Half a year later, the skies over East Africa were shrouded in a thin layer of black mist. Although it didn't appear very dense, it blocked out most of the sunlight, leaving the entire region grey and overcast even during the day.
And it seemed that under the influence of this black mist, both humans and Pokémon in region had become drastically more aggressive, ready to start a fight at the slightest provocation.
Conflicts between individuals and between nations had reached a state of utter chaos, with large numbers of humans and Pokémon dying every day.
This sudden change worried not only governments around the world but even ordinary civilians.
The black mist had appeared out of nowhere. And several countries, including Drakoria, had conducted investigations and analyses on it, yet they had found absolutely nothing.
Moreover, the black mist continued to spread. So if nothing was done to stop it, perhaps one day it would engulf the entire planet.
But none of the countries could find a way to deal with the black mist.
At the same time, the mist reminded every nation of the battle between Julian and the Master several years ago. The black mist surrounding the Master's Pokémon back then was almost identical to the one before them now.
Combined with the fact that East Africa was the base of Organization Y, every nation was almost certain that this black mist was the organization's doing.
Since none of them could deal with Organization Y themselves, they could only turn to the one person who could.
That person was naturally Julian.
As a result, the Drakorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received phone calls from countries around the world every single day. The general message was simple: they wanted to know whether Drakoria had any way to deal with the black mist.
And the unspoken question was when Julian would make his move, because they were willing to provide whatever support was necessary.
Drakoria's reply was equally straightforward: the time had not yet come.
As for the support they offered, Drakoria unceremoniously handed over a list.
Looking at the list, every country was dumbfounded. 'Were they serious?'
Steel, oil, all kinds of rare metals, and Pokémon.
Was Drakoria trying to use this opportunity to fleece all of them for free?
But they couldn't refuse. After all, they were the ones who had offered support in the first place.
And if a major battle truly broke out later, failing to support Drakoria might very well result in the nation refusing to help them.
So in the end, they could only grit their teeth and accept it, delivering all of the requested supplies to Drakoria.
At the same time, Drakoria's Immigration Bureau had become overwhelmed with work.
Ever since the nation had risen to become the world's number one superpower, the number of people applying to immigrate had increased severalfold.
And now seeing the black mist envelop the whole of East Africa and continuing to spread, no one was stupid. It was obvious that the black mist was nothing good.
Since their own country had no way of stopping it, they naturally wanted to move to a place that could.
And that place was Drakoria.
So, countless people from around the world wanted to immigrate. Even if they couldn't immigrate, they wanted to reside there temporarily until the crisis passed before returning to their home countries.
Drakoria's citizenship was the hard to obtain, and it wasn't something you could get just because you wanted to.
However, there were several ways for foreigners to obtain Drakorian citizenship.
The first was to invest in the country, with a total investment of no less than one billion, and these assets could not be transferred out.
The second was to be a pseudo-Elite level trainer, a Senior breeder, or another highly skilled professional with advanced qualifications.
The third was for a foreigner to marry a citizen. After three years, they could obtain Drakorian citizenship, while being allowed to reside in the country during that period.
These three methods were the fastest ways to acquire Drakorian citizenship.
Although the conditions were quite harsh, the number of applicants was overwhelming.
As a result, within a short period of time, Drakoria received massive amounts of foreign investment along with a huge influx of highly skilled professionals.
The governments of other countries watched as Drakoria both profited and recruited their talent, feeling furious but unable to do anything. After all, immigration was a matter of personal choice for the people.
Unless they intervened at the national level to prohibit it, there was no way to stop those who genuinely wanted to immigrate and met the qualifications.
Even some Elite-level trainers wanted to immigrate. However, since no one wanted to be the first to set such a precedent, no Elite-level trainer had actually emigrated yet.
If it were ordinary people immigrating, or even pseudo-Elites, that was one thing. After all, while pseudo-Elites were considered high-level trainers, they weren't strong enough to destroy an entire city. And every country had a fair number of pseudo-Elite Trainers.
But at the Elite-level, even the weakest early-stage Elite trainer could have their Pokémon destroy a small or medium-sized city in a single day.
Drakoria had more than six hundred Elite-level trainers, and nearly all of them held important positions within the country. The same was true for other nations.
Elite trainers were a country's high-end military strength, and many of them had access to national secrets.
So if an Elite trainer immigrated, it would be nothing short of treason, and the outcome was usually either imprisonment or execution.
That's why, it was virtually impossible for an Elite trainer to immigrate. And even if they did, it could only be through treason.
And once a country accepted an Elite trainer from another nation, that was essentially a provocation.
Even as powerful as Drakoria was now, it would not accept Elite trainers from other countries. First, they didn't want to incur universal outrage. Second, could you really trust a foreign Elite?
Place them in an ordinary position, and their abilities would be wasted.
Assign them to an important department, and you'd constantly worry that this person might have feigned betrayal to gain your trust while actually conducting espionage.
So, accepting an Elite from another country brought more harm than good.
Besides, with Drakoria's current strength, adding a dozen or two more Elites wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. Rather than that, they might as well focus on nurturing a few of their own.
As the world's foremost power, Drakoria bore the greatest pressure regarding the black mist. All nations now placed their hopes on Drakoria, seeing it as the sole hope.
Every country clearly understood that Julian's existence made Drakoria invincible, and that whenever a massive crisis emerged in the world, Drakoria and Julian would be the first to step forward and stand at the front.
Being the world's number one might seem endlessly glorious, but in some ways, it wasn't so easy. To hold onto that honor, they had to withstand pressure and threats from all sides.
In the past, Drakoria had shared the top spot with Celestria, both sides rallying their allies and underlings to trip each other up.
Now, however, Celestria was probably struggling to even hold on to second place.
Because the Volkaria was rapidly rising thanks to the Primal Secret Realm. Celestria also had a Primal Secret Realm, but they had worse luck—several expeditions had ended in devastating casualties, with entire armies nearly wiped out.
Unlike Volkaria, which had both strength and luck in equal measure. One or two trips in, and they'd gain one or two more Champions.
*****
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