Chapter 90 — Zapdos: You're not even going to try to make me stay?

"Whoa!!!"

When Luna's red lips touched Sun Wuming's cheek, the crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.

She gazed at the muscular man with tender affection.

The sound of countless men's hearts breaking could be heard.

Luna... my Luna...

If Luna had just been a pretty face before,

The number of heartbroken people might not have been so high.

But after becoming one of the Elite Four, her status skyrocketed overnight.

Following in Cynthia's footsteps.

"Are you two officially a couple?" 

The reporter, sensing a big scoop, eagerly thrust the microphone forward, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Luna turned to Sun Wuming with a hopeful, almost yearning expression.

A year ago, Luna never would have dreamed she could become one of the Elite Four.

As Sun Wuming would say in his past life - it was like a damn dream.

No, reality often surpasses fantasy.

Luna, who had come in last place in the previous Galar Star Tournament, couldn't even dare to dream she would one day become one of the Elite Four.

And it was all thanks to this man before her.

Without realizing it, Luna had given her heart to Sun Wuming.

If Sun Wuming would just say "yes" to the camera right now,

Luna would immediately stand on her tiptoes, willingly offering him her most precious treasure that she had kept for twenty years.

"Uh..." 

Sun Wuming drew out the sound, about to speak.

Truthfully, he didn't care what others thought.

Seeing Luna's hopeful expression, saying "yes" just to make her happy wouldn't be a big deal.

However, just as the affirmative response reached his throat, almost slipping out,

Sun Wuming suddenly noticed Saitou, who had somehow appeared on his other side.

Unlike Marnie who had changed back into her usual black jacket after the Star Tournament, Saitou was still wearing the same turtle school training uniform as him.

At this moment, Saitou's pretty face was puffed up like a bun as she glared angrily at Luna, occasionally giving Sun Wuming a pitiful look.

Like a puppy abandoned by its owner.

"Uh, not at the moment."

Sun Wuming's heart softened and he changed his answer at the last second.

At these words, Saitou's teary expression instantly brightened like clouds parting to reveal the sun.

"Tch, this girl!"

Luna cursed inwardly in frustration.

She had been so close, just a little bit more and she would have succeeded!

On the other side, Marnie and Sonia also unconsciously let out sighs of relief.

Marnie tilted her head in thought for a moment before turning to run towards her brother, whom she hadn't contacted since running away from home.

Sonia lowered her head with a slight smile playing at her lips as she patted the battle-worn Zamazenta's head.

The celebration continued.

Standing atop Rose Tower, Rose looked down at Wyndon City below, a satisfied expression on his face.

"Oleana, what do you think would be the fastest way for Galar to replace Kanto?"

The successful conclusion of this year's Galar Star Tournament had made Rose's ambitions grow even larger.

He was already calculating how to replace Kanto.

Damian would say you're quite brave!

Hearing this, Oleana thought for a moment before answering:

"Kanto's greatest strength is their Elite Four led by Lance. If our Elite Four could defeat them..."

"Hmm..."

Rose stroked his chin thoughtfully, seeming to have some insight.

...

...

Just as the media predicted,

For the next week, the headlines across the Pokémon continent were completely dominated by news of the Galar Star Tournament.

Half of the coverage was about the newly appointed Galar Elite Four.

The other half was about Sun Wuming, who had shown overwhelming strength against two Champion-level trainers in exhibition matches.

All at once, the number of registered trainers in the Galar region rose dramatically, making other regions envious.

Just as in Sun Wuming's past life, people are the most important foundation of a nation.

And in the Pokémon world, the number of registered trainers is the most direct indication of a region's strength.

Parents who want their children to become trainers will register them as official trainers of a certain region, paying annual taxes to gain future access to Pokémon Centers and other privileges.

To receive a starter Pokémon requires paying even more - this forms the basic GDP income for a League.

It also helps strengthen the local League's power further.

Therefore, each regional League tries everything possible to increase their influence.

And this year, without question, Galar had been the most successful.

"We in Kalos can't fall behind."

Diantha, busy preparing for the release of her new movie, saw the news about Galar and said somewhat indignantly:

"We must put on our best performance at this year's Lumiose Conference!"

To be honest, Galar's rise had somewhat shaken the Kalos League's confidence.

Because all along, public opinion had ranked the Galar region last among all the Leagues.

Now that Galar had taken off, Kalos had become the last place region.

Although Kalos was the region that discovered Mega Evolution,

That couldn't change the fact that they only had one Champion-level trainer - Diantha.

