Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

This is true at least among the top six substitutes on the school team's points leaderboard.

Although everyone is a professional third-dan trainer, there are still differences in skill level.

Zhang Zijun's Emperor Naboo and Golem both possess the strength of a professional fourth-dan, with the initial spirit Emperor Naboo even approaching the strength of a professional fifth-dan.

In comparison, Nan Tong only has one Sweet and Cold Beauty Queen who has just reached the fourth rank.

Although Grass-type moves are strong against Water-type moves, Water/Steel and Water/Bug types just happen to neutralize the disadvantage of Grass-type moves.

As a result, Nan Tong, whose strength was inferior to Zhang Zijun's, lost the game without any suspense.

The second match was between Yu Mo, who was ranked second in the standings, and Xia Shen, who was ranked fifth.

The long-awaited match was finally about to begin, and the Zhijiang school team members, who were already focused on watching the game from the sidelines, became even more serious.

They were eager to know how this "senior" from their year would fare when facing a truly formidable opponent.

…………

Since it was an intra-team battle, there weren't many rules. Xia Shen and Yu Mo stood on opposite sides, and the battle began.

Two flashes of white light appeared, and the two spirits made their appearance.

Xia Shen unusually sent out Togekiss as his first Pokémon, and his choice was not wrong, because the Pokémon that appeared on the opponent's field was none other than Arcanine.

As soon as Arcanine appeared, it unleashed a ferocious energy aura towards the opposing team, and a purple light immediately appeared on Togekiss's body.

Arcanine's Intimidate ability triggered, causing Togekiss's Attack stat to drop by one stage.

Over the course of two months, Xia Shen had sparred with the senior students ranked ahead of him quite a few times, so he naturally knew that his opponents had an Arcanine with the Intimidate ability.

Xia Shen didn't have any counter-intimidation abilities, so he could only use Togekiss, which doesn't require physical attack capabilities, to block.

"Growl, roar loudly!"

Yu Mo was not surprised by Xia Shen's starting Pokémon and immediately had Arcanine use Roar in an attempt to weaken Togekiss's special attack.

He was not afraid of Tokis interrupting him with an air slash.

Now everyone on the school team has figured it out: if Togekiss wants to be 100% afraid, the charge time for Air Slash will be very long.

Xia Shen did not let Togekiss use Air Slash, but instead recalled Togekiss and replaced it with Garchomp.

…………

Arcanine is the opponent's starter Pokémon and has the strength of a professional level 4.

Putting aside Goodra, the only one in the team who can rival him is Garchomp.

Using the time difference during the transition, Garchomp dodged Arcanine's loud roar and charged straight at Arcanine as soon as it entered the field.

Since there were no means of leaving the field like Shadow Step or Black Gaze, Xia Shen had Garchomp's physical body remain on the field.

Given his attribute advantage, he certainly wouldn't let Arcanine leave the field so easily.

But Yu Mo didn't dare to switch opponents. Of his remaining two Pokémon, neither Turtonator nor Ferrothorn was a good match for Garchomp.

This is why Xia Shen felt that he would have a better chance of winning if he were to face Yu Mo before the match.

Because as long as Garchomp can enter the battle in its normal state without being affected by Intimidate, it will be difficult for the opponent to deal with this Pokémon.

Apart from fairies and ice-type enemies, Garchomp is almost fearless.

However, Yu Mo's three main Pokémon happen to have no way to block him.

Thus, this 3v3 battle evolved into... the duel of the first Pokémon, which was the decisive one.

If Arcanine wins, Yu Mo, with his superior raw strength, can easily defeat both Togekiss and Ubrub.

If they lose, it's not impossible for their opponent to be wiped out by Garchomp.

…………

On the field, facing the Garchomp charging at him, Yu Mo's expression was solemn, and he dared not use any moves casually.

He and this Garchomp were old rivals, and he knew all too well how terrifying its speed was.

In previous battles, he used his sudden bursts of speed to dodge Arcanine's key move, Will-O-Wisp.

Without exception, those times when he missed the will-o'-the-wisp, he ended in failure.

Therefore, he must be extremely cautious when releasing will-o'-the-wisps.

Since Will-O-Wisp is temporarily set aside, this is his only option when facing Garchomp that is actively seeking battle.

"Growlithe, play!"

While Arcanine doesn't know any Ice-type moves that are four times stronger than Garchomp's, it does know Play Rough, the only high-damage physical move of the Fairy type.

If Garchomp were to land such a blow, it wouldn't be any better off.

Garchomp was not intimidated at all, and despite Arcanine's playful antics, it delivered a powerful Earthquake at close range.

With higher base power, plus a damage bonus from its own STAB moves, Garchomp's attack power is even stronger than Arcanine's.

Without a doubt, Arcanine took much more damage in the first round of combat.

After gaining a slight advantage, Garchomp did not linger. Instead, it leaped into the air and soared into the sky, widening the distance between itself and Arcanine.

Yu Mo sighed helplessly, swallowing back the word "ghost fire" that was about to slip out.

