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

Xia Chen scratched his head, somewhat confused.

After spending a few months with it, he had pretty much figured out the big lizard's personality: stubborn and proud, but very attentive and concerned about the things it cared about.

Its attitude towards Pokémon battles is [never bully the weak]. Of course, it won't stick to its own way when facing a Galactic Team or a starter Pokémon.

So in the past, it would have been impossible to get Gullerton to step onto the battlefield.

Could it be that Darkrai's appearance spurred it on?

Xia Chen's imagination wasn't that vivid, so naturally he couldn't figure out the real reason; it was just a system task.

In short, he is seriously considering this matter.

Although players do not need to report their chosen Pokémon to the organizers before entering the battle, the referee will check the Poké Balls you bring to ensure that you have three.

Therefore, if Leighton really plays, he will definitely occupy a spot on the field.

After much deliberation and further discussion with the elves, Xia Chen finally nodded in agreement.

No matter what, Guleton is indeed his spirit, at least for now, and there's nothing to be ashamed of about him.

With Guleton as a ballast, the remaining two elves have much more room to choose.

If we're going to be a little more adventurous, we could even let Nianmeier take over.

However, it's not suitable for Noodler to show up right now, so Xia Chen decided to send out the eager-to-try Doraki as the second Pokémon for this round.

After Sai Fuhao's appearance, he and Nume are the only ones in the team who haven't made their debut yet. The stage for Daigo's battle is big enough and gives him enough room to perform.

Overjoyed at finally getting his chance to play, Dorgonchi spun around in circles with Dorgonmesia on his head, then confidently declared, "Dragonchi! (I guarantee I'll smash them all!)"

Xia Chen smiled and didn't take it seriously.

Steven's weakest Pokémon is at the Gym Leader level. Dragapult, who doesn't even have the strength of a Gym Leader, is making such a statement, which seems a bit like bragging.

Patting his head as encouragement, Xia Chen began to consider the choice of the last Pokémon.

Zoroark is one thing, but it performed brilliantly in the last match, giving other Pokémon a chance.

Milotic has plenty of battle experience, so there's no need to use it. How about Gardevoir instead?

Xia Chen suddenly had a mischievous idea. As two Shiny Pokémon, Shiny Metagross and Shiny Gardevoir would be quite interesting to have them fight each other.

As for Xabi, he can play in the final.

With Leighton backing them up, there's no reason they shouldn't make it to the finals.

The decision was told to the elves, and they had no objections. Anyway, Xia Chen wouldn't listen to their opinions.

So, the lineup for the second day of the competition has been determined. Dragapult will start, with Gardevoir and Gullardon as backup Pokémon to face Steven.

…………

Time comes to night.

Xia Chen's Pixiv update, which hadn't been posted in almost half a year, went viral as expected, and it was a huge hit.

"How could I let this gossip out? This afternoon, the general public was just discussing the difficulties and pain points of cultivating richer individuals, and Xia Chen immediately announced this news."

It's like using a pillow to keep someone awake!

The comment section under this post has been flooded with nearly a million comments.

Xia Chen read through a few posts based on the number of likes.

"Master Pigeon! My Superman! I'm going to commission a life-size sculpture of you and keep it at home to worship every day!"

"That's amazing! Not only can it effectively protect wild money-grabbing spirits from harm, but it can also drive down the price of mutated gold coins. Enough said, I'll always be a DouDou Pigeon!"

"Hilarious! I just saw someone on [Magikarp] listing ten mutated coins for two million. They must be desperate for money! Master Pigeon, you did a great job!"

"Master Pigeon, Master Pigeon, can you sell me your level 30 Bean Pigeon badge for 1,000 mutated gold coins first? The price is negotiable."

"I'm just a casual observer. I used to be indifferent to Xia Chen, but this time I have to give him a thumbs up."

Of course, besides these positive comments praising the achievements, there are also some malicious negative comments.

"Tsk tsk, the evolution has probably been going on for several months, and they're only announcing it now. Were they all busy building this breeding base before?"

"It's laughable to see a bunch of sycophants in the comments section. Anyone with a bit of business sense knows that monopolies have always been the most profitable. Xia Chen has laid out his plans in advance to become the dominant player. Do you think he can sell the Pokémon eggs and evolution items cheaply? He's just waiting to be fleeced!"

Xia Chen didn't care too much.

There are too many idiots online. It doesn't matter whether these people are prepared with a mission from a competitor or are simply expressing their own opinions.

No matter how much people criticize it, those who should buy it shouldn't buy it.

The Suocailing breeding base is now operational, producing about two hundred mutated gold coins per month, which isn't even enough to supply one Saifuhao. It's still a long way from truly becoming commercialized.

However, with the emergence of the second and third batches of money-gathering spirits, this efficiency should increase considerably.

Xia Chen was about to close Pixiv and get ready for bed when a special notification message suddenly rang.

He only has two accounts on Pixiv that he follows closely: Mingyi and Xirona. Who posted the video or update at this time?

Xia Chen clicked on it out of curiosity, only to find that it was Cynthia who had retweeted her post from that afternoon, which read, "The Sinnoh branch is under construction."

Is it so efficient?

