He knows Pokémon better than me.

Chapter 4255 Qibana!

"Chibana?"

After putting away his luggage, and following Professor Mulan's advice, Ash decided to go out and find this internet celebrity blogger.

Unfortunately, although his opponent at tomorrow's World Championships is someone he knows, he doesn't have the other person's contact information and can't contact him in advance.

"A boxing gym or arena?"

After leaving the Pokémon Center, Ash glanced at the map. The location of the Hammerlocke Arena was easy to spot; it was inside the central tower.

This is quite similar to the Prism Tower.

However, when Ash got closer, he realized that it was a city within a city.

The towering graystone walls enclose a separate territory within the city, with a wooden drawbridge spanning the moat, exuding an air of private authority.

However, what should have been a solemn and quiet place was now bustling with noise, with people crowding around in layers.

"What kind of event is going on?"

Xiao Zhi stood on tiptoe to look around, then squeezed into the crowd.

After finally managing to push through the crowd to the front, I discovered that the person surrounded by everyone was a young man dressed in a rather eye-catching manner.

His dark brown skin made his figure appear exceptionally tall and imposing; he was estimated to be 1.8 meters tall. He wore a loose-fitting windproof jacket and sleek athletic shorts.

An orange headscarf was wrapped around his forehead, with a few tufts of short black hair sticking up from it, and his face was handsome and sunny.

Just as Ash regained his footing, the man turned his back, held up his Rotom phone, and pointed the camera at him.

He gave a thumbs-up and grinned, revealing a bright and handsome smile.

Of course, the crowd behind them also got into the shot.

Come on everyone, let's all shout together – Good weather!

The surrounding crowd, clearly used to cooperating, echoed in unison, drawing out the last syllable:

"Such beautiful weather—!!"

Although he didn't know what had happened, Ash still subconsciously smiled and waved at the camera.

Click!

With a soft click of the shutter, the handsome man happily picked up his phone.

"Oh right, it's been a while since I changed my alliance card~"

So he opened the Alliance Card interface, changed the picture, and confirmed the upload.

After the progress bar finished, he subconsciously glanced at his new alliance card and paused.

At the front of the crowd, there seemed to be an unfamiliar face that was quite eye-catching.

Who is this?

He raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping across the crowd before finally settling on the spot corresponding to the photo.

An unfamiliar face.

Ciban clicked his tongue softly, then didn't think much of it.

I guess I've gained another fan from out of town~

Xiao Zhi, naturally, had already recognized this rather flamboyant man in the crowd.

Kibana, the owner of the Punch Gate Arena!

"This saves us trouble; we don't need to look for it anymore!"

A thought struck him, and he looked Cibana up and down.

Of course, such fervent attention is still a testament to his status as a die-hard fan in Cibana's eyes!

This Dragon-type Gym Leader has an extremely high reputation in the Galar region, with many media outlets even saying that if he went to another region, he would definitely be a regional champion.

Xiao Zhi disagrees with this point.

After all, according to Xiaoyou, she won when her opponent went all out, and Xiaoyou's strength is clearly not at the level of a regional champion.

Of course, it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to say that the regional champion refers to Mr. Ardek.

The fan meeting was almost over when Cibana clapped his hands and announced loudly, "Alright, alright, everyone—!"

"We have some exciting matches going on at the Quan Guan Arena over the next two days, so don't miss them!"

The crowd immediately started discussing it excitedly, and all eyes turned to it expectantly.

After thinking for a moment, Cibanar corrected him:

"However, tomorrow's match is a World Championship game against a good friend of mine from out of town. It's a high-level match, definitely worth watching!"

"My gym challenge is the day after tomorrow, and my opponent is a rising star trainer from Galar!"

At this point, Kibana belatedly realized that Ash was standing in the crowd.

He had looked at the match information for the World Championships, and it seemed that his friend's opponent tomorrow was this young man?

After a short while, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Many people, still full of enthusiasm, walked through the archway of the suspension bridge, where the tall tower was located.

It looks like private property, but part of the tower is also a boxing arena, so the main hall is usually open to the public.

Similar to dojos and arenas in other places, it attracts quite a few visitors on a regular basis.

As the people surrounding Kibana dispersed, Ash seized the opportunity and quickly moved closer.

"Hello, Mr. Raiban, my name is Ash, and I'm from Pallet Town."

"These are my partners, Pikachu and Victini!"

He quickly introduced himself, and the Pikachu on his shoulder cooperatively raised its front paw and waved:

"Pikachu~!"

Raihana looked at the peculiar "V"-shaped flying squirrel above Ash's head, a sight he had never seen before, then looked at Ash again, his gaze becoming resolute:

"Ah, Ash, I knew I wasn't mistaken."

He scratched the back of his head, a smile playing on his lips:

"You're the guy my friend is going to fight tomorrow, right? Haha, you'd better watch out, that guy might be even stronger than me!"

Of course, his reminder was somewhat unnecessary; trainers who can score high-level goals all have unique skills.

"friend?"

Ash was stunned for a moment. Did that person have any connection with the people in the Galar region?

However, these are not the main points.

He quickly snapped out of his reverie, his expression turning serious:

"By the way, I wanted to ask you something—"

"Do you know where Sonia is right now? I haven't been able to get in touch with her for days."

Upon hearing the name, Cibana raised an eyebrow slightly:

"Sonia?"

He didn't answer immediately, but looked at him suspiciously.

Seeing this, Ash pulled out his Rotom phone and showed it his usual conversations with Sonia—

Aside from the latest string of unread "Are you there?" messages, they would chat every now and then.

The content is mostly about the history and legends of the Galar region, or the World Championships, popular photo spots in various Galar cities, and so on.

His tone was familiar, mixed with some jokes and banter.

After a quick glance, Cibana's gaze softened.

When he looked at Ash again, his face showed a hint of familiarity, and he even laughed and patted the latter on the shoulder.

"Haha, so you're Sonia's friend! That means you're one of us!"

"Speaking of which, I do think I heard her mention that she recently met a boy from out of town. So it was you, Xiaozhi?"

He and Sonia are old friends of many years, and they were both rookie trainers traveling around the same time.

Of course, the experiences are similar—

They both suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of another fellow trainer, the genius Dan Emperor! (End of Chapter)