Chapter 313: The Future Unova Champion, Iris, Has Come to Challenge!

After quickly finishing the dessert in her hand, Cynthia wiped her mouth and hands with a handkerchief and called out to Drasna.

"Excuse me, Senior Drasna, do you know that person?"

Called upon, Drasna paused for a moment, somewhat unable to understand what Cynthia, who hailed from the same town as her grandparents, was thinking.

Nevertheless, she answered Cynthia's question.

"We met once before; we exchanged contact information at that time, and now I intend to go over and say hello."

Drasna's tone naturally carried a leisurely quality, making her appear very approachable.

Yet Cynthia knew clearly that beneath Drasna's leisurely exterior lay immense power.

It was also just now that Cynthia learned Drasna's grandparents had once been residents of Celestic Town; perhaps they even shared some familial relation with her.

This made Cynthia speak to Drasna with politeness tinged with respect: "Senior Drasna must have watched that previous live broadcast as well; to be honest, I am very interested in the historical background of the Three Legendary Birds and wish to make contact with that individual."

This reason was sufficient to convince Drasna; she recalled that before becoming the Champion of the Sinnoh League, Cynthia's main profession, like her grandmother Professor Carolina, was that of an archaeologist.

Thinking to himself, what a robust old man this is; that body full of muscles feels like it could smash a sandbag with a single punch.

As if seeing something incredible, Iris widened her eyes and murmured, "Storm."

His attitude toward Luo Mu was very friendly, and if it was not Luo Mu's illusion, in his observation, a trace of helplessness seemed hidden beneath Xia Ka's smile?

A thousand thoughts floated through his mind, but this did not hinder Luo Mu from greeting the future Unova League Champion, who should be about the same age as Hearing Nimo and the others.

In Cynthia's impression, something like a storm was rather extraordinary.

A trace of surprise appeared on Drasna's leisurely face: "Do you mean that child already possesses that ability?"

"Boo?"

Then, Xia Ka introduced the young girl beside him, who wore a look of eager anticipation, to Luo Mu.

Luo Mu's action of devouring his meal halted; looking at the two large pectoral muscles directly in front of him that might possibly crush his skull, he blinked.

Cynthia, whose knowledge reserve was extremely rich, stroked her chin, searched her memories, and then spoke: "That child... seems to be from the Village of Dragons."

Xia Ka offered Luo Mu an apologetic smile and said, "My apologies; this child simply loves Dragon-type Pokémon too much."

"I have long heard of your great name, Mr. Luo Mu."

Cynthia nodded: "She likely unconsciously activated her ability the instant she made eye contact with Luo Mu's Dragonite, and in the moment her mind drew close to the Dragonite, she saw something."

On Luo Mu's side, Xia Ka personally explained to Luo Mu the special ability Iris possessed; although he already knew, Luo Mu pretended to know nothing and listened attentively as Xia Ka explained it once more.

Xia Ka, Iris?

Because there were two dining tables between them, the conversation between Cynthia and Drasna was not heard by Luo Mu and Xia Ka.

"This is Iris; she hails from the Village of Dragons and is currently studying at my Opelucid Academy."

Not far away, the newly arrived Cynthia and Drasna stopped in their tracks; having also heard the two words "Storm" blurted out by Iris, they both revealed thoughtful expressions.

An elderly man with white hair walked with vigorous steps to where Luo Mu was busy eating a large chicken leg and spoke to greet him.

In the instant Iris made eye contact with the puzzled Dragonite, a strange power spread out; in that moment, Iris felt she had drawn close to the Dragonite.

Luo Mu was somewhat surprised; although he already knew from the list, he did not expect these master and disciple to actively seek him out; was it purely to make friends?

Facing the goodwill released by Luo Mu, Iris took several deep breaths in her heart before speaking with slight stuttering: "Hello, big brother; I am Iris; I saw you and your Dragonite performing on TV, and it was truly so cool!"

In this world, not only do supernatural Pokémon exist, but humans also possess various special abilities.

Luo Mu shook his head and said carelessly, "It's fine."

Luo Mu propped his hands on his knees, showed a smile to Iris, and said kindly, "Hello, Iris."

Luo Mu and Xia Ka looked at Iris, their voices revealing a trace of confusion.

