Greatest Pokémon Trainer

May 16, evening.

Fang Yuan, after finishing the photo shoot in the afternoon, had requested a copy of one of the photos to set as his phone background.

He had taken group photos with Pokemon before, but this current photo had more sentimental value, didn't it!

"Ru Ru Ru Ru Ru Ru Rotom..."

Among Fang Yuan's collection of Pokemon, even the gluttonous one, the Monferno who was obsessed with training, and the extremely narcissistic Milotic thought the photo turned out okay. Only Rotom felt sad.

Rotom couldn't bear the injustice anymore, mainly because it wasn't in the photo.

It wasn't that Fang Yuan and the others didn't want to include Rotom in the fun, but the Pokemon in the group photo all had to be ones that had appeared in the competition.

If he had known this would be the case, Fang Yuan would have let Rotom out to make an appearance no matter what, but he hadn't been aware of it before... Fang Yuan admitted his mistake.

Fang Yuan tried to console Rotom, saying, "Ron, wasn't it just the two of us during the award photo? So you're the most special one!"

"Yes, even more special than Eevee."

"Rotom..." Hearing Fang Yuan's comforting words made Rotom feel somewhat placated, but it still felt a bit of regret. If only it could battle too, it could have been like Ditto or Gear child and made a brief appearance.

"Bwoo." Eevee, who was playing with a phone beside Fang Yuan, rolled its eyes—what kind of comfort was that? What Rotom needed the most right now wasn't comfort, it was in the photo!!

Ding!!

Eevee directly sent Rotom a photo, and on Rotom's side, after opening the email, silence ensued.

In the group photo, Eevee had photoshopped in an additional smartphone version of Rotom.

"Bwoo!!" Eevee patted the bed, asking if it was satisfied.

"Satisfied my ass, Rotom!!!" After a moment of silence, Rotom started frantically scratching its head—using Meitu Xiu Xiu for photoshop was one thing, but why did it have the same body size as Venusaur in the photo??? And this smartphone Rotom, it shouldn't be it, right? Definitely not it, surely it was a random internet image Eevee found, Rotom!!

Or maybe it was photoshopped by itself.

Fang Yuan: "..."

..................

May 17.

Two days after the World Tournament ended, the majority of the contestants from the participating nations had already left Alliance Island.

The Hua Nation team was scheduled to depart for home altogether on May 18, but the players also had the option to leave early or later on their own.

At this time, Fang Yuan had already asked someone to bring back the light brown, rock-patterned dog-like Spirit egg from the United Breeding House and placed it inside a hatching device that he carried with him.

If everything went smoothly, the Spirit egg would hatch in a few days, and he would be starting a new round of caregiving.

"Anyway, I can't let Luo Kuo take charge of this one. One Garlic Emperor is already enough; I can't handle another dog emperor."

Inside the athletes' village, as Fang Yuan was staring at the Spirit egg and thinking about his itinerary, a figure suddenly appeared outside his room.

Sensing the motion, Fuhai, who had been nearby protecting Fang Yuan, arrived in an instant, but his face darkened when he saw who the visitor was.

"Yo." Seeing Fuhai appear so promptly, Master Kong Hai, who arrived via Teleport, greeted him at Fang Yuan's door: "Little Hei."

"Master Kong Hai, what brings you here?" Fuhai asked, to be precise, Master Kong Hai was Fang Yuan's first bodyguard, and he, Fuhai, was only the second.

"I've got something to talk to this kid about," said Kong Hai with a chuckle.

After speaking, he knocked on the door, and Fang Yuan inside, having already sensed someone approaching, casually opened the door with his Confusion ability.

After seeing who it was, Fang Yuan was surprised, "Ah, Master Kong Hai, Mr. Fuhai, is something the matter? Please, come in."

As Fang Yuan spoke, Kong Hai and Fuhai entered.

Inside the room, the five Eevees playing on the bed saw strangers enter and used Confusion to fling the blanket over themselves remaining focused on their task.

And Rotom, who was studying, dove into a drawer, not wanting to be disturbed.

After entering, Kong Hai, making himself at home, sat down and said with a smile, "Little Fang, Chairman Antonio must have told you about Lady Zi Wan's prophecy."

Fang Yuan spoke calmly, "Yes..."

Beside him, Mr. Fuhai's expression showed no change, clearly he had known about this disaster prophecy for some time.

"Several years ago, Second Generation Lady Anemone had a new prophecy that after the disaster struck, Princess Tianxi who'd grasped a whole new power would lead the Diamond Mine Nation to fend off the disaster..."

"So, that's why that French girl brought Tianxi to the tournament? Does Anemone plan to let the Phantom Elves grow stronger with the help of Trainers?" Mr. Fuhai shook his head, "That Fairy King, isn't as excellent as our nation's Fairy King, right?"

"Carlos saved Tianxi before her mutation when they were children, so they have a close relationship," Master Kong Hai explained the situation he knew, "And that Tianxi recognizes only Carlos, so there was no other choice."

"Before the mutation?" Fang Yuan thought about the Pokedex description for Tianxi; she must be the mutated form of a smaller diamond, right? How lucky Carlos was. Why couldn't he ever come across a Caterpie that would evolve into a Rayquaza...

