Soon, all twelve members of the Zodiac were present in the online meeting room.
They were all familiar faces.
Only Fang Yuan was exceptionally young.
Including President Wen, there were a total of 13 people in the meeting room.
All of these people were absolute authorities in various fields of the Trainer's trade in Hua Nation.
However, the most talked-about was the Dog of the Zodiac, Fang Yuan!
The meeting hadn't started yet when Old man Kong Hai, the Pig of the Zodiac, spoke up first, "Young Fang, has the missing person returned?"
The Tiger of Yin, Fu Hei, also said, "You've ditched two meetings already; have you finally decided to show up this time?"
"..." The rest of the Zodiac members expressed themselves with a row of ellipses.
This year, Fang Yuan had earned nicknames like "Gugu Dove" and "Leave King" within the Trainer Association.
Even the grand contests he had concocted himself and the Super Evolution Institute had been handed over to Xie Qingyi, while he himself had gone missing.
If it weren't for the occasional peep from Fang Yuan letting others know he was still around, many would probably suspect that he had been assassinated or kidnapped by another country.
Moreover, accustomed as they were to Fang Yuan's habit of bringing them surprises every so often, his sudden disappearance for such a long period was something they had actually found hard to get used to.
Fang Yuan: (￣_,￣)
How long had it been, really?
And what could he say?
Should he admit that, with the help of Celebi's power, he had gone to save a future space-time, played around for a few months, and then visited other worlds to play for several more months?
Too much trouble, too lazy to explain.
Fang Yuan said, "Busy."
After Fang Yuan briefly replied with two words, President Wen finally spoke.
"Fang Yuan, are you aware of the recent events?"
Fang Yuan said, "I'm already aware. This meeting is about the 'Earth anomaly' and the 'Zi Wan Prophecy', right?"
President Wen said, "Yes, due to these reasons, many things need to be reconfirmed."
"This time, the main discussion points are the World Sprite Alliance Conference and the Battle of the Guardian Gods."
"Originally, it was planned to hold these two competitions ahead of schedule, but now it seems that they need to be pushed even earlier."
"Currently, the idea within the Alliance is to change the world competitions to once every three years, meaning that in six months, around 2023, the new world competition will be held. What's more, the Battle of the Guardian Gods will take place immediately afterward, to quickly allocate Alliance resources."
The policy of holding it every four years... is that about to change drastically?
Indeed, four years is indeed a long time, a duration that let many talented Trainers miss out on competing due to age constraints.
This time around, many players who were previously overage might now be able to participate in one more competition because of this change!
Fang Yuan said, "That's pretty good. Now Shang Ren, Tang Xinlan, Mu Fan, and Zheng Hongyi—they can all still participate in one more, can't they?"
The members of Hua Nation's first team in the world competition were becoming overage, except for Xie Qingyi.
But the members of the second team seemed to have yet to reach the age limit.
President Wen said, "Yes, and all these individuals have now taken on the honor of being the Four Heavenly Kings and the Champion."
"Champion Shang Ren, Four Heavenly Kings Xie Qingyi, Tang Xinlan, Mu Fan, Zheng Hongyi..."
The original second-string team of Hua Nation's world competition had become the first team, following the retirement of the old guard!
"Everyone has been working hard..." Fang Yuan smiled, but soon after reacting, his smile stiffened.
"Wait… wait... what?"
As he listened carefully to President Wen's words, Fang Yuan hurriedly said,
"Champion Shang Ren? Could there be a mistake?"
Shouldn't the next Champion be Sister Xie?
How could it be Shang Ren?
This wasn't the case last time he returned to Earth.
Wu Ma Machenzong said, "Er, don't you know? A few days ago, in the King's Tournament, Shang Ren successfully defeated Xie Qingyi and won the Champion's honor…"
Fang Yuan: Damn!
Fang Yuan quickly looked towards Rotom.
What was going on???
Had they entered the wrong timeline?
Rotom was clearly unaware of this information and was also confused.
"It seems to be true, Rotom..."
However, as Rotom analyzed the situation, Fang Yuan felt even more bewildered.
It was different from the future timelines.
As the Island King, Shang Ren could be said to be one of the few who were most skilled in the use of Z-Moves on Earth at the moment.
This had greatly increased his strength.
Moreover, due to his status as the Island King, he had successfully applied for Tyranitar's Over-evolution tools.
Another significant increase in strength.
Although, because of Fang Yuan's intervention, Xie Qingyi also had Over-evolution tools and Z-Moves...
Xie Qingyi hadn't been able to train much over the past year due to Fang Yuan leaving her to handle everything, including the Super Evolution Institute and the Grand Contests.
On the other hand, Shang Ren had been rigorously practicing on the islands all this time.
The difference in skill between the two wasn't particularly huge to begin with, but after becoming the Island King and putting effort into a year of training, Shang Ren had made a stunning turnaround to become the new Champion of Hua Nation.
Fang Yuan: "..."
Kong Hai said, "I think Xie Qingyi has just neglected her training too much. But then, she has the Super Evolution Institute, the Grand Contests, and a multitude of other tedious affairs that the Deputy of the Zodiac's Dog has to manage; it's normal she has no time to train her Pokémon…"
Is it my fault now???!
Fang Yuan grit his teeth, but Shang Ren, that kid... a Champion???!
Fang Yuan said, "It looks like Shang Ren has really made an effort this year…"
President Wen said, "Yes, and he seems to be looking for you recently, wanting to challenge you."
Fang Yuan: "..."
Definitely getting ahead of himself! But with Shang Ren becoming Champion, it was truly unexpected for Fang Yuan; moreover, the thought that it was his fault Sister Xie lost the title made Fang Yuan shake his head in dismay.