Deep Mountain Training!

For Sato, the opening ceremony at Oak Research Institute had finally ended without incident.

Aside from that earlier glance they exchanged, Giovanni made no further effort to approach Sato.

After it ended, the "Viridian Gym Leader" quietly left with the others.

As for Professor Oak wanting to take him as a disciple, neither side brought it up again afterward.

Sato played dumb to the end, and whether Oak would truly go looking for his teacher, Drake, was none of his concern.

Before leaving, everyone inevitably talked about the upcoming Pseudo-Elite Four Tournament and the Gym Ranking Match.

Because the Johto Region had only just suffered Team Rocket's full-scale assault on its cities, many cities had sustained severe losses, and quite a few Gyms had undergone major changes.

According to inside information, this year's Gym Ranking Match in the Johto Region would likely be postponed or even canceled.

But the Pseudo-Elite Four Tournament was a grand event for the Entire Alliance. Unless there were unavoidable circumstances, it would not be delayed.

This Pseudo-Elite Four Tournament would also be held at the Pokémon League headquarters, Indigo Plateau.

Thus, before parting, everyone agreed to settle things at this Pseudo-Elite Four Tournament and see who would be the one to dominate this era! Of course, Lance, Steven Stone, and the others had already broken through to Elite Four level, so they naturally would not be participating this time.

But that did not mean winning the championship would become easy, because the Pseudo-Elite Four Tournament had no age limit and no limit on the number of entries!

In other words, any Trainer who had participated in the Youth Elite Tournament and reached the top eight could enter an unlimited number of times.

Accumulated over the years, there might not have been an overwhelming number of