Fang Yuan didn't even have the chance to comment when suddenly a crisp voice came from the steps of the training ground.
A girl with light purple hair slowly walked down, looking at Ditto's transformed figure in surprise.
Fang Yuan turned around slightly, saw the newcomer, nodded, and said, "Yeah, Shining Pidgey."
"Amazing, Ditto can even transform into a Shining Pokemon..." Lila exclaimed in surprise.
It was her first time seeing this.
Ditto: `(+﹏+)′ felt insulted.
"You must be Mr. Fang Yuan, I am Lila, your next opponent in the championship," Lila said after being astonished by Ditto's ability, greeting him, "Actually..."
"Actually, I've accepted your challenge for a reason!"
"I guessed as much," Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Your ranking is much higher than mine, even if you win against me, it won't make much of a difference."
"Uh..." Lila was taken aback for a moment, indeed, from this perspective it made sense that she might have an ulterior motive.
Fang Yuan said, "Let me guess, you must have found my profile picture very handsome, and that's why you accepted the challenge, planning to get to know me better, right?"
Lila: ???
Eevee, Ditto: ???
"Bwoo!!!" Eevee was shocked for an entire year, Fang Yuan you're at it again, that reason would be suspicious.
However, in the next second Lila laughed and said, "Mr. Fang Yuan is indeed very charming."
Eevee: ???
Just waving a hand and calling out over a dozen Legendary Pokemon, quite charming indeed.
But, after that bout of self-admiration, the lofty image Fang Yuan had in Lila's mind shattered instantly.
...
Only 15 minutes were left before Fang Yuan and Lila's battle.
"That..."
After making herself comfortable sitting next to Fang Yuan, Lila turned to him and said,
"Mr. Fang Yuan, actually, I accepted the challenge because I wanted to meet you and ask you about something."
Fang Yuan was surprised, "What is it?"
Lila took a deep breath and said, "Mt. Moon, Rocket Gang Base."
Mt. Moon?
Fang Yuan was slightly startled and then looked at Lila with interest.
"How did you find out?" Fang Yuan did not deny it.
"So it was really you at the time, Mr. Fang Yuan!!"
No sooner had Lila sat down than she quickly stood up again, her face flushed as she touched her hand, looking up to Fang Yuan admiringly.
This was something that had puzzled her for a long time, but unfortunately, she didn't have the clearance to find out more.
Now that she had met Fang Yuan in person, she could finally clear up her uncertainties.
Fang Yuan smiled, "If you're talking about the person who broke up the Rocket Team, that would be me."
As for the matter with the Rocket Team, Fang Yuan hadn't made any effort to publicize it, nor did he intend to hide it, just taking a casual attitude towards it.
If it was when he first came to the Pokemon World, perhaps Fang Yuan would have been more careful and low-key.
But now, well, he could call over Ho-Oh or the Three Sacred Beasts at any time, so there wasn't much to worry about.
At present, he was simply enjoying his journey in the Pokemon World.
"Alright."
"I've answered your question, now Miss Lila, can you tell me how you came to know about this?" Fang Yuan asked out of curiosity.
Lila hesitated for a moment, then said, "At the time, I was on a mission, going undercover in Rocket Team, I was there at the scene."
Lila spoke truthfully and didn't hide anything because Handsome Mister had already told her that Fang Yuan was a friend of Du's and was also a guy with a strong sense of justice.
Because of this connection, Lila chose to trust Fang Yuan.
"You pretended to be one of the Rocket Team's subordinates at the time?" Fang Yuan was surprised.
"You've had it hard, to come out alive."
"Um..."
Fang Yuan had touched on a sore point for Lila, who felt like crying, that was definitely the most thrilling undercover mission she'd ever been on.
If it weren't for Giovanni's Earth Legion holding off the bombardment of the Legendary Pokemon, she would have definitely been a goner!
Lila had never imagined that her life might actually be saved by Giovanni.
"I didn't even expect there to be an undercover operative among the Rocket Team..."
Fang Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled sheepishly.
It was as if he was involved in a winery.
Fortunately, his goal at the time wasn't to completely destroy the Rocket Team, and he hadn't let the Legendary Pokémon strike with lethal force. Otherwise, he might not have the chance to use the other party to gain points now.
