Three days later, Fang Yuan arrived at Blue Moon Company.
Blue Moon Company, located in Magic City, was a large enterprise, commonly referred to as Qingyue. It had evolved from a small-scale company to one renowned throughout the industry in a relatively short period of time.
Blue Moon Company had emerged as a superstar in the Pokémon product manufacturing industry, pioneering various uses for Rotom appliances, and continuously expanding and innovating on this foundation. It collaborated with major research institutions, and now Rotom was considered an essential Pokémon for top-end research labs.
In addition, Blue Moon Company developed favorite foods and nutritional supplements for Fairy Pokémon. For Trainers in Hua Nation specializing in Fairy Pokémon, their growth experiences were inseparably linked with Blue Moon Company. The company's chairman was the Fairy King, Xie Qingyi.
In Blue Moon Company's boardroom, Fang Yuan was led there by Xie Qingyi from the company entrance, feeling deeply impressed. It was undeniable that large corporations had a grand style. Every tech-related device in the corporate building was operated by Rotom, be it the doors or the elevators, exuding a high-tech vibe. He just wondered if there would be a Rotom greeting people with "Welcome to Rotom!" when they went to the restroom.
"Please, have a seat."
Along the way, many employees were speculating as to why the hands-off boss Xie Qingyi, who hadn't visited the company headquarters in years, suddenly came by, and moreover, she brought a strange man with her...
"Thank you."
"Bwoo!"
After Fang Yuan sat down, the Eevee on his shoulder also jumped down and settled on the soft sofa.
Fang Yuan looked at Sister Xie, whose short brown hair seemed underscored by a touch of fatigue around her eyes and brows.
"Sister Xie, how did things go for you in Paris this time?"
Before returning to Magic City, Xie Qingyi, like Fang Yuan, had been gaining international experience, unlike Fang Yuan who went to Japan, Xie Qingyi went to France, to the Fairy Type sacred land of the Diamond Mine Nation, where she engaged in a private exchange battle.
Her opponent was the Fairy King of France.
"I lost," Xie Qingyi said with a resigned expression.
If she was considered the world's first Fairy King, then that French Trainer was the second.
"You lost?!" Fang Yuan was taken aback, quite surprised.
If her opponent had been a King of another attribute, Fang Yuan might have understood, but was there actually someone whose mastery of the Fairy attribute surpassed Sister Xie?
"Yeah… So now I'm worried about something," Xie Qingyi said.
"What's that?"
"During our battle, she commanded Princess DiAnxi of the Diamond Mine Nation. Though at that time she didn't appear to be subdued, just in a good relationship, if at the World Championship, she manages to truly win over that Princess DiAnxi, then…"
"The winner of this World Championship could nearly be determined already…"
It was unprecedented for Trainers to command Legendary Pokémon and Phantom Elves in battles at the World Pokémon Alliance Championships.
If it were Princess DiAnxi, not to mention the young Trainers under thirty years old, even among the older generation of Trainers, very few could win against her in a one-on-one fight.
"Princess DiAnxi??" Fang Yuan was also incredulously surprised upon hearing this. He was eagerly looking forward to attempting a sweep at the World Championship. He didn't want it to be like the cartoon where a 'god beast' girl delivers him a plot-twisting defeat; that would utterly frustrate Fang Yuan.
"That's unlikely, right?"
"Being the princess of the Diamond Mine Nation, how could Princess DiAnxi simply follow a Trainer around… After all, she's the faith of countless small diamonds," Fang Yuan analyzed.
"Yeah, that's true," Xie Qingyi nodded, acknowledging that these were just her speculations.
"What is the specific strength of that Di Anxi?"
"It should be Top Tier Level Four, close to Guardian God Level?" Xie Qingyi assessed.
The first three stages of the top tier domain have some differences in strength, but not particularly huge. Yet, the fourth stage of the top tier domain exerts a tremendous suppressive force on other Pokémon of lower strength stages. Even though Princess Di Anxi is not skilled at fighting, has nearly zero combat experience, and her fighting style is quite immature, her base strength is powerful enough that not just any top-level combat power can cope with it.
"I see."
"..." Despite a fair amount of guesswork involved, after hearing this, Fang Yuan started to pay attention, wondering if he could defeat such an opponent in next year's World Championship.
It would be very difficult with MEGA Gengar, even three Armed Magnetic Monsters against one would be tough, and unleashing Monferno's four or five gates... would still be tough.
Fang Yuan glanced at Eevee beside him, thinking that if there was hope of defeating the opponent, it might rest with Eevee, and the chance would only come once.
The key lay in the trip to Hawaii, the Z-Move.
Z-Moves are techniques where a Trainer unleashes 'Z-Power', a form of the 'Power of Nature', to significantly enhance a Pokémon's moves into powerful special attacks, but they place a great burden on both the Trainer and the Pokémon, hence they can almost only be used once per battle.
In the animation, Xiaozhi managed to perform a god-slaying feat with Pikachu using a Z-Move.
The ten million volt attack that defeated Tapu Koko with nine special lightnings surely had destructive power exceeding that of a Guardian God Level, right?
If we say that Mega Evolution is the use of Life Energy for a sustained enhancement of oneself, then Z-Moves are the use of Natural Energy for a Pokémon to display a moment of brilliance.
With the help of the Power of Nature, a top-level combat Pokémon can potentially unleash an attack with destructive power equivalent to that of a Guardian God Level Pokémon's ultimate move, and this was the key to Xiaozhi's victory.
Of course, Xiaozhi and Pikachu's Z-Move is special; after all, Xiaozhi is a bearer of Aura, with a super new human constitution, so it is by combining the joint strength of Trainer and Pokémon that they could use such a powerful Z-Move.
As for Fang Yuan...
"I have the Power of the Heart, and Eevee itself masters Life Energy. If we can successfully master the Z-Move, it might not necessarily be less effective than Pikachu's ten million volts..."
Seeing Fang Yuan lost in thought, Xie Qingyi asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"
She could never have guessed that Fang Yuan was actually considering how to defeat the Quasi-guardian god level Di Anxi.
"I'm wondering how far I can go in the World Championship..." Fang Yuan said.
"You shouldn't feel pressured," Xie Qingyi said with a smile. "After all, we still have opportunities."
"This session, we have Jiang Li and the others; they are far from as simple as they seem on the surface."
Compared to the other four, Xie Qingyi and Fang Yuan are relatively young, and this competition may just be a beginning for them.
Even though both of them advanced rapidly, it's undeniable that they still have too little experience.
Talent as strong as Xie Qingyi's, yet her points in the Four Heavenly Kings competition can only rank her fourth among them. Including Champion Jiang Li, that's fifth, or last.
The team of former Four Heavenly Kings champions, apart from that initial Reigning King, everyone else had their own trump cards.
After two years of hard work, Xie Qingyi still hadn't been able to advance her ranking by even one place.
"Yeah," Fang Yuan nodded. He was just a substitute; if the sky fell, the Champion would hold it up. If by some fluke he snatched the title of World Champion, then the Fire Type Champion from America, Jiang Li, the Fairy King from France, would all obediently leave the group.
"So Sister Xie, when do we start our battle?" Fang Yuan asked with a smile, the challenge being a major highlight of this encounter.
"Emm," Xie Qingyi glanced at Eevee "restlessly stirring" on the couch, well aware of its track record in the selection matches. Her Fairy Eevee, having been trained for only a short time, could only be considered a second-team mainstay. Although it had reached the Master Level Upper Level, defeating this Eevee would likely be very difficult.