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

Except for the final day, which consists of both the semi-finals and the finals, all other matches are played one round per day.

After the first day of competition, the team of ten from Kyoto University was down two people.

Once the main competition begins, the quality and intensity of the matches noticeably increase, which is not surprising.

However, for someone as skilled as Xia Chen, the first two rounds of the main tournament were no different from the qualifiers.

The second round of the match was also resolved easily. Xia Chen, who had just left the battlefield, was preparing to return to the dormitory to continue training and practicing with Zoroark.

Behind him, a somewhat unfamiliar voice suddenly called out to him.

"Xia Chen, wait a minute!"

Xia Chen turned his head and was surprised to find that the person who had called out to him was Chi Hong, whom he hadn't seen for more than a year.

That's not quite accurate. After so many days of competition, Xia Chen had seen his opponent several times, as had Chi Hong.

However, with the schedule so tight and him busy studying his opponents and training, Xia Chen hadn't had a chance to chat with his old friend.

I didn't expect him to come looking for me today.

Stopping in his tracks, Xia Chen smiled and greeted Chi Hong, who was walking briskly towards him, "Long time no see, Chi Hong."

Chi Hong adjusted the brim of her hat, her smile radiant. "Long time no see, Xia Chen-jun!"

In the lounge, Teacher Lin Quan's eyes gleamed with wisdom. She was right; Xia Chen did indeed know this boy from Kanto, and they were old acquaintances!

Xia Chen and Chi Hong were two players who attracted a lot of attention in this competition. For a moment, everyone in the lounge looked at them with curiosity.

Glancing at the crowd of onlookers watching the drama unfold online, Xia Chen asked, "When does your competition start?"

Red understood and replied, "It doesn't start until the afternoon, shall we go outside to talk?"

Xia Chen nodded, and amidst the disappointed gazes of the crowd, the two left the lounge side by side.

…………

Inside the venue, the competition was in full swing, so there were hardly any people outside, making it seem rather deserted.

After buying a few drinks, Xia Chen and Chi Hong went to the lobby and found a quiet spot to chat and catch up.

Looking at the yellow mouse with its tail wagging as it buried its head in its drink, Xia Chen asked with a smile, "Is this the Pikachu you were talking about back then, the one that didn't want to come out?"

Red stroked Pikachu with a touch of nostalgia and recalled, "That's right, although I caught him back then, we weren't very close. I didn't expect you to remember that."

Xia Chen smiled; there was probably no Pokémon fan who didn't remember this Pikachu.

Other Pikachus are just Pikachus, but he is called Pikachu God by fans.

Thinking this to himself, Xia Chen joked, "Because back then, I felt that there were quite a few Pokémon that didn't get along well with their trainers."

Pikachu looked up at Xia Chen, its two electric sacs flashing bright yellow electricity, as if to say, "If you dare say another bad word, I'll shock you."

Xia Chen had no doubt about the possibility that this electric rat, which wasn't very friendly to strangers, might shock him. He coughed lightly and added, "Good things come to those who wait. It turns out you two have become a reliable pair of partners."

Pikachu grunted twice and then buried its head in its drink.

Red nodded in deep agreement and said, "Along the way, Pikachu, Poliwag, Bulbasaur, Snorlax, and I have indeed experienced a lot."

Bulbasaur? Snorlax?

Is Crimson's third and fourth main Pokémon Snorlax and Venusaur?

It's the same main lineup as in the special episode.

The performance of these two spirits in the special episode also left a deep impression on Xia Chen.

Venusaur once defeated Blue's Charizard in the Indigo League finals, helping Red win the championship.

Snorlax is incredibly strong and has thick hide, and this one is even heavier.

So far, these two crimson Pokémon haven't even made an appearance yet.

Xia Chen became even more interested in Chi Hong's true strength.

…………

After chatting for a while, Xia Chen suddenly remembered something that had been bothering him for several days.

"By the way, how did you get a spot in this competition?"

After recalling for two seconds, Crimson replied, "When we passed through Nandu City during our travels, Pikachu and I trained at the Thunder Gym there for a while, and we got along very well with Master Lin. Their dojo happens to have no eligible students this year, so I came on their behalf."

Hmm. The reason for being the chosen one of the extraordinary planes.

Xia Chen smiled slightly, "It seems your journey has been quite exciting!"

Chi Hong smiled and said, "Nothing is as exciting as yours. I've been listening to your news and stories all the way here."

"Well, I know nothing about your deeds. Would you like to tell me your story?"

"."

So much had happened in a year that the two of them lost track of time while chatting. It wasn't until all the morning's matches were over and the surging crowd poured out of the stadium that Xia Chen and Chi Hong got up to part ways.

"I have training this afternoon, so I won't be able to watch your game. Good luck."

Before parting, Xia Chen apologized slightly for his absence in the afternoon.

Chi Hong grinned. "It's alright, you go ahead with your work. See you in the finals."

