"Both of Ah Hao's Pokémon on the blue side are unable to battle! The winner is the red side!"
With that, the referee declared the match over!
Ah Hao was finally free. He recalled Nidoking into its Poké Ball, then turned and left without a word.
The Northern Five Provinces League moved quickly. Xu Mu couldn't afford to waste time; if the Rookie League dragged on for ten days or two weeks, he might not have come at all.
The Round of 16 and Quarterfinals were both held over two days.
The semifinals and final would then be finished in a single day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
Such a fast schedule was possible thanks to this world's excellent medical care.
Xu Mu didn't know why, but its medical technology seemed even better than what he remembered from the anime!
And he still had no idea why Cynthia was here, or whether any other anime characters had appeared.
"Hey, Cynthia, is Kale your biological father?"
The question slipped out. He meant no harm; Kale wasn't exactly a model of good looks, so how had he ended up with a daughter as beautiful as Cynthia?
Cynthia froze. Panic flashed across her face.
"Why would you ask that? Of course my father is my father!" she stammered.
The girl was clearly a terrible liar.
Seeing her reaction, Xu Mu had a pretty good guess.
Good. If she isn't his biological daughter, that's one less thing to worry about.
That suggested Cynthia was the only anime character like her in this world.
As for whether there were others, Xu Mu figured there probably weren't!
He would take things as they came. Being transported here out of nowhere had left him pretty bewildered too.
"We're facing each other in