Chương 157: Chapter 152

"So, the rewards," Cynthia repeated. She leaned over to open up a drawer in the table and pull out a few pieces of paper. Her eyes briefly scanned over a long list before they flicked up to face me once more.

"Let's start with the basics," she said, smiling.

"As it stands, many businesses in Sinnoh are a part of a historical organization that provides both free and discounted goods to people of note. As part of that tradition—which can be tracked all the way back to the Hisuian Era—you'll be eligible for such benefits. Though, be aware that most of them will likely still request payment—payment in the form of a handshake and a photograph, of course!" She laughed, clearly enjoying this.

The paper she was reading was pushed forward, and I took it for myself to skim through. I didn't recognize most of these businesses, but my eyes nearly bulged out of my head at the sheer number of them.

"Year to year, some individuals also pledge extra rewards. This year, you'll be receiving a year's supply of berries picked from an Eterna farm as well as both an Electrizer and a Magmarizer."

"I... what?" An Electrizer could be used to evolve an Electabuzz into an Electivire, and a Magmarizer could evolve a Magmar into a Magmortar. Considering both of those Pokémon weren't Fairy Types, it was unlikely I'd ever make any use of them.

"I know," Cynthia replied, chuckling as she did, "They're hardly useful to you, but it's the thought that counts." Cynthia proceeded to explain a few more miscellaneous benefits, mostly listing certain public facilities I'd be able to use for free as well as some recommendations for restaurants. I took note and could already see a path I could take with my team to receive several high quality meals a few days in a row.

"... And that basically sums up the benefits you'll get from parties separate from the League. I imagine you're more interested in the actual Conference rewards now, yes?" As she said that, my heart pounded a bit quicker in my chest, and I nodded, excited. Cynthia's smile hadn't once faded from her face, and she laughed once more seeing my serious reaction. I couldn't keep that serious look off my face. These rewards were being granted to both me and my team as a culmination of all of our hard work.

Months of training to get to this moment, standing at the top and receiving our just rewards.

"To start, there's the cash prize," she said.

"You have the choice to obtain it as a lump sum or receive it in monthly deposits. The lump sum is slightly less money overall, but we offer the monthly deposits as an option to help reduce the temptation of spending it all at once. If you were a minor, your reward would have only come as a monthly payment, you wouldn't have a choice otherwise."

"I honestly barely spend money as it is," I said. I immediately grit my teeth as soon as I said that.

"I mean, I spend a lot of money, actually. Taking care of a full team is expensive, especially with food and potions for traveling. What I mean is that I don't have much to spend it on. I don't even know what to spend it on."

"You could buy a house?" Cynthia offered. At first, I wanted to give the woman who made money through real estate a blank stare, but I quickly stopped myself. She had a point. I was homeless. It felt dumb to say, but I didn't have any one place to call home. Even then, I wasn't even sure where I would settle down if I wanted to. I had some loyalty to Olivine City in Johto, as that was where I first arrived and met Marty.

At the same time, I also had many ties to Hoenn, especially with Steven, Wally, and Laura being from there, too. There was also the idea of staying in Kalos, as Professor Sycamore's Lab and Ranch was in Lumiose. The more I thought of it, the more buying a place to call my own appealed to me, especially since I'd only ever rented a place in the past. A home would be a safe place to return to, a place I could let my extra team members roam free, too.

I had placed the Lily of the Valley Trophy in my backpack, and it was only thanks to its extended space that it barely fit. Having a personal place to deposit it would be nice rather than using a spare room in Sycamore's like I was doing with Azumarill's large stuffed plush toys.

"I need to think on that more later," I said.

"For now, I think the monthly payments will work." She nodded.

"Wise choice," Cynthia said.

"Moving on from that, you have the option of requesting up to ten TMs of your choice for the League to provide you, which can include moves that are no longer on the shelves, like Teleport, if you so wish. We are limited by our stocks and can provide a list if needed."

"That would be nice if possible," I said. Cynthia handed me another sheet of paper which I placed on top of the list of businesses. New moves were always nice, though, my team was nearing the limit of what they could practice and keep ready for battle. My primary thought was to just go ahead and acquire a Toxic TM for Whimsicott, as the move still eluded his understanding.

"Now then, there's one last component to your rewards for winning the tournament. Here." Cynthia took this moment to file through the papers and pull out one in particular. It was silently pushed over to me just like the list from before, and she calmly sat back and waited for me to read through. It was a form of sorts, requiring personal information like my trainer ID number, the best way to either contact or locate me, any sponsors I had, as well as my home address (which would be left blank for obvious reasons).

It wasn't clear what I was looking at until I got about two thirds of the way down. Seeing it, I reread the line once, then twice, then I finally read it out loud.

