The sea breeze brushed gently across his face while the cheerful cries of Wingull echoed around the ship.
"Wiiing~ Gull~ Gull~"
Having finally waited for Drake's arrival and boarded the vessel bound for Kanto, Liam leaned comfortably against the railing of the ship's deck, wearing a thoroughly content expression.
This time, he had deliberately kept his return a secret from everyone back home. He wanted to surprise Delia and the others. Just imagining the look on Delia's face when she suddenly opened the door and found him standing there made him smile.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became.
"Ahem, Liam. Thinking about something pleasant? Why don't you share it with me?"
At that moment, Drake emerged onto the deck with a pipe in his mouth and a smile on his face.
"Oh! Haha, it's nothing really. I'm just excited about finally going home. Mr. Drake, I really have to thank you for taking the trouble to bring me all the way back."
Liam turned around and thanked him sincerely.
"Haha! Of course you should be happy about going home! And there's no need to thank me. I happened to have cargo to deliver anyway, so giving you a ride wasn't any trouble at all."
Drake removed his pipe before continuing.
"Besides, the Chairman already told me everything you've been up to recently. Incredible! Team Magma and Team Aqua have been causing headaches for the League for years, yet they suffered such a huge loss at your hands! Hahaha! As expected of a Champion!"
His hearty laughter rang across the entire deck.
"Haha, you're giving me too much credit. I was just lucky."
Liam scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly.
"Ah, being too modest isn't a good habit."
Drake waved dismissively before suddenly remembering something.
"Oh right, Liam. Before I left, the Chairman gave me something and asked me to pass it on to you. He said it's a reward for your contributions to Hoenn. Here, take this."
Reaching into the pocket of his coat, Drake pulled out a small square box and solemnly handed it over.
"What's this?"
Liam accepted the box with both hands. It had a surprising amount of weight to it.
"Why ask me? Open it and see for yourself!"
Drake wore a mysterious smile.
Liam: "..."
With a helpless expression, Liam carefully opened the box.
Then—
"What?! This! This is—!!"
The moment the box opened, Liam was completely stunned.
"A Champion Badge?!"
Nestled inside the box was a golden badge.
Its main body was crafted from gold in the shape of a leaf. Embedded within the leaf were seven gemstones of different colors, symbolizing the Ever Grande Conference. Under the sunlight, the jewels reflected dazzling rays of light.
"Yes. This is Hoenn's Champion Badge."
Seeing Liam's astonishment, Drake couldn't help looking rather proud.
However, Liam's expression soon became conflicted.
While one of his objectives was indeed to collect the Champion title of every region, he had never actually considered becoming Hoenn's Champion.
The biggest issue was distance.
Johto was close enough to Kanto that he could reach it relatively quickly if something happened. Hoenn, on the other hand, was so far away that he felt he might die from exhaustion trying to get there in an emergency.
So as he stared at the badge in his hand, his face became increasingly troubled.
"Mr. Drake... please take this Champion Badge back. I don't believe I'm qualified to become Hoenn's Champion..."
After a long moment, Liam closed the box and reluctantly held it back out.
"WHAT?!"
Drake nearly dropped his pipe into the ocean. Staring at Liam in disbelief, he quickly responded:
"Ahem! Who said anything about making you Hoenn's Champion?!"
"Huh? What? But you just gave me the Champion Badge!"
Liam shook the box in confusion.
"The badge is still right here!"
Drake rubbed his forehead helplessly.
"My fault. I didn't explain it clearly."
"The badge you're holding is indeed Hoenn's Champion Badge. The Chairman personally entrusted it to me."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"But this one has never been registered. A normal Champion Badge is not only proof of a Champion's identity, it's also effectively an identification card and tracking device. This one has none of those functions. It's simply an ordinary badge."
"The Chairman heard that you enjoy collecting Gym Badges and Champion Badges from various regions. Since you've already obtained Hoenn's Gym Badges, he decided to gift you this unregistered Champion Certificate Badge as a reward for your efforts."
Drake looked at Liam.
"What? Don't tell me you're dissatisfied?"
"Of course not!"
Liam's eyes immediately lit up.
"Mr. Drake! Please thank the Chairman for me!"
The box disappeared into his hands almost instantly.
He reopened it, carefully lifted out the Champion Badge, and held it high above his head, admiring the brilliant light sparkling from its surface.
Beep.
At the exact moment Liam officially accepted the badge—
[Hidden Achievement Mission: Champion Certificate — Hoenn Champion! Completed!]
[Achievement Rewards Granted: 10,000 Exchange Points; Pokémon Lottery Ticket ×1; Super Mystery Gift Pack Opened: 2,000 Exchange Points, Divine Stone ×1, Gracidea Flower ×1, TM Overheat ×1, TM Swords Dance ×1]
As Liam listened to the system notifications, they sounded like heavenly music to his ears.
The satisfied smile on his face caused Drake's eyebrows to twitch.
"Alright, alright. Look at how happy you are. It's only a badge."
"You own it now. You can admire it whenever you want. As long as you don't use it to do anything illegal, the League isn't going to take it back."
Drake shook his head helplessly. Then, after a brief pause, he spoke again.
"Liam, we still have a long voyage ahead of us. It's going to be quite boring."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"You still remember our agreement, don't you?"
"Huh? What agreement?"
Liam blinked in confusion.
Drake chuckled.
"This agreement."
A PokéBall suddenly appeared in his hand. As he casually tossed it up and down, anticipation filled his eyes.
"Oh!"
Liam immediately remembered.
"A serious battle, right?! Sounds good! I've been looking forward to this day too! Come on, Mr. Drake! Since I'm already in such a good mood, let's have an unforgettable match!"
Liam quickly put away the Champion Badge and pulled out a PokéBall of his own.
"Hahaha! Last time, I didn't have this partner with me, so there was nothing I could do. But today!"
"My partner has been waiting for this battle for a very long time!"
"If that's the case—go! My most important partner…. Salamence!!"
ROOOAR!!"
Drake hurled the PokéBall into the air.
A flash of white light erupted. A Salamence with enormous crimson wings appeared in the sky, roaring majestically as it hovered above the ship.
"Haha! What incredible presence… But that's exactly what makes it exciting!"
"Come out, Garchomp! Let's show our opponent what we're capable of!"
"GRAAAH!!"
To avoid damaging the ship, Liam released Garchomp this time.
After spending so much time battling Legendary Pokémon, it was about time Garchomp got a different kind of opponent.
"It's Salamence! The strongest opponent possible!"
"Don't underestimate it! Give it everything you've got!"
"Use Dragon Rush!!"
"ROOOAR!!"
Having seen Garchomp battle before, Drake fully understood how powerful it was. The instant Garchomp took to the sky, he launched a fierce offensive.
"Here it comes! Garchomp! Our opponent wants a contest of strength… Then let's show it exactly what we've got!"
"Use Dragon Rush!!"
"GRAAAH!!"
The same move.
Garchomp transformed into a charging dragon amidst a thunderous roar, while Salamence did exactly the same.
In almost the blink of an eye… the two dragons collided in midair.
BOOM!!!
A massive shockwave exploded across the sky.