"Okay, I'm counting on you, Galarian Moltres!"
Only after Xu Mu saw his unremarkable opponent send out a Pokémon did he feel safe releasing Galarian Moltres.
Xu Mu hadn't lied. He really wasn't using any of the three Pokémon from his last match.
See? This was Galarian Moltres, not Moltres.
His opponent, meanwhile, looked utterly miserable.
Of course he did. Anyone about to become the backdrop for someone else's big moment would feel the same.
If Xu Mu truly wasn't using a Legendary Bird, his opponent figured he might still stand a chance.
After all, Xu Mu might have won the Elite Four Challenge, but he was still a newly minted member of the Elite Four.
At most, his strength should have been around Elite Four level.
That was the general public's view, of course. It didn't necessarily reflect Xu Mu's actual strength.
"W-what is that?"
"Oh my god! Contestant Xu Mu has caught a Moltres with black-purple flames?"
"Is that a new Moltres skin?"
"What's going on?"
The host's voice rang through the speakers, reaching everyone at the venue.
His questions were the audience's questions too!
What the hell was this thing? Had Moltres been dyed?
"Galarian Moltres. I'm pretty sure that's what Xu Mu just called it."
"Could this Moltres be a regional variant from that new region we haven't defined or studied yet?"
Duanmu Yu knew his stuff.
He had pieced together Moltres's identity almost immediately.
Xu Zhenzhen nodded. Duanmu Yu was right. He really lived up to his reputation as a researcher.
Seeing that Duanmu Yu had worked out the gist of it, Xu Mu stopped keeping them in suspense.
"My Moltres comes from the Galar Region."
"Unlike an ordinary Moltres, the Galar Region's unique climate has turned it into a Dark- and Flying-type Pokémon."
"Look