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

As the Dragon Messenger, Xia Chen sensed Xiao Duolong's hesitation without any hindrance, but instead of offering advice, he smiled and gave him a sip of chicken soup.

Listen to your heart.

My inner self?

Xiao Duolong was a little confused. If I knew, would I still be so conflicted?

Xia Chen thought for a moment and took out a coin.

"So, I'll flip a coin. Heads means evolution, tails means no evolution, how about that?"

Let fate decide? That's not a bad idea.

Xiao Duolong nodded, agreeing to Xia Chen's suggestion.

With a flick of the thumb, the coin spun and flew into the air.

Xiao Duolong watched the coin spinning rapidly, its fate uncertain. Just as it landed in Xia Chen's hand, he suddenly thought, "I wish it were tails."

"Alright, tell me your choice?"

Xia Chen covered the coin with his hand and looked at Xiao Duolong with a smile.

"When the coin fell just now, you already had the answer in your heart, didn't you?"

"Messi."

Xiao Duolong suddenly realized what was going on, and then firmly shook his head at Xia Chen.

I don't want to evolve now. I want to continue absorbing the energy of that golden-orange scale to solidify my foundation. I want to surpass others and become the dragon that can endure loneliness the most, but also the one that will have the last laugh!

Xia Chen smiled slightly, "I understand, then let's not evolve for now."

"Messi~"

Little Dragon responded cheerfully, then suddenly remembered something and flew to Xia Chen's still-covering palm.

Although he had already made his choice, he was still curious about the coin, or rather, what fate held.

Xia Chen smiled helplessly and shook his head, then opened his palm.

On the back of the other hand was a reversed coin.

…………

Since Little Dragon doesn't want to evolve now, Xia Chen has no reason to go to Dragon Island.

After finishing his tea, Du prepared to say goodbye and head to Dragon Island.

However, before parting, he challenged Longye.

It wasn't a gym challenge, but a "battle of all strength," as Wataru put it.

And Longye agreed without much hesitation.

Xia Chen certainly wouldn't miss the opportunity to watch a match of this caliber live.

The two sisters, Long Yue and Long Li, sat side by side on the edge of the private arena inside the gym, watching with great anticipation the battle between the strongest gym leader of the Eastern Empire and the Kanto Flying-type... no, Dragon-type Elite Four member.

According to Xia Chen's pre-match prediction, he felt that the two were evenly matched, with Du possibly being slightly stronger.

On one hand, Wataru has not yet reached the strongest champion-level strength.

On the other hand, although Longye has the strength of a king, he is still just a gym leader.

However, the outcome of this battle was somewhat unexpected for Xia Chen.

This 6v6 all-out battle was exciting and spectacular. In Xia Chen's opinion, it was no less impressive than the battle between Cynthia and Gadria a few months ago.

The final result, however, was a score of 6-4 for Tatsuno and Watari.

Whether in terms of skill or tactical command, Longye displayed exceptional skill and flair.

Recalling his dojo challenge match with him, Xia Chen finally realized that Long Ye had gone all out in the dojo challenge match.

Xia Chen felt that the difference between these two matches was as great as the gap between himself and Cynthia.

"With this ability, why not become a champion and make a name for yourself at the Eight Masters Tournament, instead of becoming the head of a small dojo?"

After the match, Xia Chen asked Long Yue, puzzled.

In his opinion, after spending his days in the dojo "wasting" his time with the challengers and getting back into shape, Long Ye was fully capable of competing with Gu Kunshan for the championship.

Why doesn't he do that?

Long Yue's expression was somewhat complicated, and she said sadly, "I never asked, but it must be to keep me and my sister company."

Well, it's probably related to their mother who's never appeared before.

Xia Chen nodded and did not press the matter further about the other person's family affairs.

Everyone has their own choices. Perhaps in Longye's eyes, the so-called higher honor is worthless compared to the company of his daughter.

…………

After treating the spirit, Lance left.

At Longye's suggestion, Xia Chen and Long Yue also had an exchange match, which they readily agreed to.

For Yu Xiachen, Long Yue has always been the figure he needs to follow on his path as a trainer.

Since they first met in the winter before last, Long Yue has been the strongest opponent Xia Chen has ever faced, and that remains true even now.

For Long Yue, playing against the champion of this year's Donghuang Youth Competition can be seen as making up for her regret of not being able to participate last year.

The battle format remains 3v3.

Although Xia Chen now has six Pokémon, the strength of Little Dragon and Gooboo is not even on the same level as the other Pokémon. 6v6 is about the same as 6v4, so it's not really necessary.

Both sides fielded their strongest lineups.

Sylveon, Gardevoir, Milotic vs. Dragonite, Altaria, Dracovish.

