After hearing Lance propose the creation of a world tournament, everyone in the room fell into thought.
Every person present was a powerful Trainer.
At the very least, each of them possessed Master-tier combat strength. Otherwise, they would never have earned a seat in this conference room.
Battling formidable opponents and facing powerful Pokémon Trainers from every region was something they had all experienced—and desired—throughout their journeys.
Without that drive, none of them would have become as strong as they were.
"I think it's a good idea."
Aiden was the first to voice his support.
"A world tournament for the strongest Trainers would be far grander than a regional Elite Four challenge."
Aiden already knew that the Masters Eight would eventually emerge.
What he was curious about was how its lineup would change now that he existed in this world.
Seeing Aiden agree, Lance immediately brightened.
Cynthia, Lorelei, Wallace, and Steven exchanged glances before reaching their own decisions.
"I agree as well."
"It should be interesting to battle the Elite Four and Champions of other regions."
After the four of them voiced their support, Leon spoke.
"I naturally agree with holding a Pokémon tournament."
"However, I have one question."
"How will the eligibility rules be decided?"
"What qualifications will a Trainer need in order to participate?"
"What if someone is extremely powerful but has little status or reputation?"
"And what if someone holds an important position despite being weak?"
Leon's question caused everyone to fall silent.
Even Lance, who had proposed the tournament, had yet to settle on a complete set of rules.
For now, he had only presented the idea.
His original plan was to gain the approval of the regional Champions first and discuss the details afterward.
Leon's direct question left him temporarily speechless.
Aiden, however, smiled.
"I've actually considered something like this before."
"We can use the world tournament to divide every Pokémon Trainer in the world into tiers based on strength."
"There would be five levels."
"The Beginner Tier, Poké Ball Tier, Great Ball Tier, Ultra Ball Tier, and Master Ball Tier."
"Regional Champions and members of the Elite Four can enter directly into the Ultra Ball Tier."
"Regional Gym Leaders can enter directly into the Great Ball Tier."
"We would first hold a tournament for the Great Ball Tier."
"The top eight Trainers would be promoted to the Ultra Ball Tier."
"After that, the Trainers in the Ultra Ball Tier would battle one another."
"The eight strongest among them would be promoted to the Master Ball Tier."
"Those eight Trainers would be known as the Masters Eight."
"And finally, they would compete in the greatest tournament in the world—"
"The Masters Eight Tournament."
After Aiden finished explaining the system in detail, everyone's eyes lit up.
Leon immediately nodded.
"Good."
"I think those rules could work."
"The Gym Leaders of each region are far from weak, and the Elite Four are all extremely powerful."
"This system would allow Trainers to prove their strength through actual battles."
Seeing Leon agree, Cynthia added,
"In that case, the Beginner Tier would represent weaker and newly registered Trainers."
"The Poké Ball Tier would include ordinary Trainers and lower-level elite Trainers."
"The Great Ball Tier would correspond to Gym Leader-level Trainers—or those approaching the Elite Four."
"The Ultra Ball Tier would represent Trainers at the regional Elite Four level or above."
"And the Master Ball Tier would naturally be reserved for Champion-level Trainers."
"That's a good system."
Diantha also showed clear interest.
"A competition like that sounds fascinating."
"I support it."
Alder laughed heartily.
"Hahaha!"
"If you young people are eager to make things exciting, then this old man will join you and give it a try."
With nearly everyone already in agreement, Geeta smiled.
"Since everyone supports it, I'll participate as well."
And just like that, an entirely new world-class tournament was born in the hands of the regional Champions.
"The preparations will take several months."
"First, the Gym Leaders of every region will need to battle one another."
"Other Trainers who have reached near-Elite Four strength can also participate."
"From them, the strongest eight will be selected and promoted to the Ultra Ball Tier."
The top eight near-Elite Four Trainers would then enter a tournament in which every participant possessed at least Elite Four-level strength.
Compared with the original timeline, where regional Champions were practically assigned places among the Masters Eight, this system was considerably fairer.
At least, that was how Aiden saw it.
Alain had been far from possessing the strength of a true regional Champion.
Aiden still had no idea how he had managed to qualify in the first place.
Under this new system, even the regional Champions would need to defeat Elite Four members and Vice Champions to enter the Master Ball Tier.
Only then could they become one of the eight strongest Trainers in the world—
The Masters Eight.
Of course, the tournament brackets would still need to be arranged carefully.
At the very least, Champions could not be matched against one another in the opening rounds.
Otherwise, a regional Champion might be eliminated immediately while someone below Champion level advanced instead.
That would be ridiculous.
After everyone had agreed to the general structure, Leon suddenly spoke again.
"I have another suggestion."
"In a world-level tournament, should Legendary Pokémon be allowed to participate?"
The room instantly fell silent.
Among the eleven people present, only Aiden and Brandon possessed Legendary Pokémon.
It was rather obvious who Leon's question was aimed at.
Aiden smiled.
"What's wrong, Leon?"
"After losing to my Rayquaza, have you already lost the courage to face Legendary Pokémon?"
The moment Aiden said this, everyone turned toward the two of them.
So Leon was yet another Champion Aiden had defeated?
Still, Leon's concern was not unreasonable.
If Legendary Pokémon were permitted without restriction, then with Aiden's current strength, there would be little point in holding the tournament at all.
He would simply be crowned the strongest in the world.
After all, no Champion could use six ordinary Pokémon to defeat six primary Legendary Pokémon.
As everyone remained silent, Aiden let out a cold snort.
"I know what you're all thinking."
"You're worried that if Legendary Pokémon are allowed, none of you will be able to defeat my primary Legendaries."
"In that case, we can impose restrictions on how often Legendary Pokémon may appear and under what conditions they can be used."
"You Champions can decide those restrictions yourselves."
In the earliest versions of Pokémon Master-level competitions, Legendary Pokémon had indeed been prohibited.
Only later were they allowed to participate.
So even if the others chose to restrict the use of primary Legendary Pokémon, Aiden did not care.
Did they really think he could not defeat Leon without using Legendary Pokémon?
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