The trip to the capital was over, and John returned to his ranch back in Grassmere City.
He began a two-month intensive training retreat.
During the day, Pokemon practiced moves in John's purpose-built training facility, with Mew's Sanctuary providing additional support.
John personally supervised the training grounds, coaching and practicing alongside his Pokemon.
On his Gameboy, there were very few opponents who could serve as proper rivals. Aside from Red at Mt. Silver, only a handful of regional Champions remained.
So, taking advantage of this rare opportunity, John decided to battle each region's Champion once as a way to level up his second-string Pokemon team.
While battling, John was also developing exclusive moves for his Pokemon.
Zoroark and Gengar had successfully mastered Phantom General, but over two months John had designed exclusive moves for his main team: Lugia, Greninja, Gardevoir, Zeraora, Garchomp, and Tyranitar.
The strength of these exclusive moves wasn't as dramatic as Phantom General, after all, two months was quite short. For other trainers, developing an exclusive move in two months would be impossible, even with two years.
The exclusive moves John developed weren't overwhelmingly powerful, but they provided a direction for move development. Each exclusive move could be continuously refined. With time, his Pokemon could follow these foundations and naturally evolve them into powerful, profound techniques like Phantom General.
This way, John and his Pokemon spent two months in busy but fulfilling training and battles.
Time was like sand in one's hand, the tighter you tried to grasp it, the faster you could feel it slipping away.
When Emerald reminded him that two months had passed, when Damian and Harrison sent messages asking when John would initiate his Championship challenge, John felt dazed.
"Huh, that's it? It's been two months already?" John stretched and pulled out his phone to text Emerald.
"Help me schedule a Championship Challenge with the Trainer Association."
Soon Emerald's shocked voice came back through the phone. "Boss, were you the final winner of the Elite Tournamrnt?"
The Elite Tournament upheaval had sparked discussions throughout society. Emerald had participated in the speculation too. Although she was optimistic about her boss, as an independent woman whose rationality overcame emotion, Emerald had still favored Damian Elite as the likely winner.
She never imagined she'd be so wrong.
"Didn't I tell you?"
"No!"
John scratched his head, thinking carefully. He'd returned to train two months ago, and while Emerald had remembered to remind him when time was up, he apparently hadn't mentioned why he was in retreat.
"Okay, well now you know. Go make the appointment for me."
"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"
That night, John returned home after dinner and surfing, only to realize his phone had been bombarded with messages while scrolling through social media.
Azure: OMG! John! Not only did you beat an Elite Four in one shot, but you're challenging for the Championship this year!
Scarlett: Get me a VIP box ticket.
Mark: Bro! (crying voice) Amazing! (screaming) My boy John, number one in the world!
Daisy: John~ Do you have tickets? Do you have tickets? I want to support you at the venue!
Beyond the messaging app bombardment, Emerald informed John that his official social media account was getting crazy comments from netizens.
However, aside from the praise from his fan groups, many were apologies.
@BrotherDang: Thanks for asking, just got off a plane. Actually didn't get on the plane, just knelt in the aisle. John-god, forgive my ignorance, I was short-sighted and shouldn't have used my mortal vision to judge the world of geniuses. In this Championship match, I'm Team John!
@WestWindThinHorse: What did I say? I want to ask now, is John-god even human? (tactical retreat)!
@BlackStockingsAttackSpeed: Ah yes yes yes.
@ManWithGlasses: As far as universal rationality goes... Universal rationality, is this still rational? Is there still justice? Is there still law and order? My rationality is on the verge of collapse. If John defeats the Eastern Champion and becomes the new Champion, and you tell me the world ends tomorrow, I'll believe it!
@WestWindThinHorse: Do you know what a real genius is? A real genius breaks all the rules! (tactical retreat again)!
@Hehehe: Congratulations to my John-god for breaking through three realms in one year and ascending straight to godhood! (dog head emoji)
Emerald had made the appointment at noon, the Champion accepted in the afternoon, and the official announcement came that evening, popularity exploded instantly.
In just ten minutes, trending topics were flying everywhere:
"Trainer Association Announcement: The youngest Elite Four in history, John! Schedules challenge against Champion Magnus!"
"SHOCKING! The strongest Elite Four was actually him!"
"Magnus Vaelestrum: I'm looking forward to fighting him"
"Harrison: My junior is invincible!"
"Victor Stone: I See the King of a New Era"
"Countless netizens apologize to John's official account for initial pessimism"
All occupying the top 20 trending spots.
John was somewhat speechless, these media people were really dedicated, directly tracking down Draconia's Champion, Harrison, and Victor Stone for interviews.
The Champion's response was quite standard and appropriate. Harrison and Victor, however, went all out, cranking up the hype another notch. This actually made some trainers suspect the relationships between Harrison, Victor, and John weren't genuine.
After all, their interview responses seemed like shameless flattery.
But Harrison, who somewhat knew John's true combat power, felt his praise was actually quite modest.
"What a fuss," John chuckled and shook his head, not feeling any pressure from everyone's expectations. The first Elite match, the first Championship match, he might have been nervous then, but now he truly was HIM on all account.
After dinner, it was time to shower and game.
Speaking of which, he still had a Championship match tonight.
Time was almost up.
John pulled out his Gameboy and chose Lugia to fly to the Ferrum Region.
For two months, he'd been scheduling battles in the Ferrum Region, so his ranking had improved rapidly. It was finally time to challenge the Ferrum Region Champion.
(A/N: #TeamJohn in the comments!!!!)