"That's not it," Karl shook his head. "Actually, this Palace of Victory was newly built over a decade ago, so it only includes the honored trainers who have won in recent years, not the winners from the past. And do you remember what I said just now?"
"What you said just now?" Natsui raised his eyebrows.
For a moment, Natsui couldn't recall which sentence Karl was referring to. After all, the man hadn't stopped talking the entire time, having introduced so many things.
But since he was asking this way, the sentence must have been quite memorable.
After thinking carefully, Natsui asked, "Is it because of that Head Trainer?"
"Exactly!" Karl laughed heartily and continued, "Our Orange League's current Head Trainer, Drake, is so incredibly strong that since he took the position, no one has ever been able to defeat him! And that's the main reason why there are so few statues here from the past few years!"
So the Head Trainer's name is Drake…
But… Natsui had no memory of this name, nor did he remember how strong he was. He only knew that Ash eventually defeated him and won the Winner's Cup.
However, given Ash's skill level—capable of defeating gods one moment and losing to a rookie trainer the next—his performance was too inconsistent to be an accurate reference.
And since Karl spoke so highly of him, and he had defended the Winner's Cup for so long, he must be no pushover. He couldn't be taken lightly.
The group wandered around the Palace of Victory for a while longer, having now seen the entirety of the Orange League headquarters. Natsui now had a general understanding of its history and current situation.
It could be said that the Orange League had had its brief moments of glory in the past, but limited by its geographical location, the number of trainers, and the economic and population conditions of the Orange Archipelago, it had never been able to truly develop. It had always been in this lukewarm state, only receiving enthusiastic support locally. Once outside this area, it had no influence.
It was almost a dead end, an unchangeable situation. Even from Karl's words, Natsui could hear his helplessness and sorrow regarding the matter.
But fortunately, even so, it couldn't stop the local trainers' love for the Orange League.
After leaving, they returned the way they came, descended the small mountain, and went back to the Orange League headquarters.
Just as Karl had said, although they had been gone for over an hour, no one had come during that time.
Standing in front of the headquarters' main entrance, Karl smiled. "Mr. Natsui, please excuse me for a moment. This is as far as our tour goes for today. We still need to do some promotion for tomorrow's match, and time is a bit tight, so we can't delay any longer."
As he spoke, he pointed towards a direction in the town and said kindly, "Forgive me for asking, but have you found a place to stay for the night? If not, there's a Pokémon Center in that direction that offers free accommodation and food. Most of the trainers who come here to challenge stay there. The environment is quite nice."
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Karl," Natsui said, waving his hand. "I've already found a place to stay. It's an inn in the center of town. It has a hot spring to relieve fatigue, and most importantly, the food there is delicious and really suits my taste."
Hearing him say this, Karl's meaningful gaze shifted between Natsui and Sabrina.
As an experienced man, he had already figured out the relationship between the two. He knew they were a couple and that staying at the Pokémon Center would be inconvenient for many things, which was why they chose to stay elsewhere.
Seeing through this, he didn't say any more, but smiled. "Alright then, we'll see you tomorrow. I will be waiting for you at the entrance of the Pummelo Stadium ahead of time!"
"Thank you so much. Then I'll take my leave," Natsui nodded, extending his hand to Karl.
Karl shook it and said finally, "I won't see you off any further. I wish you the best for tomorrow's match and hope you achieve victory!"
"Thank you. I'll take you up on that good wish. I also hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow!"
As the two left and walked down the street into the town center, once the Orange League headquarters was out of sight, Sabrina suddenly snorted. "That man, Karl, is so insincere."
"Hmm?" Natsui looked at her in surprise. "Why would you say that?"
Sabrina said, "In his heart, he clearly hopes that the man named Drake will win the match, but he still has to say one thing and mean another by wishing you well. Isn't that insincere?"
Natsui took her hand and smiled. "That's not being insincere; it's called being polite. It's social etiquette. The world is like that. Did you really expect him to say, in front of us challengers, that he hopes the Head Trainer remains undefeated? If that were the case, their Orange League would be truly close to shutting down."
Glancing at him, Sabrina said flatly, "I wish the world could be simpler. Like telepathy. If everyone's needs and preferences could be directly communicated to each other's minds without any concealment, there wouldn't be so much deception and so many lies."
Natsui shook his head, finding it quite amusing.
Sabrina's idea was far too idealistic. If the world really became like that, it would be complete chaos.
After entering the town center, Natsui felt the warm sunlight on his head. Not in a hurry to return to the inn, he held Sabrina's hand and went to the seaside beach in Pummelo Town.
They gazed at the sea for a while, then went onto the sand, rented a large parasol and two lounge chairs, and lay down leisurely, enjoying the sea breeze.
He released a few of his smaller Pokémon to play on the beach, while he himself took out his phone and started searching for information about the Winner's Cup.
He looked up everything from the Pokémon Drake commonly used to his personal reputation.
It was only when he was reviewing the most recent Orange League matches that he discovered a rule that was quite different from other leagues.
In the Winner's Cup battle, the Head Trainer, as the defending champion, was not allowed to switch out his battling Pokémon at will.
He had to wait until his Pokémon was defeated before he was allowed to send out the next one.
This meant that Natsui could adjust his strategy on the battlefield according to the situation or switch to a Pokémon with a type advantage, while the Head Trainer could only react passively.
"Strange," Sabrina also looked up from her phone, frowning. "It seems this rule is very disadvantageous for the Head Trainer. I really don't understand. They clearly want their own person to maintain the winning streak, so why would the people of the Orange League make such an illogical rule?"
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