"Boss Chrysanthemum."
"Fang Yuan."
Inside the Fanba City battle facility, Fang Yuan met with its founder, Boss Chrysanthemum.
The man was dressed in a brown western cowboy suit, with a robust build.
He didn't look like any museum owner or boss, but rather like an underground boss.
"Welcome!"
After a friendly handshake, Boss Chrysanthemum let out a hearty laugh.
At the moment, Boss Chrysanthemum was quite puzzled.
He figured that Fang Yuan was a Trainer freshly poached by Galar, but there were many doubts as well.
For example, why he wasn't battling on Galar's home ground, and why was it only Fang Yuan who came over—where was Mrs. Olive... why didn't she come with him?
Fang Yuan naturally didn't know about Boss Chrysanthemum's doubts, but he guessed that although Boss Chrysanthemum welcomed him now... that probably wouldn't be the case later.
After all, he intended to rack up points by preparing to play an overwhelming game... Hopefully, the venue would be fine, hopefully King Lian Wu would be fine, hopefully, the Unova audience would be fine.
"Thank you."
Fang Yuan smiled, maintaining the best politeness he could.
At the same time, he was observing Boss Chrysanthemum.
As the Museum Owner of Fanba City, Fang Yuan should have been familiar with all museum owners. However, since the other person was an older man, he didn't quite remember him.
The Museum Owners from the United Region that left a deep impression on him included Little Ju, because she was attractive.
Another was Xaka from Castelia City, because he was very strong, definitely not weaker than the Four Heavenly Kings.
This man came from Dao's Three Dragon Clan and possessed a Legendary Artifact like the Wedge of Gene.
The future United Region Champion, Iris, overcame Adick with the training under Xaka.
Speaking of which...
Legendary Artifacts that could fuse Thundurus and the Black and White Dragon... He really wanted to study it.
Next.
Under the guidance of Boss Chrysanthemum, Fang Yuan was arranged into a single-player dressing room.
The room was connected to the training field, and the environment was very good.
Indeed, the treatment of the trainers in the championship with more than 100 participants was starkly different from before.
"Mr. Fang Yuan, I'm sorry, King Lian Wu is currently undergoing last-minute special training, so you might only be able to meet him on the battlefield," Boss Chrysanthemum said.
It wasn't exactly last-minute special training, as at that moment, Lian Wu was in his room, studying Fang Yuan's public battle with Lt. Surge.
Although Fang Yuan had only shown his Milotic, this Quasi-champion level Pokemon had already made Lian Wu take him very seriously.
In Lian Wu's view, this Pokemon must surely be Fang Yuan's trump card.
After all, the likelihood of a virtually unknown Trainer having Champion Level battle power was extremely slim.
Since the battle was arranged hastily, all he could do now was to study the videos before the battle; knowing himself as well as the enemy was the key to winning all battles.
"No problem, I need to prepare myself anyway," Fang Yuan said with little concern.
It was fine, it was fine. He wasn't here to hang out with King Lian Wu. Whether they met or not didn't matter; the battle was all that was important.
"Sure, if there's anything you need, please feel free to inform the staff."
After attending to Fang Yuan, the esteemed guest from faraway Galar, Boss Chrysanthemum went back to busily preparing for the battle. The matchup with around 100 trainers in the tournament was now comparable to fights in the King Cup, and there were many aspects that needed to be handled properly.
...
...
While Fang Yuan was preparing for his battle with King Lian Wu, Caitlin, Nastina, and Shi Lan had already arrived in Fanba City.
After arriving in Fanba City, Shi Lan asked Caitlin in confusion, "Miss, what exactly is going on?"
"Why have we come to Fanba City?"
"Could it be that the Tablet is here?"
Because they had traveled using Superpower, the two women hadn't given Shi Lan the chance to ask about the current situation.
"More or less!"
Caitlin glared at Shi Lan, signaling him to keep quiet, and then looked towards Nastina and said, "What did he say?"
"He said that the battle is about to start, and everything else will have to wait until the battle is over..." Nastina shrugged.
"Damn it," Caitlin cursed. "He's left us on tenterhooks and still has the mood to battle."
"Right, isn't this battle facility Boss Chrysanthemum's turf? Come on... let's get Boss Chrysanthemum to delay this battle."
"Heh... I'm afraid that won't work."
Nastina glanced at the chat record and looked indifferently at Caitlin.
"Fang Yuan's opponent in the battle is your United Region's Four Heavenly Kings, Lian Wu, and it has already been publicized. Even if you are one of the Four Heavenly Kings, you probably won't be able to stop the battle now."
"Fang Yuan? Lian Wu?" Shi Lan was taken aback.
"Lian Wu?!"
Caitlin was also startled. Fang Yuan's opponent in this tournament was Lian Wu, that guy?
Wait a minute, how did Fang Yuan manage to challenge one of the United Region's Four Heavenly Kings?
"Let's watch the battle first, I have a feeling it won't take long for it to end," Nastina proposed nonchalantly, not even using her Predictive Ability, trusting her woman's intuition.
Caitlin fell silent for a moment and looked in the direction of the battle facility.
"Shi Lan, let's go," she said.
She was curious to see what Fang Yuan was up to.
"Fang Yuan and King Lian Wu's battle...?" Shi Lan was still in a daze, not understanding why their search for the Tablet had turned into spectating a battle.
Outside the battle facility.
In addition to Caitlin and the others, one person had arrived early with the aim of finding Fang Yuan.
It was none other than Wanda Dragon King, dressed in a purple dress and sporting a purple mushroom haircut.
"I didn't expect that you would really come, Wanda Dragon King,"
Upon receiving the news, Boss Chrysanthemum personally came out to greet her.
Was Wanda Dragon King taking this battle so seriously? Was she worried that Lian Wu might lose? Impossible, right?