"Congratutions on winning the championship!" August said to Blue.

  Blue looked at him with a peculiar expression.

  She hadn’t expected him to be the one giving out the awards.

  "Wait… is this why you didn’t enter the tournament? Because you were in charge of handing out trophies?" she whispered.

  "No, this was an accident."

  August sighed.

  Originally, the pn was for Steven to give a short speech, Lance to present the awards, and for him to just sit back and rex.

  But then, midway through, Lance got an urgent call.

  Apparently, a rge number of Team Rocket members had been spotted in the outskirts of Cedon City, so he had rushed off immediately.

  And so, the job of presenting awards fell to August instead.

  After handing Blue her trophy, he turned to Gary.

  "Congratutions to you as well, Gary."

  He handed over the second-pce trophy, but Gary, still sulking over his loss, barely reacted.

  Recalling Professor Oak’s request to look after Gary, August decided to offer some words of encouragement.

  "Winning and losing are just part of the journey. No one wins all the time. I’m sure Professor Oak wouldn’t want to see you like this over one loss."

  Gary blinked. "Huh? You know my grandpa?"

  "Of course. Let me introduce myself properly—I’m August, a researcher and a lecturer at Cedon University. Professor Oak asked me to keep an eye on you." August patted his shoulder.

  Gary finally understood, and just as he was about to thank him—

  August continued,

  "Besides, you really don’t need to dwell on losing to Metronome. If Blue hadn’t been so unlucky before, missing all those attacks, you probably would’ve lost way earlier and never even seen Clefable use Metronome."

  Gary: "…."

  If you don’t know how to comfort people, just don’t.

  Gary felt his blood pressure rising.

  ...

  "Here’s your tournament reward," Steven said, pcing two ornate boxes in front of Blue and Gary.

  Blue opened hers first. Inside was a beautifully packaged set of Evolution Stones.

  Ten in total, covering every currently known type of Evolution Stone.

  Gary opened his as well—his runner-up prize was also Evolution Stones, though his set only contained seven, missing the Dawn Stone, Dusk Stone, and Shiny Stone.

  This is so on-brand for Steven.

  August estimated that a full set like this would cost at least two or three million Pokédolrs.

  And Steven had just casually given them away as tournament prizes.

  The true power of wealth.

  But it wasn’t over yet.

  After Blue and Gary received their Evolution Stones, Steven pced three Poké Balls on the table.

  Seeing their puzzled expressions, Steven opened all three.

  Three fshes of white light—

  A Mudkip, a Torchic, and a Treecko appeared in the room.

  "These are the Hoenn region’s starter Pokémon," Steven expined. "Since you’re both talented trainers, I’d like to entrust one to each of you."

  Giving Kanto trainers a Hoenn starter—this was, after all, one of the main goals of the exchange conference.

  Steven first turned to Blue, as the tournament champion.

  Mudkip sat quietly, gently swaying its head fin while looking at her with eager eyes.

  Torchic, fluffy and round, wobbled on its tiny legs as it stumbled toward her.

  Treecko, meanwhile, leaned coolly against the wall, chewing on a twig.

  Blue gnced between them before settling on the bouncy Torchic.

  "I choose… Torchic!"

  She picked up its Poké Ball.

  Torchic’s eyes sparkled with joy at being chosen.

  "Torchic? I thought you’d pick Mudkip," August commented.

  "Don’t you think she’s adorable?" Blue said, stroking the fluffy feathers on Torchic’s head.

  Apparently, Torchic didn’t fall under her bird Pokémon phobia.

  "From now on, I’ll call you ‘Chick’!"

  Yup, typical Blue naming sense.

  Mudkip, who had been hoping to be picked, looked slightly disappointed. But it quickly recovered and turned its expectant gaze toward Gary.

  However, Gary barely hesitated before choosing the equally cool-looking Treecko.

  "Treecko, let’s work well together!"

  With one hand casually in his pocket, he reached out.

  Treecko leapt up and gave him a smooth high-five.

  With Torchic and Treecko taken, only Mudkip remained.

  Its head fin drooped.

  Once again, its hopes had been dashed.

  August watched as Mudkip’s anticipation slowly faded into disappointment.

  For a starter Pokémon, this was the harshest reality—to watch its companions embark on adventures while it remained behind, waiting for another chance.

  It wasn’t that Mudkip cked potential. On the contrary, any Pokémon chosen by Steven was bound to be exceptional. It was just unlucky this time.

  One trainer preferred cute Pokémon.

  The other wanted a cool one.

  Steven, understanding the situation, turned to August.

  "…?"

  August gave him a questioning look.

  Steven smiled. "Lance mentioned that you haven’t filled your team of six yet."

  That was all August needed to hear.

  Catching a Mudkip? That didn’t sound bad at all.

  Mega Swampert was an absolute beast in rain teams.

  August gnced down at the little Pokémon. Mudkip looked up at him too—its eyes filled with renewed hope, though its previous rejection still left a trace of uncertainty.

  "Hmm… This Mudkip doesn’t look very energetic," August mused, deliberately frowning. "A Pokémon like this wouldn’t be a good fit for me."

  Mudkip’s body stiffened.

  Then, with sudden determination, it straightened up, its eyes brimming with eagerness.

  "Ye!"

  "I can barely hear you!"

  "Ye!!" Mudkip shouted louder, giving it everything it had.

  It wasn’t going to be left behind. Not this time.

  "Good, that’s the spirit!"

  Seeing Mudkip’s renewed energy, August nodded in satisfaction.

  With Mudkip looking at him with unwavering anticipation, he reached out and patted its head.

  "Alright, from now on, you’re my Pokémon!"

  ---

  T/N: sniff snifff where charmander L:(