Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

Thus, even before the fight began, the situation had already subtly changed.

…………

"Andrew is so stupid, what's the point of starting with Venusaur?" Zhou Yuanyuan complained from the side.

"You wouldn't say that if Senior Yan Yu had started with Milotic."

Xia Shen didn't think Andrew had made any mistakes; he had simply misjudged his opponent's strategy.

When facing a team with sunny weather, a normal person would never miss the chance if they had the means to take advantage of the weather.

Who knew Yan Yu wouldn't play by the rules at all...

However, despite this, the current situation on the field is not insurmountable for Andrew.

The outcome of this battle between two pseudo-legendary dragon-type characters remains to be seen.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Dorambaruto, stealthy attack!"

"Dragonite, use Dragon Dive!"

A burly orange figure shot out like lightning, heading straight for Dorambaruto, which floated in the air like a ghost.

However, Dragonite's seemingly inevitable attack missed its mark...

[Sneak Attack]: A Ghost-type physical attack move. The Pokémon that uses Sneaky Attack instantly enters another dimension to charge up before launching an attack.

The Dragonite, having failed in its attack, flapped its wings and flew through the air, warily watching for any movement around it.

"Ignore him, use Dragon Dance now!" Dragonite with the [Multiscale] ability can greatly increase its defense when at full strength.

Andrew intended to withstand the attack to make up for the gap in enhancement.

The next instant, Dorambaruto's ghostly figure emerged from the void.

The triangular head, imbued with purplish-black energy, struck the back of the Dragonite that was using Dragon Dance.

In any case, the Dragon Dance was successfully executed, and the gap in attack power between the two sides was finally closed.

"Dragonite, keep using Dragon Dive!" Andrew pressed on, intending to go head-to-head with the high-speed, high-attack, but relatively fragile Dragapult.

"Don't be afraid of him, we'll respond with the Dragon Arrow!" Yan Yu said with a mysterious smile.

……

"Why did you have to confront the Dragonite head-on, which is tankier than you? Wouldn't it have been better to continue using the Phantom Assault?" Zhou Yuanyuan asked, puzzled.

"Even with the Dragon Dance buff, the power of Phantom Strike is still insufficient to defeat a Dragonite that hasn't taken much damage."

"And Andrew only needs to use Dragon Dance again when Dragapult disappears. After two Dragon Dances, it will be very difficult for Senior to take advantage of Dragonite's weakness."

Xia Shen murmured, "Besides, Dragapult hasn't even revealed the Pokémon item it's carrying yet..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the field, two Dragon Mesias launched themselves at supersonic speed from the hole at the corner of Dragon Baruto, hitting the unstoppable Dragon without even needing to aim.

"Bang—" The powerful move failed to stop Dragonite's flapping wings.

Despite the pain, Dragonite, its body enveloped in orange-red Dragon-type energy, crashed into Dragapult.

Dorambaruto was thrown back by the immense force, barely coming to a stop in front of a rock.

At this moment, a rich orange light emanated from his body.

"This is... a weakness insurance?" Andrew suddenly realized, gritting his teeth as he said, "Dragonite, Outrage!"

Ignoring the side effects of the reverse scale and other factors, he only knew that this was his last chance to go all out.

Yan Yu smiled slightly, "Dorambaruto, Spirit Sneak Attack!"

……

Needless to say, the remaining battle was a close call, and the Dragonite, having failed in its desperate attempt, was easily defeated by Dragapult.

------

"One wrong step leads to another!" Xia Shen lamented.

Zhou Yuanyuan muttered softly to herself, "This fighting style... it feels kind of familiar..."

Yan Yan, unusually, turned to Xia Shen to strike up a conversation: "If you were Andrew, what would you do?"

After a moment's thought, Xia said, "If it were me, I would choose Volcarona with U-turn and Solar Beam as my first pick. At least I wouldn't be in a situation where I can't win a fight and can't escape either."

"I mean, you're now facing a Draco Balut that's been enhanced by a Dragon Dance," Yan Yan pressed for an answer.

"Well..." This more difficult question made Xia Shen frown.

"I'll just use Dragon Dance. With multiple scales all over my body, why bother with Dragon Dive?" Xia Shen said, stating the optimal solution that came to mind first.

"What if you've already used Dragon Dive?"

Xia Shen was speechless: "Are you looking for trouble?"