Perhaps because Iris's gaze was too intense and scorching, the Dragonite noticed her line of sight and couldn't help but tilt its head, emitting a puzzled cry.

Iris's voice transformed very quickly, starting off awkward and becoming excited by the end.

No, Luo Mu suddenly remembered something; wasn't that child named Du Ruo, one of the Elite Four from Blueberry Academy, Xia Ka's grandson?

Recalling that before leaving Blueberry Academy, he and Dragonite had handed Du Ruo, who had actively sought them out, a goose egg, Luo Mu wondered if Xia Ka had come to seek retribution for his grandson.

Fortunately, Xia Ka clearly had no such intention.

"However... a storm, you say? That is interesting."

A look of overwhelmed honor flashed across Iris's small face; usually active like a wild child, she now appeared somewhat timid and hesitant.

Seeing that Luo Mu had responded, the lower half of Xia Ka's face, completely covered by a white beard, revealed a slightly serious smile: "Let me introduce myself; I am Xia Ka, from the Unova region; currently, I am the Gym Leader of the Opelucid Gym and the Principal of Opelucid Academy."

Drasna nodded: "It is that attire."

After all, he had long known of Iris's love for Dragon-type Pokémon; most likely, whom she admired and liked more was the Dragonite, not himself.

Halfway through making eye contact with Luo Mu, her gaze could not help but drift to the Dragonite beside them, which was completely uninvolved in social interaction and devouring delicious food as if it were a bottomless pit.

While recalling, Cynthia said, "I heard my grandmother say that in the Village of Dragons, some talented individuals can communicate with Dragon-type Pokémon without any barriers, drawing closer to them spiritually, achieving something similar to mutual understanding or telepathy."

However, when the two reached the main food table where Luo Mu was situated, someone had arrived before them to seek out Luo Mu and began conversing with him.

"... Ah, hello."

"Storm?"

Since Iris's ability targets only Dragon-type Pokémon, and she uttered the word "Storm" while activating her ability, it is likely that during that day and night of battle which Luo Mu did not witness firsthand, Lugia brought even more changes to the Dragonite that Luo Mu has not yet discovered.

The white shirt and overalls on the other person could completely conceal neither his robust figure nor his bulging muscles, which stretched the clothing to its limits; at a glance, he was clearly someone diligent in exercise.

Such as the power of Aura, the power of Supremacy, and also Psychic powers.

With the aid of Iris's ability, Luo Mu learned this fact, which made him unable to help but feel expectant; could it be that in the future, the Dragonite might learn Lugia's signature ultimate move, or even, like Lugia, manipulate and stir up storms to a certain extent?

Having formally made acquaintance with Xia Ka, Luo Mu also learned from Xia Ka's mouth the reason why his grandson Du Ruo had not come, but instead he had brought Iris.

When Xia Ka took Iris away from the Village of Dragons, he already knew that Iris's talent on the path of a Trainer was beyond imagination.

Iris had already received one year of basic knowledge education at Xia Ka's Opelucid Academy; rather than bringing Du Ruo, who had already grown and now only needed to settle and refine himself, to the banquet, it was better to bring Iris, allowing her to broaden her horizons and meet more peers.

After all, Xia Ka's expectations for Iris were extremely high.

Listening to Xia Ka's account, Luo Mu could not help but admire Xia Ka's insight.

This single dig had directly unearthed a future Champion of the Unova League.

At this moment, Iris, the future Champion of the Unova League, hung atop the well-fed and content Dragonite, wearing an expression of complete satisfaction and occasionally letting out giggles, having entirely forgotten why she had pestered Grandpa Xia Ka to bring her here to meet Luo Mu.

Unable to watch any longer, Xia Ka cleared his throat lightly, pulling Iris back from her immersion in Dragonite's charm.

To Iris, Xia Ka was like a strict grandfather; although they had spent a long time together, Iris was actually still somewhat afraid of Xia Ka.

It was the kind of fear a student feels toward a subject teacher.

Quickly remembering what she had intended to do just now, Iris nimbly jumped down from Dragonite's back, skipped all the beating around the bush, and looked directly at Luo Mu with an expectant expression: "Big Brother Luo Mu, please, have a Pokémon battle with me!"

"."

Thinking that Xia Ka had merely brought Iris to befriend him, Luo Mu paused mid-sip, calmly placed his empty wine glass onto the tray held by a waiter, and looked toward Iris.

