Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

"Try it, the Slowpoke Tail Porridge I learned to make online, cooked with magical flames."

Xia Shen picked up Tibrim, not forgetting her contributions.

"Bu~" Tibrim used her superpowers to control the porridge, making it fly into each of the elves' bowls, providing excellent service.

Yan Yan felt a unique warmth flowing through her heart, smiled slightly, and sat down with Lucario and the others.

A wonderful day begins with this nutritious and delicious bowl of Dodo Beast Tail Porridge.

## Chapter 196 Stone Slabs and Rain Curtain, Goomel's Evolution! (4k)

Having been in Chongqing for more than two months, Xia Shen has not made many friends. Apart from Rou Ge, the others can only be considered superficial friends.

Yan Yan's temporary stay added a lot of color to his monotonous training and study life.

Similar to the training camp last summer when Shen was at Dongdu University, the activities of the Zhijiang Middle School team each day consisted of only a few parts.

As Yan Yan's dedicated study partner, Xia Shen naturally stayed by her side constantly.

We attended Dragon-type Pokémon breeding classes together, took tactics and adaptability classes together, trained together, cooked together at home, and did everything together...

Aside from a slightly astringent taste.

Xia Shen felt like she was experiencing married life ahead of time.

Of course, there is one thing that cannot be done at the same time, and that is entering the Jade Washing Secret Realm.

……

About half a month after Yan Yan came to Wudu, in late November, Xia Shen prepared to visit the Xicui Nianmei Dragon Clan in the Honglian Wetland again.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Xia Shen's reason for going this time was simply to get some... no, to exchange some steel.

Although the shipment six months ago was quite large, it was only seven pieces.

I'll use some myself, give some to Yan Yan, and also give some to the research institute to improve the environment of the ecological conservation area.

The fact that we still have some stock left is thanks to that exceptionally large piece of steel.

However, by mid-November, the stone that was originally ten times the size of Xia Shen had been reduced to only one-third of its original size, which would only last until the end of the year at most.

Planning ahead, Xia Shen brought plenty of Dragon Gems and Steel Orbs to do business with the not-so-bright Goomei Dragon leader on this day.

…………

With a steel mine that is far more valuable than a gold mine, the sticky dragons naturally wouldn't move.

Without much effort, Xia Shen rode Garchomp to the old spot, Goodra's territory.

Six months ago, Xicui Lane was at the transition between the rainy and dry seasons, and now it is naturally the last period between the dry and rainy seasons.

For ordinary elves, this is the last darkness before dawn; though the days are hard to endure, there is still hope.

The Goomy Dragons' territory, where rain and food are plentiful, is like a lighthouse on a dark and stormy sea, attracting the weaker Pokémon to approach.

Hunters who knew this well hid around this pristine land, waiting for their prey to arrive.

If any prey manages to escape into the territory of the Gooey Dragon, they will not pursue it.

Firstly, they didn't want to provoke the powerful Goomei Dragons.

Secondly, by leaving these refugees a way to survive, more weak elves will come to seek refuge, and we will have more targets to hunt.

This is the wisdom of hunters.

And the sticky dragons tacitly maintained this delicate balance with them.

Although they are willing to help the weak elves, they are not blindly kind; natural selection is the law of nature in the elf world.

Given the food chain, how can they possibly stand up and stop it?

Moreover, if too many elves come in, their own lives won't be easy.

Thus, in these final, frenzied days, light and darkness, peace and bloodshed coexisted on the land Xia Shen was about to set foot on.

…………

"Ow—"

Garchomp roared, scaring away the Murkrows that were circling in the sky with ill intentions.

The leader of the crows looked at the imposing Garchomp, swallowed hard, hesitated for only a second, and then called his brothers to change targets.

It's true that there are many crows, but that depends on who the opponent is.

Thus, Garchomp carried Xia Shen through the last line of defense leading into Goodra's territory.

Xia Shen arrived early, and all he could see were snail shells; there wasn't a single diligent, early-rising sticky dragon.

There were a few scattered Pokémon like Aipom, Patchles, and Parasect busy picking fruit from the berry trees.

The Goomy Dragon clan doesn't support them for nothing. They leave tasks that the Goomy Dragons are too lazy to do to the elves they protect, so they can sleep a little longer.

At that moment, perhaps sensing the presence of Garchomp, the tentacles on the largest snail shell inside the sleeping snail shell suddenly swayed a few times in the wind.

