Several reporters carrying cameras and various pieces of recording equipment noticed Alex leaving the building and immediately began hurrying toward him.

Alex glanced at them briefly but did not recognize any of the reporters approaching him. None of them appeared to be particularly famous or important media figures.

The moment the reporters reached him, they immediately began speaking over one another in a rather rude and chaotic manner.

"Alex, how did you manage to level up your Pokémon so quickly?"

"Are you officially participating in this tournament?"

"Alex, what placement do you think you'll achieve?"

"Do you believe you have a realistic chance of winning the Hoenn Champion Tournament?"

Several cameras were already recording him before he had even agreed to an interview.

Alex tried not to look annoyed by their behavior.

Although he understood that reporters often behaved aggressively when chasing information, he still disliked how invasive some of them could be.

Suppressing his irritation, Alex maintained a polite smile and calmly said, "I'll answer a few questions, but only from the person I point to."

The noisy crowd quieted down slightly after hearing this. Alex then pointed toward a random reporter standing near the front.

The young man immediately asked, "Alex, do you think you have a chance to win this tournament?"

Alex thought for a few moments before answering honestly, "Maybe. I can't say for certain without knowing exactly who else is participating in the tournament."

Afterward, he pointed toward another reporter.

This time, the reporter quickly asked, "As far as we know, Steven Stone is also participating in this tournament, and the two of you are known to be good friends. Could that friendship create problems during the competition?"

Alex smiled casually when he heard the question. "That's a rather silly question, We'll both give it our all during the tournament, and neither of us will feel offended if the other wins."

Several reporters quickly wrote down his answer. Alex then pointed toward the next person.

The reporter immediately spoke with visible excitement. "Alex, during the Kanto Rookie Tournament, the Kanto Champion Tournament, and even during the Pokémon Raid incident, your Pokémon displayed extremely fast growth rates. Is it possible that your team consists entirely of SS-rank Pokémon?"

Alex looked at the reporter with slight surprise.

He was honestly somewhat impressed that someone had managed to infer that possibility from only those few public appearances.

In reality, the evidence was fairly limited.

Before the Kanto Champion Tournament, even S-rank Pokémon could still potentially explain such rapid level up rate.

However, once the Pokémon Raid and his more recent Kanto Champion Tournament considered together, the Evidence became much more obvious and hard to deny.

Alex thought quietly for a moment before answering. "Not all of my Pokémon possess SS-rank potential, but most of them do."

It was a lie. At this point, every single one of his Pokémon had already reached SS-rank potential. Alex intentionally downplayed the truth.

Even so, the answer caused an immediate reaction. Almost every reporter present showed excited expressions.

Several cameras zoomed closer toward him, while others immediately began whispering excitedly among themselves.

Alex already knew exactly how significant such information was.

SS-rank Pokémon were an enormous deal.

A Trainer possessing multiple SS-rank Pokémon was already comparable to many Elite Four-level Trainers in terms of long-term potential.

By tomorrow morning, he would almost certainly become one of the main discussion topics across countless television programs, newspapers, and online forums.

Realizing this, Alex suddenly regretted answering today questions at all.

Although his answer is not really necessary if one considers the levels of his Pokemon between the Kanto Champion tournament and the Pokemon raid, which prove everything.

He could still hope for the small chance that this reporter wouldn't publish such an article without his confirmation.

Although he was now powerful enough that he no longer needed to fear ordinary threats, that did not mean he was completely untouchable.

There were still many powerful people and organizations in the world. Alex had no desire to attract unnecessary attention from the wrong individuals.

His mood worsened slightly as he thought about it.

Not wanting to continue the interview any longer, he spoke a few more polite words before ending the conversation before anyone could stop him.

Alex said calmly. "Thank you for the questions, I still need to prepare for the tournament, so this will be enough for today."

Without giving the reporters another opportunity to surround him , Alex immediately released Crobat from its Poké Ball.

Several reporters instinctively stepped backward when Crobat appeared.

Moments later, Crobat spread his wings and rapidly flew away from the conference area, leaving the disappointed reporters behind as Alex headed directly toward a hotel.

...

Alex, who had booked a high-quality hotel near the Ever Grande Conference stadium complex, sat quietly inside his room together with his Pokémon.

The room itself was large enough that several of his Pokémon could comfortably train without causing too much damage.

While Alex sat on a chair near the window reading through the official tournament rules on his Pokédex, his Pokémon spent the time practicing their moves and training quietly among themselves.

Alex occasionally glanced toward them, though most of his attention remained focused on the tournament rules.

The rules for the Hoenn Champion Tournament were actually quite similar to those used during the Kanto Champion Tournament.

Still, there were a few important differences. some of those differences were honestly rather annoying from Alex's perspective.

The biggest difference involved the battle formats used throughout the tournament.

In the preliminary rounds, all matches would be fought using a 1-versus-1 format.

Once the number of participants had been reduced to only 16 Trainers remaining, the format would change to 3-versus-3 battles.

Only the final match of the tournament would use a full 6-versus-6 battle format.

This format was honestly somewhat unfavorable for his team composition.

Most Trainers participating in tournaments like this typically possessed one or two exceptionally powerful Pokémon supported by several weaker team members.

Alex's situation, however, was somewhat different. All six Pokémon were powerful and relatively close to one another in level.

That gave him a huge advantage in big battles, especially six-versus-six fights where overall team depth mattered far more.

But because the tournament mostly used smaller battle formats until the very end, that advantage became less significant.

There was another rule that Alex dislike.

Pokémon substitutions during battle were prohibited.

Again, this rule was not especially favorable for him either. After all, Alex excelled at tactical flexibility and adaptation during matches.

Still, despite these disadvantages, Alex did not feel particularly worried.

The simple truth was that his Pokémon were overwhelmingly strong compared to most participants.

Even if the format slightly disadvantaged him, the difference in overall quality between his team and ordinary tournament participants was simply too large.

Alex already knew that this year, unlike previous tournaments, he genuinely possessed a realistic chance of winning the entire competition.

*******

if the story total of 100 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.

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