Champion Hiro kept his speech relatively short, finishing it in less than 10 minutes. It followed the guideline that all big shots seemed to follow in their speeches about us being the future of humanity, the importance of our bond with our Pokemon, and that hard work as well as never giving up were the keys to becoming successful.
After that, the award ceremony began and the host called those that ended their journey after reaching the Top 16 onto the stage. The champ was the one to hand out the awards, which for them was a participation certificate denoting their qualification to the Global Top 16, and a voucher for 2 B-Class materials that could be redeemed in any of the available alliance centers.
Still, the champ personally recommended everyone to redeem the voucher at one of the regional headquarters, instead of doing so at some random alliance center since the headquarters had the most extensive material repositories.
He fake whispered that to the first participant he handed the voucher to, knowing full well that his voice was being broadcasted, and he laughed after saying it. The audience cheered and laughed along with him, appreciating the care and generosity he showed to his juniors.
Next up were those that lost and made it into the Top 8. They were given the choice between a voucher for 1 A-Class material plus 1 B-Class material, and a voucher for 4 B-Class materials.
Then came the ones that lost during the semifinals and made it into the Top 4. They received a bronze cup instead of a certificate, along with a voucher as well.
The choice given to them was a maximum of 2 A-Class materials, and they could change 1 A-Class material for 3 B-Class materials for a maximum of 6 B-Class materials depending on their preference. It was also possible to change 1 B-Class material for 4 C-Class materials, with the additional one being a bonus from the alliance.
The two that made it to 2nd place received a silver cup, and the same voucher choice, but with a maximum of 3 A-Class materials. Afterward, they too were asked to stand aside and it was finally my turn. The host called me onto the stage, addressing me as the global dual champion, something that now has only happened thrice in (known) human history.
Champion Hiro congratulated me and shook my hand before handing me two golden cups, a bit larger than the size of my fist.
"Well, since you managed to become the global dual champion," he paused for a microsecond there. "Once more congratulations on that by the way," he said with a smile and I gave him a thankful nod before he continued. "Your rewards have naturally been adjusted," he finished before he began to explain the changes.
"First of all, I'm happy to announce that your personal file has been updated and your trainer-slash-privilege rank has been upgraded by a grade to that of an Expert-Class trainer," he declared and discussions broke out in the audience.
"Thank you and the alliance for your generosity," I responded since an increase in authority and privilege was not easy to attain without going through the actual procedures necessary for the rank.
I could see the envious looks that a lot of people were throwing at me but I simply kept my polite smile. The champ waited a few moments before he ignored the noise and continued the awarding ceremony. Everyone quietened down the moment he began to speak, showcasing the authority and respect a Champion enjoyed.
"The next reward is left to your discretion. The alliance has decided to offer you a few choices to choose from. First, instead of the individual rewards of the respective championships, you can obtain a voucher for 3 S-Class materials plus 1 A-Class material," when he said that, the whole audience and even the other students on the stage expressed their disbelief as well as wonder.
However, the champ ignored that and kept talking. "Just as it had been with the others, you can swap a higher-ranking material for a lower-ranking one. For S-Class materials, it's 1 S-class material for 4 A-Class materials. The rest of the exchange rates are identical to the ones the others have received."
So, instead of 5 A-Class materials for each championship, I could receive 3 S-Class and 1 A-Class materials, which was the equivalent of 13 A-Class materials, for my dual championship. That was pretty generous, extremely so in fact, especially considering that S-Class were considered extremely rare since they were palladium-rank resources.
"The other option is to give up the 3 S-Class materials for an elite pseudo-legendary youngling," he announced after giving me a few moments to think about the first offer.
If the first part had shocked them, then this one brought up the noise level by multiple degrees. Whatever one says, Pokemon would always be more attractive to humans of this world compared to simple materials, especially if the Pokemon in question were pseudo-legendary ones.
Hiro actually had to ask them to calm down this time around before he continued since the excitement level of the audience was too high.
"Yes, each continent is willing to provide 3 handpicked younglings from a noble lineage of one of their dominant pseudo-legendary species for you to pick one.
The northern continent offered to provide 3 Beldum for the selection. The eastern continent is willing to supply 3 Goomy, while the southern continent offered 3 Gible, and finally, the western continent is ready to provide 3 Jangmo-o for you to choose from," he finished before he paused for a moment, and gave me a look.
"Do you want to listen to some advice?" he finally asked and I replied with a simple "please".
"I recommend you to choose the option with the pseudo-legendary youngling. Not only do you still get to exchange 1 A-Class material or the equivalent, but you also get the pseudo legendary.
While being able to exchange S-Class material is a big privilege and the materials are pretty darn impressive to have, especially at your age and rank, it's pretty useless, or rather wasteful for the exact same reason.
At this point, you and your Pokemon are unable to use the S-Class materials for anything, and you won't be able to use them for anything practical before they reach the platinum stage or the very peak of the dark gold stage for some really impressive specimen.
