Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

"Never doubt the bond between Pokémon and their trainers!" Ash said seriously. "Especially Dianthus and Gardevoir, they can definitely sense each other!"

“Indeed…” Korne nodded in agreement. “Sometimes when I get separated from Lucario, I can roughly sense where he is.”

"In that case... please!" Minami said nervously as she threw out the Poké Ball.

"Garde?" Gardevoir, who had just released the ball, was puzzled as it didn't see its trainer.

After listening to Ash explain the whole story, it anxiously tried to sense the situation.

Soon, the Mega Stone under its neck began to shimmer.

"Garde?" Gardevoir locked onto a direction in the mountains, activated its psychic powers, and quickly took off.

"Let's follow!" Ash also used his psychic powers to envelop everyone, closely following Gardevoir.

The group quickly moved away from the film crew and came to a misty mountain path. After Gardevoir landed, they began to search carefully.

"This feeling is... Gardevoir, is it you?" A moment later, a female voice, filled with doubt and surprise, came from the thick fog.

"Sarga!" The Psychic Queen immediately teleported over and hugged her trainer tightly.

"Gardedor...it really is you! Thank goodness!" Having suddenly seen her companion amidst her helplessness, Diantha almost burst into tears of joy. "How did you find this place?"

“It’s Mr. Ash. He said Gardevoir can pinpoint your location using Bond Pact,” Minami explained happily.

"Mr. Ash... and Ms. Nanami, what brings you both here?" Upon seeing the newcomers, Diantha was immediately puzzled.

"We were planning to reschedule our meeting with Minami-san, but we heard you were in some trouble, so we came looking for you." Nanami then extended an invitation, "Ms. Karuno, would you like to talk now?"

Meanwhile, Serena and Korne had already laid out their picnic blankets and placed some desserts they had prepared in advance.

"Then... let's chat." Seeing the beautifully presented desserts, Karuno suddenly didn't want to leave.

Minami, standing next to her, couldn't help but put her hand to her forehead. Her star was always so easily manipulated by this kind of thing.

The group then transitioned into picnic mode, and after enjoying a few pieces of Serena's special popé, Karuno's inner turmoil seemed to dissipate somewhat.

"I'm sorry, my personal matters have caused such a commotion," she said apologetically to Ash and the others.

"It must be that someone behind the scenes made some unreasonable demands, right?" Nanami immediately guessed the problem. "Ms. Karuno, would you like to reconsider my previous suggestion?"

"Do you mean I should sign a contract with your company?" Karuno asked.

“That’s right, a newly established company will definitely need to accumulate resources at the beginning… but I can at least guarantee that you will not be bothered by similar things again.”

Chapter 676 The Challenge to Karuno

Ambitious and eager to make the burgeoning entertainment company a star, they set their sights on me, a somewhat well-known actress, and conveniently exploited my recent frustrations…

Nanami's motives, when considered, are perfectly reasonable.

But Karuno had a feeling that the other party was so determined to get in touch with her, and that it couldn't be just about signing a contract.

"Miss Nanami, can you tell me the truth?" After thinking for a long time, Karuno decided to take the initiative. "Why do you want me to become a signed artist?"

"Well..." Nanami hesitated for a moment, then turned to Satoshi, "Is this something I can talk about?"

"Of course~"

After receiving Ash's approval, she became quite frank: "I want to sign Diantha, of course, to make money, but besides that, I need to monitor your actions as much as possible..."

"Why?!" Minami questioned before Nanami could finish speaking.

"Because Ash told me that Diantha is a trainer powerful enough to influence the situation in Kalos!" Nanami said firmly. "I must assure you that you will absolutely not side with Lysandre!"

"Vladali?" Karuno couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.

"Hey, you haven't even signed a contract yet, and you're already trying to interfere with Ms. Karuno's endorsement?" Minami retorted, dissatisfied.

Due to their personal relationship, Karuno did indeed do a lot of endorsements for Fladali, and this assistant thought that Nanami was trying to steal resources in this area.

"Since we've come this far, I'll explain the rest myself." Ash took over the conversation, but didn't continue speaking, instead looking at Diantha for her opinion.

"Minami, go and tell the crew that I need to catch up with some friends and will be back later."

"Oh..." Although the assistant was a little confused, she obediently let him go.

"Mr. Ash, what exactly do you want from Kalos?" Diantha asked with a serious expression after Minami left.

"I just want to stop something." Ash shook his head seriously, "Stop those guys who use the guise of perfection to obsessively want to destroy everything."

"Could it be..." Karuno immediately thought of Vladari.

She and Vladali were old friends, but she couldn't quite understand what he was doing now...

The conversation in the coffee shop that day also bothered her greatly.