While Unova only had old Alder holding down the fort with diminished ambitions,

At least they had Iris, a genius trainer rapidly catching up.

But Diantha hadn't discovered any promising talent in Kalos yet.

Damn!

...

...

"Cheers!"

In Postwick, Galar region.

As Sonia set down the last dish,

Everyone raised their drinks and clinked them together.

"It's been almost half a month since we last met."

Marnie took a sip of her drink, blinking as she looked at Luna and Saitou.

Almost half a month had passed since the end of the Galar Star Tournament.

Only today did everyone finally have a chance to gather for a meal together.

Because Saitou and Luna had been busy with their new Elite Four duties.

"Sorry, sorry, here, have this piece of chicken, don't be angry."

Luna used her chopsticks to give Marnie a piece of fried chicken.

"So sorry, Master, because we just became Elite Four members, there were many things to handle."

Saitou said apologetically, lowering her head to Sun Wuming.

The Elite Four duties weren't so busy that they couldn't meet for ten days or half a month.

Take Diantha for example - hadn't she found time to travel all the way to Galar for fun?

It was mainly because the Galar Elite Four had just been established, and beginnings are always difficult, so there was more work to do.

First and foremost was selecting new Gym Leaders.

With Saitou and the others becoming Elite Four members, their Gym Leader positions were naturally vacant.

Although Galar had ten Gym Leaders, having four positions suddenly open was still troublesome.

But fortunately, after half a month, they had managed to select two candidates to replace...

"Who are they?"

Sonia casually asked while putting a chicken leg on Sun Wuming's plate.

"One is Hop, Leon's brother, remember him?"

Luna asked.

Yes, that somewhat silly boy who lost to Saitou in the second round.

Though his strength wasn't extraordinary, he was more than qualified to be a Gym Leader.

"The other is a boy named 'Bede' who's the same age as Marnie and Hop."

Luna continued.

Hearing this name, Sonia had to think carefully before remembering.

Oh right, a boy who used Psychic and Fairy types.

His abilities were quite impressive, though he liked to wear a sour expression, and got taken down by Raihan in the third round.

With this, they had determined the basic eight Gym Leaders.

Saitou and Luna finally had a bit more free time, and immediately returned to Postwick to reunite with Sun Wuming and the others.

But there were still mountains of work ahead.

"I plan to leave Galar."

Sun Wuming suddenly said, startling all four women.

"Just traveling, don't overthink it."

Realizing his words were misleading, Sun Wuming quickly corrected himself.

The four women finally relaxed - they had been scared to death.

"Master is going traveling at this time?"

Saitou asked somewhat dejectedly.

Luna wore a similar expression.

The two of them were busy with Elite Four duties and obviously couldn't go along.

"I want to go too!"

Marnie's eyes showed "wow cool wow cool" anticipation.

Her poor performance in the Galar Star Tournament had made Marnie vow to become stronger.

Plus, she had only traveled with Sun Wuming for about ten days before being sent to the Crown Tundra.

She hadn't properly enjoyed traveling.

More importantly, Marnie's wish to help her hometown of Spikemuth prosper had been fulfilled -

With her brother Neo becoming one of the Elite Four, Spikemuth had risen with him, receiving substantial development funds from the Galar League each year.

Now Marnie was completely free to act according to her own wishes.

She wanted to go with Sun Wuming!

Sonia lowered her head in silent thought, stealing glances at her friend Luna.

Should she go along too?

But just then, Zamazenta's voice suddenly echoed in everyone's minds through telepathy:

[You're going to leave this land temporarily?]

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Sun Wuming raised an eyebrow and asked.

On the other side of the room, Zamazenta and Zapdos, who were lying with Machamp and Blastoise, turned to look at Sun Wuming.

Zamazenta's voice rang out again:

[My sister and I bear the responsibility of protecting this land, so...]

"Oh, it's fine, you two can stay here."

Sun Wuming said calmly.

In legends, there are those like Ho-Oh and Mew who roam the world carefree,

And those like Zapdos and Zamazenta who bear the duty of protecting specific lands.

Besides these two big dogs, the Swords of Justice from Unova and the Latios and Latias siblings from Alto Mare also carry such responsibilities.

That Latias in the anime really liked Ash but didn't leave with him.

That's because she still had the duty of protecting Alto Mare.

Hearing Sun Wuming's calm response, Zapdos immediately made a Husky-like expression.

Damn, you're not even going to try to make me stay?

— — —

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