"Let me tell you again. These 3 people had equal contributions. Their bravery, their intellect, and their outstanding performance is the reason why we are alive here today.
Before I say the names of these 3 people, I am happy to announce that the final match of the league battle will be held tomorrow. All of us need a bit of entertainment after what we have gone through.
Now, for the award ceremony. I will say it again, these 3 people had equal contributions. All of the soldiers had equal contributions. However, due to the customs, we do have to rank them. So…. The third rank is awarded to Agatha."
The people started to clap out loud. All of them knew who Agatha was. She was the most powerful Elite 4 of the Kanto region. Most of them didn't know what her contribution was but it must have been huge.
"Agatha was appointed as brigadier general of the north zone. She played a crucial role in fighting with many king-rank Pokemons and even 2 pseudo-champion rank Pokemons.
However, sadly she lost 2 of her king-rank Pokemons in this tide. All of us know the feeling of such a loss. We have all felt it. We cannot bring back those Pokemons for her as this is their way of life and I don't want her to give her any money as the money would not be able to compensate for the loss of her Pokemons.
She lost Gengar and Arbok in the tide. I would be awarding her 2 eggs of Gastly and Eknas.", said Gerad.
The people started to clap out loud. Agatha received those 2 eggs with happiness. Gerad had hit her emotionally. Axel knew what he was doing. He was doing damage control.
The people were not happy about the league and how they did in the tide. She was still grieving about her Pokemons and when she received those eggs, she was emotionally connected with them.
"The second rank would go to a young trainer who is only 15 years old. He may be of young age but his contribution could not be denied. He was the general of the north zone and due to his contribution, the north zone had the least amount of deaths.
The death rate was only 37%. That is a huge achievement. Please clap your hands for Axel Blaze."
The people started to go wild. Axel was already their favorite in the league battles and now he had done so much for the city too.
"Now, the reward is a bit tricky. I could not tell what he wanted and I wanted to give him something that he needed. So, I want to ask him about his preference."
Axel didn't bat an eye and said, "I want an egg of pseudo-legendary dragon-type Pokemon with monstrous potential."
That was a big ask. The eggs of pseudo-legendary Pokemons were very hard to get and he wanted the one who had dragon type.
"I would get you one but it would take some time.", said Gerad.
"I am perfectly okay with it. You can give me after the league battle.", said Axel.
Axel was not going to receive the egg before he registered for the Johto league. He wanted a pseudo-legendary Pokemon for Johto region and he finally had a chance to get it. So, he took full advantage of the situation.
"The first rank, all of you might have guessed how it is. Yes, he is the champion of the Kanto region, Charles!!!"
The crowd went wild after Charles took the stage. Even though he was a champion of the Kanto region, he rarely showed any public appearance. Charles was well-liked by the people of the Kanto region. He had done his duty time and again and he had proved himself.
"Now, I know that a person like Charles would not need any world possession. So, I want to ask him what he wants from the league?", asked Gerad.
"You are right Gerad. I would not need any worldly possessions. I have everything that I want and I have a family that loves me dearly. I have people that love me dearly.
So, I don't want anything from you but I would like to give you something today. I have seen the bravery and capability of the young trainer Axel Blaze and I am amazed. He does deserve to be the successor of the Pokemon master.
So, I would give him a chance.
Axel, when you are ready, you can challenge me anytime for the championship title. If I am going to leave and trust this position to anyone, I would hope that it would be you."
The crowd was silent for a few seconds. Nobody could register what Charles had said cause it was a huge thing. A trainer would have to get the 8 gym badges, win the league battle, and win against Elite 4 and only he/she would have a chance to challenge Charles.
But Axel could now bypass all of it. He had already gotten the 8 gym badges and was in the process of winning the league battle. However, it was still a very good gesture from Charles.
The crowd went wild after that. People started to chant Axel and Charles's name and the award ceremony ended.
Axel went to his hotel room. He also called Lance and Lorelai to his room to discuss. They met at the reception of the hotel and all 3 of them arrived in the room.
After Axel closed the door of the room, he started to laugh hysterically.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
He was not stopping. His eyes had started to water and his stomach was starting to pain. He wanted to stop his laugh but he just could not.
"Lorelai, has our friend finally gone crazy?", asked Lance.
"I don't know."
"I think all this tide thing had made him crazy. Hey Axel, can you explain to us why are you laughing? And why did you call us in the room?", asked Lance.
"You guys were not in the award ceremony so you don't know.", said Axel after he finished his laugh.
