The visit to the Alliance HQ showed me just what kind of influence/prestige Professor Oak still enjoyed within our government despite his retirement from his position as president. Though all things considered, that was not really surprising.
Not only was Professor Oak the founder of the alliance and its first president, but he was also still the foremost regional professor, an elder of the global elder council, and one of the few legendary class trainers of humanity. Besides, the elder role still counted as an active position within the alliance/government, while the Regional Professor role could be seen as a cooperative one with the regional alliance branch.
Ultimately, any one of those positions would elicit respect and Professor Oak had all three of them. Not to mention all the other historical achievements he had accomplished.
Anyway, thanks to the prestige he enjoyed, we were able to meet with the department head in charge of Kanto's Senior League Circuit within just half an hour of us showing up there.
Moreover, we only had to wait that long because the department head (DH) happened to be in a meeting, and Professor Oak asked the receptionist to wait until the meeting was over before informing the DH of his/our arrival since he did not want to interfere with the department's actual work.
Regardless, after waiting for a while, we were invited to the DH's office and once the initial greetings were out of the way, Professor Oak explained the reason for our visit. Mr. Cloud, the DH, looked slightly surprised by our query, and he admitted that they had actually expected something like this to happen, but only after I registered for the circuit.
He told me that they were simply planning to extend the tournament exception rule to the circuit for me and declare that my participation was permitted. That approach would not work if I already had three or more dark gold stage Pokemon before actually registering for the circuit.
Mr. Cloud inquired whether the number was truly limited to three, or if it was higher, and I chose to answer his question truthfully. I told him that I was expecting a fourth Pokemon to break through to the dark gold stage by the time I finished my practical year and started my journey unless I intentionally postponed it.
I could feel his surprise at that. Mr. Cloud complimented me on the incredible performance of my Pokemon, before saying that this complicated the situation a bit since they never had to deal with a situation like this before.
There were multiple points that could be used to bend the regulations a bit, but he would have to consult a few more departments before he could say anything definite. That was how I ended up seeing another two department heads. When Mr. Cloud called them, he mentioned Professor Oak and asked them to come over after confirming that they were free.
Once they made it to the office and exchanged greetings with Professor Oak and me, Mr. Cloud briefed them on my matter. They gave me a surprised look when they heard what kind of problem I was facing, and what followed was the discussion between the heads in charge of the Senior League Circuit, of Kanto's Junior League Circuit and Rookies, as well as the head of the Kanto's Department of Regulations.
The head of the Department JLC & R had been invited to this discussion because his bureau was the one that was actually in charge of new trainers, which I still fell into regardless of my official rank or the strength of my Pokemon since I still had to go on my official journey.
Their discussion was not something I could or rather should try to interfere in, but Professor Oak did speak up a few times, either because he was asked or because he had something to add. Due to the fact that their decision would set a precedent for the future, the DHs were quite careful and serious in their discussion.
They had to ensure that any decision they made had a firm foundation of legitimacy while still allowing for an acceptable compromise. In the end, it was the fact that I had yet to even start my official journey that clinched the deal for me, which was kinda ironic since that was also what caused the problem. Still, at least, it ended up also serving as the biggest contributor to my case.
Aside from that one, there was also the fact that I did not have the necessary number of competence guarantees through registration/participation in high-level trainer circuits or comparable events. The Ace-Class promotion required 3 of those, and the only one that I had at hand was the dual championship at the global student tournament, which combined counted as 1 acceptable high-level event.
That really saved me since I would actually be capable of fulfilling both the alliance point requirement as well as the Pokemon-related one. Though, in a way that was also related to the fact that I had yet to go on my official journey. It was also lucky that I did not raise any of my club rankings beyond the "senior level" since club ranks actually counted as evidence for promotion.
Anyway, reasons and justifications aside, the important bit was that I would be allowed to take part in the closest Kanto Senior League Circuit, which happens to be more than 4 years away right now, or one of the other SLCs that took place on the northern continent before the next kantonian one.
They really made sure to emphasize that I would only be allowed to participate in one SLC and that the next kantonian one was the last/latest tournament I could go for. If I did not participate in any of the northern SLCs within 3 years of the start of my journey, I would lose the right to do so for any of the senior circuits after that.
To be honest, the 3 years, or more than 4 if we looked at it from the present, until Kanto's Senior League Tournament were too long for me. If I had to wait that long before I was able to participate in the tournament, I would feel like I was wasting my time.
If I was not wrong, Hoenn's Senior League Tournament was going to take place at the end of my journey's first year, so that one was much more attractive to me, and the clearance I just got did cover the ongoing Hoenn SLC along with the corresponding SLT.
