Lusamine moving to Johto was, in Luo Yuan's view, a good thing.
After all, he was going to be busy for quite some time and wouldn't have the time to look after Lillie personally. Having Lusamine around to take care of things would be reassuring.
Of course, that was a minor matter.
Right now, what really mattered was his upcoming battle with Lance.
This match would be quite different from his battle against Leon.
Back then, Luo Yuan had represented Kanto's interests, and the two sides had been in direct opposition — so he'd been able to crush Leon without the slightest hesitation or psychological burden.
But Lance... Lance had been his colleague for years.
Now, Luo Yuan was challenging him for the Champion's seat.
For the sake of both sentiment and propriety, he would need to give Lance some face.
Gazing at the Pokémon training in the courtyard, Luo Yuan quietly considered which team he would bring to the battle.
---
Three days passed in a flash.
For Lance, however, they were an excruciating three days.
At first, only a few people within the League knew that Luo Yuan intended to challenge him.
But news spread fast — soon, the entire Johto region had caught wind of it.
This was inevitable.
After all, the change of a Champion was a momentous event for any region.
To prevent accusations of corruption, every Champion battle — except for a few rare cases, like when Lance and Giovanni had split the League's leadership years ago — was open to the public.
Anyone with a ticket could watch.
It was also a way for the League to generate revenue.
Now, the whole of Johto — and even Kanto — knew that a new Champion might soon be crowned.
Unbeknownst to Lance, the media outlets under Team Rocket's control had launched a full-scale campaign, heavily covering the event to build momentum for Luo Yuan.
Thanks to Luo Yuan's undeniable strength, the media didn't even need to exaggerate or distort anything; simply listing out Luo Yuan's achievements and battle records compared to Lance's made the difference glaringly obvious.
Even someone who barely understood Pokémon battles could see which side had the advantage.
Newspapers ran article after article lauding Luo Yuan's past feats and contributions to the League.
As a result, wherever Lance went, he found people looking at him... oddly.
Lance could just barely maintain his composure toward public opinion.
But deep down, the thought of facing Luo Yuan filled him with unease — especially after spending the past few days studying Luo Yuan's battle footage.
The more he watched, the more unsettled he became.
Throughout his entire career — from Elite Four member to Champion — Lance had faced hardships, including interference from Team Rocket, but overall, his journey had been relatively smooth.
Now, for the first time, he was facing a genuine, possibly fatal challenge.
But it was too late for anxiety to change anything now.
Lance took a deep breath, straightened the cape draped across his shoulders, and sharpened his gaze.
Then, pushing open the great doors before him, he stepped out onto the battlefield —
greeted by deafening cheers and a sea of camera flashes.
...
"Long time no see, Lance," Luo Yuan called across the arena.
"I didn't think we'd meet again under circumstances like these," Lance replied, his tone tinged with bittersweet emotion.
Just a month ago, when he had sent Luo Yuan to Galar to negotiate cooperation with the Galar League, he never imagined that the next time they met, they would be opponents on this stage.
Now that they stood here, both men knew — today, one of them would fall.
Their brief exchange ended there.
Without saying more, Lance turned and signaled to the referee standing by the sidelines.
The referee, receiving Lance's confirmation, then looked toward Luo Yuan.
After getting a nod from him as well, the referee raised a hand, signaling the official start of the match!
"We can see that the referee has confirmed both sides are ready! The Johto Champion Challenge Match now officially begins!"
The announcer's voice barely faded before Lance and Luo Yuan simultaneously threw their Poké Balls.
Two Poké Balls burst open mid-air, flashing with twin beams of white light —
followed by two powerful roars that shook the arena.
Two imposing Pokémon materialized on the field.
"We see that standing in front of Johto Champion Lance is his signature ace — Dragonite!"
"And on Luo Yuan's side... he's sent out a Dragonite as well!"
Two Dragonite faced each other down, locked in a battle of wills even before a move was made.
Lance had chosen to open with Dragonite because he knew exactly how strong Luo Yuan was, having studied his battles extensively.
If he wanted any hope of winning, he had to go all-out from the very start — and his strongest Pokémon was his Dragonite.
Luo Yuan's choice, on the other hand, was much simpler.
Among all his available Pokémon for this match, his Giant Dragonite was the one he was most comfortable using.
Thus, the clash of Dragonite versus Dragonite began.
On the field, the two Dragonite stared each other down, sizing up their opponent.
Lance's Dragonite had always been a dominant force — even among other Dragonite, it was considered elite.
But today, it found itself facing a truly formidable adversary.
The Dragonite standing across from it — in sheer size, in overwhelming aura — seemed to suppress it ever so slightly.
More troubling still was the immense dragon-type energy it could sense pulsing within its opponent's body — so vast that it made Lance's Dragonite momentarily doubt itself.
Was that thing really a Dragonite?