He spoke the most arrogant words in a nonchalant tone, and Xia Chen thought to himself, "What a tyrant!"

However, no matter what, he couldn't lose his momentum, so Xia Chen reached out and met the outstretched, crimson palm.

They high-fived as a pledge, then smiled at each other.

People came and went around them. Xia Chen and Chi Hong waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd, gradually disappearing into the distance with the flow of people.

…………

December 20th, the third day of the main stage of the Youth Competition.

The third round of the competition has begun, and today, the top eight teams of this tournament will be determined.

At this point in the competition, all the remaining contestants are the pride of the Donghuang region.

That's not right either; we also need to exclude the Crimson, a Kanto native.

In short, there will be almost no more crushing victories in the upcoming matches.

Xia Chen's opponent in this round is a non-academic trainer whose strength is comparable to Jiang Pei, whom he defeated in the qualifiers.

Wang Ding, successor of the Bingzhen Martial Arts Academy.

Xia Chen knew this opponent; he was the first person from Beijing University to be knocked into the loser's bracket.

Although she can't compare to the favorites to win like Lu Weiyu or Bai Mu, she is still considered one of the top contenders in this competition.

Xia Chen had studied Wang Ding's formidable Snowy Team at the time, but he never expected to encounter them in the round of 16.

However, in the match schedule he drew before the main competition, Xia Chen predicted that his opponent in this round would most likely be Wang Ding, so he was somewhat prepared.

He knew more about the weather team, including sunny, rainy, and sandy weather, but not so much about the snowy weather team. He had been cramming on it for the past few days and discovered the key to this lineup: the Ice Nine-Tailed Fox.

To be precise, it was the aurora curtain opened by the Ice Nine-Tailed Fox.

This is hardly a secret, because the Aurora Screen move is just too conspicuous and eye-catching.

All physical and special damage taken by your Pokémon is halved; Caterpie even dared to take on Rayquaza while standing behind the Aurora Veil.

Of course, there are ways to break the aurora screen. The simplest way is to use [tile splitting], which can break through light walls, reflective walls, and the aurora screen itself.

The good news is that Brick Break is a move with a wide range of learnable moves, and Xia Chen's Zoroark can learn it.

The bad news is that Xia Chen doesn't want Zoroark to be exposed during this battle.

So how to break through the aurora barrier blocking the Ice Nine-Tailed Fox is a difficult problem.

After considering several options, Xia Chen finally decided to try the strategy that best addressed the root cause.

…………

"Hello everyone here, and to all viewers watching on TV and in the Pixiv live stream. You are watching the third match of the Round of 16 in the Donghuang Youth Trainer Tournament, which is also the highlight of this round: Xia Chen from Shangjing University versus Wang Ding from the Bingzhen Gym in Litang City. I am your commentator, Youyou."

In the studio, a white-stockinged female anchor with a dream monster perched on her shoulder calmly introduced the situation.

"Our guest for this live stream is an Ice-type specialist, the Gym Leader of Mt. Frost in the Padilla region, Gurusha!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the white-stockinged female commentator was suddenly surrounded by flashes of light and shadow, and then a holographic image of a cold and beautiful woman standing in the snow appeared beside her.

This is an advanced version of the Fradali holographic communication device, capable of projecting people thousands of miles away into the studio.

The voice, appearance, and movements are all very realistic.

This is one of the innovations of this year's competition. Starting from the round of 16, each match will invite an outstanding trainer from around the world as a guest commentator.

The first two matches were against Denji from the Seaside Gym in the Sinnoh region and Natchet from the Greenwood Gym in the Hoenn region.

Judging from the enthusiastic response from the audience, the experiment was very successful.

The third match was no exception. As soon as Gurusha's holographic image appeared in the studio, the live chat immediately started generating a barrage of comments.

"The Parthian region, oh, that's so far away! But this guest is really beautiful, I've already forgotten about Naki, sister, step on me!"

"Beautiful sister! Ice queen! High-class beauty! Sister Gurusha, you're so captivating!"

"Sister? Brother, wake up! This is a man! His penis is bigger than yours!"

"Holy crap, how is that possible? Someone this beautiful can't possibly be a man!"

"Holy crap, it's a guy? I'm even more excited now!"

After all, each region has at least eight or more Gym Leaders. Many people from the Eastern Empire don't even know all of their own dozen or so Gym Leaders, let alone those from the Padia region.

So when a viewer in the live chat revealed Gurusha's true gender, many viewers were stunned.

That's understandable, though. The scarf covered his neck, and the heavy down jacket covered his upper body, concealing two important gender characteristics. Judging from his delicate features and cold demeanor, he really did look like a girl.

However, after learning that it was a man, the comments section became even more excited.

There are just too many Nantongs online.

…………

Like the ice and snow around him, Gurusha was cold-hearted, and female commentators usually brushed him off with a few words when they tried to talk to him.

However, when the commentators asked the players questions, Gurusha started to talk more.