"It looks like Anemone leveraged this relationship to tie the Diamond Mine Nation with the French Trainer Association," said Mr. Fuhai.

Master Kong Hai smiled. It was only human nature.

But that wasn't his main purpose for visiting. It was that Tianxi was very keen on getting Fang Yuan's help.

The Second Generation Lady Anemone also hoped Fang Yuan could help, and in exchange, the Diamond Mine Nation and she would owe Fang Yuan a favor, which could be used for a free prophecy.

"What do you think?" Master Kong Hai looked at Fang Yuan. Although Tianxi was severely beaten in the world tournament, she was still fixated on Fang Yuan for some reason.

At that moment, Fang Yuan was baffled. He just used the original work's lines and flaunted his Mega Evolution once, but did that really have such a huge impact?

"This..."

"The power that Tianxi seeks is probably Mega Evolution, but at the moment, I can't help," Fang Yuan spoke the truth.

"However, I can offer Tianxi a piece of advice," Fang Yuan said. After all, Tianxi is quite formidable after Mega Evolution, and befriending her could be a good choice, not to mention there's the promise of a prophecy favor.

Most importantly, Tianxi is a pure soul and very polite, which Fang Yuan doesn't dislike. As a princess of the Diamond Mine Nation, wasting time with a Trainer without a Super Stone or Key Stone is a waste of time. She'd be better off studying Life Energy on her own. After all, Tianxi's species has the potential for Autologous Ultra-Evolution.

A Phantom Elves training its own strength might not necessarily be less efficient than following a Trainer.

The Tianxi in the original work achieved Autologous Ultra-Evolution. Of course, that Tianxi was enhanced by Zhenyas's Fairy Aura, so it shouldn't be treated as an ordinary Tianxi. This Tianxi, without the Fairy Aura enhancement, might find it difficult to achieve Autologous Ultra-Evolution, but even so, it would be better than wasting time with a Trainer.

Without a Super Stone and a Key Stone, the difficulty of achieving Mega Evolution with a Trainer's help is probably comparable to Xiaozhi and Frogadier completing their Bond Evolution... Fang Yuan doubted Carlos and Tianxi could manage that.

"That's also fine," Master Kong Hai nodded. It was worth befriending Anemone, a prophetess, and the lineage of the Diamond Mine Nation. If the predicted disaster occurs in four years, their friendship would prove even more significant.

Believing that the Second Generation Anemone is as virtuous as her predecessor, First Generation Anemone's greatness, he's willing to trust her character.

"Master Kong Hai, how did the meeting go?" Mr. Fuhai suddenly asked.

During the day, Master Kong Hai was away from the athletes' village to attend a meeting representing China Team within the Alliance, and it was then that he met Anemone.

Mr. Fuhai's question was about the content of the meeting.

Master Kong Hai said, "To prepare for the disaster four years from now, the next world tournament will likely be held a few months earlier, and that information is certain."

"There's also an unconfirmed report that the Alliance intends to allocate all of the Legends Resources it has collected to various nations. The distribution method would follow the Divine War from decades ago... By doing this, once again, each nation's Guardian Gods can fight alongside Trainers, serving as a warm-up before the disaster."

Mr. Fuhai's expression changed.

Fang Yuan was shocked as well; it seemed he just heard some extraordinary news.

The Quick Dragon Elder from Dragon Island once told Fang Yuan that at the establishment of the Alliance, nations fought a Divine War to determine their standing.

The participants of the Divine War were of course Trainers, but not all Elves had to be raised by those Trainers – outside help was permitted. At that time, one of China's allies was the Huge Gyro Dragon from Dragon Island.

Titles like Guardian God were also established then, which is why the Divine War is also known as the Guardian God's Battle.

The world tournament is considered the highest competition, but it pales in comparison to the historical global Divine War of nations.

"Are we going to have another Divine War?" Mr. Fuhai fell silent. During that Divine War decades ago, no Trainer possessed Guardian God Level power and depended on the help of powerful allied Elves. But today, after decades, there are a very few Trainers on Earth who have attained Guardian God Level power. Added to the increased strength of each nation's Guardian Gods over the years, if this Divine War goes ahead, it could be highly tumultuous.

"There's no helping it. If the disaster does arrive, to maximize the value of the Legends Resources, they'd have to be distributed to the right Trainers," said Master Kong Hai. "But the Divine War is not yet set in stone; it's only a proposal at this stage, so don't worry too much about it. In the end, the Legends Resources might be distributed in another way."

Distributing Legends Resources... "Um, if the Divine War happens, can I participate???" Fang Yuan edged forward, asking. Damn, a competition with rules that allow external help seems tailor-made for him. Prince of the Sea is sure to know a few Guardian Gods; if he could invite World Tree Dreams to play a couple of friendly matches, it'd be perfect. With Legendary Level Power suppression, who could stand a chance? If needed, Dream could lend him the three gatekeepers, equivalent to having three Guardian Gods. Alas, he had become what he once despised.

Master Kong Hai, Mr. Fuhai: ??