Chapter 93 — What Incredible Luck

When Mari heard these words, Sun Wuming's face showed an expression like he'd seen a ghost.

Mari's emotionless little face maintained that undisturbed expression as she calmly said:

"I saw it at the Wooden Pole Town train station."

Sun Wuming smacked his forehead.

Ah, at that time Mari had been facing away from him, he hadn't noticed.

There was another important reason - he had been too caught up in the moment...

One misstep leads to eternal regret!

Seeing that Sun Wuming still hadn't responded, Mari spoke again:

"So, do you need me to bite you too?"

In her view, this was the reason Sonia had gotten the legendary Zamazenta to take care of her.

So following that formula, if Sun Wuming was really going to give her Yveltal, shouldn't she do the same as Sonia did as a return gesture?

Sun Wuming's face darkened as he couldn't help but pinch her smooth cheek and pull it.

"Ow~ That hurts!"

Mari protested with teary eyes.

However, Sun Wuming didn't let go, and said with a stern face:

"Girls shouldn't casually say things like that, understand?"

"I... I haven't said things like this to anyone else, only to you..."

Mari explained with a lisp as her small hands kept hitting Sun Wuming's hand.

Hearing her say this, Sun Wuming's anger subsided a bit, and he released her jelly-like cheek.

Mari rubbed the reddened spot where she'd been pinched, glaring at Sun Wuming resentfully.

"Ahem!"

Just then, a awkward cough came from the seat behind them.

Turning around, they saw a young man with a hiking backpack, about Sun Wuming's age.

"Are you... Champion Steven?"

Mari was the first to call out his name.

"Uh... I'm not the Champion anymore, just a regular explorer now."

The young man with silver-blue short hair wasn't wearing his Champion-era suit and tie, but rather hiking gear worth 680. He waved his hand, still looking somewhat awkward.

Steven himself hadn't expected such a coincidence - to be on the same flight as the monster who had defeated both Cynthia and Leon.

And he'd even overheard quite some suggestive conversation.

Steven gave Sun Wuming a strange look, thinking this guy sure got around.

Comparing Sun Wuming and Mari's ages...

Hmm... that's nearly a ten-year gap, isn't it?

How worldly.

"Isn't this the flight from Galar to Kalos?"

Sun Wuming asked curiously.

Although in the original anime Steven had visited Kalos from Hoenn, if he were to fly, he should have taken a flight from Hoenn to Kalos, not this one.

Steven scratched his nose with an awkward smile and explained:

"Actually, I heard there was a huge unexplored mining area in Galar's Wild Area that I wanted to dig in, but when I got there, it had already been contracted to the Macro Cosmos company."

"Had no choice but to change plans and try my luck in the Kalos region - after all, it's the birthplace of Mega Evolution, might find some good stones there."

Mari: "..."

This former Champion's thought process seemed a bit off.

Digging for stones all over the world?

Sun Wuming didn't find it strange at all.

After all, as a reader with a god's eye view in his previous life, he knew Steven had an almost obsessive dedication to stones.

He even gave up his Champion position to his friend Wallace just to have more time to dig for stones.

Must have driven his father, Mr. Stone, half mad with anger.

"Mr. Sun Wuming, I watched your battles, they were amazing."

Steven then stood up and extended his hand to Sun Wuming, "I'm Steven Stone, from Hoenn."

"Ah~ hello."

Sun Wuming shook his hand, "Sun Wuming, from Planet Vegeta."

"Huh?"

Steven looked bewildered, then smiled thinking Sun Wuming was joking:

"I didn't expect Mr. Sun to have such a sense of humor."

"And you must be 'Mari'? I watched your battle with Raihan too. Don't be discouraged, I can see you have great potential."

Steven nodded to Mari.

This time he didn't extend his hand - after hearing their suggestive conversation earlier, he had vaguely guessed there was something unclear between this young girl and Sun Wuming.

Speaking of which, wasn't Sun Wuming rumored to be involved with Nessa, the new Water-type Elite Four member of Galar?

How did he also have something going on with this young girl?

And from their earlier conversation,

Sun Wuming also had some unclear relationship with a woman called "Sonia".

Steven secretly sighed at how messy their circle was.

What's so good about women? Can they compare to those beautiful, sparkling stones? Huh?!

"Thank you."

Mari returned to her emotionless mode, responding in a neutral tone.

Seeing Mari didn't seem very interested in him, Steven could only force a laugh and continued chatting with Sun Wuming:

"Mr. Sun, what brings you from Galar to Kalos?"

"Nothing in particular, just traveling around."

"Oh, tourism? Kalos has a very modern style, it's indeed perfect for relaxation."

Steven said with a smile.

After some small talk, Steven pondered for a moment, and finally couldn't help but ask what he was most curious about.

"Mr. Sun, if I may be bold, how did you train Miss Bede and Miss Nessa to make them... improve so dramatically?"

