On May 7, 2020, the eyes of the whole world turned to the Silver Arena in Silver City of the Pokémon Alliance.
The regional competitions were one thing, but when the decisive championship was about to begin, countless people flooded into Silver City, and even those who could only watch the broadcast on screens in the Battle Plaza or on the streets felt satisfied.
At this moment, Silver City was like a holy land, beckoning people irresistibly.
Within the Silver Arena, the one hundred thousand seats were divided into several large sections: seats for spectators of competing countries, seats for spectators from countries already eliminated, special guest seats, player seats... all were clearly delineated.
On the Hua Nation's guest seat side, many important figures attended today, and although the World Championship was a competition for the younger generation, the flavor of the event had changed over time.
As with Hua Nation's national competition, when it first started, there were very few professional-level Trainers, who were the contenders for the championship, but as of today, even young masters are competing.
The World Championship was the same; looking back a decade or more, it was a group of young master-level Trainers vying for the honor of being world champion, but now, some of the older generation of Trainers wouldn't dare say they could beat the young elites from various countries.
Today's younger generation has acquired top-level combat power, and this can no longer be viewed simply as an ordinary event for the younger generation. The achievements and the future of these players will determine, to a certain extent, the future of a country's Trainer domain.
"Where is Fang Yuan?"
The Principal of Magic University sat in the guest seats, incredibly excited, both Moda Xie Qingyi and Magical Fang Yuan were students of Magic University!
Having two members from Magic University on the national team was a great honor, but strangely... he could see Xie Qingyi in the player seats, but Fang Yuan was nowhere to be found.
There were supposed to be ten on the national team, yet only nine were present.
"What is this lad up to now?"
On the guest seats side, Teacher Kong Hai of the Twelve Earthly Branches also wore a puzzled expression; the day the championship officially started, and Fang Yuan had disappeared?
In the championship, representing Hua Nation were Twelve Earthly Branches Kong Hai and Ma Chenzong, both top figures among Hua Nation Trainers, especially Kong Hai, whose full strength was enough to rank him within the top five of Hua Nation. Although it seemed tragic to be Fang Yuan's bodyguard, even on an international level, Elder Kong was quite prestigious.
In the world of Superpower, Mr. Kong Hai was a figure whose achievements could be ranked in the top three, representing the future of Hua Nation's Superpower domain. He had cultivated one excellent Superpower successor after another for Hua Nation, and his accomplishments were no less significant than those published research findings of Fang Yuan's.
Master Ma Chenzong, sitting next to him, although no longer active in the battling field for a long time, was also one of the top Trainers in Hua Nation during his youth. Now in charge of managing domestic student competitions, it could be said that both men were crucial figures responsible for the growth of the new generation of Hua Nation's Trainers and the most powerful supervisors of Hua Nation's Trainer legacy.
"Don't worry, looking at Jiang Li and the others, they seem to know about Fang Yuan's whereabouts," Ma Chenzong said.
...
At this moment, Jiang Li and the others were preparing for the match. According to the final grouping, China's Second Team was the second to battle, facing off against Mi Country First Team, while China First Team was the fifth to battle, facing Mi Country Second Team.
The whole day today, there would be sixteen national contests. With time pressing, it could very likely stretch into the night, so the latter countries with main forces like Solrock or Sun Eevee that rely on daytime battle need to consider carefully.
"There won't be problems with Fang Yuan, right?" As the match time drew nearer, Shang Ren frowned. Their sequence was pretty early, and Fang Yuan had said he would need only a little time, so why hadn't he arrived yet?
"This guy is too stubborn, he's probably still pondering over his strategy," Jiang Li replied with an expression of helplessness.
In yesterday's battle conference, Fang Yuan shared Gura's interview video, and then stated that he wanted to be the fourth to enter the battle, which really scared Jiang Li and the others.
However, after Fang Yuan guaranteed victory, they felt there was hope.
Gura's interview might be a lie, or it might be true.
If it were a lie, it would actually be better. In the estimation of Jiang Li and the others, whether Fang Yuan faced any of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Mi Country team, there was a chance of victory. For China's Second Team facing Mi Country First Team, securing one victory wasn't too shameful, but facing Gura, the odds of victory were minuscule, possibly leading to a crushing 8:0 defeat.
But if Gura underestimated Fang Yuan and didn't deploy Volcarona, then everything was still possible.
Given Gura's arrogance, there was a great chance he would casually send out three top-level combatants to deal with an opponent he didn't take seriously.
Of course, someone of such power, who could be ranked in the top three of individual strength in the World Championship, wasn't someone ordinary players could contend with, even if not taken seriously.
But Fang Yuan was no ordinary player. His partner Eevee had already left an invincible impression with the China team.