Xia Chen was somewhat surprised, as the matter had just been finalized last night.

He continued scrolling down, and in just a few minutes, there were already hundreds of comments under the post.

The top comment is clearly...

"A family-run shop?"

Xia Chen chuckled twice. He had originally wanted to give it a like, but after thinking about it, he felt it would have a bad influence, so he reluctantly withdrew.

…………

The following day, the third day of the World Youth Championship was held at Raven Arena, with the competition progressing to the second round of the semifinals.

Today's two matches will determine the spots in tomorrow's final and third-place match, and both matches are highly anticipated.

The more suspenseful match between Xia Chen and Daigo was scheduled for the afternoon, while the morning match was naturally the duel between the mythical beast Darko and Nemo.

Even before the match officially started, tens of millions of viewers were already glued to their TV rooms, waiting for Darkrai to make his appearance.

And Darko did not disappoint. He didn't use any fancy tricks and started Darko again, giving the opponent no chance at all.

Although Darkrai's appearance was no secret, Nemo still couldn't do anything about it.

When your strength reaches a certain level, there's no way to deal with things like attribute counters or tactical choices.

Shared fate? A song of destruction?

Please, this isn't a game. It's like a cricket singing a death song – can it affect the Sky Thrower high in the sky?

Obviously impossible.

Therefore, Darkrai easily defeated three opponents without any difficulty, and did not even reveal its true strength or other moves.

Dacdo thus secured his place in the finals.

Looking at Nemo, who seemed somewhat dazed on the battlefield, Xia Chen shook his head. This was just a case of a deus ex machina, a plot device that couldn't be helped, girl.

It seems that the only one capable of fighting against a legendary elf is Guleton, who is also a legendary elf.

Xia Chen thought to himself.

The morning's matches concluded. Back in the lounge, after lunch, I discussed tactics for the afternoon's matches with the Pokémon.

Although Guleton is there to oversee the match, Xia Chen and the elves will take this game seriously.

…………

Time flies, and it was already 1:50 pm. The second semi-final match was about to begin.

Compared to the morning session, the number of spectators for the afternoon session actually increased.

Xia Chen and Da Wu are both popular contestants, making the outcome unpredictable. The possibility of seeing Sai Fuhao's performance has naturally attracted a lot of attention.

In the commentary booth, Adek and Da Ye were predicting the starting Pokémon and the final result of the match.

"Daigo is a meticulous player with a calm battle style. He likes to start with Skarmory and use the [Spikes] and [Whirlwind] tactics to gain an early advantage. I wonder if he will make the same choice in this match."

Da Ye had clearly done thorough preparation, and his analysis was very logical and well-reasoned.

After Daigo was scolded by Da Ye, Adeker naturally had to talk about Xia Chen.

"Xia Chen's Pokémon selection is quite diverse. His battle style leans towards intuitive on-the-spot performance. He'll probably use nine different Pokémon combinations in ten matches, and his starting Pokémon are even more varied. Plus, there's Zoroark, which is a smokescreen. It's really hard to predict his moves."

"However, against Steven, who specializes in Steel-type Pokémon, I think the chances of Sylveon and Gardevoir appearing are lower. I predict he will still start with Milotic, the most versatile Pokémon. Cyclops is also a possibility. Of course, using Zoroark as a feint is also not out of the question."

Da Ye was speechless. "Is this a prediction or a menu? How can you predict three Pokémon like this?"

Adek chuckled, "You don't think predicting Xia Chen's starting Pokémon is easy, do you? How about we make a bet? You predict it, and if you guess right, I'll give you my Volcarona's soon-to-be-born pups to raise."

Da Ye's eyes lit up. It was Adeker's Volcarona, the former world champion's ace Pokémon!

He was also a fire-type specialist trainer and was really craving this, so he immediately nodded and agreed to the bet.

However, Adek grinned mischievously, "Wait, what if you guessed wrong?"

Da Ye paused, realizing that Adek also wanted him to place some bets.

The temptation of the Burning Insect larvae was too great. He gritted his teeth and said, "How about I use my Volcanic Town Stone as a wager? Although its value is certainly not as high as that of the Burning Insect, it is still a legendary resource related to Seadrann."

The volcanic stone that Da Ye had was used to nurture the growth of fire-type Pokémon and had been with him for more than ten years.

His ability to become the Fire Elite Four member is inseparable from this treasure.

However, at this stage, this thing is of no use to his Pokémon. He might as well use it to try his luck with the Burning Bug, whose mother is a Champion-level Pokémon. Maybe he can still challenge for the Champion's throne in his lifetime.

Wait, the Sinnoh champion seems to be that woman. Never mind then.

…………

Aldak laughed heartily, "No problem, perfect for my son to play with. So, you choose three Pokémon too, that's fair, right?"

Da Ye nodded, about to choose the Pokémon he had guessed, when he suddenly realized that the three most likely ones seemed to have already been chosen by Adek. If he chose one of the remaining ones, his chances of winning were very low.

But now that you're backing out, do you still want your Sinnoh Elite Four?

Having found himself in a difficult situation, Da Ye ultimately chose to continue the bet.

"My guess is Sylveon, Gardevoir, and..."