Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

Young people, we should value harmony. We are all alumni of Peking University who compete together, so let's not fight amongst ourselves!

Okay, all of these are Xia Chen's excuses.

In his second, informal encounter with Hu Yang, Xia Chen lost again.

The good news is that Xia Chen has improved a lot compared to the first time, and the final score changed from 3-0 to 3-1.

Of course, both 0 and 1 are him.

Actually, when Hu Yang switched to Charizard to fight Milotic, Milotic had the advantage at the beginning of the match.

After all, Mega Evolution hasn't been discovered yet, and this Charizard isn't an X-type Charizard that's not weak to Water; its type advantage is undeniable.

With a water-spraying attack comparable to nuclear weapons, Charizard started cautiously, showing none of the overwhelming pressure that Gengar displayed at the start.

However, Milotic later suffered from its inability to fly.

Taking advantage of its air-to-ground capability, Charizard managed to trade some stamina with Milotic without suffering too much of a loss, and finally revealed its fangs.

The power of water spray is directly proportional to the Pokémon's health. Without the deterrent effect of high-power water spray, and with Water Cannon and Ice Beam unable to lock onto the high-speed, flying Charizard, Charizard gradually became more and more unrestrained.

In a disadvantageous match, Charizard managed to turn the tide little by little thanks to its extra pair of wings. Hu Yang's calm and deliberate control and command provided the audience with a textbook example of how to handle a disadvantageous situation.

Xia Chen didn't switch Pokémon; instead, he calmly accepted the defeat with Milotic.

This isn't some kind of failed education. Since the waterfall festival in Lianli Town, Minas's mindset has matured, and there's no need to keep trying to temper him.

He wanted to see clearly the strengths and weaknesses of each elf.

…………

Undoubtedly, Milotic's biggest disadvantage is its poor mobility on land. It lacks Sylveon's small and agile size and Gardevoir's teleportation ability.

When faced with an opponent like Charizard, which is highly mobile and can fly, things can get really messed up.

It's not difficult to overcome this disadvantage. The simplest way is to change the combat environment. If it's in the water, even ten fire-breathing dragons combined wouldn't be enough to defeat it.

Unfortunately, the battlefields at this level are all made of the most ordinary rocky terrain, so they can't be changed.

Or perhaps change yourself, such as becoming able to fly.

However, that seems even more unrealistic.

That's not right either. Each of our Pokémon has its own unique skills. Who knows, Milotic might actually fly one day?

However, since none of these options are currently available, Xia Chen's only solution when facing that type of Pokémon is to switch Pokémon.

For example, Dorombalut.

Unfortunately, he can only keep saying "Messi, Messi" so far, and he's still a long way from evolving into the powerful and ruthless Draco Balto.

Air combat is another major disadvantage for us.

In the head-to-head duel between the eldest and second eldest, Xia Chen lost both times. The only one who managed to save face was the incredibly brave Gardevoir.

Looking at the two Pokémon's types, there's no clear advantage or disadvantage. Roserade's Poison type is strong against Gardevoir, while Gardevoir's Psychic type is strong against Roserade.

So this battle is entirely about how well the two Pokémon perform.

Speaking of which, Roserade is the least distinctive of Hu Yang's three Pokémon.

While not exactly weak, Gardevoir was rather average in every aspect, which ultimately gave it a slight edge, narrowly defeating Roserade.

after that.

Although both sides still had Pokémon that hadn't lost their ability to battle, they had already achieved their goal of communication, so they tacitly stopped fighting together.

至此，这场异类的3v3，或者说1v1×3就此结束。

Xia Chen and Hu Yang chatted about their battle as they headed to the gym's infirmary to treat their Pokémon.

Only the growing number of onlookers gathered below the battlefield remained, clicking their tongues in slight amazement, seemingly unsatisfied.

That's it?

Could you give me another ten yuan?

Clearly, neither of them had the time or inclination for that.

After parting ways with Hu Yang at the dormitory entrance, Xia Chen did some meditation, physical training, and daily routines such as "egg teaching" for Nian Nian Bao. Then, he turned off the lights, went to bed, and cuddled Gardevoir to sleep.

My first day in Funan has come to an end.

…………

The team from Beijing University arrived in Funan City a full ten days early, definitely not for tourism. It was more to allow the contestants and their Pokémon to acclimatize to the local climate and environment beforehand, so that they wouldn't be caught off guard and suffer from acclimatization issues when they rushed over just before the competition.

Aside from his strange habit of waking up early whenever he arrived at a new place, Xia Chen didn't experience any issues with adjusting to the new environment. Not to mention the elves, who were even more physically robust than him.

Having not eaten any of Xia Chen's cooking all day, the pampered elves were a bit listless.

However, after Xia Chen received the food delivered by the school at noon and cooked a big meal, their "illness if they didn't eat Xia Chen's cooking" obliterated immediately.

Life in Funan was not interesting.

It's not that Funan is a boring city, but rather that Xia Chen's life has been rather dull these past few days.

