For a brief moment, the entire arena fell silent as everyone processed what had just happened.
Then the silence shattered and a deafening wave of applause and cheers rolled through the stadium, thousands of spectators rising to their feet as Alex's and title name echoed from every direction.
Alex let out a slow breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. The tension that had built up throughout the tournament finally left his body.
Winona recalled Dragonite before walking toward the center of the arena. Although disappointment was visible in her eyes, she wore a sincere smile.
She stopped in front of Alex and extended her hand. she said warmly. "Congratulations, you deserved the victory."
Alex accepted the handshake without hesitation. "Thank you. You pushed me harder than I expected. Honestly, there were several moments when I thought I might lose."
Winona laughed quietly."I think we both had that feeling more than once."
She glanced toward the battlefield, where Dragonite had fallen only moments earlier. "I was hoping my last gamble would pay off, but sometimes the better trainer wins."
Alex shook his head. "I wouldn't say it was that simple. If Dragonite had dodged that last Rock Slide...I'd probably be the one congratulating you right now."
Winona chuckled and gave his hand one final shake before letting go. "Maybe. But it didn't happen."
She looked him straight in the eyes. "So enjoy the moment. You earned it."
Before Alex could reply, cheerful music began playing throughout the stadium.
The large entrance gates opened once again.
Professor Birch and Mary walked onto the battlefield side by side, both smiling brightly, while two members of the tournament staff followed behind them carrying an enormous trophy together.
The trophy stood nearly as tall as Alex's waist and was crafted from polished silver with elegant gold trim winding around its body.
Two large curved handles extended from either side, while the front displayed the tournament's emblem engraved into a large golden plate. At the very top stood a beautifully crafted golden Poké Ball that reflected the stadium lights, making it sparkle brilliantly from every angle.
Mary laughed as she looked at Alex. "I think this belongs to you."
The two staff members carefully placed the massive trophy in front of him.
The moment it touched the ground, the entire stadium erupted once more.
"Master of tactics, i love you!"
"Champion!"
"Ahhhaaahaa!"
The thunderous cheers echoed through every corner of the arena as countless spectators stood and applauded.
Even many of the trainers who had been eliminated earlier joined in the applause.
After 3 days of fierce competition and countless hard-fought battles, the tournament had finally come to an end and standing at its very top was Alex, the new champion of the Hoenn Regional Tournament.
Alex called all six of his Pokémon that had participated in the tournament out of their Poké Balls, wanting them to share this moment with him.
He could have called out all of his Pokémon, but he chose not to for several reasons.
The main reason was that he wanted to keep a few Pokémon secret so he could use them later as an underground boss.
All of his Pokémon had regained consciousness except for Scizor, who needed a few more moments to wake up.
The amount of time a Pokémon remains unconscious after being defeated but is fully healed isn't always the same, but generally, five to ten minutes is enough for an Elite-level Pokémon.
Alex didn't have to wait long before Scizor finally opened his eyes.
Scizor immediately looked around in confusion, and Alex said with a smile, "No need to look around—we won. Good job."
Scizor's expression barely changed when he heard those words, but Alex immediately noticed him suppressing a smile.
Blaziken, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide her happiness and immediately reached for the trophy.
Alex laughed softly. "Haha, looks like you couldn't wait, huh, Blaziken? But that's actually a good idea. Let's each hold the trophy for a moment before we lift it together."
Blaziken grinned proudly before carefully handing the trophy to Gardevoir.
Gardevoir smiled warmly, glanced at Alex for a brief moment, and then gently raised the trophy above her head.
Seeing that, Alex smiled with unmistakable pride. At that moment, he truly felt that Gardevoir was the perfect daughter.
If he ever had children of his own in the future, he honestly couldn't imagine them surpassing Gardevoir. Although he would never confess these thoughts to Maria.
Gardevoir then handed the trophy to Ditto.
Without hesitation, Ditto transformed into Alex and proudly lifted the trophy into the air while wearing an unnaturally wide grin.
Alex couldn't help but laugh. He was genuinely happy to see how excited Ditto was, though seeing his own face stretched into such a ridiculous smile still felt strangely unsettling.
Ditto then passed the trophy to Umbreon.
Umbreon showed a small but genuine smile as she tried to lift it, though she had some trouble lifting it
Without saying a word, Alex quietly used his telekinesis to help her to balance it.
The moment Umbreon realized what he was doing, her smile became noticeably brighter. To her, that small gesture seemed worth even more than the trophy itself or the tournament victory.
Umbreon carefully passed the trophy to Scizor, who accepted it with his usual cold expression.
Although Scizor acted completely indifferent, Alex immediately noticed how carefully he held the trophy with his claws, making sure not to leave even the smallest scratch on it.
After raising it into the air for a few seconds, Scizor turned toward Alex and silently offered it back.
Alex smiled and shook his head. "Come on, Scizor, don't be like that. Give the trophy to Crobat. He contributed a lot to our victory."
Scizor put on an exaggerated expression as though he had somehow forgotten Crobat even existed.
After a brief pause, he slowly walked over to Crobat and deliberately placed the trophy on the ground in front of him instead of handing it over directly.
Crobat looked at Scizor with narrowed eyes before muttering, "Stupid grill tong."
Scizor didn't react in the slightest. He simply walked back to his place as though he hadn't heard a single word.
Crobat snorted before taking flight. Using his feet, he carefully lifted the trophy into the air. Just like Scizor, he wore an obviously fake serious expression.
Alex—and every other Pokémon standing there—immediately recognized that, but nobody pointed it out.
After flying around for a few moments, Crobat landed in front of Alex and carefully transferred the trophy into his Alex's hands.
Alex raised it high above his head with a smile.
Although winning the tournament made him incredibly happy, what truly mattered to him wasn't the trophy, the prize money, or the title of champion.
It was being able to stand here, surrounded by his Pokémon—his family—and celebrate this victory together.
Alex then looked toward the countless cameras pointed at him and smiled softly. He knew that somewhere beyond those cameras, Maria and Steven were watching.
Even if they weren't standing beside him on the arena right now, they were family too, and he hoped they could share this moment of happiness with him.
Seeing that Alex wasn't putting on a cold and cool expression, Crobat showed a look of disgust—as if displeased by how soft his trainer had become.
Although that look of disgust was clearly fake.
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if the story total of 100 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.
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