"Tobias?"
At the end of their conversation, Fang Yuan was taken aback.
Of course Fang Yuan knew who Tobias was.
He was the Trainer nicknamed "God Beast Man"!
He participated in the Sinnoh League's Lily of the Valley Conference during Xiaozhi's year, winning eight gym battles with just a Darkrai, with many battles ending in one-hit knockouts.
Throughout the entire process of winning the conference, he only brought out two Pokémon, Darkrai and Latios, so the audience also knew him as "God Beast Man."
Actually, before Fang Yuan came to the Sinnoh Region, he had thought about beating him; after all, the guy also had a Darkrai, worthy of challenging his own Darkrai.
And... calling yourself "God Beast Man"?!
Bullying Xiaozhi with a Darkrai and Latios—this could not be tolerated.
Once it was Tobias, another time it was Ailan; Fang Yuan nearly punched the computer while watching at the time.
Going to slay an evil dragon wouldn't be bad... uh, seems like I'm the biggest evil dragon, so, nevermind.
"What's his ranking?"
"49th, not too high, but the Pokémon he uses are quite rare. Like you, he has a Darkrai, and also, a Latios," explained Aliu.
"That Trainer... I've heard he's been getting quite a bit of attention lately. Using legendary Pokémon, he's beaten many strong Trainers and is rumored to have a shot at becoming one of the Four Heavenly Kings if he participates in the Alliance Conference," laughed Sky King Wusong.
"The Four Heavenly Kings, huh?"
Fang Yuan looked at the three with curiosity.
"What do you think, if he challenges the Lily of the Valley Conference in the future and becomes the Champion, who among you would he knock down?"
The topic was heavy, and it made Flint, Aliu, and Wusong pause for a moment.
"Don't underestimate us!!"
"Although I don't know how much hidden strength that guy has, he's a hundred years too early if he thinks he can beat me with just those Darkrai and Latios. Don't think every Darkrai is as monstrous as yours," Flint declared.
"Agreed," Aliu and Wusong nodded in agreement.
The notion of Pokémon like Darkrai and Latios didn't particularly intimidate the Four Heavenly Kings.
"By the way, you've recently been compared to him quite a bit, with quite a few people betting against you," Wusong added, stoking the fire.
Recently, people in the Sinnoh Region frequently mentioned the wildly popular Tobias with his Darkrai.
Because he had suddenly emerged from obscurity with two legendary Pokémon and made it into the top 100 of the championship, he was discussed almost as much as Fang Yuan.
In fact, Fang Yuan's ranking had risen more dramatically, but unfortunately Fang Yuan's recent battles were held privately; no one knew what had transpired.
Instead, the topics where legendary Pokémon were involved got more traction.
However, Fang Yuan's battle videos against Lian Wu and Lt. Surge had still been dug up.
This caused quite a headache for Sky King Lian Wu.
God Beast Man Tobias now had the achievement of defeating a former member of the Elite Four, and although the process was not easy, he managed to secure a victory and was discussed by the audience as having King Level strength.
As for Fang Yuan, who single-handedly defeated the King Level trainer Lt. Surge and easily crushed Sky King Lian Wu, he was acknowledged as a Trainer of no small renown.
Lately, both he and Tobias were in the spotlight, naturally leading to comparisons between them.
However, apart from a few top-ranked Trainers with keen insight who knew that based on their current demonstrated strength, Fang Yuan was undoubtedly much stronger, the vast majority of Ordinary Trainers, upon seeing Tobias's line-up, believed he was the stronger one.
After all, Latios and Darkrai were too rare, and in this world, the majority will always gravitate towards those with famous pedigrees.
"You should more worry about yourselves," Fang Yuan said, smiling.
He had read the script; Tobias indeed would challenge the Lily of the Valley Conference in the future, and even win it.
The next step after winning the conference would be to take on the Elite Four.
Of course, Fang Yuan didn't think Tobias could smoothly become a Sinnoh Elite Four member.
Unless he had some hidden potential, based on his performance in the animation, even if he added four more Phantom Elves or Legendary Pokémon with strength comparable to his first two, it wouldn't be enough.
Xiaozhi was a good reference.
At the Lily of the Valley Conference, although Xiaozhi lost to him, he still managed to take down his Darkrai and Latios.
The Lizard King and Pikachu each took down one.
It was quite a defeat, but not too severe, especially since Xiaozhi used a few other Pokémon that were not his main battle force, even Torkoal and Round Land Shark were sent out.
However, Xiaozhi's battle against Flint, the Fire-type Elite Four, was utterly one-sided.
Xiaozhi's top Sinnoh Pokémon, Monferno, comfortably caught Flint's Monferno's Sonic Fist with its bare hands without using any moves, only to be instantly taken out by a Sonic Fist in return. The gap was as wide as between Fang Yuan's and Flint's Monferno.
Even Xiaozhi's Pikachu was physically taken on by Flint's Monferno.
In the battle of Flint vs. Xiaozhi, it was basically 1 vs. 3, complete suppression, no damage taken, a walk in the park.
This overwhelming power was clearly more exaggerated than what Tobias had shown back then.
Even though Aliu and Wusong's strength wasn't quite at Flint's level, they were still among the top in the group of the Elite Four. Tobias still had a bit to go.
"Never mind us, are you actually going after him or not?" Wusong asked with a twitching mouth.
"Yeah," said Fang Yuan. "He has a Darkrai; it's worth a challenge."
Although ranked 49th wasn't high, a mosquito is still meat.
He was currently only 2 points shy of 11th place, and not even 19 points from the 10th, not a big gap. Defeating Tobias might propell him straight to 10th.