"Mom doesn't know either..."
"But compared to Trainers, Coordinating Trainers generally have slightly weaker combat abilities."
"Mom, you were also a top Coordinator. How do you compare with the others?"
"Me... Of course, I wouldn't stand a chance, but if you want to become a Coordinating Trainer in the future, Xiao Guang, I believe you can definitely do it."
Another top Coordinator?
The group turned to look and immediately saw the mother and daughter engaged in conversation.
"Haha, is that so? Since Mom said so, I must have no problem..." the girl said.
"Yes, yes, become the strongest Coordinating Trainer, defeat the strongest Trainer, you can do it Xiao Guang, no problem, no problem..." the girl repeated confidently.
Pfft.
Fang Yuan, of course, recognized her immediately.
At this moment, hearing Xiao Guang, the true originator of the "Counter Shield" tactic, start confidently chanting her catchphrase, Fang Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Just like the one in his memory...
The other three Kings couldn't help but smile as well, youth is wonderful...
Meanwhile, Fang Yuan's chuckling immediately made Xiao Guang, one of the anime's female protagonists, turn her head.
"..." Realizing her words had been overheard, her cheeks reddened.
However, looking at the group of young men before her, she felt they looked somewhat familiar.
Turning with Xiao Guang was her mother, Mrs. Cai Zi, a top-tier Coordinating Trainer. As an adult and a former glamorous competition celebrity, Mrs. Cai Zi had far more experience than Xiao Guang, who wasn't yet a Trainer.
When she turned and saw that the people behind her were three of the Shinnoh Kings, she was momentarily taken aback.
"Shh... Please, we don't want to be noticed yet." Coming to this secluded seat with only the mother and daughter, Ohba and the others hoped to avoid attention. Noticing they were being watched, he immediately shushed her and said to the mother and daughter.
"Hmm..." Mrs. Cai Zi nodded, quite surprised.
She hadn't expected that by bringing Xiao Guang to her grandmother's house in Shallowtown for a few days, they would not only catch a glamorous competition, see powerful Trainers challenge elite Coordinators, but also meet three of the Shinnoh Kings...
"Mom, are they..." At this point, Xiao Guang finally remembered where she had seen them.
On TV!
The Four Heavenly Kings!
Xiao Guang was instantly dumbfounded.
What luck.
...
Ohba and the others took their seats in the back row.
Xiao Guang, restless in the front, finally couldn't help but turn back and ask:
"Mr. Ohba, Mr. Arashi, Mr. Satoru... what are you doing here?"
"Did you also come to watch this Mr. Tobias's battle? I heard he challenged the top Coordinator, Miss Marina."
"This battle must be quite special, right?"
"Who do you think will win?"
Xiao Guang asked expectantly and chattered, making Mrs. Cai Zi beside her facepalm.
"It's a toss-up," Fang Yuan couldn't help but interject, hoping to get some attention, although it was the Kings Xiao Guang asked.
It's hard to say...
Under normal circumstances, Tobias would indeed be stronger, but let's not forget that Marina is based on Khris, the game's female protagonist.
Who is Khris? According to the game plot, she crushed the remnants of Rocket Team, thwarted their schemes for revival, successfully challenged the Quartz Plateau Spirit Association, became the Champion of the Four Heavenly Kings, and later journeyed to Silver Mountain to confront Red, the legendary Trainer who retreated there to train after becoming the Champion of the Pokémon Alliance not long after.
If this world's Marina is even one-fifth as powerful as the game's storyline suggests... Tobias would have little to worry about. But thinking of how Red incarnated as Xiaozhi, Fang Yuan lost his confidence... game protagonists get severely weakened when adapted into anime.
It's a toss-up.
"Eh." Hearing Fang Yuan's dismissive answer, Xiao Guang turned to the youth who had laughed at her.
Who was he again?
"Haha, since he says so, let's go with a toss-up, but we're not here just to watch Tobias and Marina's battle, we're here to watch that guy's challenge," Arashi said with a sunny smile, pointing his thumb toward Fang Yuan, who Xiao Guang had ignored.
No wonder Xiao Guang and Mrs. Cai Zi didn't recognize Fang Yuan; they didn't follow the Championship but were fans of the Coordination Domain. They could recognize the famous Four Kings of Shinnoh but had no idea who Fang Yuan was.
"Challenge??" Xiao Guang was clueless.
At the same time, Fang Yuan saw Tobias defeat another opponent and promptly got up.
"Are there any more challengers?"
On the battlefield, after defeating yet another opponent, Tobias asked indifferently.
If there were none, he planned to call it a day.
And prepare for tomorrow's battle against Marina...
...
No one responded to Tobias.
After consecutively defeating over a dozen opponents throughout the day, the Trainers who wanted to challenge Darkrai had been thoroughly vanquished.
The others were purely there for the spectacle.
Seeing this, Tobias's expression returned to calm, ready to recall Darkrai, but just then, a voice rang out.
"Can you accept a challenge now?"
As Tobias's words ended, a voice echoed from above the steps.
At this voice, Tobias and the several dozen Trainers in the audience quickly looked over.
From somewhere, Xiao Guang and Mrs. Cai Zi also watched in surprise as Fang Yuan stepped forward.
This was a young man dressed in black and gray pants, a light blue jacket, one hand in his pocket, the other adjusting a red and white cap, looking strikingly like Dou Ye, the protagonist from Black and White. At this moment, the youth was smiling at Tobias.