Chapter 221

Despite living in a peaceful world, Qiao Ran couldn't help but utter this sigh at this moment.

His gaze lingered on Cynthia's face for a moment before he looked away.

Cynthia's strength is indeed beyond the realm of ordinary understanding. If she could help him, not only the problems on the Galar side, but also the problems on the Unova side should be greatly improved. Especially since the situation on the Unova is still unclear, Qiao Ran probably won't take the initiative to go there again until he reaches a certain level of strength.

Even so, Qiao Ran wouldn't bring these things up with Cynthia. Taking her to the Pokémon World wasn't something that could be done just by thinking about it.

Is there something on my face?

Qiao Ran's gaze elicited a reaction from Cynthia, but unlike Sabrina, she didn't react excessively. Instead, she turned her head and smiled gently.

Sometimes, Qiao Ran really didn't have the feeling that he would be the Pokémon League Champion. Compared to his complicated identity, she really seemed like an older sister.

"No... I just find it a bit amazing. They have such immense power, yet they can still explore things."

Compared to herself, Cynthia's strength is at a much higher level, but even so, she doesn't seem to have reached the so-called end, just like the feeling of "invincible yet lonely" described in some works.

"Is that so?"

Cynthia looked at Qiao Ran, lightly

She nodded slightly. Unlike any Trainer Qiao Ran had ever met before, Cynthia, as a scholar, exuded an intellectual aura during the conversation.

"The world is endless, and so are history and the future. Perhaps it is precisely because I know so much that I feel so insignificant, and that I still don't know enough."

Sinnoh Region, the starting point of legends... As a child born in this region, Cynthia has never had the thought of stopping.

"So, what keeps you getting stronger is..."

"It's probably because I've always loved Pokémon. Because besides that, I haven't done anything particularly special."

Cynthia's eyes reflected Qiao Ran's image, and she saw the deep emotions in this boy.

"I believe the fundamental reason for becoming stronger isn't the use of any specific training methods, nor is it carrying any special items, nor is it having any standardized training model. It's all because of the Trainer's love for Pokémon."

"Isn't that right?"

Faced with Cynthia's sudden question, Qiao Ran did not hesitate at all, and he gave the same answer.

"Yes."

He loves Pokémon, believes in Pokémon, goes on adventures with them, and experiences everything with them. He didn't do anything special; he just loved them from beginning to end.

"How about we have a match after this Competition ends?"

"Um?"

Qiao Ran exclaimed in surprise and turned around, only to find Cynthia looking at him with a smile.

"Isn't it normal for Trainer to engage in battles?"

"But..."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Qiao Ran's forehead. "I'm not afraid of Pokémon battles, I'm afraid of you!"

Qiao Ran's mind flashed back to the scene of Old Man Nian Hai being knocked down. That day was Old Man Nian Hai against Cynthia. He saw Old Man Nian Hai standing on one side of the Battlefield, his body completely ashen. He couldn't forget that image for days. At that moment, he thought that if he were the other contestant, he would definitely run away at the start of the match.

"Don't worry, it's just a normal exchange. With your abilities, there's definitely no problem."

Cynthia seemed to have realized Qiao Ran's thoughts, so she had to start comforting him from the side. Usually in the Sinnoh Region, others would challenge her, and she would have to see if she had time to accept the challenge. Now she never expected that she would be the one to challenge others to battle.

--However, this Competition truly gave Cynthia such a sense of anticipation.

For a Trainer, the only way to truly understand their opponent's thoughts is through battle.

"After our match, how about I recommend a delicious dessert shop?"

"..."

"Should I pay?"

"This..."

"...&...&#*@("

"*&@*&@..."

After a back-and-forth struggle, Qiao Ran finally listened to Cynthia's advice and agreed to the battle.

Although he had a basic understanding of his opponent's strength and knew that Defeat him was virtually impossible, he also saw it as a good opportunity.

He was also quite interested in understanding the differences between the Champion's Pokémon and the Elite Four's, and how to bridge those gaps.

Inside the venue, the Performance Competition had entered its second half, and several girls, besides Qiao Ran, took turns going on stage to perform.

Between Lillie and Mei, Lillie, who didn't have much combat experience, was the one who performed the best. Dressed in a white dress, she stood next to Nihilego, which drew rounds of applause from the audience.

As for Mei, although her Serperior performed very well, it was still less amazing than Lillie's. Her skill release was also full of a wild feeling that it was going to blow up the roof. If it weren't for her good control over Serperior, this might have really happened.

But Sabrina was perhaps the one who surprised Qiao Ran the most. In this preliminary round, she actually sent out her Alakazam —a Pokémon that Qiao Ran thought could basically say goodbye to beauty Pokémon.

However, after Sabrina's dizzying display of Psychic, the audience still erupted in applause.

"Look! That brilliant mind! That sexy beard!"

"This Alakazam is quite handsome."

"As expected of Miss Sabrina's ace... this performance was fantastic!"

Hearing the cheers from the audience coming from the screen, Qiao Ran could only gape, completely dumbfounded.

Is this really possible?

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Although Qiao Ran understood that aspects such as intelligence, cuteness, and handsomeness were among the criteria for evaluating Pokémon, Qiao Ran still felt it was very absurd when others commented that "Alakazam's whiskers are sexy."