Back to the matter at hand though. They also added a restriction to the Pokemon I used during the Senior League Tournament. Unless my opponent somehow ended up with more than 3 dark gold stage Pokemon, I would only be allowed to use 3 dark gold stage Pokemon during the actual tournament regardless of how many I managed to raise.
I even had to register which ones I was planning to use at the beginning of the tournament, so once I settled on a certain 3, I could not use any other dark gold stage Pokemon aside from them. I was fine with that since they left me a window that allowed me to use more of my potential dark gold stage Pokemon if my opponent happened to have more of them as well.
Besides, this meant that I did not have to worry about any of my Pokemon breaking through to the dark gold stage, or capturing any dark gold stage I took a liking to during my journey. The only thing I would have to worry about was making sure I did not end up fulfilling the last requirement for the Ace-Class upgrade.
This meant that I would have to refrain from participating in more than one high-level competition, as well as raising my rank above the expert-class equivalent of any club. At least, not before I had the SLT cup in my bag.
Anyway, once my matter was settled, Professor Oak and I thanked the three department heads for their help. The trio tried to invite the Professor to dinner, but he politely declined, and we ended up directly heading back to Pallet City.
Alakazam brought us straight to the Professor's office, and I thanked him profusely for his help. I had no illusion that this whole process would not have gone nearly as smoothly if Professor Oak had not personally chosen to deal with it.
The professor just smiled and pat me on the shoulder while saying that all he wanted was for me to reach my full potential since he was sure that I would help support humanity as long as it was within my means. According to Professor Oak that was more than enough for him.
I could not help but be moved by his generosity and benevolence. I once more offered him my sincere gratitude before excusing myself and heading back to my dorm room. I did not delay it any further and directly entered Utopia after locking the door.
Stan/Gyarados, Mothra/Butterfree, Horus/Xatu, and the others had been hanging around my area/region, so they perked up when they saw me appear in front of them. I shared the good news with them and they all cheered happily once they heard that we did not have to worry about anything breakthrough related since Stan had not been the only one that could have been affected by the matter. He had simply been the first one.
After their cheering died down we headed toward Stan's area, and I made sure to announce his upcoming breakthrough throughout Utopia for those that might be interested in watching him break through to the dark gold stage but had not been waiting for me together with the others.
Once we made it to his place, Stan moved into his lake, but he stayed at the shore to give us the chance to form a circle. Those of us staying on the dry side of the shore formed a half-circle, while the water types, moved onto the lake and "completed" the circle. The gaps on the water/lakeside were bigger, but that was due to the number difference.
As soon as I was sure that no one else was joining us, I stepped toward Stan and hugged him before wishing him the best. While I moved back to join the circle, our lucky mascot Fortuna/Togetic went up to Stan to give him a good-luck hug before joining the circle once more.
I could not help but be a bit anxious. Nonetheless, the reason for my anxiety was related to the question of whether the long-awaited Utopia upgrade would happen or not. Still, since that had nothing to do with Stan, I made sure to show nothing of my unrelated concern on the outside.
Instead, I gave Stan a smile and a thumbs-up to signal that he could go ahead with his breakthrough. He saw my gesture and gave me a nod before initiating the process. While I was watching his breakthrough, my second thought stream kept an eye on Utopia's overall situation to see if anything was going to change as a result of the breakthrough.
The whole process took a bit, but that did not surprise me since I had expected that to be the case. Still, the breakthrough eventually ended, yet my second thought stream failed to spot any changes aside from Stan's lake doubling in size.
It seemed the update I hoped would happen failed to make an appearance. I had really hoped that it would get triggered this time around, but it seemed that I/we still did not fulfill the necessary condition. I was, now more than ever, suspecting that Toedscruel's "strong" bond was at fault here. If I was right, I needed three dark gold stage Pokemon with a "deep" bond to trigger whatever big upgrade was eluding me.
Anyway, my second thought stream's complaints aside, I saw Stan release a roar of happiness after his successful breakthrough before he actually began to lift off the ground and swim/fly through the air. Everyone could not help but release exclamations of awe and cheer for him.
It was not surprising that the usually calm Stan had roared out of happiness seeing how he had finally managed to fly properly. He had been trying to learn how to fly freely for some time now, using Bounce, Hurricane, and Air Cutter as the basis along with his Flying/air energy manipulation ability/mastery.
However, the best he had managed until now was something that was more along the line of gliding instead of flying. Since he was now moving freely through the air, that no longer seemed to be a problem.
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