That means that even if you exchange the S-Class materials, you won't be able to use them for a decade or decades, maybe even longer. In fact, even A-Class materials will have to be shelved by you and the others for years before you will be able to use them.
Anyway, instead of choosing something you will only be able to store for a long time before it will become useful, you should choose a youngling and a future mainstay of your team to your roster. With strong enough Pokemon you will be able to search for S-Class materials by yourself once you can make use of them," Champion Hiro sincerely advised and I had to agree with him since everything he said made sense.
I was sure that he said that not only for me but also to remind the others who had A-Class vouchers to choose materials that could help them in the short or mid-term, instead of decades later.
Regardless, I 100% agreed with what he said and had thought along the same line even before he gave his advice. There was no way I would refuse the possibility of choosing a pseudo-legendary, especially not one from a noble line/tribe.
"Thank you for your advice," I first said with a thankful smile. "I would like to choose from the pseudo-legendaries," I informed him of my decision.
"That's great," he returned with a smile. "You don't have to make a definite choice yet regarding which species you want to choose from. You can take up to a week to come to a decision, and once you've made your choice, you can share it with Elder Cameron.
He'll inform the alliance on your behalf and the alliance will organize everything before informing you regarding the date you can pick your new partner," he wrapped up before asking me to move towards the others.
After that, the rest of the award ceremony followed the same trend as the continental one. We went through a photo shoot before the ceremony was officially declared over. Before we went down the champ came up to me and patted me on the shoulder.
"You know, you've become a conversation topic for quite a few professors, and some of my fellow champions. They have shown an interest in you for various reasons, and all of us are optimistic about your growth.
Also, Professor Tokugawa asked me to inform you that he is willing to accept your application in case you want to apply for an internship at his laboratory. Alright, I've delivered the message, the rest is up to you," he said before walking away without waiting for an answer.
I saw Mr. Cameron waiting at the entrance of the gate, but he was not the only one. There were a lot of reporters there as well, and while some were currently talking with the other participants that had already walked ahead, many of them were eyeing me, obviously waiting for a chance to interview me.
I threw Mr. Cameron a look that asked for help and he gave me a reassuring smile before he moved toward me. He then accompanied me to the gate and he raised his arm to stop the reporters before they could rush up to me.
"Alright folks, I know you all want to interview Mikail here, but he wants to meet his family and friends, who are waiting for him, so we will keep this short.
Mikail here will only be answering 3 questions in total, so you have a minute to decide among yourself what you want to ask the most and send up representatives to pose the questions, or I will choose 3 of you at random," he declared and the reporters began a hushed discussion among themselves.
Before the minute was up a female reporter stepped up and posed the first question.
"How are you feeling now that you are the global dual champion, especially after knowing that you are the third to achieve that status since the inception of the global tournament?"
She stepped back after posing her questions and all reporters were gazing at me, waiting for my answer.
"I am happy to have accomplished what I set out to do, and I am thankful to my Pokemon as well as my trainers, sparring partners, and teachers for helping me reach this point. I would not be here without their help, especially not without my awesome partners. It's a bit hard to win a Pokemon battle without Pokemon," I joked at the end and they laughed a bit at that.
I was not sure if they did that out of politeness or because they genuinely found it funny, but regardless of that, another reporter stepped up and asked the second question.
"You have previously said in your last interview that you are planning to apply for an internship with a professor. Has there been any development in that direction?"
He too rejoined the other reporters after asking his question, and I briefly contemplated what I should say before I formulated my answer.
"Well, while I have yet to send out any applications, I do not plan to leave the northern continent for my internship, so I can definitely say that my application is going to be sent out to professors with a laboratory on the northern continent.
As for which professors those will be? I have 8 candidates in mind, but I have yet to decide if I will apply to all of them or not," I answered somewhat vaguely since I was unwilling to give a definite answer right now.
Some murmurs came from the reporters as they talked among themselves, discussing whether they should revise the third question or not before the final reporter stepped forward to pose the final question.
"You have previously stated that you are not planning to return to the Aaron Aura Academy for your tertiary education. Can you share with us what your plans regarding your future aura training will be, and if you are planning to visit a psychic academy to further develop your psychic abilities?"
He too rejoined the group and they were all expectantly waiting for my answer.
"I was offered the opportunity to join the Aura Guardians and accepted their invitation, so the development of my aura is covered. I do not doubt that I will be able to work on any problems that might crop up during my training with the help of the order.
As for my psychic training, I do not plan to join any psychic academy for now, since I will be busy with trainer school, my apprenticeship, and my Pokemon during the next three years.
Any progress on that front will have to be achieved the way it has happened until now, through hard work on my part. Still, I'm sure that the order will be willing to help me find someone that could answer any questions I struggle with during my training," I responded and Mr. Cameron stopped them from asking any further questions before leading me through the room.
We left the waiting room and moved toward the area where my parents, as well as friends, were, and Mr. Cameron praised me while we were heading there.
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