Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

Although Xia Shen couldn't see his eyes beneath his thick bangs, he could sense the longing in his eyes.

I don't know if it's out of friendship with the three boys, or envy that they can eat so much right now.

Considering that he had eaten just two hours ago, Xia Shen felt that the former was more likely.

Xia Shen chatted with him on the way to find the Thundercloud; Growlithe is not a native of Windward Forest.

In a sense, he was a lone traveler. When he met Xia Shen, although he could barely be considered a leader of an elven group, it was entirely out of self-interest.

In a place that could only be described as a famine, friends are a luxury.

Now, perhaps having solved their basic survival needs, they are now seeking higher emotional fulfillment.

Or perhaps Rowlet once again unleashed his inexplicable, damnable charm.

In short, Growlithe's heart... no, deep within Growlithe's heart, a strange flutter of excitement welled up.

……

"Come and eat some more with me, I made too much."

The gentle voice soothed the Growlithe's heart like a spring breeze.

He looked up and saw, through the thick bangs, a man's face beaming with an irresistible smile.

"Woof..."

Despite not being hungry at all, Growlithe involuntarily ran towards Xia Shen's direction.

"Cuckoo..."

Startled by the commotion behind him, Owl instinctively spread his wings to protect his breakfast in front of him.

Seeing that it was a new friend who had just run over, Rowlet hesitated for a moment, then spread its wings and handed over the energy cube in front of it.

This was already the highest level of courtesy he could show to other elves.

The Growlithe whimpered twice and then stuck out its long tongue.

Instead of eating, he licks the Woodowlet in front of him, which is also his way of showing affection to his friends.

Rowlet was being licked like this for the first time, and couldn't help but shiver. It pushed Growlithe away in disgust, but accidentally knocked over Meltan's plate.

In an instant, screws fell to the ground.

"Beautiful!"

Meltan was furious. He put his hands on his hips and scolded Owl, who had done something wrong but was looking at him with an innocent expression.

No elf can disturb me while I'm eating, not even my best friend!

Consequently, the Growlithe, the direct culprit, was also drawn into this conflict.

The three Pokémon started playing around instead of eating, while the Eagle took the opportunity to eat a lot, directly overtaking Rowlet and Meltan, who were originally far ahead in the food-eating contest.

However, despite winning the game, he had no idea what he had actually lost...

Over there, the three Pokémon, after being persuaded by Goodra who had rushed over, reconciled and started a new round of rice-eating contest.

Watching the Growlithe happily munching on its Energy Cubes, Xia Shen couldn't help but smile like an aunt.

Rowlet Meltan, you guys did a great job!

------

The next day, in the secluded paradise of Xicui.

Xia Shen looked up at the orange sun that had just risen above the sea and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Damn it, it's only been a day since I left, and the temperature has already risen by at least two or three degrees since I left.

Oh no, have I become a prophet?

If this continues, what I told Lei Dianyun yesterday could very well come true!

Summoning Garchomp, he sensed something was wrong, being more sensitive to temperature, and let out a low growl.

Xia Shen said worriedly, "Let's hurry up and leave, Garchomp. We need to resolve this quickly, otherwise the Pokémon will really die from the heat..."

"Roar--"

Garchomp nodded. Although he had settled in Xia Shen's world, Xicui was still his birthplace.

The fate of the jade-like creatures rests on the shark's shoulders!

When Xia Shen left last night, he randomly chose a small island near the habitat of lightning clouds.

So today, Xia Shen found the cyclone cloud in the Gyarados group without much effort.

Lei Dianyun certainly wouldn't go back on his word about the favor he'd promised to do just yesterday.

Doing what you say is one thing, but on the other hand, feeling the significant rise in temperature, Lei Dianyun, who had initially believed about 80% of what Xia Shen said, now believed it without a doubt.

If things continue like this, the Azure Coast will become the end of the world.

Without further ado, Thundercloud and Xia Shen, riding on Garchomp, flew towards the source of the heat, towards Fire Island.

…………

[Yukeshi, didn't you call for reinforcements? When are your two sisters coming?]