"Name of requested species?" I asked. I looked up to stare at Cynthia, who only lightly nodded in response.

"Part of the reward for winning the Conference is any Pokémon I choose?"

"Almost any Pokémon, to be precise," Cynthia stated.

"All League champions have the right to request one, a practice spanning centuries and every region. The only limitation you must keep in mind is that this is the Sinnoh Pokémon League providing it, so certain species can't be chosen."

"So any species not common to this region is out of the picture," I said, deflating. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"It's not that limited," Cynthia quickly responded.

"It's easy to locate individuals that would be a good fit for your team from out of region for most species. The limitations are mostly to note that we cannot acquire Legendary Pokémon, Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon not found in Sinnoh, and any species of starters that aren't of the six native to Sinnoh."

"So no Popplio," I said.

"Unfortunately not," she replied. It was disappointing to hear that the one starter Pokémon that was a Fairy Type was out of reach, as this felt like my only time to obtain one. The idea of receiving a Pokémon as a reward felt a bit impersonal, but Cynthia did imply any individuals they found would be tested to be a good choice for my team. Obtaining an experienced, fully trained Pokémon wasn't the purpose of this, either, but to allow a Conference winner the chance to train a Pokémon they couldn't get normally.

I would need to consider base form Pokémon for this choice. I sat back and stared at the form, honestly needed to process the idea for a moment. It was true I still needed to train Togepi, but now that the Conference was over, I had nothing but time, didn't I? With Cynthia's proposal potentially expanding my team carrying capacity—albeit in a limited way—I would have four "slots" to train new team members. That would be Togepi as well as anything else I could catch.

Eevee, Cleffa, Mimikyu, and Impidimp all went to the forefront of my mind as Fairy Types I would have to go out of my way to catch. Eevee, while my top choice, was quickly eliminated, as I knew I'd have the opportunity to get one via a specialty breeder Cynthia could refer me to. Cleffa, the baby form of Clefairy, felt like too much to take on alongside a second baby Pokémon in the form of Togepi. Mimikyu and Impidimp were both solid options that granted my team new Types and battle styles we weren't already using.

I needed to focus. I could request a species—any species. I needed to choose one I wouldn't be able to obtain otherwise. I still planned to travel for longer after this, after all. Thinking of limited species, an idea suddenly popped in my head. It was a longshot, but it was an opportunity I didn't want to miss.

"I have an idea, but I want to run it by you before I choose," I said.

"Go ahead. Though, keep in mind that this decision isn't one that needs to be rushed. You can submit this form in the future, too." I nodded, but I still pushed on to ask about my option.

"Magearna," I said. Cynthia blinked, and she tilted her head ever so slightly to the side questioningly.

"I'm sorry, but I can't quite recall that species off the top of my head," she said.

"It's a Mythical Pokémon," I said to the concerned look of Cynthia.

"But it's not a mythical Pokémon in the way you're thinking. Usually a Mythical Pokémon is an extremely rare species that has its own niche in one way or another—like Diancie or Darkrai—but Magearna is a little different than that. It's a robot."

"A robot," Cynthia deadpanned.

"I'm pretty sure it was made by ancient humans, but it's been so long since I've had access to information like that that I'm not super sure of its background. What I do know is that I have a faint memory of someone buying a deactivated one in an antique shop somewhere. This is why I said it would be a stretch: there may be an old Magearna floating around in a warehouse somewhere. I want to know if it's possible to get the League's help to find it."

Cynthia pushed her lips together and seemed to give my request some thought. She rubbed her chin and closed her eyes, but unfortunately, she ended up shaking her head no.

"I'm sorry, Alex, it's a more reasonable option than I initially thought it was, but I think locating a Mythical Pokémon is a bit more than what the League can properly take on. This reward is more about allowing a trainer the chance to obtain a Pokémon they'd have to go out of their way to get otherwise. Perhaps this is a search worth taking up on your own?" If Cynthia didn't think the Pokémon League could properly find a Magearna, I doubted I would be able, too.

Finding Mythical Pokémon was a big ask, especially since there was no way to tell if there actually was an unconscious robot somewhere. It wasn't every day that someone randomly stumbled upon a Mythical Pokémon in the middle of a city, though, that did technically happen to me with Diancie. It seemed this was more about giving me a basic Pokémon I'd have difficulty getting otherwise. Species too rare like that were out of the picture.

"Then, if Magearna isn't an option, I have an alternative idea in mind," I said. Cynthia raised an eyebrow.

"I want a Pokémon I don't know about," I declared. She blinked, confused, once again. I proceeded to explain.

