Chapter 94 — Discussing Champions Over Wine

"This is such melodramatic trash."

Thirty minutes into the movie, Sun Wuming gave his assessment.

How to put it... it was almost identical to those melodramatic youth films he'd seen in his previous life, the kind where you can guess the ending just from watching the beginning.

Perhaps because this world focused most of its attention on Pokémon, the entertainment industry was still rather underdeveloped.

The girls in the theater, including Marie beside him, were watching with great interest though.

"Is there something wrong with this movie?"

Sitting on Sun Wuming's other side, Diantha asked in a low voice, having concealed over 80% of her face with a beret, sunglasses, and face mask.

After all, Sun Wuming had "disdain" practically written all over his face while watching the movie.

This made Diantha quite indignant, as she was actually quite confident about this film of hers.

The woman Sun Wuming had dismissed as some weird stalker surprisingly had a clear, melodious voice that made him pause for two seconds.

But he quickly returned to his earlier look of disdain, resting his chin on one hand with a disgusted expression as he replied:

"The dialogue is terrible, the values are confused, the plot is melodramatic, the story jumps around... Maybe Diantha ranks at the bottom of League Champions because she's too busy acting in these awful movies."

Diantha's chest heaved beneath her disguise, her face darkening behind the mask.

This jerk, insulting her movie was one thing, but to slander her strength as a Champion was unforgivable!

If this weren't a public place, she would have torn off her mask and pointed at Sun Wuming, shouting:

"You bastard! Fight me one-on-one if you dare!"

"From what Mr. Sun is saying, it seems you really look down on Champion Diantha~"

Diantha's eyebrow twitched, though hidden behind her sunglasses, as she replied with a forced smile.

Though Sun Wuming had defeated both Cynthia and Leon, Diantha knew his strength couldn't be underestimated.

But that didn't mean she feared him.

And Diantha had never considered herself inferior to Cynthia.

Moreover, in the eyes of the public, including other Champions, it could be said that Leon lost not to Sun Wuming, but to Zacian.

That's why Leon still retained his title of "Undefeated Champion."

Hm?

When this strange woman called out his name, Sun Wuming's expression froze briefly.

But he relaxed again within a second.

After all, he had already battled two Champions and been on TV, so he was somewhat of a celebrity - being recognized wasn't strange.

Glancing at the still melodramatic movie, Sun Wuming didn't mind chatting with this weird woman who had a surprisingly nice voice, despite her bizarre outfit.

"Among Champion-level trainers, Leon and Lance are probably the strongest, those two are in the highest tier of League Champions."

"Next would be Steven and Cynthia - though slightly weaker, the gap isn't too large. In battles against the top two, they'd probably have a 30-70 chance."

At this point, Sun Wuming paused briefly before continuing:

"The weakest League Champions would be Alder from Unova, Wallace from Hoenn, and Diantha from Kalos."

Unable to see Diantha's face gradually darkening behind her mask, Sun Wuming continued speaking freely:

"Alder's ace Pokémon have died of old age or illness in recent years, which is understandable. His mentality basically collapsed, and now he's focused entirely on training the next generation, so there's not much to say."

"As for Wallace, he's always busy with his Contest spectacles, and more importantly, while his battle style may look impressive, it has too many unnecessary movements."

"And Diantha..."

At this point, Diantha's beautiful eyes behind her sunglasses were fixed intently on Sun Wuming, her fists secretly clenched as she waited to hear what grand theories this guy would spout about her.

"Well, though she's somewhat neglectful of her duties like rock-collecting Steven, honestly, her ceiling is just that low."

Diantha drew in a sharp breath - how did this guy's assessment of her end up being the lowest of all?

This is too much!

"What gives you the right to say I... I mean, to say Champion Diantha is in the lowest tier? She's never even battled Cynthia!"

Diantha protested indignantly.

Because the various regional Leagues don't allow Champions to battle each other.

Therefore Diantha, Cynthia, Alder, Wallace and other Champions had never faced each other.

So no one really knew who was stronger.

Plus, since they had all climbed from the bottom to the peak, they naturally all had some pride in their abilities.

That's why when Sun Wuming said Cynthia was high-tier while she was only mid-tier,

Diantha reacted so indignantly.

She was self-aware enough to know she couldn't match Lance or Leon.

But Diantha didn't believe she was inferior to Cynthia!

After all, they both came from ordinary backgrounds and reached the peak of their respective Leagues as women.

That's why people often compared Diantha and Cynthia.

During media interviews, reporters frequently asked Diantha who she thought was stronger between herself and Cynthia.

For such questions, Diantha usually politely changed the subject.

But in her heart, Diantha never felt she was inferior to Cynthia.

"At least Cynthia wouldn't get destroyed by Ash."

Sun Wuming said flatly.

Thinking of the anime scene where Diantha's ace Gardevoir was nearly crushed by Ash's Greninja,

Sun Wuming found it somewhat amusing.

At the time, countless viewers including himself thought Ash could dominate even Champions.

Surely a mere League Champion would be easy prey?

But in the end, he got destroyed by Stored Power.

Damn, that really disgusted him.

"Huh?"

Diantha was completely confused.

Ash? Who was Ash?

"Wuming, if you were to coach Champions, what level could you get them to?"

Marie, who had been absorbed in the melodramatic movie, suddenly noticed Sun Wuming chatting enthusiastically with an unknown woman and interjected somewhat jealously.

Marie's question made Diantha, who had been quite angry, pause as well.

She just remembered that this man could be considered the strongest trainer on the continent.

Bead at near-Elite Four level and Klara at lowest Gym Leader level.

In just one year, he had taught them to reach beginning Champion and Elite Four level respectively.

He must be cheating, right?

"Hmm..."

Faced with Marie's question, Sun Wuming pondered for a moment before saying:

"Someone at Diantha's level could probably reach the peak Champion level of Leon and Lance, while Cynthia... stepping halfway into Master class shouldn't be a problem."

The disguised Diantha's eyes widened in shock.

Her... reaching Leon or Lance's level, she couldn't even imagine it.

Was he bluffing?

Marie blinked her beautiful eyes curiously and asked:

"Then if you taught Lance or Leon, could they directly reach Master class?"

To be honest, "Master class" had always been just a rumor.

Though Ash always had "I want to be a Pokémon Master" on his lips,

Even after twenty years of traveling, he had never encountered a Master-class trainer.

Even for Sun Wuming as a transmigrator, the only one he could definitively say was Master class was Mustard, who could freeze a Legendary with just a Swinub.

Next would be Leon's master Mustard, who he met on the Isle of Armor - he probably had one foot in that realm.

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