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

"This is what a strong player is like... I really want to have a match with him, even if I get pushed back." Yuuki said with anticipation.

Compared to the champions in the stands, Ash, who is about the same age, makes Yuuki feel closer to him, and the impact of witnessing his strength is even stronger.

He's very excited right now and really wants to have a heated battle with Ash.

But we are currently in the middle of a competition, and the opponent is about to win the championship, so it is definitely not appropriate to conduct such an off-field challenge.

What a pity...

Why didn't Ash go on the Hoenn trip? If he had challenged the Hoenn League, he might have had a chance to battle them at the Hoenn Conference a few months later!

...

On the field, after the match ended, Ash immediately retrieved Greninja into its Poké Ball.

Only after removing the negative status effects from the battle did they bring it to the ghost girl.

"Acerola, are you alright?" Ash asked with concern.

"I'm fine..." The ghostly girl shook her head dejectedly, then gave a relieved, bitter smile. "This result isn't bad at all. At least it lets me know that Ash is truly incredibly powerful..."

She received encouragement from Ash several times during the battle, which allowed her to let go of her burdens and fight with all her might. She had shown her limits in terms of strategy, tactics, and the strength and will of her Pokémon, but she still could not defeat Ash's Greninja.

Acerola was completely convinced by this result.

“So, the royal lineage of Alola should come to an end here.” Acerola sighed and said, “We have lost the approval of the Sun and Moon Gods, and I have completely lost to Ash… From now on, the royal name will only exist in history, and I will no longer be the last princess.”

She barely managed to raise her slender arm, lowered her head, and looked at the bracelet she always wore.

Little Smart saw obvious reluctance in her eyes, but she still reached out her other hand, intending to take it off...

"Can we wait a moment?" Ash suddenly called out. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but I have something to say before you make a decision."

Ash paused for a moment, then said seriously, "Acerola, what you should do is what you want to do and like."

"What... I like?" Acerola stared at Ash, seemingly anticipating what he would say next.

“You are a princess of the Alola royal family. This has nothing to do with strength or whether you have been recognized by the two gods. It’s simply because you have inherited an ancient bloodline,” Ash earnestly advised. “No one can change this fact, and no one can interfere with your choices.”

"If you truly want to give up your princess status from the bottom of your heart, then of course you can decide to do so; but if you still have lingering feelings, then you might as well turn the page and pretend nothing happened... As long as you like, you can continue to consider yourself a princess in the future."

Ash doesn't actually have a good impression of the word 'royal family'.

The Galar royal family has always been his hidden enemy. Judging from some intelligence that Xiao Lan found, the Alola royal family also had big plans back then.

However, he did not object to Acerola, or anyone else, claiming to be of royal lineage, because that was the truth.

Their ancestors were once wealthy, so what's wrong with reminiscing about it?

“I… still want to know the news from the royal family first.” Acerola covered her bracelet with her hand, but no longer insisted on taking it off.

"Then come find me and Xiaolan later, and we'll talk about it in detail then."

"Hmm..." The ghost girl nodded thoughtfully, and after saying goodbye, she walked alone into the players' passage.

Ash stayed on the field, and was later joined by Sabrina, Cassiopeia, and Marin.

The four finalists have completed the draw for the next round. The semi-final results are: Ash vs. Cassiopeia, and Sabrina vs. Marin!

“Very good…” Upon seeing the draw results, a slight smile gradually appeared on Naz’s usually cool face.

She was very satisfied with this arrangement; as long as she defeated Marin, she could meet Ash in the finals!

...

The evening after the match was relatively quiet.

Perhaps because they had blown up the venue so badly in the afternoon and received such a response from Xiao Zhi, almost all the girls turned into quails, hiding their heads in various ways to prevent Xiao Zhi from finding them.

In the end, Ash managed to catch Blue, the instigator, under the pretext of discussing serious business.

Of course, Xiao Lan actually jumped out on her own initiative.

She seemed completely fearless, and even after sitting down, she secretly took off her shoes and flirted with Xiaozhi under the table.

She completely ignored the warning hidden in Xiaozhi's eyes... and rubbed her feet even more vigorously~

Acerola is sitting right across from him. Does Ash think he can just kill himself on the spot?

Let's just say it's the righteous Dharma; I don't really care anyway.

"Let's get down to business first," Xiao Zhi said in a low voice, sounding somewhat helpless.

"Hmm... I want to know, what information did you get?" Naïve Acerola thought Ash was talking to her, so she immediately perked up and asked.

"We... well, anyway, let Blue talk to you." Before losing control of his expression, Ash decisively pushed out the annoying fairy next to him and let her deal with Acerola's important business.

"Okay~" Xiao Lan wrinkled her nose, gave someone a reproachful, clueless look, and then handed her laptop to Acerola.

"Take a look at these first; these are what I found in the Ultimate Metropolis."

“This is…” Acerola paused for a moment. Little Blue had taken pictures of some books and computer screens.

Scrolling through dozens of pictures, she quickly found the flutes of the sun and moon... and an object that looked remarkably similar to her own bracelet!

Chapter 838 The Alola Royal Family and Ultra Metropolis

In the period leading up to the Manaro tournament, Xiao Lan was constantly busy.

She traveled through many Ultra Spaces with Lila and Lillie, and after bringing back a group of refugee Ultra Beasts, Blue shifted her focus to Ultra Metropolis.

