. As one of the League's high-ranking officials, during these past few days they had also been constantly debating that matter.
"In any case, let's first wait for Ethan to arrive."
"If we can research a method to make ordinary Pokémon grow massively into Totem Pokémon, our League's strength will increase enormously. And even if the Dark League has some conspiracy, we will not need to fear it."
...
Three days later, Ethan arrived at the Sky Secret Kingdom.
Although he had often gone there before, ever since he consolidated the base of Solaria Town, he had come less and less.
Now that he had returned, he suddenly felt something different.
Riding on Charizard, Ethan arrived at the headquarters of the Pokémon Researchers Guild.
President Beckett and the others had already been waiting for him for a long time.
"Long time no see, President."
Ethan bowed with a smile, and then the two began exchanging a few polite words.
"Ethan, bring out that Ultra Beast so we can see it."
After they had talked for a while, the professor in charge of researching Totem Pokémon spoke impatiently.
"Very well, understood."
Ethan nodded with a smile and released Naganadel.
At first, when it came out, Naganadel still intended to break loose, but suddenly it felt several presences so powerful that they were suffocating pressing down on it from all sides.
In an instant, its whole body trembled, it lowered its head, and began to shake slightly, showing reverential respect toward the strong.
(End of chapter)