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

I never imagined that the fighting techniques in that world could also be activated using energy.

"Karu—(This move is called, Flame Splitting Wave Sword!)"

…………

Xia Chen frowned slightly. Why did the name "Flame Dividing Wave Sword" sound so familiar?

Forget it, it's probably a unique move that Azure Flame Blade Demon learned from some system cheat. You can't possibly figure it out.

Having figured this out, Xia Chen stopped dwelling on the name of the move that felt strangely familiar to him.

He then asked, "But judging from your condition, does this move have any side effects?"

Azure Flame Blade Demon shook his head and replied, "Crack— (There are no side effects, but this move consumes a lot of energy; using it at full power for a single strike consumes 30% of its energy.)"

Xia Chen gasped.

Thirty percent, in a game that would mean only three PP?

It's the kind of move that prevents you from using any other techniques afterward, which explains its immense power.

Even with such a high cost, many spirits who rely on brute force choose to do so, even if it means exhausting all their energy to unleash that one powerful strike, as it is something they dream of.

Even so, Xia Chen still advised, "This move is indeed very powerful, but I think it's also necessary to learn some ordinary moves. What do you think?"

Azure Flame Blade Ghost nodded in agreement. He had indeed mastered many high-powered fighting techniques from that world, but those techniques, like the Flame Dividing Wave Ruler, consumed a great deal of energy.

In many situations, it is quite necessary to master some basic moves.

Seeing that Azure Blade Demon also agreed with this point, Xia Chen then arranged to start assigning teaching tasks, "Zoroark, you teach him some Ghost-type moves, like Shadow Claw, Phantom Strike, and oh right, Sword Dance."

Fire-type moves, huh? Xia Chen looked around and realized that none of his Pokémon were proficient in fire-type physical moves, which was a bit awkward.

Azure Flame Blade Demon stepped in to help, saying, "Karu—(It's alright, I can learn the Regret Sword technique on my own, this is enough.)"

Regret Sword is a move exclusive to Azure Flame Blade Demon, and its effect is equivalent to a more powerful version of Fire Absorption Fist, so it's quite useful.

Xia Chen thought about it and felt that he had learned enough for this stage, so he nodded in agreement.

…………

In the following days, Azure Blade Demon learned moves from Zoroark and Draco, two Ghost-type Pokémon.

Based on his daily learning summaries, even the word "genius" is insufficient to describe his talent.

Even the most difficult skill, the Spirit Strike, was mastered by Azure Flame Blade Demon in just one afternoon.

Xia Chen's teaching plan was supposed to last a week, but it was completed in just over three days. This was even though Cang Yan Ren Gui spent a lot of time doing his own things every day, which was truly amazing.

After mastering the moves, the next step is practical combat training. With Azure Flame Blade Ghost's current strength, there are basically no ones in the team who are as strong as him. Even the weakest one, Nianmei'er, is an elite-level expert.

Although a match between two players with vastly different skill levels wouldn't have much practical significance, an intra-team match between Cangyan Rengui and Nianmeier still began because Cangyan Rengui insisted on taking the challenge.

It's been more than half a year since Nianmei was born, but because she has a shell, she has never appeared in public. Her only experience in external battles was when she was just born and she was crushing noobs in the battle park.

Therefore, her practical experience cannot be described as extensive.

However, no matter how lacking in resources it is, it should not be a problem to defeat a Azure Blade Demon whose strength is far inferior and which was a wild Pokémon a month ago.

All the Pokémon, including Xia Chen, thought the same thing before the battle began.

While it should be expected, Azure Flame Blade Demon's performance in this match shocked everyone, including the elves.

At the beginning of the battle, things were going normally, with the much stronger Nianmeier suppressing Cangyan Rengui so tightly that he couldn't retaliate.

But after Nianmei'er used her first physical attack, [Gyro Ball], to hit the Azure Flame Blade Demon, everything started to go wrong.

Before proceeding, it's necessary to introduce the two abilities of the Pokémon Azure Blade. Most individual Pokémon have [Flash Fire], which means that when the Pokémon is attacked by a Fire-type move, it absorbs the flames, making its own Fire-type moves stronger.

A very good characteristic, especially effective against Fire-type Pokémon.

However, the Azure Flame Blade Demon's characteristic is not this, but rather the rarer [Shattered Armor]—

Whenever a Pokémon takes damage from a physical attack, its defense decreases, while its speed increases significantly!

From this point on, Azure Flame Blade Demon switched to an offensive strategy!

…………

Agile and swift movements, strategic foresight, and quick reflexes—all these combine to create a beautiful and elegant battle.

While Nyan Meier's overall strength was indeed greater in terms of attack, defense, and stamina, Azure Flame Blade Demon perfectly utilized its only advantage—speed—to manipulate Nyan Meier at will.

Without burrowing into the body and activating the "rolling wheel" mode, Nianmeier would have a hard time getting close to the Azure Flame Blade Demon. Even if she managed to seize that fleeting opportunity, a sneak attack would render her attack futile.

But once inside the shell, Nianmei becomes blind, and Cangyan Rengui can use its speed advantage to toy with it.

Xia Chen and the onlookers were filled with surprise. Such a performance was truly from a wild Pokémon that had almost never been involved in battles before.