“Logically speaking, as a Kanto native, I shouldn’t be getting involved in Carlos’s affairs… but this is Serena’s hometown after all, and I can’t ignore it. To put it another way, I don’t want to see this place devastated… even if there are really many ugly things here.”

Beauty, ugliness… that was the core of Vladali’s conversation that day.

Could it be that Vladali is indeed plotting something, trying to incite unrest in Carlos... or even destroy the entire Carlos region?!

Diantha was startled by her own thoughts, but when she met Ash's gaze, she gradually calmed down.

The boy in front of them, and of course Nanami Oki, were all there to stop Carlos's crisis, and were even worried that they might side with Vladali!

“I’m not worried that you’ll side with Vladali, nor do I think Mr. Vladali is a villain.” As if he could read the actress’s mind, Xiaozhi said earnestly, “On the contrary, I think Mr. Vladali has noble aspirations.”

"He is like an enemy of mine, stubbornly adhering to his own idea of ​​beauty, yet pessimistic and self-righteous... I feel quite emotional every time I think of him."

If you were to ask Ash who Lydaria resembles, the first thing that comes to mind would be an alpaca.

Aren't their behavior patterns quite similar? One seeks eternal beauty, the other wants to make the world perfect; in any case, neither can tolerate the world continuing to be 'ugly'.

The difference is that Vladali wanted to freeze Carlos, and even the world, in its present state;

The alpaca, on the other hand, stands high above, wanting to forcibly transform the world into a children's utopia dominated by animation.

Ash doesn't like either of these two types, and neither would the general public in the world... if they had a choice.

While parts of the world are indeed becoming uglier, other parts are becoming more beautiful. To make the world a better place, we only need to ensure that the rate of beautification outweighs the rate of ugliness. Why deny the world itself entirely?

Therefore, Ash must stop them no matter what!

"Why did things turn out like this..." Karuno was caught in a great dilemma.

She had known Frodary for a long time, and he was indeed, as Ash said, a person of noble character.

He always selflessly helps those in need, never asking for anything in return.

But gradually, the people he encountered became increasingly greedy, even taking his help for granted, and their demands began to escalate.

Vladali was in great pain at that time, and his trip ended abruptly.

Even now, the entire city of Carlos has completely developed into a place of rampant materialism.

With money, you can get anything you want.

Karuno also faces the same dilemma: the guys behind the production team always try to achieve some unrealistic goals by throwing money at the problem.

Of course, she wouldn't let those disgusting guys succeed, but as these kinds of things happened more and more often, it inevitably affected her mood, which led to her getting lost in the highlands today.

She also longed for someone to change everything, and Vladali did step forward, but he planned to use the most extreme methods.

Ash and the other outsiders were clearly planning to target Lydalli!

It seems there's no turning back now...

“Of course there’s another way to handle this,” Ash suddenly spoke up. “Miss Diantha, do you remember the suggestion I gave you? If you become the Kalos Champion, you can solve a lot of problems.”

"I...became the champion?" Diantha repeated Ash's words in a daze, seriously considering the matter for the first time.

Yes, if she becomes the champion, many problems will be solved.

No matter how arrogant Carlos is, he can't possibly dictate the rules of the league championship.

If she can reform the alliance, perhaps things will be better here, and Vladali's paranoid plans can be thwarted.

Diantha just didn't understand why Ash wanted to give her the decision-making power.

"Like I said, we're outsiders," Ash said sincerely with a smile. "We can plan ahead and even intervene when necessary, but if the Kalos League can handle its internal problems, why should we usurp our rights?"

“Mr. Ash… I’m grateful for your advice anyway.” Diantha thanked her gratefully, but she was still a little uncertain. “However, I don’t know if I’m up to the title of champion… Although I have a record of beating Goose in private, that wasn’t a real competition.”

"We'll find out after a fight, won't we?" Ash's fighting spirit began to rise. "Miss Diantha, I've been waiting for the chance to battle you for a long time! Let's have a good fight and see if you can really reach the Champion level!"

That's right, that's Ash's most important purpose for this trip!

Ash believes that Diantha is the trainer most likely to help him break through, and he will definitely not miss this battle!

“In that case… I accept your challenge!” the actress finally responded magnanimously.

"A six-on-six all-out battle, I hope Mr. Ash can show me... the limits of what it takes to be a trainer!"

Chapter 677 Aroma City, Goodbye Ma Xiu

After challenging Diantha to a battle, Ash said goodbye and they went their separate ways to prepare.

This battle is of extraordinary importance, and Karuno needs to explain the situation to the production crew while preparing her usual handheld weapon.

Ash is in the same boat, he needs to make sure that the six Pokémon he has already chosen are in their best condition!

Naturally, the arena and referees for the matches also cannot be taken lightly.