In the upcoming Master Tournament, he even managed to directly defeat Lance.
Although Lance sent out his Red Gyarados instead of his ace Dragonite, and it wasn't Charizard either.
But his opponent, Dan Emperor, was using a Charizard, which had a type advantage.
So in that battle, whether Lance held back or not, no one knows.
But without a doubt, this undeniably showed Dan Emperor's incredible strength.
A person who became a Champion at just ten years old.
However, according to Kikuno, this Champion is not like other Champions; otherwise, it would be somewhat shocking, considering even Master Chi became a Champion at eleven.
Moreover, Dan Emperor seems to have already swept through two regions, and now he's extending his "claws" towards Sinnoh.
Natsuhiko showed a helpless expression.
"Ice-type Elite Four Kikuno, it's not that I don't want to help, but you know that I've just started as a Dojo Leader, and I don't have many Dragon-type Pokémon of excellence on hand. You want me to win against him, it's not that I don't want to, it's that I'm afraid I can't."
That's the truth.
Although Natsuhiko has captured quite a few Dragon-type Pokémon, their synergy with him isn't great, so their strength can't be fully displayed.
And as the Dragon Dojo Master, I can't just send out Pokémon of other types, right?
At least, they have to have "Dragon" in their name.
Kikuno naturally understands Natsuhiko's situation.
After a brief contemplation, she said, "You could borrow from your friends, for example, Hilona. I can help you explain."
Natsuhiko's Pokémon, like Noivern and Duraludon, are at Gym Leader Level.
But they're Gym Leader Level Pokémon caught in the wild, which is very different from those cultivated by Trainers in terms of battle awareness.
So if he could borrow a Dragonite or a Garchomp, he wouldn't have no chance at all.
Moreover, Natsuhiko is also a Superpower User, which can somewhat mitigate the impact.
"How about we just give it a minimal effort, let him pass, and you can find another Dojo to arrange for him?" Natsuhiko tentatively suggested.
No need for that.
Even if some of Dan Emperor's actions seem "arrogant" to other regions.
But if you're arranging for someone else to deal with him, don't select a newly opened dojo!
"Win, and you'll get an extra ten million alliance currency subsidy," Kikuno couldn't be bothered with any more talk and straight away threw out the big offer.
"It's not about the money..."
"Fifteen million!" Kikuno said, looking serious, and added, "Give it your all, and you'd still get half if you lose."
"Excuse me, Ice-type Elite Four Kikuno, are you listening to me?"
"Thirty million!"
"Deal!"
Natsuhiko shouted and stopped there.
He had no choice; the offer was simply too tempting.
Natsuhiko's dojo had just started, and what he lacked most was funding.
Just yesterday, he went through the financial report given by Chrysa, all in the red. If it weren't for him covering the costs out of his own pocket, the dojo might have had to shut down just three days after opening.
Kikuno had clearly targeted this weak point of Natsuhiko.
"One last question, why choose me?"
Natsuhiko asked cautiously; this was the patron and his superior, couldn't afford to offend.
Kikuno glanced at him and suddenly smiled as she said, "If someone sweeping through dojos in other regions gets shut down during their first challenge here in Sinnoh, what do you think that represents?"
Upon hearing this, Natsuhiko gave a thumbs-up.
After Kikuno left, Natsuhiko moved closer to Chrysa.
"Chrysa, after this ceremony is over, fire the person who arranged the challengers."
What kind of work is this?!
The fifth opponent turned out to be Dan Emperor!
Do you not understand data collection?
"Mr. Natsuhiko, you were the one who chose them," Chrysa looked at him in surprise.
"I chose them?" Natsuhiko looked bewildered.
"Yes, you said to pick two with three or four badges, two with five or six badges, and one without any badges. There was only one without badges, and that was him."
After all.
Who has the guts to challenge the Dragon Dojo straight away without any badges?
Natsuhiko: "..."
He originally thought it was a casual fishing trip in a fish pond, but little did he know he had stumbled upon a king who was also fishing in the pond?