Looking at Yan Yan's wide-eyed and serious expression, he inexplicably thought of Chitanda Eru from "Hyouka" who said, "I'm very curious."

He finally spoke: "I will retaliate..."

Yan Yan asked in confusion, "Why? Aren't you afraid of being ambushed by a hidden spirit?"

"I'm not afraid. I'm going to lose anyway, so this way I can lose more gracefully."

Yan Yan: "......"

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Chapter Twenty-Three: Move aside, move aside, don't disturb my pretense...

It's clear from her fighting style in the first match that Yan Yu is a trainer who excels at snowballing her advantage.

After being enhanced by both Dragon Dance and Weakness Policy, Dragapult managed to defeat Incineroar before finally falling to Mega Charizard Y.

At this point, Yan Yu had an overwhelming advantage.

Unsurprisingly, Yan Yu sent out Milotic as her second Pokémon.

The first move, a rain-summering gesture, instantly turned the scorching sun into a drizzly scene.

Without the help of Sunny Day, Charizard was like a tiger without claws. It tried to use Sunny Day to steal the weather again, but its opponent hit it with another Water Gun.

The weather was finally salvaged, but another rain prayer by Milas turned into a rainy day.

The audience at the scene finally understood what it means for the weather to be unpredictable.

The two sides continued their back-and-forth battle over the weather until the referee intervened on the grounds of passive play, finally ending the endless weather changes.

This is also one of the rules of the competition: if there are consecutive instances of weather being contested, the referee has the right to intervene and restore the initial weather.

Despite finally getting the sunny weather he'd been dreaming of, Charizard still couldn't do much against Milotic.

Life is like a drop of water plus a water flow loop, surviving to the extreme.

Even though they managed to defeat Milotic, Yan Yu's Salamence in the back row easily finished them off.

At this point, Andrew, having lost his key enforcer, was powerless to turn the tide.

At the end of the match, Yan Yu still had Lapras and Charizard that hadn't been used.

Amidst the host's enthusiastic voice and the audience's cheers, Yan Yu decisively won the championship.

From this moment on, Yan Yu officially became the youngest master-level trainer in China.

------

"A true man should be like this!" came a voice of admiration from beside me.

Zhou Yuanyuan looked on with envy at Yan Yu, who was wearing the Yan Emperor Ring and waving to the audience to express her gratitude, looking incredibly radiant.

Xia Shen subconsciously glanced at the reaction of the other person beside him—

There was no envy in Yan Yan's eyes, only determination.

Goodness, this sounds more like "he can be replaced"!

Xia Shen thought to herself, "It seems these two sisters have quite a story."

……

The competition was over, and Xia Shen was about to leave when she saw a message from Teacher Ye tagging all the members in the class group chat on the Bojiaman chat software.

"Don't rush off just yet. Your senior, Yan Yu, said she wants to meet you all to thank you for cheering her on."

[Thanks for your support] That's such a flimsy excuse... I wouldn't even make up a lie like this.

Xia Shen silently complained, glancing at Yan Yan beside him, who had also seen the message and had a complicated expression.

A strange, inexplicable feeling of exhilaration welled up inside me.

Is this the joy of being a gossipmonger?

……

Following the signs, we arrived at the backstage contestants' lounge, where Teacher Ye was chatting and catching up with Yan Yu.

Xia Shen only realized from their conversation that the two were actually classmates in the same grade in high school.

"His Blazing Roar Tiger is just so-so, I feel it's not as good as your Afu..." Perhaps because she met an old classmate, Yan Yu in the audience was very cheerful and joked.

Teacher Ye naturally didn't take it seriously, and scolded, "Why are you still so outspoken? If a reporter heard you say that, who knows what big news it would be!"

The two were chatting and laughing when they noticed Xia Shen and his group who were watching the drama unfold. Teacher Ye beckoned them over.

"I don't need to introduce her much, right? She's currently the most dazzling rising star in the domestic, and even the world, Pokémon battle scene! She just became the [youngest Master Trainer], your senior, Yan Yu."

Even though Teacher Ye said she wouldn't introduce him, a whole string of effusive praise still came out of her mouth.

The students responded very positively, cheering loudly.

While joining in the commotion, Xia Shen secretly observed Yan Yu.

When he noticed that the newly appointed Master Yandi's gaze, especially when it swept over the girl beside him, revealed a particularly deep smile, Xia Shen couldn't help but laugh out loud.