Because of her parents' experiences, Blue conducted a lot of investigations there and did obtain some important information, including the connection between the Alola royal family and Metropolis.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. The Alola royal family's Sun and Moon Flute can be used to summon the Sun and Moon Gods; and the people of Metropolis also need to use the power of the two gods when performing Ultra Space Ride, so there must be a connection between them.

After gathering all the information, Xiao Lan came to some conclusions that Acerola might find difficult to accept.

“Please tell me!” Acerola pleaded earnestly. “Right now, I just want to find out the truth.”

“I believe that there may have been, or there may still be, members of the Alola royal family in Metropolis!” Blue said seriously. “In fact, the Alola royal family may have been the first inhabitants of Metropolis, and they were the ones who originally built the entire city!”

“How could this be…” Acerola was stunned. “But why? Why would they abandon their original world and go to the Ultimate Space?”

"For the sake of the great god of light," Ash said in a low voice, "if you want everything to make sense, there is only one reason."

In ancient times, the royal family of Alola controlled the Sun and Moon gods and were the undisputed rulers of the four islands.

Their power and status were unmatched; even the guardian deity Tapu could only serve as a mascot on their respective islands.

But the royal family's ambitions continued to grow. They were not satisfied with just controlling the sun and moon gods, so they naturally set their sights on the great god of light.

After some investigation, they finally learned the location of the Radiant God, and with the help of the Sun and Moon Gods, they went to the world inside the Ultimate Cave and rebuilt civilization in the place closest to the Radiant God.

Time flies, and the Alola royal family has developed extremely advanced technology and a metropolitan city that dominates the world in a world full of light.

Finally, they couldn't resist taking action!

In that battle, Necrozma was severely injured, losing a part of her body, and the Ultra Dimension was plunged into darkness ever since.

The Alola royal family was forced to go into hiding, their past gradually concealed. They continued to explore other Ultra Dimensions and lie in wait in the dark, all in the hope of finding another opportunity to strike Necrozma.

If this is indeed the case, then the conflict between the Metropolitans and Necrozma is not a spur-of-the-moment thing, but a greed that has been passed down from ancient times!

"So that's how it is..." Acerola seemed somewhat lost in thought. Upon learning that her ancestors had abandoned the world because of greed, she suddenly didn't know how to examine her own identity.

“In my opinion, being the princess of Alola is still a status worth cherishing,” Ash suddenly said. “The royal family made a good start in Alola and created a glorious history, which is undoubtedly commendable. Admittedly, the royal family failed to finish well later, but that is a problem of the past, and you don’t need to take it upon yourself.”

"Thank you, I'm feeling a bit better." Acerola managed a weak, kitten-like smile. "I might need to think about this some more. Please let me know if there's any further news."

"No problem," Xiao Zhi readily agreed.

"Wait a minute, I have another question," Xiao Lan called out to Acerola. "Based on your understanding, does your royal family still possess any important treasures?"

“It’s been so long that many of them are gone. All that’s left are the Flute of the Sun and Moon and the bracelets worn by members of the royal family. And then… Oh right!” Acerola suddenly remembered something, “There was also a crown, which is said to be the king’s token. The Crown of Valla on Alarca Island seems to be a replica of the king’s crown… but it has also disappeared.”

"The Crown of Kings..." Xiao Lan was clearly quite interested in this item...

"What did you think of?" Ash asked curiously after Acerola left.

"I'm wondering why the Alola royal family is so confident that they can control Necrozma," Xiao Lan analyzed seriously. "From ancient times to the present, their ideas have never changed, and their methods have always been to suppress it with all their might."

What Xiaolan means is that the Alola royal family knows they can't form a bond with Necrozma, and the reason they dare to stubbornly suppress it with force is perhaps because they have a way to control Necrozma with 100% accuracy.

She turned her attention to the royal treasures, wondering if, besides the Flute of the Sun and Moon, there was another item that could give the royal family such confidence.

"Also, that Cionila is very suspicious." Xiao Lan then mentioned the captain of the Ultimate Investigation Team, "Initially, he valued my parents' talents, and it was he who overruled everyone's objections and made the final decision regarding the Necrozma combiner research!"

After years of silence, the people of Metropolis suddenly wanted to take action against the Mule Horse again, and even set their sights on the Sun and Moon Gods. The initial trigger was that Mi Ling brought back Xiao Lan's parents.

The members of the Ultimate Survey Team were constantly exploring various Ultimate Spaces and occasionally brought some people to immigrate, so Blue's parents were not particularly noticeable at first.

Although they had lost their memories, their talents remained, and they quickly stood out in the research team.

According to what they later told Xiao Lan, it was Mi Ling and others from the investigation team who kept complaining to them, describing how wonderful the world used to be full of light was.

It just so happens that Xiao Lan's parents also vaguely remember that a normal world should have day and night, and coupled with the thought of repaying a debt of gratitude, they decided to help Ultimate Metropolis.

They agreed to Mi Ling and the others' informal request and began to research ways to restore Necrozma's light source. After being tacitly allowed to find some information, they confirmed that they could draw power from the Sun and Moon Gods to recharge Necrozma.

Hearing this, Xiao Zhi was basically certain that it was a ruse.

The people of Metropolis are really good at acting and deceiving with words. No wonder they were able to fool the Sun and Moon Gods and make them ignore the mules and horses.

After this was leaked, some members of the investigation team objected, arguing that once they lost the power of the two gods, they would no longer be able to jump and ride.

Moreover, if Necrozma recovers but doesn't appreciate it, it might cause a huge mess.