"Do you currently have a Pokémon capable of battling?"

According to his memories, the current Iris should be in the state where her ace, Excadrill—no, wait, Excadrill was having a mental breakdown—and her future champion ace, Axew, couldn't even defeat wild Pokémon, right?

How was an Iris like this supposed to battle him?

However, Iris, her face brimming with confidence, pulled a Poké Ball from her hair and called out: "Come on out, Excadrill!"

Red light flashed.

A Pokémon resembling a mole appeared before Luo Mu, its body deep brown with a white face, red markings on its cheeks, and a pink tip on its nose.

"Dru!"

The moment the Pokémon left its Poké Ball, it stretched its claws toward the sky, revealing the sharp steel blades upon them, and let out a confident cry.

This was a Ground and Steel-type Pokémon that had little to do with Dragons—Excadrill.

At this moment, however, Luo Mu felt somewhat puzzled; if this followed the anime timeline, Excadrill should currently be in a mental breakdown after being one-shotted by one of Xia Ka's Pokémon, yet if this was the game timeline's Iris, she wouldn't have even caught an Excadrill in the first place.

This left Luo Mu slightly confused.

Iris's Excadrill looked at Dragonite with fighting spirit, its pair of steel claws clashing continuously with a clanging sound; had Iris not yet given a command, it would have already rushed forward to settle the score with Dragonite.

Seemingly aware that sending out Excadrill at this gathering of Dragon-type Pokémon trainers was somewhat inappropriate, Iris said awkwardly: "My Axew is still growing, so Excadrill is the only one I have who can battle."

Seeing Iris looking at him with such expectant eyes, Luo Mu found it difficult to utter any words of refusal.

Even if Iris didn't challenge him later, surely others would issue challenges, such as Clair, who was still receiving guests.

Since he was a teacher anyway, he might as well take this opportunity to give the child Iris some battle experience, establish a good connection with the future Champion of the Unova League, or perhaps even trick her into transferring from the Blackthorn Academy to Grandma Ju Zi's Academy.

"Alright, I accept your challenge."

"But don't worry, I also have Pokémon that aren't Dragon-type, so you won't feel awkward."

Luo Mu smiled, took a Poké Ball from his person, and released the male Sandslash from the Sandslash couple.

Steel blades should face steel claws, after all.

The moment Sandslash appeared, Excadrill fixed its battle-ready gaze upon it; the atmosphere between these two male Steel-type Pokémon was nearly ignitable.

Iris looked at him pleadingly: "Can't I battle Dragonite?"

Luo Mu couldn't help but pat her head: "It's still too early; your Excadrill is very confident right now, which is a good thing, but challenging opponents far beyond your capabilities too soon might lead to some undesirable changes."

In order to protect his wife, the male Sandslash was naturally somewhat stronger in terms of power; although compared to the late-blooming Tyranitar and the early-maturing Archaludon from the wilds of Mount Silver, it still had many shortcomings, it was just right for battling the current Iris.

The battle grounds provided by the Dragon Clan were located at the very rear of the courtyard, approaching the wild area.

At this moment, quite a few trainers were already battling on the grounds; the Pokémon they sent out were either pure Dragon-types or Pokémon with some distant relation to Dragons.

For instance, Charmander, Gyarados, and the like.

Originally, Luo Mu had recently saved the Orange Islands, making him a hero of great renown and a Champion-level trainer; even though he hadn't sent out a Dragon-type Pokémon, this caused many trainers currently battling to stop their matches and rush over to spectate.

After all, Champion-level trainers were extremely rare, and they all wanted to see just how strong the Pokémon raised by Luo Mu were.

Iris stood nervously opposite Luo Mu, taking deep breaths repeatedly to calm her gradually accelerating heartbeat.

Just as Xia Ka was about to step forward to serve as the referee for this battle, an unexpected voice rang out.

"If you don't mind, I can moonlight as a temporary referee?"

Looking at the newcomer, Xia Ka's eyes widened slightly, and he murmured: "The Sinnoh Champion..."

Luo Mu was also surprised by Cynthia's sudden appearance and her desire to serve as referee; come to think of it, this was the first time he had ever seen this highly popular female Champion with his own eyes.

