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Early in the morning, after staying up late the previous night to conquer Victory Road in the Hoenn Region, Chris had hoped to sleep in. However, the insistent ringing of his phone jolted him awake.

The call was from his parents.

Once again this year, they hadn't returned home for the holidays, choosing instead to travel abroad. The elderly couple, now free from the responsibility of caring for Chris, had completely embraced their retirement lifestyle. While most people worked tirelessly at home and only occasionally took vacations, his parents had flipped this routine entirely—they traveled constantly and only occasionally returned home to rest.

Actually, they had been retired for quite some time now. Their brief returns home were mainly to show off their adventures to the neighbors.

Chris wholeheartedly supported his parents' lifestyle choice. Given their current financial situation, as long as they avoided gambling and drugs, they could maintain their standard of living for practically forever under normal circumstances.

To ensure their safety during their travels, Chris had specifically provided them with an Alakazam and a Gardevoir as bodyguard Pokemon.

After exchanging New Year's greetings with his parents, Chris went to visit his teacher and fellow students.

All the senior students were present, and they enjoyed a lively lunch together.

"Senior, I'm ready to challenge the Eastern champion. What's the proper procedure?" Chris asked Roy casually while eating.

His words caused quite a stir.

Everyone immediately turned to stare at Chris in astonishment.

"Holy crap, seriously?!" Alexis looked at Chris in complete shock. "How long has it even been?"

Not only had his junior classmate made the incredible double jump from Common Trainer to Gym Trainer to Elite, but now he was preparing to challenge for the championship position.

"After the China New Year, there will be an Elite Four tournament following the Lantern Festival. The winner earns the qualification to challenge for the championship," Roy replied, while also offering some cautionary advice. "I strongly suggest you focus on additional training during this time."

"The gap between Elite and Champion may be even larger than the gap between Gym Trainer and Elite."

Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling that Chris might be taking too large a step too quickly, which could lead to a serious fall.

Chris simply shrugged. Originally, he had also expected to wait another six months before challenging for the championship position.

However, successfully capturing both Zeraora and Lugia had given him tremendous confidence. As long as he could raise both of their levels to 90, combined with the assistance of Pokemon like Mega Garchomp who had mastered Precipice Blades, wouldn't that be more than sufficient to defeat China's champion?

If he wasn't worried about his seniors thinking he was being arrogant, Chris would have admitted that he was already researching potential rivals for the World Pokemon Tournament finals.

The World Pokemon Tournament was scheduled to begin in the second half of this year.

Another reason Chris wanted to claim the championship as soon as possible was that China's current champion, "Marvin," held the position of one of the Eight Masters. If Chris could defeat him in the championship challenge, he would directly inherit that prestigious seat.

This would save Chris from having to battle through numerous weaker opponents to climb the rankings.

"Are you confident about this?" Among the group, only Vladimir looked at Chris with a knowing smile. Based on his understanding of his student, Chris never took action on anything unless he was reasonably certain of success.

"Seventy percent," Chris replied conservatively.

"Seventy percent!" Alexis nearly jumped out of his seat.

While everyone expressed their amazement, they couldn't help but wonder what kind of confidence Chris possessed that made him believe he had a 70% chance of defeating China's champion.

"Then we'll wait for good news from our junior. I can't wait to brag to others that I have a champion-level junior," Senior Lian also said with a smile. His faith wasn't just in Chris—it was in his teacher's judgment as well.

"I also believe Junior Chris can accomplish this incredible achievement!" Elliot chimed in enthusiastically.

Everyone else voiced their support and encouragement.

Roy listened to Chris's confident declaration, but he genuinely wanted to battle him to gauge his true capabilities.

However, after some consideration, he realized that success or failure would become apparent soon enough.

If Chris truly intended to challenge for the championship, the Elite Four tournament after the Lantern Festival was already set in stone.

If Chris didn't even possess the ability to emerge victorious from the Elite Four competition, challenging the champion would be completely out of the question.

After dinner concluded, everyone went their separate ways.

During the New Year celebration period, each person had various relatives and friends they needed to visit and exchange greetings with.

Chris didn't have an extensive social circle. Denver and Theodore were his closest friends, but they were unavailable during the China New Year period. Members of prominent families had numerous obligations during the holiday season, so they had arranged to meet for dinner on the seventh and eighth days of the new year instead.

Chris's Pokemon breeding facility was also closed for the holiday. He decided it would be fine to return to Dragon University for a few days to relax and recharge.

He left his Pokemon training under his teacher's supervision. The Pokemon he currently needed to train numbered more than three full teams—over twenty Pokemon in total.

To prepare adequately for both the Elite Four battle and the subsequent championship challenge, he couldn't afford to waste time on Pokemon outside his primary competitive lineup.

Chris returned to Trial Island No. 7 at Dragon University to rest and recover.

Taking out his handheld gaming device, he continued his leveling journey in the virtual world.

For the upcoming Elite Four tournament, he needed to defeat his opponents in a completely overwhelming fashion to avoid revealing his true strength. To achieve this level of dominance, he still needed to significantly improve his Pokemon's capabilities.

He powered on the handheld device.

Chris's character was currently located in Lavaridge Town.

Since he was already there, Chris decided to take Wobbuffet to visit the famous local attraction—the hot spring pools of Lavaridge Town.

After enjoying a relaxing hot spring session with his Pokemon, Chris made his way to the Pokemon League headquarters in the Hoenn Region.

He had completed the Sea Mauville mission, but the primary instigator, Alina, was still in his custody and hadn't been delivered to the authorities yet. Yesterday, he had been too focused on Lugia and experimenting with Precipice Blades to remember.

The poor woman had been stored in Chris's inventory for an entire day.

After delivering Alina to the Hoenn League headquarters and providing a complete explanation of the entire incident, Chris received another reward for his efforts.

[Alliance Mission Complete - Received 1,000 Contribution Points]

Contribution points? Not item rewards this time.

Chris explored the League headquarters thoroughly, finally learning about the contribution point system from the League President.

Three thousand contribution points could be exchanged for a single Legendary-tier Pokemon item through the League.

Chris raised an eyebrow with interest. A Legendary Pokemon item!

Three thousand contribution points total.

One League mission provided one thousand points, so he would need to complete three missions.

He recalled seeing two additional missions posted on the League's quest board.

Chris immediately returned to the mission board to check the available assignments.

[Team Rocket members have been frequently spotted in the waters near Dewford Town. Investigators have approached the area but found no concrete evidence. It's suspected that Pokemon abilities may be involved. Elite Four members and Champion-level trainers are requested to investigate the situation.]

[A strange and unknown island was discovered on the southern side of Route 107's waters. When investigators approached, the mysterious island vanished completely. It has been confirmed this was not a mirage phenomenon. No immediate danger has been detected, but additional personnel are requested to investigate this anomaly.]