Although he had resigned from his Champion position, as a trainer, the pursuit of strength never ends.

Even for a Champion-level trainer like Steven, comparing their performance from a year ago made him draw in a sharp breath.

Their rate of improvement was terrifying.

"...It would take too long to explain, I'll let you see for yourself when there's a chance."

Sun Wuming thought for a moment before answering.

There wasn't really anything to hide about training methods, and he didn't dislike polite men like Steven.

"Thank you. I think I heard your little lov- ah no, new disciple wanted a Tyranitar or Hydreigon as her partner. If it's Hydreigon, I recommend visiting either the Village of Dragons in Unova or the Dragon's Den in Johto."

Steven stumbled over his words halfway and corrected himself:

"These two places are managed by Unova League President Elder and Johto League President Wataru respectively, you can find almost all known Dragon-type Pokémon on the continent there."

"They would give them away?"

Sun Wuming raised an eyebrow.

"Haha, Mr. Sun, you're underestimating your current influence."

Steven laughed:

"As a trainer who has defeated two Champions and commands legendary heroes, if you just ask, not only them, even President Charles Goodshow himself would be willing to do you a favor."

"Favors, huh... well, we'll see."

Sun Wuming's mouth twitched, clearly not very enthusiastic about Steven's suggestion.

Favors were really troublesome things - once you owe them, paying them back in the future wouldn't be easy.

Time passed minute by second as they chatted.

Mari unconsciously fell asleep, her small head tilting onto Sun Wuming's shoulder.

Several hours later, the plane landed at Lumiose City International Airport, the largest city in Kalos.

"Then until next time, Mr. Sun and Miss Mari."

After walking out of the airport terminal, Steven waved goodbye to them.

"Bye~"

Sun Wuming also waved his hand.

"Every Champion is surprisingly approachable."

Mari suddenly said.

Though she hadn't spent much time with Sun Wuming, she had already met three Champions in person.

Leon, Cynthia, and Steven.

Although their personalities varied slightly, they were all unexpectedly approachable.

"...Most Champions have decent personalities, with only one exception, I suppose."

Sun Wuming said after some thought.

Although he hadn't seen him in person, Sun Wuming had watched Lance's battle recordings during his free time.

It reminded Sun Wuming involuntarily of characters like Sasuke Uchiha and Vegeta from anime - those edgelord types.

Always walking around with a face like everyone owed them money.

However, unlike those characters who loved to act cool but got humbled the next moment,

While Lance similarly loved to act cool, so far no one had the strength to humble him.

"What should we do next? Train?"

Mari turned and asked.

Sun Wuming couldn't help but laugh, tapping her little head:

"We just arrived in a new city, let's relax first. We can leave training for tonight."

Mainly because her loss in the recent Galar Star Tournament had been too big a shock for this girl.

What was even harder for her to accept was that her fellow disciples Bede and Nessa had been promoted to Elite Four, while she...

This made Mari impatient to become stronger.

Sun Wuming had noticed this and wanted Mari's mind to calm down first.

Hearing Sun Wuming's words, a flash of disappointment crossed Mari's eyes, but she still nodded in agreement.

...

Lumiose City wasn't just the largest city in the Kalos League, but also the most populous city on the Pokémon continent.

Tourists streamed in endlessly every day, and it was also home to the Kalos League headquarters.

The annual Lumiose Conference was held here too - how could it not be lively?

"Can we go watch a movie?"

Mari suddenly tugged at Sun Wuming's sleeve, pointing at a cinema not far away.

A huge poster hung at the top, showing the Kalos League Champion Diantha in a princess dress.

Below the poster was the tagline -

"Kalos Film Queen Diantha's Latest Romantic Epic"

"A movie..."

Sun Wuming couldn't help but show a nostalgic expression.

In his previous life, he had liked watching movies too, though watching movies was secondary - the main reason was to take advantage of girls in the dark environment.

"Let's go then."

Sun Wuming led Mari into the cinema.

When taking their seats, Sun Wuming noticed that next to his seat sat a woman wearing a beret, sunglasses, and a face mask even in the dark theater.

Covering about 85% of her face completely.

Even so, from what little was visible, he could tell she took very good care of her skin.

Their eyes met, and the woman nodded in acknowledgment before turning her gaze back to the big screen.

Sun Wuming thought to himself: "Could she be some kind of female weirdo?"

The woman's heart wasn't calm either, her heart rate increasing slightly as she thought:

"This person is... the one who defeated Miss Cynthia... why is he in Kalos?"

Originally, Diantha just wanted to secretly observe how audiences would receive this movie she starred in.

She hadn't expected to encounter the trainer who commands legends.

If Sun Wuming knew the true identity of the woman next to him, he'd probably be quite surprised too.

Not because of her identity, but because he had managed to meet two Champions in one day.

What kind of incredible luck was this?

— — —

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