aircannonsinc Chapter 272 Like the Sun Rising from the Horizon
Chapter 272 Like the Sun Rising from the Horizon
The Earth rotates on its axis day and night, and the sun cannot be directly overhead for everyone at the same time. Therefore, there is a time difference of almost half a day between Sinnoh and Unova, two regions located at opposite ends of the Earth.
In the morning, Cynthia Champion teleported her Garchomp to her brother in Unova, while it was already close to nighttime at Hugo's location in the Unova region.
Therefore, compared to the Pokémon under Champion Alder's command who had been fighting all day, Garchomp, having been teleported to the other side of the planet, had just woken up. Ignoring its morning grumpiness, it was in peak physical condition, full of energy and vitality.
This subtle difference in physical strength may have, to some extent, quietly influenced the final outcome of that marathon-like battle... who knows?
As dusk approaches in the Sinnoh region, the distant Unova region is also welcoming the first light of dawn.
After struggling for a long time between her obligation to keep the Elite Four secret and her friendship with Cynthia, Caitalia, who was at the Pokémon Center in Fuyuki City, finally made up her mind and dialed an overseas phone call that spanned half the globe.
Just as Cynthia and Officer Jenny were about to leave the basement of the Forest Mansion, the bright red Rotom Phone became restless and jumped out of the Sinnoh Champion's pocket once again.
Seeing that Zhu Lan nodded in agreement to make the call, Rotom's phone spun in the air and emitted light from the camera on the upper left of its back, projecting a transparent image with a bluish glow. In that image, the image of Universe's Celestial Queen, Gadriya, instantly took shape.
"Ah, is that Gadriya? It's been a long time."
Unaware of what was going on, Zhu Lan was the first to greet them.
She didn't connect the phone call with the fact that she had lent the elf to Hugo that morning. She just suddenly felt a little guilty, realizing that she had been in such a rush when she went to Unova last time that she had forgotten to tell her close friend.
Is Cattleya here to confront me? But that was a long time ago. It's been almost half a year since then, and she's only just realized it now. Her reaction time is a bit too slow.
"It should still be early morning on the United States side. Is there something urgent that happened so early in the morning?"
While calculating the time difference between the two places, Zhu Lan asked her friend whom she hadn't seen in a long time.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the screen, Gadria was speechless for a moment, looking at her friend's face, unsure of where to begin.
Seeing the psychic king frowning and unable to speak for a long time, and recalling the recent situation of the Unova Alliance, Zhu Lan suddenly had a bad feeling and immediately continued to press for answers—
"What on earth happened? Could it be that something went wrong with Mr. Adek's partner, Volcarona?"
In a sense, this guess hit the bullseye.
"Uh... well, actually..."
Cattleya was not a good storyteller, and she had no clue how to recount such a complex event.
In the past, when such trivial matters arose, the butler, Shilan, would always be there to help explain. But now, the butler, injured by the plasma ball, was lying in a hospital room with the detective. He would have to explain the whole incident to Shilan himself.
In fact, even Cattleya didn't know how to feel about Hugo's victory over Adele.
Cheers to the detective's performance? Sadness for Aldair's retirement? Or resentment that someone else has surpassed him and become the new champion of the Unova League?
When she saw Hugo defeat Adek in such a way, these emotions that should have surged up like a tide did not arise in her heart at all.
As for the detective's victory, Cattleya just felt...somewhat absurd?
After much deliberation, this superpowered king decided to get straight to the point, and so he began—
"Cymbidium, your brother Hugo is going to become the Unova League Champion."
"I see. He's been working really hard in the Unova region... Huh? What did you say?"
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
The Sinnoh champion looked at Officer Jenny standing beside her, only to find that Officer Jenny was also watching her reaction intently. They could both see a sense of confusion in each other's eyes.
"What do you think happened to Hugo?"
The two asked in unison.
The voice was filled with disbelief.
"He defeated Mr. Ardek in the All-Star Game and is about to become the Unova Champion."
The Superpower King had already noticed Officer Jenny standing outside the screen, and when he saw the two of them speaking in unison, he calmly replied without taking it seriously.
Officer Jenny leaned close to Rotom's phone, blinking her wide eyes at the Unova Elite Four member: "Is today in the Unova region one of those holidays where you can just joke around?"
“I’m not joking.” Cattleya shook her head deeply.
Officer Jenny was still unconvinced and questioned, "Shouldn't a championship challenge like this, which determines the title, be a live, public event? Why hasn't there been a single word about it? Given that detective's personality, there's no way he would participate in such a competition."
"The situation here at United is a bit complicated."
Cattleya brushed aside the golden hair that fell across her cheek and tried to explain.
"Vulcan has reached the end of its life. To bid farewell to this comrade-in-arms, Mr. Alder couldn't wait for the next League Challenge and forcibly held an unofficial challenge, hoping to pass on the glory of the champion with this ultimate battle and to console Vulcan at its end. Of course, we know that doing this is very reckless, but in the current Unova League, no one can stop a champion who has made up his mind to retire."
"Is that so? Oh, I see."
After pondering for a long time, Zhu Lan finally spoke and asked.
"So Hugo had Garchomp defeat Volcarona, the champion of Alderfon?"
“Zhu Lan, I know what you want to ask, but that’s not how it is. It was a real six-on-six all-out battle.”
Gadriya gazed into Bamboo Orchid's grey eyes. As a witness to that battle, she had an obligation to truthfully recount everything she had seen.
"Garuda didn't beat Volcarona, but Hugo defeated the Ardek Champion."
Then, she began to describe the entire challenge in a halting manner.
From Alder taking Volcarona up the Tower of Heaven to face the challenges from the Elite Four and Team Plasma executives, to Hugo using the flames of his own Pokémon to break through the wall of fire, trapping Volcarona with an illegal Poké Ball, and finally defeating the Unova Champion.
"So... how is Hugo now?"
Even after hearing Cattleya's less-than-vivid description, Zhulan still frowned.
"Perhaps in his own plan, such an adventure was foolproof, but it was really too risky."
"I just took him to the hospital. I don't know the specifics yet, but at least he doesn't have any serious external injuries."
Cattleya, who used her superpowers to carry Hugo all the way to the Pokémon Center, replied.
"Although it was only for a moment, the tactic of using fire to counteract fire was indeed effective. The burns on his body were mostly from the little Chimchar's 'Blaze' ability, and since Fire-type Pokémon tend to be lenient with those close to them, these burns weren't serious. There weren't any other visible injuries."
"No, is that what you're focusing on?"
Officer Jenny, finally snapping out of her daze, stared in disbelief at the exchange between Cynthia and Cattleya.
"That's Hugo! Hugo defeated the Unova Champion and was about to become the new Unova Champion! Not a Gym Leader, not an Elite Four member, but the Champion, the strongest in the entire region! Cynthia, you should know best what that title means, right? Hugo becoming the Champion is like seeing the sun rise over the horizon at dawn, only to witness a giant, glowing Voltorb! How can you all accept this fact so calmly? My worldview has been completely overturned!"