With the competition just around the corner, and having just lost to his direct competitor Hu Yang, Xia Chen had no interest in going out to experience the local customs and culture of Funan. Of course, he was focused on training in his dormitory.

However, he did not work in isolation; he would occasionally play an exchange match with Hu Yang and other teammates.

Overall, apart from his match against Hu Yang, Xia Chen has won more games than he has lost.

Xia Chen knew perfectly well that with his current strength, winning the championship in the competition half a month later was not only a pipe dream, but also a pipe dream.

We need to improve further and have more trump cards up our sleeve.

The player with the greatest potential for improvement in the team right now is Zoroya.

Zoroark not only fills the gap in his team's current physical attacker position, but also expands the team's depth.

Most importantly, her transformation ability provides a wide range of tactical options.

I just don't know if I can evolve before I get eliminated.

Xia Chen was lost in thought.

Despite this, Xia Chen did not tell Soroya about this idea.

He knew that the highly competitive Zoroa longed for evolution even more than he did.

He didn't want to put too much pressure on the little fox.

Let the trainer bear all the pressure!

Xia Chen thought to himself with a tragic heroism.

However, he didn't know that the elves were just as worried about the competition as he was.

So, naturally, taking advantage of the moment when Xia Chen was cooking in the kitchen one day, the third Xia Chen Conference officially began.

…………

time:

Location: Fu Nan University Dormitory

Participating Pokémon (listed in no particular order): Sylveon, Milotic, Gardevoir, Zoroark, Dragapult, and Goomy (unhatched).

Having mentally prepared meeting minutes, Xianbu glanced at the kitchen, where the aroma of cooking wafted through the air, and announced, "Bu Yi! (I hereby declare the Third Xia Chen Conference officially open!)"

Thanks to her past reliable performance, Sylvanas's prestige in the family has been growing day by day. Whenever she speaks, the elves, who have experience with the Grand Assembly, sit up straight in a very cooperative manner, each with a solemn expression.

Even when the Pokémon Egg, which was leaning against the sofa, moved restlessly, the little dragon next to it used its tail to straighten it up.

After looking around, Xianbu nodded in satisfaction and began to speak formally.

"Bu Yi—(As everyone knows, the competition is imminent, and the current situation is extremely dire. With our current strength, there's simply no way we can win this competition. Xia Chen has been sighing and complaining more often lately.)"

Gardevoir, who cared most about Xia Chen, and Draco Messia, who always perched on Xia Chen's head, nodded worriedly, agreeing with Sylveon's statement.

"Bu Yi—(Therefore, the theme of our meeting today is to exchange resources with the goal of winning this competition!)"

After a pause, Xianbu continued, "Buyi—(Time is tight, we need to finish the meeting before Xia Chen finishes cooking, so we won't be taking turns attending this time. Anyone who has something to share can bring it out, or if you need anything, you can also tell us your needs, and we'll work together to find a solution. Okay, everyone, speak freely now!)"

As soon as Xianbu finished speaking, the three wealthy families spontaneously brought out the fruits of their hard work over the past few days.

Enhances fruits, medicines, and candies.

The three essential items need no further explanation; all elves are very familiar with them.

However, the elves were somewhat surprised by a dozen or so tiny, sand-like objects that shimmered with a strange luster.

Gardevoir explained, "Sandy—(This is a new stat-enhancing item I acquired called Struggle Sand. Its effect is similar to Candy, and like Candy, it doesn't overlap with other items.)"

…………

New power-up items?

The elves exchanged glances, all of them seeing the joy in each other's eyes.

Eating the same three things too often has caused the body to develop a resistance to them, and according to the body's feedback, the effects are getting worse and worse.

If the first three candies can add +1, then after eating a dozen or so, the addition is now only +0.3 or even less.

With the competition just around the corner, the arrival of the new props is like a timely rain.

The increase in various basic data is real. With this new prop called Struggle Sand, their strength will definitely see a significant boost.

Xia Chen will be very surprised then, right?

After envisioning the future, the elves had to confront the present.

There were only about fifteen grains of Struggle Sand in front of them, so allocating them naturally became a problem.

Gardevoir excluded herself from the allocation process first.

Her reasoning was that she had already used five pills, and the benefits of using more would be minimal. Her primary task now was to improve the team's overall strength, so she naturally wouldn't use any more.

This makes a lot of sense, so after discussion, the Pokémon decided to prioritize allocating resources to the mainstays of this tournament, Sylveon and Milotic.

They didn't stand on ceremony and each took five. As for the last five...

Sylveon looked at Zoroark and asked, "Sylveon (Zorua, will you be able to complete your evolution in the near future?)"

The pink-furred fox paused for a moment, then, as if having made up its mind, nodded vigorously and said, "Yo! (Okay!)"

Sylvanas stretched out a ribbon and pushed the remaining Struggle Sand in front of Zoroah, looking around and asking, "Buyi (So, the rest are all for Zoroah, is that alright?)"