Although this volume wasn't finished yet, I wanted to say a few things, so I wrote these thoughts ahead of time.
When I first planned it, this was going to be the second-to-last volume.
The next volume would cover the Elites and the Champion.
The purpose of this penultimate volume was to build up his strength until he reached the Sub-Elite level.
At the same time, it would resolve some major plot threads.
And fulfill an intermediate goal: becoming a Chief Pokémon Ranger.
Which brought us to the question.
What qualified Dian to become a Chief Pokémon Ranger? And in a reasonable, ideal Pokémon World, what would the Elites and the Champion represent?
That was the core of this volume.
Of course, if we went by the original work, Elite and Champion might just be titles for Trainers, nothing more than a casual idea.
Twisting that into something to ponder so deeply might seem rather ridiculous.
But fanfiction ought to be more than that.
In a sense, all fiction is merely fanfiction based on the real world.
To borrow the words of an accomplished author, the fanfiction I envisioned should be rooted in the original work, yet transcend it.
So, could someone really become an Elite or Champion simply by having enough strength and influence, then take control of resources?
Would there truly be no requirements at all for the person themselves?
Personally, I thought that was unreasonable, so I wrote about it.
What virtues and abilities qualified a Trainer to become an Elite, a Champion, a region's leader?
So, once Dian had enough strength and powerful backing, with his abilities established over such a long stretch of the story...
Where was his virtue?
That was why I wrote about the Hunters.
If Dian could substantially suppress the Hunter community