Then, the Goodra leader emerged from its shell and warily eyed the Garchomp slowly descending from the sky.

He did not rush to wake up the tribespeople around him.

Although this Garchomp, which was slightly larger than himself, had a unique aura, the leader of the Grimm could sense from its aura that its strength was actually not as great as his own.

Even so, given his strength, he could certainly live well during this special period, so he definitely wouldn't be seeking refuge here.

So, what is he here for?

A figure leaped down from Garchomp, providing the answer to the Goodra leader.

"Long time no see, Nian Meilong," Xia Shen greeted his old friend with a grin.

"Sticky—" The sticky dragon leader responded to Xia Shen with a hint of surprise.

The lives of the sticky dragons were extremely boring, and of course he remembered the person who had visited his family group half a year ago and made a deal with him.

Although he took away a piece of steel that would last him a long time, the man was not greedy and was quite sensible.

Moreover, the stones containing dragon energy that he exchanged with him were very useful, so the Goomy Dragon leader did not dislike him.

…………

Before communicating with the Pokémon as usual, Xia Shen summoned Zoroark, took out several Dragon Gems of quite good quality, and directly revealed his purpose to the Goomy Dragon leader.

"This one, replace it with steel."

A thousand words are not as good as tangible benefits, so Xia Shen directly requested a deal, without talking about feelings with Zhan Meilong, since such a thing didn't exist between them.

The leader of the sticky dragons was also quite knowledgeable. He took each one and licked it, as if appreciating its quality, and nodded in satisfaction.

"sticky--"

[He said that this quality could be exchanged for one of the largest steel stones you had last time.]

Xia Shen did not hesitate and reached a deal.

If left out in the open, the actual value of a Dragon Gem is definitely not as high as that of a priceless Steel Stone.

However, scarcity increases value, and for the Golem Dragons, the reserves of steel are astonishing.

Even the rocks near that mine would inexplicably transform into steel every so often.

Therefore, the more difficult-to-obtain Dragon Gems are actually more attractive to them.

Having readily reached an agreement without disturbing the tribespeople still sleeping peacefully inside their shells, Chief Nianmeilong led Xia Shen and the others back into the steel mine.

……

After half a year, the number of stones in the steel mine has not decreased, but rather seems to have increased.

This unusual situation left Xia Shen completely baffled... Could this steel stone also have the properties of being exploited?

He turned to the leader of the Nianmei Dragon Clan and asked, "Have you noticed that there's more and more steel here?"

The leader of the sticky dragon shook his head indifferently and gave a perfunctory reply.

For their community, even if the number of people has increased, isn't that a good thing?

Seeing this, Xia Shen didn't interfere much. He looked around the mine and set his sights on the steel stone in the very center, which was as tall as himself.

Having chosen his target and greeted the leader of the Gluttonous Dragon, Xia Shen rode his Garchomp and flew over.

I walked for a long time on this ground covered with hard steel stones, and my feet were almost blistered.

Now that he has Garchomp, he definitely doesn't want to suffer that pain again.

With the speed of a Garchomp, Xia Shen landed smoothly in just a few seconds.

With a thought, he placed his hand on the stone, and the enormous steel stone vanished from sight and reappeared in the Arceus space.

"Easily done," Xia Shen clapped his hands and prepared to retreat.

But the Garchomp next to him suddenly seemed to be acting strangely.

…………

A faint golden light first appeared on Garchomp's body.

Then, the light continued to shine, quickly enveloping his tall body.

In a matter of seconds, Garchomp transformed into a giant ball of light.

The incident happened so suddenly that Xia Shen didn't even have time to react.

His mind was blank when something even more unbelievable happened.

Beneath their feet, in this sea of ​​steel and stone, countless tiny fragments of steel and stone seemed to suddenly come alive, beginning to tremble and move.

Then, just like Moses parting the Red Sea in a previous myth, the steel stones were separated into two sides by a mysterious force, revealing the land beneath.

Xia Shen and Garchomp were in the gap where the Steel Stones separated, and they fell to the ground as a result.

The slight pain jolted Xia Shen out of his daze, finally giving him time to think about the current situation.

Clearly, the trigger for the anomaly was Garchomp. But he was right there when I came last time, and this didn't happen.

So, six months have passed, what has changed?

The answer immediately came to Xia Shen's mind: besides evolution, it was naturally... the Dragon Slab!