In fact, even if the Elite Four lose, it doesn't necessarily mean they have to give up their positions.
Sinnoh's Hoshino Ryuzi, who has a grudge against Natsuhiko, is the best example of this—he failed when Kikuno challenged him, then just shifted his butt and moved over to the Rock-type Elite seat.
But once this points system comes out—
I'm afraid the Elite Four won't have the right to refuse anymore, and it'll be the kind of situation where a single loss means you have no choice but to step down.
If that's not the Alliance stirring things up, then what is?
The Alliance is basically encouraging young Trainers like them to go all out and topple those Elite Four.
And even if you win a challenge, you don't just sit comfortably at the top—you'll get challenged by others in turn.
Anyway.
To sum it up in one sentence.
Positions like the Elite Four are for whoever has the strength to take them.
And later it'll even include the Champion.
This is pretty much like how it works in the games later on—once you've got enough badges, you can challenge the Elite Four and become Champion.
The only difference is that badges have become points.
And Agatha also said that points are now included in the Alliance's evaluation criteria.
Natsuhiko couldn't help smacking his lips. "The Alliance sure has guts. This is a full-on reform."
You've got to break before you can build.
Natsuhiko didn't actually say that phrase out loud.
If they play this wrong, he doesn't know if they'll build anything, but the "break" part is guaranteed.
"Guts my ass. This policy was proposed ages ago, but they dragged their feet for years before passing it, and shoved in a bunch of restrictive clauses along the way." Agatha scoffed at Natsuhiko's comment.
But no matter how you look at it.
This time, as the Champion who just took ten points, Natsuhiko is definitely the very first beneficiary of this new policy.
The Master Tournament.
He actually already qualifies to enter?
But he's not dumb enough to charge into the Master Tournament like some iron-headed idiot, only to get stomped and come back in pieces.
His strength still isn't enough.
He's only obtained the qualifications.
"Doesn't that mean we're basically about the same level as those Reserve Elite Four now?" Natsuhiko said after pausing for a second.
Reserves also have to defeat an Elite Four, or earn their approval, before they can be made official.
But the amount of hassle involved is no less than this points system—rumor has it there's some convoluted way of calculating Contribution Value.
Basically, they have to work first, get their Contribution Value tallied, then see if they're strong enough to challenge an Elite Four, then see if they can win, and finally see if that Elite Four is willing to step down and give up their seat.
Didn't Tom Rokicki leave precisely because he got sick of letting the Alliance fleece him for free and decided to jump ship?
Thinking about it that way, this points system really is more straightforward and simple.
"Not the same." Agatha said faintly. "In terms of authority, you're not on par with the reserves. But in the long run, the reserves are actually far behind you."
Apparently feeling she hadn't explained clearly, Agatha added, "The resource tilt is different."
Resource tilt...
Natsuhiko suddenly understood.
At the end of the day, they're younger and have more potential—some reserves are already in their thirties or forties, if not older.
Someone like Tom Rokicki, a guy in his twenties, looking at a line of guys in their forties in front of him, and the four seats up in the sky—there's no way he could just calmly keep waiting.
They trade Contribution for resources.
Whereas for Natsuhiko and his peers, the Alliance actively tilts resources toward them.
The sequence is completely different.
But earning points is absolutely not an easy task.
You can tell from how Agatha stressed that he needs to get into the top three.
Agatha felt she'd probably explained things clearly enough, and asked, "Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up."
Natsuhiko jolted a little, shook his head, and scattered the thoughts swirling in his mind.
"No..." But halfway through shaking them off, he suddenly asked, "Teacher, what kind of tournaments actually qualify for points calculation?"
"Don't even think about regular championships—Gym Leader tournaments and type tournaments should count, and then there's..."
Natsuhiko perked up his ears.
"Maybe the annual regional Alliance grand tournament's Champion will earn points. I'm not sure exactly how many—you'll have to ask around—but it won't be much." Agatha sounded a bit hesitant.
Hearing that, Natsuhiko's eyes lit up.
Annual grand tournament Champion?
Like the Quartz Alliance?
The Baby Cup?
Natsuhiko sniffed lightly, a bold yet still half-baked idea forming in his heart.
But he didn't say it out loud.
He was afraid Agatha would smack him.
"Got it."
After hanging up the phone with Agatha, Natsuhiko stood on the street, looking at the bustling shop across the road.
He shook his head and said, "Forget it. Without enough strength, no matter how many points I have, it's useless."
He lifted his foot and walked toward a dim side alley.
Muttering to himself.
"But having the points in hand first doesn't hurt."
Beep beep beep—
Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Agatha suddenly had a vague bad feeling, even though she couldn't tell where it was coming from.
"Brat..."
But she figured it probably had something to do with Natsuhiko.
She walked slowly toward the conference room.
It was a mess inside, arguments flying everywhere.
Most of it revolved around the Alliance and the Alola Region using tournament results as stakes in their bet.
Thanks to the "efforts" of Natsuhiko and the others, the Alliance had seized the initiative in these negotiations.
The Alola Region organizations headed by the Ethereum Foundation had already compromised and shown a certain degree of sincerity.
But developing and expanding such a huge region meant they had to carefully discuss every last detail.
And what Agatha hated most were meetings like this.
...
...
"Beep beep beep—Hello! Madam Cadre! You finally remembered us!"
Musashi's voice over the phone sounded very excited.
It was mixed with some background noise.
For example:
"Boss, give me two of Mr. Natsuhiko's posters—I want the newest one, the kind where all six Pokémon are on the field together!"