Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

Xia Shen keenly sensed that his opponent seemed to be watching him thoughtfully the whole time.

He frowned slightly, but didn't think much of it.

After becoming famous, he saw far too many of those kinds of looks.

Without thinking too much about it, the referee gave a slight nod, and the match officially began.

A flash of white light, and the starting Pokémon of both sides appeared on the field.

Their appearance drew gasps from the audience, as the two immediately unleashed their trump card, the Pokémon.

Salamence, and Garchomp!

As soon as it appeared, Salamence unleashed a terrifying Dark-type energy that assaulted the Garchomp on the opposite side.

Instantly, a purple aura appeared on Garchomp's body, indicating a decrease in its attack power.

As viewers who have followed along know, Jiangshan's Salamence's ability is not [Overconfidence], but [Intimidate].

It's not easy to directly compare which one is better or worse.

However, when facing opponents weaker than oneself, defeating one enemy can boost the confidence of attacking, allowing Salamence to become increasingly powerful and snowball into a team victory.

However, Jiangshan's Salamence does not have this characteristic, but it still relies on its superb strength and excellent endurance to repeatedly defeat three opponents in battle.

His terrifying strength is evident.

…………

Two pseudo-legendary Dragon-type Pokémon stood on either side of the field, neither roaring nor showing any defiance.

That's a sign of the weak fearing the strong.

True apex predators, like them, will only stand coldly in confrontation before launching an attack.

Although the two are vastly different in size, the aura of the Salamence is in no way weaker than that of the Garchomp, which is twice its size.

Salamence's base color is a blue similar to the sky, which is lighter than Garchomp's sea blue.

Its head, neck, limbs, tail, and most notably its wings are a vibrant red.

At this moment, the pair of scarlet wings on his back, which looked as if they were stained with blood, were raised high, as if ready to suddenly burst out and deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.

In the suffocating stillness, the wind stirred.

With a single flap of its blood-red wings, the Salamence stirred up gusts of wind, and its form suddenly sprang into motion.

Countless tiny pebbles and dust swirled in the air on the rocky ground, seemingly bidding farewell to this king of the sky.

The Salamence's sharp gaze and terrifying aura were fixed on Garchomp, which remained motionless in place.

In an instant, Salamence, already in mid-air, saw its aura rise steadily, and Dragon-type energy rapidly circulated within its body.

At the same time, he did not stop flying and swooped down at extreme speed toward the Garchomp on the ground.

This is one of the strongest moves of Dragon-type Pokémon: Dragon Dive!

Salamence's initial burst speed is already extremely fast, but during the dive phase, its speed can become even faster as its momentum increases!

As it flew so close to the audience's eyes, several afterimages of the Salamence even appeared.

His body was completely enveloped by the overflowing orange-red dragon energy, like a shooting star that flashed across the sky.

In less than two seconds, Salamence completed a series of actions from standing still to charging in front of Garchomp!

Keep in mind that there's a distance of over thirty meters between the two!

Not to mention that the Salamence also has the task of condensing its internal energy.

Gazing at the massive orange-red ball of light on the field, tens of millions of spectators were all in awe...

So this is Salamence's true power?

Without a doubt, this level of skill is definitely not at the professional fifth dan level.

Jiangshan's ace Salamence is definitely a professional rank 6 Pokémon!

And it wasn't even the stage immediately following a promotion.

Seven years later, a professional sixth-dan Pokémon has appeared on the national stage!

The last time it appeared was Yan Yu's Dorambaruto!

Going back further, all those who displayed such strength on the national stage were trainers who became elite-level trainers before the age of forty!

Everyone knew Jiang Shan was strong, but no one expected him to be this strong.

So, can Xia Shen and his Garchomp withstand such a powerful dragon dive?

…………

Despite the aggressive onslaught of its opponent, Garchomp remained unmoved, still gathering power for some move.

Judging from the way energy flows and is released, it seems... to be a variation-type move?

What are Garchomp's variant moves?

Sword dance? Sandstorm?

But they don't look like it at all.

