Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

The overall improvement in offensive and defensive capabilities is a real and tangible enhancement.

The improvement was so significant that a level 53 Pokémon could now engage in close combat with a level 70 or higher Bisharp.

He was still very curious whether ordinary Pokémon could improve by this much.

…………

"Let's not even talk about Mawile's Mega Evolution... Even now, it's questionable whether she could beat a regular professional level 9 Pokémon before her Mega Evolution."

Kane pondered for a moment and said, "Because your case of Mega Evolving before reaching the fifth rank of your class is too special, there is no parallel reference. But generally speaking, in terms of the improvement of various abilities, a seventh-rank Pokémon after Mega Evolving can probably be compared with a Pokémon that barely passed the eighth-rank exam."

Kane's words surprised Xia Shen. Was it only enough to advance one level?

How could my Garchomp's upgrade be so terrifying?

Kane seemed to sense Xia Shen's confusion and added, "Of course, I'm talking about the average level. Some improve more, and some improve less. Generally speaking, a Pokémon that improves more means it has more room for improvement, or what's called a high ceiling. But someone like your Garchomp... I've never heard of such a thing."

Xia Shen silently lowered his head and pondered, "So there's such a saying?"

It appears that the effect was caused by the pure Dragon-type energy that Garchomp absorbed from the Dragon Slate during its evolution.

Perhaps it is also related to the Dragon Stone being attached to Garchomp.

Although after possession... the stone slab had no presence at all, as if it had disappeared.

But since it exists in Garchomp, it must have some subtle influence.

Perhaps... Garchomp's ability to Mega Evolve before reaching Pro Rank 7, and its inexplicable departure from its Mega Evolution form, are also related to this?

Xia Shen was confused.

But all things considered, it's a good thing at the moment.

------

When the two Pokémon's injuries had been mostly healed, Zoroark, who was at home cooking for his parents, came out to call them in for dinner.

After working for a while, Xia Shen and Kane were quite hungry, so they stopped their conversation and led the elves into the house.

Although his parents' cooking skills were only at the level of ordinary home-cooked dishes, they still made Kane, who had been living in a food wasteland and food hell for a long time, praise them highly and boast about eating three big bowls of rice.

The first layer of desert is Britain, and the second layer of hell is the research institute.

With these two buffs stacked together, even Snorlax wouldn't eat that food!

As a result, his elves also had an amazing appetite. His parents, after eating half of their meal, realized they hadn't prepared enough and hurriedly went back to the kitchen to cook more.

After the meal, Kane felt a little embarrassed, so he gave Xia Shen three VIP tickets to the [Regischiru] title fight as a thank you gift.

After that, he took his leave and headed to Nandu.

The title battle begins tomorrow.

……

After finishing the launch ceremony of Emerald Island, moving, and the Mega Evolution of Garchomp, the seven-day holiday is almost halfway over.

It wasn't until the next three days that Xia Shen truly entered vacation mode.

Inviting Zhou Yuanyuan, Jiang Chuan, and Brother Yu to dinner at the new house...

Going on a date with Yan Yan—a meal, a movie, and shopping—not the kind of date where we train in a different place...

Together with Yan Yan, they had their respective key stones made into matching necklaces...

Returning home in triumph, I strolled around Zhijiang Middle School and gave Teacher Ye and Brother Afu a hard time...

Yes, Xia Shen's current strength is enough to accomplish this, something he had thought about for a long time back then.

Busy with teaching, Teacher Ye's skills haven't improved much, and she's still stuck at the professional third dan level.

That's understandable, though; truly talented trainers wouldn't teach in high schools...

In short, the second three days of the holiday were spent in these trivial but happy little things.

On the last day, Xia Shen and Yan Yan arrived in Nandu to watch the final of the [Registrar] title match.

After Xia Shen finished reading, she was able to catch a flight back to Chongqing, demonstrating her excellent time management skills.

…………

One of the two finalists is an acquaintance of Xia Shen, Kane, who had just had dinner at his house a few days ago.

The other one is Xu Yanghua, a veteran professional 9-dan player from China.

Judging from his name, he must be a middle-aged man who is at least over forty.

Kane, on the other hand, was a full twelve years younger than him, a year shy of thirty.

She can be considered a shining new star that suddenly appeared in the world this year.

That's right, someone under thirty can still be considered a rising star.

Before Xia Shen, who was under eighteen, there had been virtually no one of his age who had received so much attention from the world.

