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"The rewards from this expedition were incredible. If I'd known, we should have brought Chris here last year!"
In the private dining room, Chris, Roy, and Alexis raised their glasses in celebration. They had returned from the ancient secret realm of Halloween Island, and this was their victory feast.
Everyone had gained tremendously from this trip to the ancient secret realm, so a celebration banquet was definitely in order, complete with plenty of good wine.
Roy nodded slightly, seeming to agree with Alexis's statement, but then added, "I hadn't battled him personally at that time, so I didn't fully understand his capabilities."
"Hadn't battled him personally..." Alexis suddenly remembered that Roy and Chris had gone to Halloween Island right after the Elite Conference.
"So... who actually won the Elite Conference in the end?"
"Tell me!"
"I swear I won't tell anyone!" When the topic turned to the Elite Conference results, Alexis lunged at Chris like an excited puppy, fueled by liquid courage, with a look that said "I'm not letting go until you tell me!"
Chris smiled and was about to deflect the question as he had before, but Roy's voice suddenly cut through the air.
"The final battle of the Elite Conference was between Chris and me, and Chris was the winner."
"The final winner was Senior Roy... I knew it—"
"Huh? WHAAAAT?!" Alexis, usually slow on the uptake, was suddenly sobered by this explosive revelation.
His eyes locked onto Chris in disbelief.
"Chris, you actually won the Elite Conference?!"
Chris looked at Roy curiously. Roy hadn't mentioned this before, so why bring it up now?
"Just got lucky," Chris replied modestly.
"Damn it! You said it was luck when you beat me, you said it was luck when you beat Elian. When have you ever admitted to winning through pure skill?" Alexis had completely seen through Chris's humble act.
Roy ignored Chris's questioning gaze, understanding what Chris was thinking.
Not revealing this information earlier had actually been beneficial. But after watching Chris battle Zoroark, he now fully understood Chris's true strength.
If Chris had used Greninja against his Gengar, he would have lost even more decisively.
His previous brooding, when he thought about it now, had been completely unnecessary.
This kid Chris was destined to surpass him.
Judging from Chris's current battle prowess, the China Championship was already within his grasp. Before long, he'd probably be working toward the ultimate trainer achievement—becoming a Pokémon Master.
As an Elite, being defeated by a future Pokémon Master wasn't really worth getting depressed about.
"Here's the Demon God Shadow training method I promised you earlier. Remember to burn it after reading," Roy said, placing a notebook on the table. This was the reward he'd promised, his gift to the future Pokémon Master.
"Then I won't hold back," Chris said, quickly accepting the notebook. He'd been eagerly anticipating this for a long time.
Especially now that he'd also captured a Ghost-type Zoroark.
If both Gengar and Zoroark could master Demon God Shadow, Chris thought he could push for the championship with just these two.
"When are you planning to challenge for the championship?" Roy asked.
"I'll wait another two months," Chris replied.
The original plan had been around this timeframe anyway. He needed to let his Pokémon develop further and master some exclusive moves, plus integrate his newly acquired Zoroark into his "main roster."
And then there was the creation-level artifact, the Spooky Plate.
Chris didn't believe that the effects shown on his Pokédex were everything.
Just the Psychic-type suppression effect alone was equivalent to a Legendary Pokémon item.
"Alright, I'll clear my schedule and come watch your match in person."
"Me too!" Alexis clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with excitement.
The three friends continued chatting and drinking, and the session didn't end until around eleven or twelve that evening.
Both Roy and Alexis had gotten thoroughly drunk, leaving Chris to escort them home one by one. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to remove his power-enhancing orb while drinking, and Chris's superhuman physical strength, comparable to a Pokémon's, made him virtually immune to alcohol.
By the time he remembered to remove the orb and enjoy getting properly drunk, he found Roy and Alexis already passed out at the table.
After ensuring both seniors got home safely, Chris had Gardevoir use Teleport to return to his manor.
Since he wasn't drunk, Chris didn't plan to go to bed so early.
Perfect timing—he could examine the "Demon God Shadow" training manual that Roy had given him before resting.
Gardevoir poured him a glass of milk and arranged comfortable seating on the balcony, carefully adjusting the room's lighting.
The content wasn't extensive—roughly five or six thousand words. For Chris, who had read countless novels, an article of this length would take about ten minutes to read through.
After finishing, Chris had developed a general understanding of the exclusive move Demon God Shadow.
The Demon God Shadow technique was built upon the foundation of Night Shade.
To learn Demon God Shadow, a Pokémon first needed to achieve high proficiency with Night Shade.
Second, it required extremely refined Ghost-type energy control abilities.
These two requirements alone would take most Ghost-type Pokémon years to master.
Fortunately, both Chris's Gengar and Zoroark were ancient kings. With the assistance of the Spooky Plate, these two basic conditions shouldn't take much time to fulfill.
The third requirement, however, was the most crucial.
The third point involved understanding Night Shade's true essence.
Night Shade was an attacking move, but it wasn't purely a Ghost-type offensive technique—rather, it was a frightening manifestation designed to "intimidate" opponents and cause damage.
In game terms, it had no set power, with its damage equal to the user's level.
According to Roy's analysis, he had identified Night Shade's attack mechanism as a fundamental characteristic of Ghost-type energy.
That characteristic was "terror."
Ghost-type Pokémon often enjoyed frightening humans and other Pokémon, which was intrinsically related to their typing.
Demon God Shadow involved having a Pokémon release the "terror" aspect of Ghost-type energy.
To use a simple analogy:
When Gengar wanted to scare an opponent and make them afraid, it would manifest whatever it found most terrifying.
What needed to be manifested was the "terror" that Demon God Shadow required.
This would give Night Shade attacks a "horror" effect, thereby causing psychological damage.
And because each Pokémon felt different things in the depths of their heart, the demon shadow constructed by each Ghost-type Pokémon was destined to be unique.