"BOOM!"
As Rowan's Abomasnow defeated Pierce's Regirock, the 20th World Youth Championship officially came to a close. Rowan claimed the Champion title, Pierce secured the runner-up position, and Ember took third place.
The top three spots were all swept by Drakoria.
---
[Ding!]
[Mission completed, reward issued!]
---
As the referee's whistle sounded, Julian also heard the system's voice in his head—the temporary mission had been completed.
The "Words of Truth" needed to resurrect Reshiram had automatically appeared in his system space, along with 50,000 points.
Fireworks bloomed on both sides of the arena, celebrating Rowan's victory.
His winning the Championship was not surprising. After all, his Abomasnow was a mid-stage Pseudo-Champion and could even Mega Evolve.
If back in the secret realm Julian had not given Rowan the Ice-type Ultimate treasure, then his Abomasnow would not have surpassed Pierce, Ember, and the others.
It was a case of gaining an early advantage and maintaining it. Rowan had held onto his level advantage all along. For Ember and the others to surpass him, unless they encountered some special opportunities, it would be incredibly difficult.
The atmosphere at the venue grew even more lively. The palms of the Drakorian audience were already red from clapping—their nation's contestants had not only won the Championship but also swept the top three spots in the tournament.
Since the inception of the World Youth Championship, no country had ever achieved a clean sweep of the top three positions—but today, Drakoria had accomplished it.
As for Rowan, the Champion, perhaps in the future, he would really become a true Champion.
> "This is truly incredible. We actually swept the top three!"
> "I've always believed in Rowan since he was a child."
> "It's a pity for Pierce—even with two legendary Pokémon, he still lost."
> "My goddess Ember is the one to feel sorry for, only managing third place."
> "Shouldn't the most impressive one be Champion Walker? Leading the team to such a remarkable achievement on his first try—Champion Walker's contributions are definitely the greatest."
> "My husband is invincible!"
> "The best Celestria managed was only fourth place."
In this tournament, all top ten spots were taken by the three major nations—Drakoria had five, Celestria had three, and Volkaria had two.
> "Has no one noticed that no matter how badly injured our contestants' main Pokémon were, they were always full of energy the next day? What kind of recovery potion is that effective?"
> "State secrets—they definitely won't tell you."
Drakoria was able to achieve such excellent results not only because the participants themselves were all very strong, but mainly because their main Pokémon had remained in peak condition the entire time.
With such an intense competition schedule, even major nations like Celestria and Volkaria—despite equipping their teams with the best medical units—still faced increasing difficulty as the matches grew tougher and the battles became more intense.
This caused the main Pokémon of their participants to sustain significant injuries. Even if these Pokémon could take the field the next day, they were unable to perform at their full capacity.
Drakoria, however, faced no such issues.
There were several instances when Drakorian participants' main Pokémon were heavily injured, yet the next day they appeared on the field in perfect condition like nothing had happened.
After seeing this happen repeatedly, all the other countries realized that Drakoria must have mastered a method to quickly heal severely injured Pokémon—and this method did not threaten a Pokémon's potential.
If there had been any side effects, they would never have used it.
Sacrificing the potential of multiple Pokémon just to secure a Championship would be utterly counterproductive.
By the final stages of the tournament, the main Pokémon of the Celestrian and Volkarian participants were all more or less injured—some even to the point where they could not compete at all.
Typically, the further the tournament progressed, the stronger the participants became, but their Pokémon would also accumulate more injuries. If everyone was in the same condition, this would not be an issue.
However, Drakoria was different. As a result, the further the competition progressed, the more Ember and others noticed that their opponents' Pokémon were either injured or had main Pokémon unable to fight, making the matches surprisingly easier.
The unluckiest of participants didn't even have a single of their main team Pokémon in good condition, forcing them to field secondary teams—effectively handing easy victories to Drakoria.
This was precisely why Drakoria swept the top three positions and had five contestants in the top ten. The remaining five only missed out due to internal matches among themselves.
> "The Champion will receive three Ultimate treasures and a Blue-grade Pokémon egg… I'm so jealous!"
> "Ultimate treasures… I haven't even seen a sub-Ultimate treasure in real life!"
> "With three Ultimate treasures, Rowan has a really high chance of becoming a Champion."
The reason why past Champions of the World Youth Championship often became Champions in the future lied primarily in the rewards.
The competition provided three Ultimate treasures aligned with the winner's Typing.
It had to be known that Rowan's Abomasnow had gained a significant power advantage over Pierce and others, was precisely because it had consumed an Ice-type Ultimate treasure.
So if all three of these Ultimate treasures were later used on Abomasnow, Julian estimated that its chances of reaching the Champion-tier in the future would be around 70%.
A single Ultimate treasure could transform a Pokémon—let alone three.
The runner-up received one Ultimate treasure, while the third-place winner got a sub-Ultimate treasure.
All participants who placed within the top 100 also received rewards, though the prizes became less valuable further down the rankings.
As for these rewards, they were naturally provided by the participating nations—especially the four Ultimate treasures. Among them, Drakoria and Celestria each contributed two, while Volkaria provided one sub-Ultimate treasure and a Blue-grade Pokémon egg.
Now all these items belonged to Drakoria—truly a profitable deal through and through.
Some high-level officials in Drakoria even regretted not making Celestria contribute one more Ultimate treasure back then.
---
In contrast to the excitement among the people of Drakoria, the Celestrians were now in complete chaos.
Their contestants didn't even make it into the top three—something that had never happened before.
Well, that was Celestria for you: they protested when they were happy, and they protested even more when they were unhappy.
Right after the tournament ended, large crowds in Celestria took to the streets, chanting slogans demanding the president to step down.
They believed this president was the nation's nemesis—perhaps even a spy sent by Drakoria.
Just look at what happened since he took office: no political achievements to speak of, while Drakoria produced a 22-year-old Champion, and then, some time ago, that Champion even managed to command a First-class Legendary.
And now, in this tournament, Drakoria had swept the entire top three, while Celestria didn't even get a sip of the soup.
All these setbacks emerged only after this president took office, so by forcing him to step down and replacing him, perhaps the country could get back on the right track.
Members of the Celestrian parliament were already stirring, starting to expose the president's scandals and tarnish his reputation.
Fuming, the president could only slam his desk in frustration inside his office.
*****
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