The Odd Jobs Forever (The End)

Arceus vanished into the depths of the black hole and did not reappear. Meowscarada had exhausted its strength too. It reverted to Sprigatito and fell from the sky, and Xingye hurried forward to catch it.

"Meow..."

Sprigatito meowed wearily, on the verge of passing out. Xingye immediately fed it an Energy Root and said with a smile, "You won!"

"Meow?"

Sprigatito froze. Had it really won? It could hardly believe it. At the end, it had stopped caring about everything except defeating its opponent... So was it true?

"It's true. Look!"

Holding Sprigatito, Xingye turned toward their opponent. Akari seemed to have finally laid an old regret to rest. She sighed softly, then smiled and applauded. "Congratulations. You're the second trainer to defeat Arceus, and you've completely surpassed me!"

"Meow!"

With that confirmation, Sprigatito burst into excitement despite its exhaustion. Xingye laughed and shouted, "That's right! We're champions!!!"

The sight left everyone stunned for a long time. He had actually won. It was unbelievable. Probably no one there could have defeated that mysterious Pokémon, not even Red. Yet Xingye had done it, and with Sprigatito...

After a brief silence came a deafening roar of cheers. The strongest trainer of this age had defeated the trainer who had ushered it in. A brand-new era had begun!

As one, the spectators rose to applaud the final battle. Just then, golden light gradually enveloped the Hall of Origin around them. As when the scene had suddenly changed before, it swallowed the entire world.

When the light flashed away, everyone was gone—including the stadium and even Akari. Only Xingye and all his Pokémon remained, even those who had been watching from the stands.

"What is this...?"

Xingye looked around in confusion. Sprigatito had fully recovered, and Cyclizar and the others who had lost earlier