The closer Xia Shen got to Fire Island, the more uneasy he felt, as if the temperature on his skin was about to melt. He hurriedly asked when the reinforcements from Kexi would arrive.

[Don't rush, don't rush, let me ask.]

Although Xia Shen didn't know how Uxie contacted Memrigold and the others, it was a Psychic-type legendary Pokémon; back when spacetime was distorted, it could teleport him from Lake Wisdom to the foot of Mount Coronet...

Telepathy over a distance shouldn't be a problem.

[They're here, they're on their way.]

This answer... coupled with the previous "Don't rush," gives me a bad feeling.

[Let's not wait for them! I can sense an aura growing stronger ahead. Let's hurry over there!]

Lei Dianyun interrupted Xia Shen and You Kexi's chat, his tone serious.

At the same time, his body shape was constantly changing; the clouds on his lower body disappeared, and the kiss on his face became more prominent.

The entire spirit transformed from a humanoid form into a dragon-like spirit beast form.

[Stop sitting in your beat-up Garchomp, get on top, let me show you real speed!]

[......]

Thankfully, Garchomp wasn't in the telepathic chat group, otherwise, the proud Garchomp would have sulked after hearing this.

Because of this, he simply couldn't refute it...

…………

Under the pretext of letting him rest for a while, Xia Shen jumped onto the Thundurus next to him and then returned Garchomp to its ball.

Xia Shen thus achieved a new accomplishment: experiencing riding a mythical beast for the first time.

It looks almost identical to my Garchomp, except the seating area seems a bit smaller.

Complaining about his first experience riding a divine beast, Xia Shen reached out and gently touched the randomly distributed purple spots on the lightning cloud's azure body.

[Hey, don't touch me! Hold on tight, I'm about to sprint!]

Humans, being above spirits, are forced to bow their heads.

We still have to give face to the mythical beast.

Xia Shen sat obediently, crossing his arms in front of his lightning-cloud-like body.

"Ready? Let's go... Aaaaaah!"

Before Xia Shen could finish speaking, the lightning cloud beneath him suddenly activated, and the sudden acceleration almost threw him off the dragon's back.

Even without a seat back, the air behind him was enough for Xia Shen to experience what it meant to feel a push-back sensation.

The scenery before my eyes changes at a speed probably ten times faster than when I was sitting on Garchomp!

Maybe... it really could surpass the speed of sound!

In the midst of the washing of greenery, Xia Shen could hardly imagine how his body would have been damaged without protective measures in the real world.

But the sound of the wind blasting, the feeling of speed... it was so exhilarating!

This is true romance for men!

I'm sorry, Garchomp, but riding Thundurus was so much fun... I can't go back to that time.

…………

The speed of the lightning clouds is no joke; Xia Shen estimated it would take half an hour to reach Fire Island.

After riding on the lightning cloud, they arrived at their destination in less than three minutes.

A rough estimate suggests it really is ten times faster.

Is this the speed of a mythical beast...?

Before he could even process what was happening, the thunderclouds stopped, and a wave of heat hit him, making Xia Shen exclaim that he couldn't take it anymore.

I felt that even the most perverted sauna I had ever been to in my past life couldn't compare to even a fraction of what was here.

Xia Shen finally understood why Zhu Bei made such a... lewd expression in the game.

With his current physique and the added boost from the Super Jade Washer, even Red Bean was almost sweating profusely, let alone the delicate and frail Miss Pearl.

"Brother Yun, can you please let it rain and cool things down? I really can't stand it."

Xia Shen felt her head was about to spin from the heat, and she hadn't considered that adding water under these circumstances would just turn it into a sauna...

Even the lightning cloud didn't understand this principle. It glanced at Xia Shen, who was almost unbearably hot, nodded, and then used its technique to summon rain.

The speed at which the thundercloud could summon rain was the fastest Xia Shen had ever seen, even faster than the Pokémon in the Elite Four championship that he had watched in videos!

In an instant, dark clouds filled the clear sky over Fire Island.

But something strange happened; the weather, which should have turned into rain, did not change at all.

There wasn't a single raindrop, let alone heavy rain.

Xia Shen's heart skipped a beat.