Sabrina's Alakazam is really nice, quite cute.

Cynthia, who was sitting next to Qiao Ran, gave a similar assessment, which surprised Qiao Ran so much that his eyes widened.

No, he thinks it's perfectly fine to say Alakazam handsome, so why use an adjective like "cute"?

Cynthia continued, "This Alakazam is her partner whom she has raised since she was a child, starting when she was still Abra. Psychic type Pokémon are much smarter than ordinary Pokémon, especially partners who have grown up together since childhood. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she is another incarnation of Sabrina."

Although she was at the peak of her combat power, Qiao Ran still saw her emotional side during this time, especially regarding the bond between Trainer and Pokémon. She not only emphasized this countless times but also expressed it frankly.

"Qiao Ran!"

As soon as they returned to the lounge, Lillie and Mei ran to Qiao Ran's identity to share their joy. Lillie, in particular, was experiencing for the first time the feeling of standing on stage and being cheered by so many people with her Pokémon.

She herself may have forgotten that there was a time when she was a girl who was afraid of Pokémon and didn't want to become Trainer.

"Although my heart was beating very fast... thinking about what I usually train for, and knowing that Nihilego is still by my side, I didn't make a single mistake."

Lillie herself found this feeling quite magical. When she was standing behind the stage curtain, looking at the crowd below, she felt incredibly nervous. However, when she was on the stage, none of that could affect her anymore.

"In that case, we should all be able to advance to the next round."

Finally, Sabrina summarized everyone's performance. She and Lillie and the others performed very steadily, while Qiao Ran's team got an absurdly high score.

"However, your goal probably isn't just to advance, is it?"

"Certainly."

Upon hearing Sabrina's question, Qiao Ran patted Rotom beside him and gave her a word of advice.

"The rest is up to you."

Rotom immediately deflated. "..."

That's exploiting Pokémon! It's absolutely exploiting Pokémon!

Although Rotom seemed very reluctant, she still handled these matters very efficiently, fully demonstrating the initiative of Ghost Type Pokémon capable of parasitizing electrical appliances.

"How was it? Wasn't I amazing, Rotom?"

"Amazing, incredibly amazing."

Qiao Ran wished he could give her a hug right then and there. Rotom, which had never been of any use before, had actually come in so handy. As Trainer, Qiao Ran's eyes also welled up with tears.

So that very evening, Qiao Ran released the videos. The Competition organizers did not restrict the contestants from filming privately. In fact, most Performing Family do similar things. If it were banned outright, it would only exacerbate the conflict between the two sides.

"Dear Trainer Diary, you haven't updated for three days. Even the donkeys in the production team wouldn't dare to... What? You've already updated??"

What did I see??

"Wait, isn't this a talk show like before, but a vlog of Performance Competition?"

The video update once again attracted a lot of attention. Although many viewers took photos of Qiao Ran's daytime performance, no one uploaded the video in such a short time. So even though it sparked discussion, it was only within a very small circle.

But this time was different. The quality of Rotom's close-up footage of the performance far surpassed that of the photos and videos taken by the audience. Most importantly, this performance was truly spectacular, even overturning many people's initial expectations of Performance Competition.

"What... what kind of Pokémon is this??"

"I haven't seen it in the Pokédex."

Despite the fact that it was Pokémon they had never seen before, it didn't stop people from appreciating beautiful things. After watching for a while, the comments section changed from asking what kind of Pokémon it was to exclaiming things like "Wow!"

"Amazing... Even such a tiny movement, requiring only one..."

The hazy, indistinct shadows perfectly captured the charm of Pokémon, and even inspired the audience's boundless imagination—this was actually a performance by a Trainer!

"Suicune! Suicune!"

"If you don't understand, just ask: where can you catch this Pokémon?"

"Replying to the person upstairs, it appears to be some special evolved form of Mightyena."

Just like Dianxi before, Suicune has once again sparked heated discussions. However, many comments still express the hope that Dianxi can be brought into the game.

"Dianxi! Dianxi! Although Suicune is very pretty, Dianxi is definitely better!"

"... Qiao Ran may have already surpassed Yi Ruoyun of our generation. Although it's very unacceptable, there really are geniuses in this world."

Not only ordinary netizens, but even some well-known figures who had previously commented also appeared, posting their own comments below. Unlike the previous situation where only Trainer and researchers made comments, this time the comment section featured many Performing Family with extremely high achievements in the field of Performance Competition. They also expressed their appreciation for the "beauty" that Qiao Ran displayed this time and began to do reading comprehension.

National Champion Su Yiliu: "Although this performance was only a few minutes long, it fully embodied the charm of Eastern beauty. There was no deliberate showing off; everything was naturally integrated into the performance, just like ever-changing water, refreshing and delightful."

Sitting on the sofa, Qiao Ran scrolled through the comments, a smile involuntarily spreading across his face. Seeing all these people praising him, he almost lost his bearings.

"Stop laughing so disgustingly."

Sabrina was also sitting across from him scrolling through her phone, couldn't help but complain, and almost wanted to kick him.

Their performance was included in the video posted by Qiao Ran, and although it sparked a lot of discussion, it paled in comparison to Suicune's performance.