While Cynthia was still back home getting seriously teased by her grandmother, Sato and the others had already found the town's only inn and checked in.

"Joseeeeeeph, I'm still hungry!" As soon as they entered the room, Mark raised his hand pitifully, looking like he'd suffered some great injustice.

Joseph couldn't help but laugh, and before he could even tease Mark, Sato nodded and said, "I think sweet ribs would make a good late-night snack."

Joseph blinked, then sighed and turned around, heading downstairs to ask the owner for permission to use the kitchen.

"I want cola and fried chicken too!" Mark poked his head out to add.

The sound of footsteps hadn't even fully disappeared when Mark, getting no reply, didn't seem to mind; after all, Mama Joseph would never let him… or the Boss go hungry.

---

While waiting in the room for Joseph's snack, the two didn't just sit around. Mark let out all his Pokémon and cheerfully played with them, trying hard to help Spiritomb integrate with the group, though it wasn't going all that well…

Meanwhile, Sato opened his laptop, connected to the internet, and began remotely handling some work emails.

Even though he had temporarily handed Shadownight Gym over to Sina and Sia, that didn't mean he was free to just kick back and relax.

Some important decisions still needed Sato's final approval.

He first batch-rejected some minor invitations, then handled the documents requiring his signature.

Just like that, half an hour had passed.

After traveling for so many days, quite a backlog of emails had piled up. And the last few required serious consideration…

---

[Invitation to the Pokémon League Ace Tournament!]

[Invitation to the Johto Region Gym Ranking Tournament!]

[Invitation to the Shadownight Town Breeders Association inauguration!]

[Invitation to the Oak Pokémon Research Lab inauguration!]

---

Two tournament invitations and two as a guest… all of them were things Sato couldn't turn down lightly.

Fortunately, events of this scale usually had long preparation times, so Sato had time to organize his schedule carefully.

The qualifications for the Ace Tournament were simple: be a registered League Trainer and own six or more Ace level Pokémon.

Also, only by placing in the top8 of the Ace Tournament could one qualify to participate in the future Elite Four Tournament after reaching that level!

The reason Sato received the invitation was also because he had participated in the Young Elite Tournament and happened to place in the top8.

Ace, Elite Four, even Champion… the League had competitions for every stage. Their goal was to continually filter out batches of exceptional Trainers.

This "layered" requirement system also strengthened the dependency between the League and Trainers, forcing them to follow the League's path step by step.

Of course, raising the competitive bar also had downsides. It made it harder for average Trainers to rise up, and late bloomers had fewer opportunities… ironically giving underground forces more room to grow.

That wasn't Sato's concern. What mattered was that he had to compete. Never mind the honor or prize money; just battling against so many high-level Trainers would help both him and his Pokémon grow.

As for the Johto Gym Ranking Tournament… Sato turned to look at the carefree Mark.

"Tch tch… just one Dark-type Spiritomb? Yeah, no thanks," Sato shook his head and muttered.

Let Sina handle that one!

Sato had made up his mind. The Gym Ranking Tournament wasn't just about testing a Gym Leader's strength. The evaluations were basically the same as the earlier qualification trials; lots of fluff.

And since he was planning to enter the Ace Tournament, Sato naturally didn't care much about his ranking in a Gym competition.

As for the other two invitations, he could have Joseph attend the Breeders Association event in his place. That would be much more appropriate than just standing there stiffly as background decoration.

And the Oak Lab inauguration… was also being used to officially announce major news.

Samuel Oak was formally stepping down from his position as Champion of the Region to dedicate himself fully to the endless pursuit of Pokémon research.

For more than a decade afterward, no one would claim the title of Kanto Champion.

Even someone as exceptional as Lance eventually retreated to the Johto Region -where his clan influence was stronger- and took up the Champion title there instead.

After all, as the regions became increasingly interconnected, the title of Kanto Champion -being the heart of the League- naturally carried greater significance.

Back on topic.

Whether it was Samuel Oak's current standing among Trainers, or his future contributions to Pokémon research, Sato couldn't afford to ignore him.

Fortunately, both major tournaments were still three months away, and there was still over a month before the Breeders Association and Oak Research Lab inaugurations.

He probably wouldn't be able to visit every corner of Sinnoh, but completing the three-lake journey would be no problem at all.

After all, Sato wasn't traveling alone anymore. He had formed bonds with so many people… friends, family, teachers, students…

Being able to travel so carefree like this, for months at a time, would only get harder as he got older.

"Yo! Boss, what are you thinking about~? Can't even smell the fried chicken?"

Sato was getting sentimental when Mark, utterly lacking in tact, slapped him hard on the back, instantly shattering his mood.

Sato slowly turned to look at Mark, wondering if he should just hand him two Pokémon and let the idiot "accidentally disappear."

"Boss, just smell it… really take it in. Doesn't this fried chicken smell amazing?"

Mark pretended not to notice anything, trying to use the fried chicken in his hand to defuse the dangerous glint in Sato's eyes.

But Sato saw clearly…

The piece of fried chicken being offered already had a bite taken out of it.

"Still not done? Have some sweet ribs first~"

At the critical moment, Joseph arrived, gently placing the ribs on the table in front of Sato, perfectly breaking the tense stare between them.

Mark, for once, was incredibly quick on the uptake. As soon as the line of sight was blocked, he jumped back and retreated to a safe distance.

He obediently sat back on the couch, taking a bite of chicken on the left and a gulp of soda on the right, pretending like nothing had happened… while cheering in his heart: "Looooong live Mama Joseph!"

Sato didn't really want to do anything to Mark, but his cold stare had already been unleashed. Without an excuse to back down, it'd be hard to save "face".

Then Joseph stepped in… not only serving delicious sweet ribs, but also "skillfully" dissolving the awkwardness between them.

At that moment, Sato ate the ribs with satisfaction and thought to himself: "Mama Joseph… is the best."

After their late-night snack, the three gathered in the living room. Mark knew the incident had passed, so he sprawled across the couch in the most ungraceful pose possible, rubbing his round belly with a content look.

Meanwhile, Sato shared the emails he had just received with the others, one by one.

"So… our journey is coming to an end?"

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250 = Extra Chap

35+ Ptreon/Romeloff