"Mr. Fang Yuan—about those Legendary Pokémon—"
Lila didn't dwell on the matter and immediately asked the question she was most concerned about.
"Of course, it's okay if it's inappropriate to answer..."
"It's nothing, really. The incident at the Orange Archipelago, the Rocket Team was indeed one of the culprits, so those Legendary Pokémon were merely teaching the Rocket Team a lesson. Don't jump to conclusions; they're not my Pokémon. I'm not that powerful to have tamed so many Legendary Pokémon," Fang Yuan laughed.
"I see."
Lila sat down as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
She could accept this answer. If those Legendary Pokémon were indeed Fang Yuan's, her worldview would truly be shattered.
That is to say, Mr. Fang Yuan was merely leading the Legendary Pokémon, and he himself was just a regular Trainer.
Thinking this, Lila's heart eased.
She looked at the Eevee and Ditto next to her, recalling the public battle video of Fang Yuan and Lt. Surge, and she felt she had made her assessment.
Fang Yuan was a Trainer at a level similar to hers, maybe a bit better, but not by an exaggerated amount.
With this, she felt much more at ease.
"I was worried that in the upcoming battle, Mr. Fang Yuan would suddenly send out a Legendary Pokémon, but it seems I was overthinking," Lila said with an embarrassed smile.
"How could that be possible." Fang Yuan also laughed: "In the next battle, I actually plan to have Ditto get some training in."
"That Ditto that can transform into Different Colored Sprites?" Lila looked at the purple slime next to her and felt relieved once again.
If her opponent was Ditto, maybe she didn't have to worry about the Pokémon getting seriously injured during the battle, which might delay her work, right?
Yay!
...
3:00 PM sharp.
Inside the arena at the center of the Battle Plaza.
Following the departure of the Trainers who had rented the arena before, it was finally Fang Yuan and Lila's turn to use the venue for their tournament battle.
Since their rental mode was not a public battle, there was only one Referee left in the arena at this time, responsible for recording the battle between the two.
The current Referee on duty in the arena was a brown-haired woman in a miniskirt professional outfit named Meiji.
In addition to her part-time job as a Referee at the Battle Plaza, she was also an apprentice at the Glass Gym. Currently, Referee Meiji was excitedly looking at the upcoming battle roster.
"This is great; it's a tournament battle and a high-quality battle at the Super Ball level, against Tower Lord Lila? The tournament's dark horse, Fang Yuan? Lucky! As long as I record it well, I'll get a bonus this month!" Referee Meiji was overjoyed.
Normally, battles of this level could be held at the Caiyou Stadium for public viewing, drawing tens of thousands of spectators, yet they chose such a small place, which was practically handing her performance on a silver platter!
Unless their battle could cause serious damage to the venue, which might lead to some deduction from her bonus. But how likely was that?
Although the arena wasn't as luxurious as the ones at the Caiyou Stadium, it could withstand King Level battles. There shouldn't be any problems.
While Referee Meiji was looking forward to it, Fang Yuan and Lila, after verification, were already approaching the inside of the arena.
Upon seeing them, Meiji hurriedly greeted them, saying, "Hello, both of you, I am the Referee and recordkeeper for this battle, Meiji."
"Hello Miss Meiji," Lila greeted.
Fang Yuan also smiled and nodded to her.
Meiji laughed, "We have one hour for the battle, plenty of time. Do you want to start the battle now, or would you like to rest for a bit? I can also show you around the arena..."
"Let's start now," Fang Yuan said.
By battling now and finishing quickly, he could still have the chance to ride his Dragonite around Hoenn.
"Yes, let's start as soon as possible," Lila also said with a smile.
The sooner the battle started, the sooner her battle Pokémon could adjust. Although Handsome Mister hadn't contacted her yet, Lila didn't want to be unavailable to help when he did because her main Pokémon were injured.
(Handsome Mister wouldn't contact me today, would he? Hmm, it's unlikely... After all, he would have contacted me much earlier if he wanted to.)
(Besides, since I've already accepted the challenge, it would be rude to back out now.)
(And now that it's confirmed that Mr. Fang Yuan won't have any Legendary Pokémon, if it's only Ditto, I might not lose, and the injuries won't be too severe!)
Thinking this to herself, Lila decided to continue with the battle. There shouldn't be a problem.
After all, Fang Yuan had said he wouldn't send out any Legendary Pokémon...