"Hariyama, you have such talent for cooking. Want to pursue professional culinary training?" John asked while eating Hariyama's grilled meat.
Having captured Shadow Mewtwo that morning, John was now enjoying lunch while watching TV.
"HARI! (Excellent idea!)" Hariyama wore a chef's hat, arms crossed, watching all the Pokemon eating. It felt an unprecedented sense of accomplishment that battling had never provided.
"Alright, I'll help arrange it." John had considerable faith in his pokemon's cooking talent and prepared to train it into a world-class chef.
This way, he'd only need to buy cooking ingredients and stock the refrigerator, everything else could be left to Hariyama.
Picking up his phone, John directly called Emerald, having her assist with arranging Machamp's professional culinary training.
After finishing the call, John stretched. Lunch was nearly done, but the TV broadcast of Magnus versus Lance's match still hadn't begun.
"Well, can't help you cheer from here." John pulled his chair back and stood. "Going upstairs to game."
This afternoon's tournament matches weren't just Magnus versus Lance, there were also battles involving John himself.
The World Pokemon League Tournament was about to begin.
Returning to his room, John grabbed his Gamaboy and entered the game.
Using Fly, he headed to Wyndon City in the Galar Region.
The moment Lugia's Fly transported John to Wyndon City, John's vision went dark. When light returned to his eyes, he stood on Wyndon City's streets.
Today, Wyndon City bustled with crowds, extremely lively.
John walked through the masses, appreciating Wyndon City's local culture. Along the way, he noticed many trainers, all accompanied by powerful Pokemon.
No shortage of Level 60-70 powerhouses comparable to Gym Leaders. Yet their faces looked extremely young.
John couldn't help sighing admiringly. "Truly worthy of being the Galar Region."
The Galar Region, an area famous for its battle culture.
Soon, John arrived at Wyndon City's iconic architectural landmark: Rose of the Rondelands Stadium.
The World Pokemon League Tournament had two primary battle venues each year: one was the Galar Region's Wyndon City "Rose of the Rondelands Stadium," the other was the Unova Region's Nimbasa City "Battle Subway Stadium."
From outside, Rose of the Rondelands Stadium resembled a blooming flower, exceptionally magnificent!
Staff quickly guided John into the stadium's interior waiting area.
Currently, a massive number of trainers waited here.
The game world and real world often achieved similar heights in certain aspects, like Absol's disaster legends, each region's starter Pokemon (the three starter families), and various other consistencies.
Now they could add another category: the Masters Eight Tournament.
Because over a thousand trainers were all waiting here, including Gym Leaders and regional Champions.
John recognized quite a few of these people. After all... only Gym Leaders and Champions he'd defeated could undergo enhancement before entering the World Tournament.
Among the crowd, John spotted a familiar figure, Blue, the former Kanto Champion, now representing as one of the tournament favorites.
"Looking forward to our rematch," Blue said, approaching with his characteristic confident smirk.
"Me too," John replied genuinely.
Unlike other regional Champions whom John had fought in full six-versus-six battles, his only encounter with Blue had been that impromptu one-on-one at the ballroom during the Indigo Plateau incident.
Ordinary Champions rarely forced John to use his full power. If possible, John genuinely wanted a full-scale six-versus-six battle with Blue. And Red, for that matter.
"Don't get eliminated halfway through," Blue challenged.
"You either," John countered.
BOOM!
Suddenly, an explosive sound interrupted John and Blue's conversation. The crowd immediately searched for the explosion's source.
It came from a battle arena comparable to a standard stadium field, one capable of supporting trainers in Dynamax battles.
And now, such a massive arena had been occupied by a towering black castle.
John followed Green's gaze and quickly spotted Team Rocket's "R" emblem emblazoned on the black castle.
Looking higher, John indeed saw Team Rocket's soul figure, and Team Rocket's sole true boss, Giovanni.
He stood there now, lips slightly curved upward, wearing an incomparably confident smile, radiating ambition!
John's mind flashed to New Island. He'd intended to visit that dungeon instance after capturing Shadow Mewtwo.
But when he'd searched, that dungeon had already vanished.
Later, Shadow Mewtwo had explained to John that New Island was where it had once waited.
Only then did John deduce that this world likely contained only one Mewtwo. Because he'd captured Shadow Mewtwo, the Mewtwo that should have been at New Island had also disappeared.
Giovanni's voice boomed across the stadium, amplified through speakers:
"Welcome, trainers of the world! I am Giovanni, and I've taken control of this arena to issue a challenge!"
The crowd erupted into chaos, confusion, anger, fear mixing together.
"Then enter my castle and defeat me!" Giovanni declared dramatically, gesturing toward the black fortress. "Prove yourselves worthy of this tournament! Or prove yourselves unworthy of facing Team Rocket's might!"