The reason why Xia Shen is attracting so much attention is mainly due to the discovery of each unique Emerald-themed sprite.

Let's get back to Kane.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but after Xia Shen discovered the Crown Snowfield in the British Secret Realm, Kane, who originally spent his days "staying at home" in the Secret Realm, began to gradually become active in major professional competitions around the world.

With his wild, almost savage fighting style and formidable strength, he quickly rose to fame.

In less than a year, he earned enough qualifying points for the title match, which was the highly competitive Steel Pillars title match.

—After all, steel is a popular attribute.

Of course, this is a popular attribute among the wealthy, as many of the foods that Steel-type Pokémon eat are unaffordable for ordinary trainers.

In short, in this incredibly intense title match, the young British man and the middle-aged Chinese man fought their way to the finals.

The overall quality of the competition is among the best in recent years for a title match.

The only competition more intense than the Steel Masters Tournament is between the two most popular elemental types: Water and Fire.

……

In this battle between the old and the young, Kane, the young man, ultimately won by overpowering the veteran with his haphazard punches.

It's said that a novice can defeat a master with a flurry of punches, but there are still tactics and strategies involved.

In the end, Kane, relying on the Trick Room of the Bronze Bell, defeated Xu Yanghua's Mega Metagross in the Ace Showdown.

He won the Steel Titan title with a crushing score of 6:5, and was promoted to Master Trainer.

At the same time, he also joined the "Master Trainers Under 30 Club".

To put it simply, in this virtual club, every member can be described as having the "appearance of a champion."

In recent years, only Li Xiang and Yan Yu have shown the potential to be champions in China.

The former is already the Steel-type Elite Four member and is preparing for this year's once-every-six-years Championship Challenge.

The four kings take turns fighting, and only the one with the highest score is qualified to challenge for the championship.

The victor will naturally be crowned king.

The Champion Challenge is a ratings powerhouse in Pokémon battle competitions, rivaled only by the World Cup.

Compared to Li Xiang, who is nearly forty and already vying for the championship, Yan Yu is much younger.

At 28 years old, she is still far from being a champion, but she has already set her sights on being a superstar.

She recently set a small goal: to succeed a senior before she turns thirty and become the youngest superstar in Chinese history.

Then, just in time for the championship challenge six years later, he became the youngest champion in China.

Xia Shen also has a small goal: to snatch Yan Yu away in the next championship challenge.

Not only do we need to break all her newly broken records, but we also need to defeat her and take the championship.

That sounds pretty exciting, isn't this also a kind of minotaur...?

Of course, the premise of this small goal is that I need to go from being an amateur trainer to an elite trainer within six years.

…………

After the competition, Xia Shen, who was full of lofty ideals, had a celebratory lunch with Yan Yan and Kane, and then parted ways with his girlfriend at the airport.

The flight arrived at Qiyaoshan around 2 PM, and it was already late afternoon.

Using the excuse that "I've been eating too well these past few days, so I'll have something light tonight," Xia Shen, who hadn't cooked for a week and was too lazy to cook, didn't cook tonight and instead made do with energy cubes.

The elves originally wanted to protest, but Xia Shen, determined not to cook, grabbed a handful of energy cubes from the table and started eating them with relish.

What else can they say?

I had no choice but to eat the Energy Cubes, which tasted good but lacked the soul of handmade food, for dinner.

Because tomorrow is the first day after the holiday, in order to alleviate the symptoms of "holiday syndrome", Xia Shen did not do his usual training after dinner.

After watching two movies with the elves in the living room, Xia Shen took them upstairs to sleep.

After they went upstairs, they turned off the lights, leaving only the moonlight illuminating the first floor.

A slight noise suddenly came from under the sofa in the living room.

Then, a tiny sprite emerged from the crack.

Under the soft moonlight, the elf's small body reflected a metallic sheen.

Her liquid-like lower body transformed into two short legs, and she ran quickly toward the restaurant.

Then, incredibly, it climbed onto the dining table at a 90-degree angle.

The liquid from its lower body transformed into two tiny hands, which picked up and ate the steel fragments that the elves had just dropped from the dining table.

In the head, which resembles a screw cap, a small, pearl-like eye blinks incessantly, curving into a crescent shape.

Despite having only one set of facial features, it vividly expresses an expression of happiness.

It only stopped, satisfied, after sweeping away all the steel filings on the table.

It rested against the plate for a while, then scurried back under the sofa and disappeared into the darkness.

Moonlight still streamed into the living room through the glass doors and windows.

Everything returned to calm.