He knows Pokémon better than me.

To be honest, Dan's title of "undefeated champion" is a bit exaggerated, since he was thoroughly defeated by himself on the very first day of his trip.

Sonia pursed her lips, thinking that this was a way of comforting herself.

The title of "Leon Emperor" should be given a prerequisite: he has never lost a battle in a "formal setting".

"Woof! Woof!"

On the stone platform next to them, Pikachu was wagging its tail, teasing Sonia's electric dog, which made the latter stand on its short legs and try to pull its tail along the edge of the platform.

Xiao Zhi became curious:

"By the way, didn't Mr. Dan contact you later?"

The sudden change in career and dreams led Xiao Mao to have a long talk with himself back then.

Sonia was collecting a pebble from outside the pit and taking some dust from inside the pit to examine what era it came from.

If it's not a product of the same era, then it's practically a confirmed fact that someone is deliberately covering up the history of Galar.

This was her first research project after becoming a full-fledged postdoctoral fellow!
Upon hearing Ash's question, Sonia blushed and looked embarrassed.

"Dan Di did come looking for me later."

After all, they were trainers who grew up together and traveled together, but one of them suddenly went to take the postgraduate entrance exam.
However, Sonia avoided meeting with them and made up excuses to get away with it.

This could be considered a betrayal of their childhood dream. Sonia felt inexplicably nervous whenever she thought about meeting Dante.

"And then, this guy actually stopped coming to see me!"

But thinking of this, Sonia's face darkened with anger, and she clenched her fists.

But you can understand it if you think about it.

Leon won the Galar League Tournament with absolute strength within a year of his debut, and then continued to rise to prominence, being chosen by Chairman Rose as the face of the Galar League.

Various battle performances and commercial activities followed one after another, and Leon's cloak was covered with logos. In recent years, Leon has probably been so busy that he has no time to spare.

Furthermore, she was going to take the postgraduate entrance exam, not to become a prostitute, so it doesn't count as "degradation".

"And that's how it's been until now."

Sonia shrugged, realizing that the two of them hadn't been in contact for quite some time.

When she officially became a Pokémon Professor, she wanted to call Leon and ask him to meet her, but after hesitating for a long time, she didn't dare to press the call button.

The longer the time dragged on, the less she dared to meet with Dan Di.

Ash was puzzled by Sonia's strange idea, but felt awkward about it.

However, this did give him a much better understanding of the Galar champion.

Whether to change the subject or not, Sonia's gaze suddenly fell on his wrist:

"By the way, this is the Dynamax Gauntlets you made yourself, right? Your craftsmanship is really good!"

She also learned how to make Dynamax Bands from her grandmother, but it seems like hers isn't as good as Ash's.
Xiao Zhi smiled and waved his hand:

"I didn't do it, my Lucario did it."

Sonia: "."

Is this implying that her skills are worse than a dog's?

As dusk approached, most of the surrounding crowd dispersed. Because of the extreme importance of this site, Officer Jenny had already put up banners to protect it.

After carefully recording everything and putting away the samples, Sonia clapped her hands and stood up.

"The statues inside are quite important, so please make sure to send someone to protect them properly. As for the surrounding rubble, it's best not to clean it up; just leave it as it is." As an officially recognized Pokémon Professor, Sonia currently doesn't have much authority among the Galarians.

However, in Miss Officer Jenny's eyes, she was an absolute "expert" and remembered Sonia's instructions one by one.

"Let's go. It's almost evening, Ash, let me treat you to dinner!"

Sonia smiled and extended a warm invitation.

Ash glanced at the sky and decided to stay in Strangetown for the night before leaving.

boom!
As the two headed to a roadside restaurant, his Poké Ball bounced off its own.

"Gengga gengga!!"

Gengar jumped out on its own, sniffed around, and its blood-red eyes gradually became excited. Isn't this its favorite Strangetown?
Gengar suddenly gave Sonia a big hug as a greeting, startling her so much that she froze on the spot. Then Gengar floated into the sky and drifted towards the Eternal Arena.

Its will-o'-the-wisp has already begun to burn!

"Ash, your Pokémon are quite lively, aren't they?"

Sonia snapped out of her daze, smiled, and looked at the Gengar flying away, saying with great interest.

Xiao Zhi scratched his head and quickly changed the subject:
"Well, let's think about what to eat later!"

Lively is a word used to describe children.

But its Gengar is about to do something far from lively!
The ghost Pokémon near Strangetown are probably in for another bad time tonight!

Afterwards, the two randomly chose a roadside restaurant to eat at.

The Soul Festival in Suchuan Town ended a few days ago, and the number of tourists has decreased, making the town much quieter at night.

Ash already knew something about Sonia, but she was almost a complete stranger to him, and couldn't help but keep asking him questions at the dinner table.

"Me? Right now, I'm aiming for the World Championship, which of course means having the ultimate showdown with Mr. Dan!"

Xiao Zhi's gaze sharpened, and he said in a deep voice.

All that talk about ranch management and construction is meaningless. His primary purpose in coming to the Galar region is to have a real showdown with the strongest champion.

"Is the target Emperor Dan?"

Upon hearing this, Sonia's expression turned strange.

I hope I won't lose confidence like she did.
This is naturally the ultimate goal for most trainers in the Galar region. For example, Raihana, who is known as the strongest gym leader in the Punch Gate, also longs to defeat Leon.

However, in recent years, with the initiation of the World Championships, the two were able to engage in fierce battles on the final stage.

This year, it will be very difficult for Cibana to even make it into the top eight.

Even so, she's still better than me!

Sonia couldn't help but sigh, after all, Cibana still hadn't given up, while she had simply given up and retired.

Ash touched his nose, looking at Pikachu still walking its dog nearby, feeling quite pleased with itself.

"Don't underestimate me and Pikachu! The outcome is still uncertain if we haven't fought yet."

Ash is now fully committed to special training to prepare for the battle against this strongest champion. It will definitely be a tough fight.

The difficulty will be even greater if you only use this Galar team!
"An electric mouse?"

Sonia raised an eyebrow; she couldn't imagine how an electric mouse could possibly battle Leon's strongest Charizard. (End of Chapter)