"Let's trust him," said Xie Qingyi with a smile. Defeating the Dragon King with a three-to-one Eevee was impressive, but Fang Yuan's Eevee could still evolve, which was an even greater trump card. Fang Yuan always liked to create miracles; even if Sun Eevee managed to defeat Volcarona today, Xie Qingyi wouldn't be surprised.
"You didn't teach Fang Yuan some deadly technique, did you?" Xu Haoran walked over to Su Shu, really wanting to grab Su Shu and question him. He knew that Fang Yuan could use superpowers, and those powers were learned from Su Shu's lineage. If Su Shu taught Fang Yuan how to unleash seed-bursting techniques, Fang Yuan might actually get carried away and use them against Gura.
If that happened, Fang Yuan would pay a great price himself. It wouldn't be worth it.
"You're thinking too much," Su Shu said. With Fang Yuan's half-baked level of superpower, even if he was taught, he wouldn't be able to learn. But if Teacher Kong Hai secretly gave Fang Yuan some extra help, then he wasn't sure.
......
Silver Arena, VIP stand.
An elderly man nearing a hundred years old, with a white goatee, leaned forward with a smile, overlooking the entire arena.
As the lifelong honorary chairman of the Pokémon Alliance, who often served as the person in charge of the World Sprite Alliance conferences, and the chairman of many legendary resources and the Five Divine Regions Management Committee, Antonio naturally attended this world tournament.
At his side were four seats, one of which was occupied by Miss Lucymia, the founder of the Nature Foundation.
The Nature Foundation was an organization dedicated to protecting wild Pokémon injured by disasters around the world and was also committed to reaching agreements with highly intelligent wild Pokémon, striving for peaceful coexistence in a charity-focused special organization with branches all over the world, possessing tremendous influence.
Miss Lucymia, at around fifty years of age as the leader of the Nature Foundation, was also a core member of the Pokémon Alliance's upper echelons.
Aside from her, the other two seats were reserved for representatives from the competing nations in each match, such as the second battle between China's Second Team and Mi Country First Team, which meant both nations needed to send one representative each to the VIP stand to watch the competition.
As for the fifth seat, to be precise, it wasn't prepared for a person; seated there was a dainty anthropomorphic Pokémon.
This Pokémon had musical note-like stripes in her hair, slender arms connected to oval-shaped palms, forming the shape of a quaver note.
On her head, the treble clef-like black ornament piled up, forming the structure similar to the wireless microphones commonly used by singers. It was none other than the Phantom Elf Meloetta who sang during the opening ceremony.
As the Illusionary Songstress who had good relations with humans, its presence at the World Sprite Alliance tournament represented the everlasting friendship between humans and Pokémon.
"Peeeeeep~~~~~!!"
Just as colorful fireworks from various Pokémon moves bloomed in the sky above Silver City, a terrifying cry spread throughout the entire arena.
Beneath that cry, the Silver Arena filled with a hundred thousand spectators fell silent in an instant.
Inside the Silver Arena, on the huge battle screen, a black dot grew larger and larger, and then a gigantic eagle-like Flying-type Pokémon slowly descended.
This Pokémon, massive in stature, with nearly ten meters in height, had sharp red eyes that made the spectators shiver with just one glance.
The China Team, noticing this suddenly appearing Pokémon, all wore incredulous expressions.
Su Shu stood up and said, "No way."
The Pokémon had primarily brown feathers, with red on either side of the yellow at the top of its head that could flutter in the air, and its red tail feathers were also quite spectacular.
At that moment, its powerful claws gripped the ground fiercely, and as its beautiful wings spread out, it immediately caused a huge storm and drew everyone's attention.
"A ten-meter Pidgeot... that's too much."
This Pokémon was the final evolution of the commonly seen Pidgey, Pidgeot, but this Pidgeot was ridiculously large, nearly ten meters in length. However, Su Shu quickly stopped being surprised because this Pidgeot's strength was also extremely exaggerated. It might have reached the limit of its species, which is the Top Level Fourth Phase.
"The match is about to start, and I am Head Referee Maki Noboru-hime." Above the Pidgeot, an indifferent woman dressed in a black referee's uniform stepped down and spoke in an international language.
"It's her." Jiang Li, in the contestants' area, looked towards the Head Referee and said, "From the... last... last World Sprite Alliance individual competition's runner-up, a person from Japan, very strong, I didn't expect they'd appoint her as the head referee for this conference."
"Referee, huh." Shang Ren said indifferently. Pokémon battles were very different from conventional sports, the responsibility of the referee leaned more towards protecting areas outside the arena from being affected by the competitors' battles.
Despite having numerous protective facilities in place around the spectator stands and periphery of the arena, a powerful head referee, along with a professionally excellent referee team, was also important. It didn't matter which country the referee was from.
Before the countries' contestants could marvel at the power of this Pidgeot, Maki Noboru-hime immediately announced the nations participating in the first battle.