This action reminded them of something; it seemed that a long time ago, another elf had behaved similarly.

Xia Chen and the elves all looked at a pink and white elf who was currently deep in thought.

As if sensing something, the much-anticipated Fairy Blossom looked up, glanced around, and complained, "Boo-ee. (Why are you all looking at me like that? What does this have to do with me?)"

However, her voice grew weaker and weaker, and she became increasingly unsure of herself. Clearly, Fairy understood why they viewed her that way.

Unable to refute, she could only look at the Azure Flame Blade Demon on the field, her eyes filled with suspicion.

I was reborn, so what's wrong with you?

As Xia Chen and the elves each harbored their own thoughts, the situation on the field shifted once again.

Although Azure Flame Blade Demon perfectly utilized its absolute speed advantage to suppress Numei, it was unable to convert its advantage into a victory, or even snowball its advantage.

He dared not use the Flame-Splitting Wave Sword technique, because it would most likely be blocked by Nianmei'er with her steel shell, thus completely eliminating any possibility of a prolonged battle.

With her keen combat instincts, Nume realized this as well. Speed ​​isn't my strong suit, but durability and defense are!

She wasn't ashamed of bullying the weak and having to play it safe; the most foolish thing to do is to clash with the other party's strengths using her weaknesses.

Nianmei'er wasn't a hot-blooded fool, so she naturally chose the safest approach.

The reversal of fortunes began from there.

After this shift, it did not reverse again, but continued until the end of the battle.

…………

Azure Flame Blade Demon's first battle ended in defeat.

The ending was logical, but the process was completely unexpected.

No one expected that a battle between a veteran and an elite would last for nearly ten minutes before it ended, even though the elite one was a shield-type Pokémon.

After the battle ended, the victorious Numei retreated into her shell, seemingly withdrawn or reflecting. The defeated Azure Flame Blade Demon, after being rescued, also showed no joy despite his defeat, and was contemplating his first battle in this world.

From this perspective, this was undoubtedly a very successful intra-team training match.

Both elves seemed to need to communicate, but they could only talk to one at a time. After thinking for a moment, Xia Chen chose to have a heart-to-heart talk with Nianmeier.

It wasn't because of the age difference, but mainly because the Azure Flame Blade Ghost gave him a sense of being detached from the world and independent. Xia Chen felt that he could grow even without Xia Chen's help.

In comparison, Nianmei, who appears much more immature, needs more help.

After tapping on the steel snail shell, a sullen-looking Sticky Meow popped out.

She greeted Xia Chen rather dejectedly, "Sorry, I'm so sorry I played so badly in this match, it really disappointed you."

Xia Chen gently rubbed her sticky tentacles and comforted her, "How could that be? You were able to find your own way to win during the battle and even won in the end. Isn't that the best outcome?"

Nianmei'er kept her eyes downcast, "Nian—(But this is only his first battle, and I'm still his senior.)"

"you sure?"

Xia Chen couldn't help but interrupt, laughing, "Do you think he seems inexperienced?"

Nianmei was speechless.

After a moment of silence, she muttered softly, "Sticky—(But I'm a genius)."

"And who isn't?"

Xia Chen felt it was necessary to correct Nian Mei'er's somewhat unbalanced mentality.

"You may be, but are others worse than you?"

Thinking of the older brothers and sisters in the group, Nianmei shook her head honestly.

"Okay, don't put too much pressure on yourself, and don't think of yourself as special. No matter what, I will love you all the same."

After swallowing the last mouthful of chicken soup and giving her a gentle head pat, the dark cloud on Nianmei's face almost dissipated.

"Sticky—(I understand, I will always love you too!)"

Xia Chen received a sticky sticker.

…………

In the days that followed, Xia Chen's life returned to normal.

He meditates alone, trains the Pokémon, acts as the wicked client, communicates with Jiang Qian about the research and development progress of the secret seasoning, and occasionally has long phone conversations with Cynthia and Mingyi.

Despite the sweltering summer heat, Xia Chen lived a carefree and leisurely life.

However, his leisurely days didn't last long before he received an unexpected letter from Miss Ma Xiu, the president of the World Coordinator Association, whom Xia Chen hadn't seen for almost a year.

The letter invited defending champion Xia Chen to participate in the second World Grand Prix, serving as honorary president and special guest performer.

Xia Chen then remembered that he also had this title—Father of the Grand Contest.

Speaking of which, is the second annual Grand Contest only starting now?

Xia Chen suddenly felt a little dazed. It seemed like a long, long time ago that he had personally planned, organized, and ultimately won the first Grand Contest.

However, thinking about it now, it was actually only a year and a few months.

During the year or so that Xia Chen did not interfere too much with the development, the Grand Contest flourished and became the most popular event second only to Pokémon battles.

Xia Chen's "Gorgeous Ribbon" rules, which were designed in the form of animation, were also tested for a year and the results were quite good.

The spectacular competitions held in major cities across the region were almost always packed to capacity. Countless trainers, both professional and amateur, poured their sweat into winning the competitions, and countless charming Pokémon shone brightly on the stage.

All for the sake of collecting five different gorgeous ribbons to obtain a ticket to the second World Glamour Contest.

Last month, the highly anticipated second World Grand Prix finally had its date and location confirmed.

September 9th, Hoenn region, Sooto City!