In the days to come, he was an important figure to Alma, acting as both mentor and father, and also a witness to Alma's achievement as the first Champion of Alola; his strength was beyond doubt.
Although Qibana was defeated by Danti and Fang Yuan, there was no question that he was a Trainer of Champion caliber. The two meeting in the Boxing Arena and battling publicly, it was truly hard to say who would win or lose.
On the eve of the decisive championship tournament, Mr. Shinto, ranked eighth, also arrived in the Galar Region aboard the Battle Pyramid to prevent any tower thefts. One could imagine that the competition between Qibana, Kukui, and Mr. Shinto would be extremely fierce from here on out.
Besides these three, there was actually another individual who had a strong chance of becoming one of the Eight Masters.
In the Unova Region, using the last period of time, Caitlin boosted her ranking to fourteenth, which was quite fitting of Unova's prestige. Given a bit more time, it was not inconceivable that she could have joined the struggle with Qibana, Kukui, and Shinto, vying for a position among the Eight Masters.
After all, her current Superpower allowed her to fully enhance a High-level Champion Pokemon; in a 2VS2 battle, that meant having two, and as the strongest among the Kings, she was not inferior to anyone in strength.
Unfortunately, time was running out...
"Ahh, it's all because of that guy Fang Yuan—"
On a luxury liner from Unova heading to Galar, in a luxurious room, the young lady Caitlin fainted with frustration. If it hadn't been for Fang Yuan using her for ranking battle, where the 1VS2 format caused her to lose quite a few points, her ranking might have been 11th or 12th by now. That would have given her a chance to challenge for a position among the Eight Masters, but now... there simply wasn't enough time left.
However, compared to herself, Caitlin felt that Ohba, Aliu, and Wusong were in an even worse situation. Even though they had tried hard to climb back into the top 100 after being farmed by Fang Yuan, unfortunately, they were still hovering around 70th and 80th place. For the Sinnoh overall ranking, if not for Hirona and Fang Yuan's support, it definitely would have looked much worse... That's right, Fang Yuan was participating in the competition as a Sinnoh Trainer, so Hirona didn't mind Fang Yuan using the title of King of Heaven for ranking battles; after all, it was all in the family, and with this move, Hirona was in high spirits.
At this moment, with the regular season of the World Championship nearing its end, the time for the decisive championship tournament to begin was drawing ever closer.
Fang Yuan was monitoring the training of his Pokemon while mentoring Xiaozhi and the others, keeping an eye on the ranking changes. In the meantime, thousands of Trainers from around the world had already come to Galar, intending to witness the decisive championship tournament.
Although the current status in Galar didn't reach the point where Kings were as common as dirt and Museum Owners were less than dogs, there certainly was no shortage of Museum Owner-level Trainers.
Besides these Trainers, Galar was also host to several of the most prestigious figures in the Pokémon World.
For instance, Damaelan from the Kantō and City Alliance, also the honorary chairman of the League Headquarters, the President of the Fangyuan Alliance, and President Loz of the Galar League. Apart from them, the Sinnoh League Chairman, the United Alliance Chairman, and the Carlos Alliance Chairman—these core high-level figures who manage regional Alliances and wield absolute authority in the various factions of the League—had all come here.
Even Champions and the Four Heavenly Kings were of lower status and stature compared to them.
"Hey, Xiaozhi."
On the day the regular season of the World Championship officially ended, the Eight Masters recognized by the Pokemon Battle Committee were finally confirmed, and at least for this season, it was impossible for that to change.
The eight individuals were Danti, Hirona, Du, Da Wu, Mikkeli, Karune, Fang Yuan, and Shinto.
After the competition, the eighth position was still held by Mr. Shinto, retaining his rank.
With the eight spots finalized, Trainers from around the world were stirred with excitement, wondering who would ultimately earn the title of the world's strongest Trainer.
Tomorrow, the drawing of lots for the final tournament would take place, and the day after, the elimination rounds of the World Championship would officially commence, determining the strongest Trainer.
Although it was an elimination tournament, there were no distinctions in ranking before the final match began—all eight Masters were on equal footing. But once the elimination rounds were complete, and a Trainer progressed from the top eight to the final four, the final two, and then to the final victor, claiming victory over three opponents in succession, they would be the strongest champion and Trainer of the season, standing tall above the other seven.
In other words, the other seven would merely serve as a backdrop to this one individual.
Everyone was curious as to how this person would manage to consecutively defeat three of the top-level Trainers.
"Xiaozhi, I'll be going to Gongmen City tomorrow for the draw, and with that, our intensive training will come to a close. Let's wrap it up for now," Fang Yuan called Xiaozhi over and said.
In the past few days, with his wise guidance, Xiaozhi and Pikachu's ability to master new skills had greatly accelerated compared to when they were left to figure things out on their own.
"Ah, so the 'Eight Masters' have been completely decided?" Xiaozhi asked excitedly.
"Yes, let's all go to Gongmen City together." Fang Yuan also looked toward Brock and Misty, saying, "As for the tickets, I've already prepared them for you."
"And they're in the front rows closest to the venue~"
"Awesome!!! Thank you so much!!" Xiaozhi, Brock, and Misty expressed their joy.
This competition was incredibly thrilling for them; it was like a dream to be able to watch several Champion-level personalities duel it out live.
"Pika…"
Pikachu, on the other hand, was quite calm. A dangerous competition like this, sitting in the front row, was that really a good idea???