Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

After the Xicui Ecological Conservation Area has finished resting, we will put them back in with the lily root dolls to reproduce and thrive.

------

This concludes the Q&A session with reporters regarding the ancient East Sea region of Zoroark.

Towards the end, things even went a little off-topic, as Xia Shen deliberately diverted half of everyone's attention to the new evolution form of the Pokémon.

Although this Q&A session was not as grand as the Moonbear press conference, the information it contained still shocked the general public and even the Pokémon world in no way.

Ordinary viewers were buzzing about the cool appearance and rare type combination of the ancient East Blue form of Zoroark, as well as the short trailer for the new Pokémon.

Even just based on this trailer, the Savage Bass from various breeding bases became highly sought after and snapped up by many trainers.

However, professional trainers were more concerned with a relatively inconspicuous point in the Q&A session—that revenge could potentially inflict the [freeze] status on the opponent.

[Frostbite]...that sounds like a perfect match for [burns]...

So, is that why Gengar's Dark Pulse couldn't deal damage later on, and why it lost its ability to battle even though it wasn't damaged by any moves?

pretty close.

So, can other Pokémon or other moves achieve this [Frostbite] status?

All the trainers were pondering this question.

……

Xia Shen didn't know the answer to this question either... He only knew that currently only Zoroark's [Revenge of Vengeance] and Tornado Cloud's [Dead Leaf Storm] could do it.

However, if one were to carefully study the energy application and mechanism of this move, Xia Shen felt that he might also be able to analyze the core of the [freezing injury] mechanism and generalize it.

Now that Zoroark has also mastered telepathy, she can more accurately convey to him the feelings he has when using techniques.

After deciding to participate in the National High School Games, Xia Shen began his research on frostbite.

However, he did not intend to develop the technology and then selflessly promote it.

Like the [fierce] and [swift] moves, I might do that when I become a champion or the leader of a sect and establish my own school.

But right now... Xia Shen isn't that great. Would he promote it so that his opponents would learn it and use it to attack him?

…………

After the press conference, Xia Shen returned to the athletes' village with the school team.

By the time I finished washing up and lay in bed, it was almost midnight.

I habitually turned on my phone, and unsurprisingly, it exploded again, though not as bad as the one with Yueyuexiong.

As usual, Xia Shen called his parents, then opened the chat app Pogaman and selected a few important messages to reply to.

Yan Yan: "Congratulations on making it to the top four! The Lilyroot dolls are having a great time here, and I even caught one. Also, the Swablu evolved into Altaria!"

Xia Shen smiled and typed back, "Congratulations! When I get back with the championship, I'll have a match with your Altaria. Hopefully, by then your bond with Altaria will be strong enough for Mega Evolution. Also, I miss you~"

Yan Yan seemed to be playing on her phone, replying almost instantly, "How could it possibly Mega Evolve so quickly? Even Altaria's body couldn't handle it. And, I miss you too..."

Xia Shen was about to reply to his girlfriend's message and tease her again when he realized that the blue cotton bird icon above her head had turned gray as soon as he sent it.

Xia Shen shook his head helplessly. What's there to be shy about? Why pretend to be an ostrich?

Keep scrolling down, the next one is Zhou Keke's.

……

Zhou Keke: "Moonbear's thesis is almost finished, and it's seamlessly transitioning to Soroark's thesis? [smirk emoji]"

Sorry, senior, if you were to actually study the evolution of Dark-type Zoroark into Normal/Ghost-type Zoroark, you might never be able to write a thesis in your lifetime.

Unless it's academic fraud.

Xia Shen replied, "Senior, let's polish Yueyue Bear's story a bit more. Next, we'll write about Savage Bass. Don't worry, we'll make you want to vomit."

……

After replying to Zhou Keke, Xia Shen scrolled down and suddenly saw that Fujiwara Keiko, whom he had almost never contacted, had also sent him a message.

Fujiwara-sensei: "Natsumi-kun, congratulations! Both your wonderful performance today and your amazing discovery of Zoroark. I'll be coming to Tokyo tomorrow. Would you be free to have a casual meal with me?"

Xia Shen pondered for a moment. Not only did Fujiwara-sensei, whom he hadn't contacted in a long time, take the initiative to send a message, but he also invited him to meet?

Xia Shen felt it was unlikely that she had come for Zoroark; otherwise, she would have come looking for him last time when Moonbear was around.

Most likely, it would be someone representing Tokyo University extending an olive branch to me, right?

My team is currently guaranteed a top-four finish, and the strength we've shown is second to none even among the senior high school students.

While there is no precedent for admitting a high school sophomore in advance, it is now presumably the undisputed practice within various schools.

Pulling himself back to reality, Xia Shen replied, "Thank you, Fujiwara-sensei, and congratulations on winning the [Lugia] title match. Just let me know when you arrive tomorrow."

Although he wasn't very interested in Tokyo University, he still needed to see the conditions they offered before making a decision.