"In the finals against Gravel, he used a species I'd never seen before: Kingambit. I have all this knowledge of so many Pokémon, but that's only for the Pokémon common to the main Pokémon League member regions. Outside of them, there has to be at least one species of Fairy Type I know nothing about. The world is a vast place. I want to give this a shot." Cynthia seemed surprised by my request, but as I went into detail about it, the more she seemed to understand.

By the end, she was nodding in agreement, and I could already tell my idea had merit.

"We can definitely make that work. Write down what you told me on the form, and you'll be sent more information about your options in a few short days. It won't be a complete surprise, but you'll have a few options for species you might not be aware of." Satisfied, I did as asked, and I slid the form back over. Cynthia took it, looked it over, then read through the few remaining papers she had left once more as if to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything.

"Then, with all of that said, I believe that's all of the rewards for the Conference taken care of," Cynthia said.

"You and your Pokémon worked hard to get here, Alex. You deserve this, and with all you've done, you definitely earned these rewards." At that, I smiled, even tearing up a little. Having a Champion of a region recognize my team's efforts let the feeling of being victorious settle in once again. Steven had said similar words to me in the past, but with the Lily of the Valley Conference win, I proved that my team was strong. I proved that I was a competent trainer.

I proved that I could call myself at least a decent Fairy Type specialist. Cynthia offered her hand. I gladly took it.

"Congratulations again," she said as we shook.

"Thank you," I replied. I moved to stand up, but I paused when I saw Cynthia didn't move. Sitting back down, I watched as she crossed her hands and gained a much more serious expression on her face.

"There's one last thing we need to talk about," Cynthia said. I knew what this was. The amount of times I'd said I'd wait until after the Conference to make a decision was catching up to me. I didn't expect to talk about this so quickly, but with all of the times I'd delayed, I wasn't surprised she wanted to handle this now. I needed to tell Cynthia whether or not I was going to accept her job offer. I started by taking a deep breath.

"I had a conversation with Ash and Dawn about your offer," I said.

"They pointed out that this job is essentially the best anyone could ask for. I would keep doing what I'm already doing, but the League would support me more directly, and I'd take a more active role in going against any criminal organizations like what happened with Team Flare and Team Magma. I've thought about it a lot, and when it comes to whether or not I accept this—""Please wait a moment, Alex," Cynthia suddenly interrupted.

"I know you said you'd come to a decision after the Conference, but that wasn't what I wanted to talk about."

"Oh." I coughed awkwardly into my hand.

"Rather, as the victor of the Lily of the Valley Conference, you now have the right to challenge the Elite Four." My eyes widened at that reminder, the subject having completely slipped my mind. In the video games, the general structure was designed such that the Elite Four and Champion were the final trainers to beat to end the game. However, with Ash's presence during this season, my mind had been solely considering the anime with what I was doing, and challenging the Elite Four had almost never come up there.

As I processed my shock, Cynthia continued to speak.

"Within the coming months, you have the option to challenge any of the Elite Four to a full team match. You have the right to battle them in a private or in public setting, but, either way, you'll have to inform them of your match at least a month in advance. Your right to challenge will last until the end of the next season, though, with the time limits on your challenges, it's best to challenge them earlier rather than later." I nodded, taking it all in.

"Losing to one member of the Elite Four means you will be unable to challenge the rest. Additionally, you're able to waive the right of challenge at any time you wish," Cynthia said.

"But if I do challenge them, and if I beat them all—" I was interrupted by Cynthia's smile. The temperature in the room almost felt like it dropped several degrees. Cynthia wasn't displaying that amused, casual smile she had on all this time, but, instead, she now wore the thin, confident smile of a trainer who had no doubts she would win. I was reminded of the fact I was sitting across from the Champion of Sinnoh. Cynthia was a trainer that stood above practically all of the rest.

Her team's power was immeasurable. She wasn't an opponent I could even consider beating anytime soon. Despite winning the Conference, I was reminded of how much further my team could still go. I still had moves I wanted to teach my team, I had abilities I wanted to develop and train, and I had countless strategies I'd never even had the chance to test out in battle. Defeating a Champion was a mountain my team and I had only barely started to climb.

I was intimidated, but at the same time, I was more motivated than ever.

"I'm not going to waive my right to challenge," I said.

"My team and I are going to face Sinnoh's Elite Four and come out on top."

"I'll be waiting for you," Cynthia said.

"But! Before that, there is one last thing to take care of." I cocked my head.

"Bringing the Pixie Plate to the top of Mount Coronet?" I asked.

"Nope! You've just won the Conference, Alex! The media is desperate to talk to you in an interview." Her words almost seemed to echo around me, and the blood drained from my face as Cynthia continued to sit across from me, smiling. I was tired from the battle, I was tired from standing around, and all I wanted to do was take a rest. Yet, managing my public image was a chore that needed to be done. I might have won the Conference, but this would be my toughest battle yet.