It had to be said, as expected of many players' wife, Cynthia possessed not only outstanding looks but also immense strength; it was just a pity that Garchomp's Mega Evolution had been nerfed.

Drasna, standing beside Cynthia, noticed Luo Mu's gaze and smiled warmly as she waved a greeting to him.

"Not only has the Sinnoh Champion, Miss Cynthia, arrived, but Elite Four Drasna is here as well..."

The faces of the spectating trainers instantly displayed expressions of shock.

Adding to this the strongest Gym Leader of the Unova region, Clair of Blackthorn, and the Champion-level trainer from the Paldea region, Luo Mu, this tiny battle ground had somehow gathered four powerful trainers whom they pursued as their goals!

"Then I'll leave it to you, Champion Cynthia."

Xia Ka naturally would not reject Cynthia's kindness; rather, this would allow him to focus more on observing Iris's battle and discovering her shortcomings during the match.

Standing at either side of the battle ground, Cynthia always wore a smile on her face whenever it wasn't her own battle.

She first looked at Luo Mu and Sandslash, then at Iris and Excadrill, and stated very formally: "This battle will be a one-on-one singles match; the victor is the one who renders the opponent's Pokémon unable to battle. Iris will attack first!"

"Both contestants, are there any problems?"

"No problems!" "No problems."

Iris and Luo Mu spoke simultaneously, but Luo Mu quickly glanced at Cynthia, his face showing a hint of suspicion.

This must be his illusion; why did he actually feel that Cynthia was enjoying being the referee?

He even felt that Cynthia's voice carried a tone of pleasure and excitement.

Iris shouted with an excited voice: "Excadrill, Metal Claw!"

"Dru!"

The steel blades on Excadrill's claws glowed with a silvery light; its already hard and sharp claws radiated an even more terrifying sharpness as it slapped directly toward Sandslash.

"Block it, Hail."

Just as the Excadrill was about to close in on Sandslash, Luo Mu's calm voice finally rang out.

Sandslash, after all, was a Pokémon living on the snowy mountains of the Polar Region within the Ecological Dome; even a student with talents as outstanding as Du Ruo's would need to expend considerable effort to deal with a Sandslash while moving through the Polar Region.

Even though this Excadrill of Iris's was stronger than the starter Pokémon of ordinary novice trainers by an unknown margin, Sandslash crossed its arms, meeting the Excadrill's crashing Metal Claw with its hardest hooks, blocking the heavy and sharp strike.

"Sasha!"

Immediately after, Sandslash let out a long howl toward the sky, gathering Ice-type energy around its body, which transformed into rolling white mist surging up to the firmament.

In an instant.

The firmament was covered by snow clouds; countless tiny ice particles fell, and accompanied by the howling cold wind, they battered against the Excadrill, which was unable to break through Sandslash's defense, causing it to furrow its brows deeply.

This thing was draining its stamina!

The trainers watching from the surroundings shivered; although it was currently midsummer, they felt a chill.

Cynthia, acting as the referee, raised an eyebrow: "A weather tactic?"

Drasena touched her right cheek, looking troubled: "Hmm, using the Hail move within the Dragon Clan; Champion Luo Mu really isn't avoiding any taboos at all."

Xia Ka crossed his arms, directing his focused gaze toward Iris: "Iris, facing this Hail weather, what will you do?"

Iris was just about to say something, but faster than her was the current Sandslash.

In the time it took her to blink, the figure of Sandslash, which had been locked in a stalemate with the Excadrill, vanished instantly.

The next moment.

Behind the Excadrill, which had lost its target and wore a bewildered expression, the figure of Sandslash appeared, moving so fast it nearly dragged out an afterimage.

A Brick Break, which Sandslash had been charging up, struck directly against the Excadrill's unguarded back.

"Dusi!"

The Excadrill let out a cry of pain, stumbled forward awkwardly for several steps, and looked back at Sandslash in shock, as if it completely failed to understand how Sandslash had appeared behind it.

Equally bewildered was Iris; with her current knowledge, she completely failed to understand how Sandslash, which just moments ago couldn't dodge the Excadrill's attacks and chose to tank them, had managed this.

Luo Mu smiled and explained: "My Sandslash is the regional form from the Alola Region, with Ice and Steel types, and the effect of its Ability 'Slush Rush' is very simple."

"It merely doubles its speed under Hail weather."

(End of Chapter)