At the very least, it can increase one's market value, which is the same principle as those football stars in my previous life who sought transfers and made multiple contacts.

If you don't raise your price, how will your value increase?

It's no exaggeration to say that, based on current trends, Xia Shen is the brightest rising star in both the academic and competitive world of Pokémon.

By acquiring Xia Shen, one has grasped the future.

## Chapter 156: Fighting for a chance to get brutally beaten in the finals?

The offer from Dongdu University was very generous—the same treatment as the regular members of the school team.

For a high school sophomore who was directly admitted through the National High School Competition, this is practically the best possible outcome.

At Dongdu University, a university with tens of thousands of students majoring in Pokémon battles, only a handful of students receive this treatment.

But that's all.

The universities that have extended offers to Xia Shen in the past few days are basically all starting with these conditions.

Compared to Li Xiangtianwang's sincere commitment and plans for training, it still falls short.

Most importantly, Xia Shen quite agreed with what Li Xiang said to him that afternoon.

"I admit that the overall strength of Chongqing University is not as good as those universities in Beijing and Nanjing, but in some ways, that's a good thing. After you enroll this fall, how long will it take before you can officially compete in major tournaments? It's not that I think you can't compete with them, but resources are limited, and those universities have many geniuses. Your age will always be a constraint. But Chongqing University is different..."

Xia Shen had hinted at this point when negotiating with Fujiwara-sensei, but the answer he received was ambiguous.

At this point, his heart gradually leaned towards the foggy city.

Forget it, once the National High School Championship is completely over, if there really isn't a better option, then I'll go to that land of abundance, deep inland.

Xia Shen silently made a decision.

…………

Two days later, the four finalists for the National High School Championship were announced.

Unsurprisingly, apart from Zhijiang Middle School, which was the first to advance, the "Big Three" were Shangjing, Nandu, and Dongdu.

Xia Shen thought that Beijing and Dong would avoid each other in the semifinals, but he didn't expect that these two giants would meet in advance.

In the eyes of many, this semi-final was a preview of the final.

The rematch between Nandu Middle School and Zhijiang Middle School is nothing more than a contest for the chance to be brutally beaten by the winner of the two schools in the finals.

This is the opinion of the vast majority of viewers.

After all, although Xia Shen has a lot of fancy moves, now that all his cards have been revealed and his mystery has been removed, it will still be difficult for him to beat those two schools.

Surely he can't just suddenly pull out a Goomy Dragon in the finals, right?

……

Although Xia Shen also really wanted the invincible Steel Dragon to dominate the finals.

Unfortunately, Goomy is only level 36 right now, and hasn't even evolved into Goodra yet, let alone Goodra.

However, how to play the final is another matter. The most important thing right now is to get past Nandu Middle School.

Although the two schools had just faced off in the finals of the qualifying tournament not long ago, Pokémon battles are inherently unpredictable, and who would win in their next encounter remains to be seen.

That's what the audience thought, but the result of the competition surprised everyone.

It wasn't that Nandu Middle School successfully avenged itself, but rather... that Zhijiang Middle School decisively defeated its opponent 6-0.

Just a few months ago, the two sides fought fiercely to the ring match, and Zhijiang Middle School only managed to turn the tide by relying on the magic space and the Moon Bear.

This time, Zhijiang Middle School boldly arranged all of its main players in three singles matches and one doubles match.

Nandu Middle School, however, believed that their opponent's strategy was still to drag the match into the ring, and that their strongest singles player, Flash Ace, would still be in charge of the ring.

Unlike the last competition, they placed Electivire, which is countered by Luna, in the main match.

And then... he was caught by sheer luck.

Umbreon, Garchomp, Swampert, Aggron and Teebrim, all four battles won!

Zhijiang Middle School defeated their opponent with an incredible score, becoming the first team to advance to the finals.

……

The other semi-final match on the second day had a different score than the decisive first match.

The two equally matched schools, Shangjing and Dongdu, finally decided their winner in a tournament.

Shangjing Middle School narrowly defeated their old rivals with a score of 6:3 to advance to the finals.

However, this doesn't mean that Shangjing High School isn't strong. On the contrary, both the Shangjing High School and Dongdu High School teams this year are incredibly strong...

Compared to the epic battle of the second semifinal, the first semifinal was nothing short of a clash of weaklings.

Both the Kyoto and Toto schools fielded their strongest lineups in this semi-final.

The audience then realized that the matches before the semi-finals had all been just for fun.

The weakest Pokémon to appear in this match is a Toad King with amateur rank 8 skills.

Both sides have two Pokémon that have reached professional level!

It's worth noting that in previous National High School Pokémon Championships, the fact that even one professional-level Pokémon appeared in a single competition meant that this year's competition was considered to be of a very high standard.

This year, including Zhong Chang's Kommo-o-Tac that was eliminated early, there are now five!