One side has an absolute advantage in attributes, while the other side is stronger. It's really hard to say who will win.

Long Yue's strength was even greater than Xia Chen had imagined. He had thought that Dragonite was at most at the level of Elite 2-star, but in reality, her strength had already reached Elite 3-star, approaching the level of Gym Leader.

Perhaps this is the true value of being a princess of Dragon Island.

Facing its former lover Milotic, Dragonite showed no mercy, relying on its multi-scales that could reduce damage to directly use Dragon Dance. Although Milotic could use Quiver Dance, it could not stop Dragonite's incredibly powerful Dragon Claw and Thunder Punch.

With the added speed of the enhanced Quick Attack, Milotic was suffering greatly.

Xia Chen did not substitute Milotic because of this. The main force in this game was undoubtedly Sylveon and Gardevoir. Milotic's biggest role was to wear down Dragonite's condition and stamina as much as possible.

Perhaps because of fighting her ex-husband, Dragonite fought with extra force. Many times, even when there were better ways to handle the situation, Dragonite chose to charge straight in.

While fighting is exhilarating, it undoubtedly consumes more energy and physical strength.

Finally, when Milotic was beaten to a pulp and returned to its Poké Ball, Dragonite was also panting heavily on the battlefield.

Milotic's self-inflicted injury didn't go to waste; afterwards, Sylveon found it much easier to deal with Dragonite.

The prolonged battle slowed down Dragonite's Extreme Speed, and the depleted stats made it difficult for Dragonite to withstand Sylveon's ranged attacks.

Dragonite doesn't have many effective ways to deal with Sylveon.

After a fierce battle, Long Yue had no choice but to switch to the Gilling Fish Dragon to deal with Fairy Cloth.

Dracovish is a very cool Pokémon, not because of its appearance, but because of its strength.

The ability [Strong Jaw] increases the power of bite-type moves by 50%, while the signature move [Gill Bite] allows Dracovish to hit before the opponent can attack it, unleashing double the power.

Basically, one bite and an ordinary elf is half dead.

If it's a double super-effective, or even a quadruple super-effective like Onix.

Oh wow, that intense, tingling sensation could probably send the victim flying straight to heaven.

However, the succulent is not as bulky as the Onix. Its gill bite is powerful, but you have to be able to land the bite.

Xianbu firmly grasped the weakness of the gill harpy dragon's lack of long arms, using its four flexible ribbons to constantly pull and tug at the gill harpy dragon.

The Gillfish Dragon High-Speed ​​Star ate several dishes, but only managed to bite into the Fairy Cloth once.

Water Dragon type has good resistance, but it still has the weakness of Fairy type.

Soon, under the continuous drain of the Fairy Cloth, the Gillfish Dragon gradually became exhausted.

Although the Dracovish managed to severely injure Sylveon with two earthquakes, it paid the price of losing its ability to fight.

The Fairy type was too dominant over the Dragon type, and in the end, Long Yue lost to Xia Chen 2:3, failing to end her regret.

…………

After finishing what might be his last match before the trip, Xia Chen didn't immediately return to school but instead stayed at the Qianlong Dojo for a few days.

The purpose, of course, was to ask for advice on raising Little Dragon and Sticky Treasure.

Xia Chen had previously thought that Long Ye's Goody Dragon was at most at the Elite Four level, but Goody Dragon's unparalleled performance in the battle against Wataru convinced Xia Chen that it was definitely Champion level.

If that's the case, why bother going to great lengths to ask Karuni for advice?

Longye was pleased with Xia Chen's decision to gradually develop into a Dragon-type trainer, and he was naturally very willing to share his knowledge with him.

Not only did he share his breeding plan for sticky dragons without reservation, but he also offered many suggestions based on the unique characteristics of Xia Chen's sticky dragon.

The Dragon-type Gym, with its thousand-year-old heritage, naturally has its own unique approach to the study of Dragon-type Pokémon, and Xia Chen has benefited greatly from the instruction he has received over the past few days.

Of course, Ryūno also discovered that the Steel-type energy accounted for a large proportion of the Goo Goo Po's recipe.

Faced with Long Ye's doubts, Xia Chen responded with a mysterious smile, only revealing that "this is my next research direction."

Long Ye was incredibly clever; he immediately guessed what Xia Chen was researching.

And if that conjecture is true...

Thinking of that exciting conjecture, Long Ye's gaze towards Xia Chen became increasingly intense.

If only this guy were his own son!

Longye silently thought to himself, "A son should be like Xia Xiaochen."

Unfortunately not.

Let alone sons, even sons-in-law don't have much of a chance.

Who is Xia Chen's rumored girlfriend?