The World Tournament organizers acted swiftly. Just ten minutes after confirming Nathan as the final victor, the prize money was already deposited into his account.
Sitting contentedly on the boat back, Nathan was in a great mood. This sparring match had truly revealed the potential of his Charmeleon—as well as the incredible power of its special trait.
When battling wild Pokémon, there had been many details he hadn't noticed. But now, after facing off against trained Pokémon, Nathan was beginning to form a much clearer understanding of Charmeleon's positioning in battle.
All that was left now was to wait until the tournament ended and begin its focused training.
Meanwhile, across the sea, members of Chiyou sat in silence, their eyes fixed on Black Dew. The message Black Dew brought back had also been relayed to the boss still stationed in the Valar.
At this point, Chiyou was preparing to withdraw.
They were genuinely concerned—whether it was something related to the World Tournament, or the possibility that Nathan truly had a legendary Pokémon at his disposal.
After several foiled plans at Nathan's hands, the organization had already suffered considerable losses.
This current squad accounted for nearly half of their remaining elite force. If they were wiped out too, Chiyou would likely have no choice but to go dark for a long time.
Left with no better option, the organization's boss gave the order to retreat.
As for the message Nathan had asked Black Dew to deliver—the one about "coming to find them"—the boss didn't take it seriously at all.
Was that a joke? Just one person, coming straight to their headquarters?
If Nathan actually dared show up, the boss vowed to make sure he never left alive.
They had so many people. Couldn't they handle just one Nathan?
But sometimes, things just don't go the way you expect.
------------------------------------------------------
Early the next morning, the World Tournament officials kicked into full gear.
With so many participants in the tournament, doing one-on-one matches for everyone would be far too slow.
It would drag the entire schedule out too long.
To handle the sheer number of contestants, the organizers introduced a Country Points System.
The rules were simple:
Each country started with a fixed total of 100 points. Contestants could visit other islands and challenge opponents.
Winning a match earned one point, while losing would cost one point.
Every challenge or defense would be a single-match duel—only one Pokémon per battle.
If a contestant's country point total dropped to zero, they would be eliminated.
At the end of the individual points phase, the total points from all contestants in each country would be tallied. The top 20 countries would advance to the next round.
To prevent cheating, whether challenger or defender, each player could only battle the same opponent once, and challenges could not be refused.
These measures were meant to stop countries from boosting their scores unfairly.
Each island would also be assigned an official referee and a scorekeeper.
To issue a challenge, a contestant would need to register with the scorekeeper, and then have the referee record the result.
The Country Points Phase would last a total of one week.
When Nathan received this information from the tournament officials, he couldn't stop grinning.
This setup was basically tailor-made for him.
He loved this kind of format.
Having to face the same opponents over and over again was something Nathan hated most.
Only by defeating different opponents and facing a variety of Pokémon could he truly understand his own strengths and weaknesses.
"Tomorrow, let's head out together. We're going to challenge people!" Nathan said excitedly to Evelyn.
Evelyn nodded in agreement. She had completely given up at this point.
Once considered a prodigy, she was now on a team with Nathan—and not only was she no help at all, she was actually dragging him down.
Having accepted that reality, she had settled into the role of a sidekick.
"You're both going out? Don't you need to stay back to accept challenges?" Kelly asked.
"Accept what? The rules clearly state that each battle can only be against a new opponent," Nathan replied with a smirk.
To get a top ranking, all they had to do was systematically defeat all other participants.
Sure, they were a small team, but if they were fast enough, that wouldn't matter.
A week might be a tight timeframe, but Nathan had been under pressure for so long, he didn't mind it at all.
And this time, he wasn't alone—he had Evelyn by his side.
"So, you're planning to…!" Kelly was stunned.
Was Nathan planning to challenge every single contestant from every country?
That was insane!
There were at least 200 to 300 countries participating. Even if each country only had five or six people, that added up to well over a thousand contestants.
If Nathan and Evelyn wanted to challenge them all, that would mean nearly 200 battles per day!
"Exactly! Since they're giving us the opportunity, of course I'm going to make the most of it!" Nathan grinned.
Madman. He's a total madman.
Kelly thought to himself. As expected, geniuses and lunatics are cut from the same cloth.
Challenging 200 people in a day—did Nathan not see himself as human?
And wasn't this too arrogant toward the competition?
"You sure the two of us can handle it?" Evelyn asked hesitantly.
With her current strength, even defeating a single trainer could take a few minutes—and that's only if they were weak.
If the opponent was strong, it might take her ten minutes or more to win.
"No, no. Not us. Just me. You'll be in charge of registering with the scorekeeper. I'll do the battles," Nathan replied confidently.
With this tournament format, Nathan planned to let loose and go all out.
Fast battles, clean wins—he was going straight for first place.
[World Tournament Series Quest Activated – Phase 1: Earn any number of points (0/1172)]
[Quest Reward: One random item from the System Shop]
Right after Nathan spoke, the system cooperated perfectly by issuing a quest.
But the reward… felt a little sketchy.
"System, are you sure this is a random item from the entire shop? Not just from some garbage-tier category?" Nathan asked in his mind.
He was about to fight over a thousand people. If the reward ended up being something like a basic healing potion, he'd rather the quest hadn't even been given.
[Tip: The higher the completion percentage of each quest phase, the better the final reward.]
The system replied with its usual cold, mechanical voice.
But that vague answer left Nathan feeling a little let down.
To be honest, he was really worried the system might hand him another useless piece of junk.
The last time, he'd been rewarded with a map, which was still sitting at home collecting dust.
While Nathan pondered how to force the system to finally cough up something worthwhile, players on other islands were starting to panic.
This format basically forced them to go out and fight.
Even if their country started with 100 points, doing nothing wouldn't help. They'd never make it into the top 20.
And with the rule that you could only challenge a person once, even farming weaker countries wasn't an option.
Kelly and the military squad who'd accompanied Nathan were also troubled—but for a very different reason.
Because of something Nathan had casually said:
"Would you guys mind helping me rank the countries by strength?"
That one sentence set Kelly and the others into a flurry of work.
They pulled out data on all participating contestants and began evaluating every single country, one by one, assigning each a strength ranking.
It took them all the way until dinner time before they finished.
At last, Nathan received the ranking list he'd been waiting for.
In a situation like this, challenges needed to start from the bottom and move up.
It wasn't that Nathan feared strong opponents—he was worried the weaker countries might get eliminated early.
He planned to challenge every participant, and if his target got knocked out before he got to them, he'd have nowhere to cry.
"I'll leave the ranking list to you, and here's the map. Tomorrow, we'll start challenging from the bottom up," Nathan said as he handed both to Evelyn.
Evelyn took them with a helpless sigh. So, Nathan was treating her like a personal assistant now?
"You're sure you want to do this alone?" she asked again.
Honestly, Evelyn wasn't worried about Nathan collapsing from exhaustion—she was more worried that his Pokémon might.
"If you want to challenge people too, go right ahead! It's not like I'm the only one allowed to battle," Nathan said cheerfully.
He had no problem if Evelyn wanted to take on some matches too. After all, every win added a point.
As long as they didn't lose, she could battle however she wanted.
--------------------
The next morning, Nathan set off immediately with Evelyn.
They only had one week, and compared to the number of points he needed to earn, that week was far too short.
Traveling on the backs of their Pokémon, the two arrived at their first destination in just ten minutes.
On this island, three national teams were stationed.
(End of Chapter)