Axel was laughing about what Gerad and Charles had said.
When Gerad said that the league battle would be tomorrow, Axel had started to panic. Except for Nidoking, Charizard, and Venusaur, all of his Pokemons were still in the hospital. So how was he going to win against Bruno?
He didn't know. Venusaur was not even a king-rank Pokemon and he knew that Bruno had more than 1 king-rank Pokemon. Nidoking and Charizard had not recovered from their injuries. So, he was surely going to lose tomorrow.
Gerad knew the condition of his Pokemons and he deliberately had set up this battle for Axel to lose. He didn't know why Gerad hated him but he had enough enemies to not care.
But Charles changed everything. First, he said that he didn't want anything as an award. That was telling the league indirectly to shove it up their ass. He told the league that he was an independent person and he didn't need any help or gratitude from the league.
Axel could see their face of Gerad changing visibly after Charles said it. League and Champions were different things. Charles was not a part of the league. The gym leaders, elite 4, and champions were independent from the league. Some of them may join the league but they don't have to.
However, a trainer could only become champion after s/he won the league battle. But Charles said that Axel could challenge him anytime when he was ready which directly bypassed the league battles.
Being a champion he had the authority to do so. So, even if Axel didn't win the league battle tomorrow, he would qualify to challenge Charles any time he wanted. He didn't even have to battle the Elite 4.
For a second Axel thought to not go to tomorrow's battle. This would further anger Gerad which would make him very happy. However, he wanted to settle things with Bruno and he also wanted to see how powerful Bruno had become.
Axel shared all of it with his friends and Lance also started to laugh out loud.
"Sir Charles had done it again. Man, I should have gone to the award ceremony.", said Lance.
"So what are you going to do tomorrow? Are you going to battle Bruno? Almost all of your Pokemon are seriously injured and could not participate in the battle.", asked Lorelai.
"Oh, I am going but I can only use Megalania tomorrow.", said Axel.
"But why can't you use Charizard or Venusaur? Your Venusaur might be a pseudo-king rank Pokemon but it would take a lot from king rank Pokemon to defeat it."
"I have not used Charizard or Venusaur in any of the gym battles before. I don't want to use it in the Kanto league battle too. But don't worry, Megalania would not be alone. I feel that I would surprise Bruno greatly tomorrow.", said Axel.
"But you would still lose tomorrow.", said Lance.
"There is a high possibility of that to the point that I am sure that I would lose to Bruno tomorrow."
"Then why are you not sad? Why are you laughing?", asked Lance.
"You don't get it do you Lance? I would only be using 1 Pokemon to battle 6 of his Pokemons tomorrow. I may not be able to win tomorrow but do you think that my Nidoking would lose the first battle? It might not be in its full health but it is not easy to take it down."
"Oh, so you are saying that you will lose tomorrow but you will still humiliate him tomorrow. And you would not lose anything cause you can battle Charles anytime you want. That is a good plan. Haha, I want to see Bruno's face after he wins tomorrow.", said Lance.
Lance also started to give an evil smirk. He had lost to Bruno and he wanted Bruno to suffer. There was no rivalry between Lance and Bruno but his pride had been hurt.
###
"Ladies and Gentlemen, today is the final match of the league battles. This battle was put on hold for a long time but today we are going to see who is the best.
Judges, I want to know about your opinions. Who do you think would win?", asked the commentator.
"I still have full faith in Axel. I don't know why. It is true that we have not seen enough of Bruno but Axel is a powerful trainer. He had shown us and proved us. So, he would definitely win this battle.", said Dina. She was one of the judges.
"I can feel you Dina but I have to go with Bruno.", said Escanor. He was the other judge.
"Can you tell me the reason?", asked Dina.
"You might not have known but Axel was the general of the north zone."
"I know about it.", said Dina.
"Yes, but did you think how healthy his Pokemons are? I have heard a rumor that all of his Pokemon are seriously injured and no one could participate in the battle.
He might be stronger than Bruno but he is losing this battle.", said Escanor with a smile.
"You are right. I didn't know about that but when we talk about Axel, we talk about miracles. He was the one who effortlessly won the league battle till now. He was the general of the north zone and even with so many impossible challenges, he won that tide. Even the death count of the north zone is all-time low.
So, yes he might lose today but do you really think that Bruno is better than Axel? Even when Axel is handicapped by the tide, even when all of his Pokemons are injured, he is still coming to fight this battle. I think as a judge we should appreciate it.", said Dina.