End

"Time for you two to head to the awards stage."

The female staff member from the registration desk earlier entered the waiting room to remind them that it was time to receive their trophies.

"Also, congratulations, Roy."

Clearly, she hadn't expected Roy and his Litwick to make it all the way to the finals and take third place.

As a staff member, she had been able to watch the matches from beside the judging panel, so she had seen every one of Roy's battles—from nearly being unable to enter the competition to winning an award today.

In a way, she had witnessed Roy's hard work.

Roy smiled and nodded. Then he and Wallace rose from their seats, left the waiting room, and headed for the awards stage.

As the two appeared, the cheers instantly swelled.

In the stands,

Erika's large sign was raised high once again, while May beside her waved a cheering stick and shouted for Roy.

Norman: I'm tired. Let it all be destroyed.

Umbreon's trainer smiled and made room for Roy and Wallace.

Roy returned the smile. They didn't have any deep-seated grudge against each other, and the other boy had defeated him with his own strength. Roy had nothing to complain about.

The three contestants on the big screen were now the center of everyone's attention.

Stone, Professor Oak, and Agatha had come to present the awards. The first two presented prizes to Wallace and Umbreon's trainer respectively.

Stone gave Wallace's shoulder a familiar pat and offered him a few words of encouragement. Wallace scratched the back of his head, looking like he wanted even more praise. Clearly, the two knew each other.

Umbreon's trainer was thrilled to have Professor Oak present his award. He straightened up and accepted the trophy.

Agatha walked up to Roy and looked at him approvingly.

In truth, she had already been quite satisfied when Roy defeated Mightyena. Mainly because Roy had made a good impression on her from the beginning.

His ability to calmly accept defeat in the final match and find a way to break through by earning points through performance had also made her, seated among the accompanying judges, praise his intelligence.

There was nothing to fault in either his temperament or the way he had raised Litwick.

Her special trip to Mt. Pyre yesterday to find those two elders hadn't been in vain.

"Child, you're very good. We'll meet again."

Agatha handed Roy the bronze trophy. After leaving him with those words, she stepped away from the awards area, leaving Roy standing on the podium with his trophy, completely bewildered.

We'll meet again? What did that mean?

Next came the prizes for the top three of this Rookie Cup: Evolution Stones.

Mary carried three Water, Fire, and Grass-type Evolution Stones in a square wooden tray onto the awards stage.

Wallace, who had placed first, got to choose first.

Wallace looked them over and directly took the Water Stone in the middle.

The second-place Umbreon trainer took the Fire Stone. He still had an unevolved Eevee, and Litwick's final performance had left a deep impression on him, so he wanted a Flareon too.

Only a Leaf Stone remained for Roy. He wasn't picky—whatever they gave him, he'd take. He couldn't use it anyway, and he could always sell it for money.

Roy scanned it with the system and found that it was a medium-quality Leaf Stone.

Though it wasn't as rare as a Shiny Stone or Dusk Stone, Wallace estimated that a Leaf Stone of this quality was worth around 80,000 to 100,000 Poké Dollars.

The Moomoo Milk and Intermediate Pokéblocks would be mailed to the three of them after the competition along with the rewards for the top hundred contestants.

As for the January Intermediate Pokéblocks, there simply weren't any Pokéblocks that Ghost-type Pokémon could eat.

As compensation, the Rookie Cup organizers directly deposited 15,000 Poké Dollars into Roy's ID Card.

At the end of the award ceremony, the three stood in their respective places, each holding their own trophy.

The photographer Dai switched on his camera and took a group photo of the three.

Perhaps because of affection for Litwick extending to Roy, Dai deliberately took two extra shots of Roy and the Litwick on his shoulder. Roy cooperated readily—those were all precious Popularity Points.

Amid the cheers from the audience, this year's Rookie Cup came to an end.

"Roy, let's have a battle the next time we meet. And when you lose, don't you dare cry."

"Who's going to cry is still up in the air. And don't go crying to your parents when you lose."

Roy and Wallace said goodbye in the waiting room. Wallace was practically bursting with motivation now, already unable to wait to work toward the future Wallace Cup!

Adam had no idea what Roy had said to Wallace to get him so fired up, but seeing Wallace willing to work hard was a good thing.

As Roy left the venue, he ran into three familiar people: Erika, May, and Norman.

It looked like the three had specifically waited for him here.

May and Erika enthusiastically congratulated Roy on taking third place in the tournament.

But why did Roy feel that something was off about the way Norman looked at him? Hadn't they been chatting and laughing together just the day before yesterday?

Why was there now a hint of wariness in Norman's gaze?

At Erika and May's enthusiastic request, Roy took a photo with them. It was the Litwick Fan Club's first picture.

It turned out Erika had recruited May into Litwick's Litwick Fan Club—the name she'd just come up with.

So that meant he had two little fans now?

Roy didn't take Erika's fan club seriously. He merely smiled; he didn't want to hurt the little girl's confidence.

He had no idea just how many Popularity Points this future fan club president would bring him.