Finally, Garchomp unleashed its attack, a terrifying wave shaped like a ghost face, striking the charging Salamence.

Even the Salamence, enveloped in overflowing energy, was startled by the sudden appearance of the ghostly face.

At the same time, the speed also decreased instantly and visibly.

This is a Normal-type variation move, Oni Mask?

Can Garchomp learn this move?

Could it be that Xia Shen's starting Pokémon isn't Garchomp, but... Zoroark?

Just as the audience was confused, Salamence's body crashed into Garchomp.

As the wisps of smoke dissipated, the massive Garchomp disappeared from the field.

Instead, it was none other than the purple-haired fox demon, Zoroark!

Zoroark, now in his true form, clutched his chest with one hand, his expression one of great pain, and he did not appear to be in good condition.

This is not surprising. It would be truly astonishing if Zoroark, whose strength is far inferior and whose durability is extremely poor, could withstand that Dragon Dive.

But... why did Xia Shen start with this Zoroark, and why is he using Oni Mask?

Is it simply to prevent Garchomp from being intimidated?

No one knew what Xia Shen was thinking. Even Jiang Shan was quite surprised that this Garchomp was a Zoroark illusion.

Because this makes absolutely no sense!

None of my Pokémon have any Fighting or Ghost-type moves that are easy to use, so I just want to put a Ghost Mask on my Salamence to slow it down?

Jiang Shan frowned slightly, but he had no clue what to do at the moment, so he stopped thinking about it.

"Salamander, Dragon Dance!"

He wasn't in a hurry to deal with the Zoroark; what was the point of bothering with a Pokémon that posed no threat to Salamence?

The longer she stays on the field, the happier she becomes. With a few more buffs to Dragon Dance, Salamence can sweep the team without restraint.

However, Zoroark immediately followed up with a provocation, interrupting Salamence's Dragon Dance and thwarting Zoroark's plan to directly strengthen its sweeping team.

…………

At this moment, Jiang Shan finally began to vaguely sense that something was amiss.

Based on past match footage, Xia Shen's Zoroark is a high-speed double-blade player.

Her forte is revenge, supernatural powers, shadow attacks, and evil fluctuations.

But now, has this playstyle been changed to that of a support player?

There's no need to guess who the core is; who else could it be but Garchomp?

Jiang Shan's unease made him change his mind. He couldn't let this Zoroark live; who knew what other tricks she might pull out to make him faint?

"Salamander, Crunch!"

The two were extremely close. Although Salamence was affected by Grimmask and its speed was reduced significantly, it still easily bit Zoroark in front of it.

Instead of dodging Salamence's sharp teeth, which were stained with the Dark-type energy it hated most, Zoroark endured the excruciating pain and unleashed its next move.

Psychic-type move: Trick!

Using a magical ability, one can exchange the spirit items carried by oneself and the enemy.

Because the two are almost at zero distance, this move can be completed with little effort.

Soon, Salamence, which was fiercely tearing at Zoroark, sensed that something was wrong with its body.

A burning pain came from inside my body.

This feeling was something he, a veteran of countless battles, could never have experienced before.

Abnormal condition: Burn!

The Salamence unconsciously released its mouth, bewildered as it pondered why it had been burned.

He looked at Zoroark, who had just escaped his bite and was panting heavily.

Only then did they realize that their opponent also seemed to be suffering from burns.

He was even more confused.

Neither Dragon's Dive nor Crunch had any recall of inflicting a burning effect...

Wait... He looked down at the spot on his neck where the top-grade dragon tooth used to be, which was now replaced by a flaming orb radiating intense heat, and seemed to understand something.

…………

Jiang Shan sighed in exasperation. What he feared most had come to pass. He truly hadn't expected that Xia Shen, who was always upright and honest, could pull off such a bizarre stunt.

Uh... although it seems like he's actually quite fair in his matches.

But I've never seen him do such a high-class, ruthless job before!

Not only does the Demon Mask slow down your Pokémon, but it also has no Will-o'-the-Wisp and can use Trick to exchange items, forcibly burning its own Salamence!