A little after four in the afternoon, a private jet touched down on the Indigo Plateau.
Chen Shi, Steven, Cynthia, along with Lance and Lorelei, stepped out of the cabin one after another.
Professor Oak and Agatha walked at the front.
They had come here for one reason only—
to select their post-tournament rewards at League Headquarters.
For the Top 8 competitors, aside from Pokémon Eggs, they were also allowed to enter the League's treasure vault to choose one additional reward.
However, those competitors would only be entering Vault No. 3.
Chen Shi, on the other hand, had access to Vault No. 2.
Along the way, the eight of them followed quietly behind the two senior figures.
After entering the League headquarters building, Professor Oak swiped an access card in an elevator and pressed the button for B4.
After that—
No one knew how many identity checks they passed.
Nor how many heavy metal doors Professor Oak opened.
Finally, the group arrived before a room constructed entirely from specially reinforced metal.
"This is Vault No. 3," Professor Oak said with a smile, glancing at Agatha.
"You take them in to choose. I'll take Shi inside."
"Hmph."
Agatha snorted coldly and said nothing. She took out a white card from her coat and swiped it across the sensor beside the door.
A green light lit up.
A metal door more than half a meter thick slowly opened.
"Everyone except that little brat, go in," Agatha said flatly.
"Top 8 pick one item. Semifinalists pick two. Runner-up picks three."
The corner of Chen Shi's eye twitched.
The "little brat" she was referring to—
who else could it be but him?
But he didn't dare show any reaction. He simply pretended he hadn't heard a thing and stood obediently in place.
After all, she was a big shot.
She could say whatever she wanted.
"Come on, Shi. Let's go."
Professor Oak seemed to be in a good mood. He chuckled and continued walking forward.
Chen Shi immediately followed.
"Professor… is the security here really this tight?"
Now that it was just the two of them, Chen Shi felt more relaxed and asked directly.
Professor Oak raised an eyebrow.
"You think this is tight?"
"These checks and defenses are just the obvious ones. There's far more going on behind the scenes."
"There's even an Alakazam fully in charge of guarding this place."
"Right now, we're probably already within its psychic coverage."
Chen Shi nodded thoughtfully, not particularly surprised.
After all, this was the League headquarters' treasure vault.
No amount of security would be excessive.
As for the Alakazam Professor Oak mentioned—
he hadn't said its level outright, but anything entrusted with guarding this place would be Champion-level at the very least.
"Alright, enough about that," Professor Oak said, stopping.
"We're here."
Chen Shi looked left and right in confusion.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no path ahead.
"Professor… did we take a wrong turn?"
Professor Oak shot him a glance.
"No. This is the place."
He didn't explain further. Instead, he took a sealed letter from his coat.
In the next moment, an Alakazam appeared silently before them and took the letter from Professor Oak's hand.
After a quick glance, a hint of emotion flickered in Alakazam's eyes—but upon sensing the aura on the letter, it said nothing.
Its job was only to guard the vault.
How the contents were allocated wasn't its concern.
Alakazam bent its spoon slightly—
—and the three of them vanished from the spot.
...
"Holy—!"
The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Chen Shi cry out.
When he came back to his senses, he found himself inside a room—
along with Professor Oak and the Alakazam.
Several display racks stood around the room, each holding dozens of boxes.
Professor Oak moved with practiced ease, picking up a catalog from a nearby table.
"Take a look," he said.
"These are the items in Vault No. 2. Combined with your champion's reward, you can choose four items in total."
Chen Shi didn't even think about scanning the Alakazam's data.
He immediately took the catalog and began flipping through it.
The moment he opened the first page—
his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Because what was recorded inside were almost all legendary-grade resources, or extremely rare special materials.
Feathers from the Legendary Birds,
Dragon fangs from the Eon Duo,
Fragments of the Regi Titans' bodies—
Everything was there.
There were also special legendary resources created through unique methods or formed naturally by the world itself.
Such as—
Attribute Origin Crystals,
A top-grade Fire Stone infused with Entei's primal flame,
A Purification Stone condensed by Suicune.
He even saw a fragment of a High-Level Secret Realm Core.
The further he flipped, the more stunned Chen Shi became.
The League really was the League.
Its accumulated wealth over countless years was no joke—
to have collected this many legendary resources was simply terrifying.
If Vault No. 2 was already like this…
Then what kind of place was Vault No. 1?
"Well?" Professor Oak asked with a smile.
"See anything you like?"
Chen Shi swallowed, his eyes never leaving the catalog.
"Professor… let me look a bit more. There's just too much good stuff—my eyes are spinning."
Professor Oak nodded.
"You should take your time. There's no rush."
"These are all items the League obtained over the years—either gifted voluntarily by Legendary Pokémon they befriended, or excavated from ancient ruins."
"Look carefully."
Chen Shi nodded heavily.
After some time, he finally made his selections.
The first item was a High-Level Secret Realm Core Fragment.
He already knew how powerful this item was from experience. Right now, what he needed most was rapid growth—so this was a must.
As for who it would go to—
he planned to give it to Dragapult.
As his starter Pokémon, Chen Shi was admittedly a little biased.
The second item was a Shaymin Flower.
This one was for Leafeon.
Leafeon rarely took the field and didn't have much presence. She wasn't enthusiastic about battling either—but since Chen Shi had caught her, he was responsible for her growth.
She'd never really gotten any good resources before.
This time, he intended to make it up to her.
The third item was a Primal Feather of Tornadus.
This was meant for Togekiss.
For her training, Chen Shi planned to lean more heavily into the Flying-type route.
As for the fourth item—
After a moment of hesitation, he chose a Millennium Leyline Stone.
This one was for Swampert.
That big guy was always the first to charge into battle, but somehow ended up receiving the fewest benefits.
It was about time he got something good too.
And among the items here, the Millennium Leyline Stone suited him best.
"Are you sure about these four?" Professor Oak asked, looking at the items Chen Shi had selected.
"These four," Chen Shi replied decisively.
Professor Oak nodded, selected four boxes from the shelves, and handed them to him.
"Take them."
"Next, we'll be heading to Vault No. 1."
"That's where the real treasures are."
Chen Shi stored the boxes in his spatial bag.
At Professor Oak's words, his anticipation surged.
If Vault No. 2 was already filled with legendary resources—
Then what in the world awaited them in Vault No. 1?
...
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