Fortunately, Garchomp couldn't use Earthquake from the air, so the two Pokémon began a tug-of-war between ranged attacks.

A scorching jet of flame shot into the sky from the ground, only to be steadily caught by the dragon breath from Garchomp's mouth in the sky.

Flame Pillar and Dragon Breath faced off, and after a stalemate, Arcanine, with its stronger Special Attack, ultimately gained the upper hand, and the Flame Wave overwhelmed the Dragon Breath.

Seeing that Garchomp was about to be defeated in the wave-pumping battle, Xia Shen simply gave up on this battlefield.

[No need for dragon breath, let's charge straight in!]

As soon as the telepathic message arrived, the dragon breath from Garchomp's mouth was completely extinguished.

Unimpeded, the jet of flame, like a bloodthirsty fire dragon, instantly engulfed the Garchomp that had failed to counter the attack in the sky.

…………

Yu Mo, who had the upper hand in the second round of the battle, did not relax at all.

He knew that for Garchomp, which was resistant to Fire-type attacks, this Flamethrower wouldn't even seriously injure him.

The key to victory lies in how to effectively utilize the will-o'-the-wisps in the upcoming battles.

He frowned in thought, completely unaware of the fire dragon that stretched from the mouth of the Growlithe into the air.

Garchomp is diving towards us against the flames!

When Yu Mo was awakened by the exclamations from the audience, he discovered that Garchomp had somehow already rushed in front of Arcanine.

Yu Mo was stunned and didn't react for a moment, so he commanded Arcanine to counterattack.

What's going on? Wasn't Garchomp just getting beaten up? If it had broken free from its Flamethrower, Arcanine should have noticed...

However, Arcanine was no less surprised than its trainer.

He was confident in his mastery of flames, and he was absolutely certain that the jet of flames had been scorching Garchomp the whole time.

So he was so focused on increasing his firepower that he never expected Garchomp to put itself in the fire and charge straight down.

So by the time he realized what was happening, a dark green dragon claw phantom had already appeared in front of Arcanine's eyes and slashed down fiercely.

……

"Arcanine, Will-O-Wisp!"

Yu Mo finally came to his senses, temporarily ignoring how Garchomp appeared, and seized the opportunity created by his opponent to launch a swift counterattack.

At this moment, the two elves were almost touching, closer than ever before.

Even though Arcanine has taken a lot of damage, as long as Will-O-Wisp hits, it will be the start of its counterattack.

Arcanine whimpered, enduring the excruciating pain from the dragon claws, and spewed out Will-o'-the-Wisp from its mouth, drifting towards the Garchomp that was right next to it.

Then... he was stopped by a transparent barrier, and Yu Mo's heart sank.

Without a doubt, Xia Shen had already planned everything when Garchomp charged.

After the dragon claw, there is seamless protection, and then... it must be digging a hole.

As expected, after using Protect, Garchomp immediately used Dig to burrow underground and wait for an opportunity to strike.

Yu Mo felt a bit numb. After this series of actions, exchanging damage with Flame Throw and Dragon Claw, he had already suffered a huge loss, while his opponent had successfully predicted and blocked the Ghost Fire.

What's even more outrageous is that Garchomp has now seized the initiative by digging, while Arcanine doesn't have Earthquake...

Helpless, Yu Mo had no choice but to recall the Arcanine and replace it with the Nut and Dumbbell for zone defense.

Let's try to find a way to circumvent the situation. Maybe if Arcanine comes out and intimidates us again, we'll still have a chance?

Just as he had this thought, he saw that after Garchomp dug a hole, it didn't attack the Nutcracker, but instead ran to the other side of the field and emerged... using Swords Dance.

…………

Although Yu Mo had guessed that switching to Nuts Dumbbells would lead to this result, he still cursed inwardly, "Damn it!"

Helpless, he had no choice but to switch to Arcanine again, even though this move would make him look stupid.

If they don't switch, Yu Mo thinks Xia Shen will let Garchomp take the pitiful special attack damage from the Ferrothorn and keep dancing with swords until the end of time.

If you want to hit him with physical moves, given the speed of the nut dumbbell, even if you keep using Gyro Ball to travel, by the time you arrive at that location, Garchomp will probably have already finished its Swords Dance and be sharpening its claws, waiting for you.

The optimal solution is still to switch to Growlithe and Intimidate.

This way, the effect of sword dance can at least be reduced.

……

On the battlefield, Arcanine reappeared, activating its Intimidate ability. Garchomp, though on the other side of the field, was still affected.

However, Xia Shen didn't care at all, because the next second, Garchomp's Sword Dance was completed!

[One more time, swift sword dance!]

With Arcanine still far away and Garchomp in good condition, Xia Shen decided to go all out.

In this way, Garchomp can completely disregard the threat of Will-O-Wisp and unleash its full damage potential.

On the field, Garchomp, its body glowing with orange light, danced once more under Yu Mo's astonished yet angry gaze.