Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

Because the skill gap between the players was not large, Teacher Yang spoke eloquently: "The advantage of Snivy is that it is a second-stage evolution form, and Grass-type is also effective against Ground-type. Yang Lei's playing style is also very steady. Grassy Terrain, Leech Seed, and Giga Drain often lead opponents to fall into the abyss without them realizing it, like a frog being slowly boiled in water."

"But that doesn't mean Xia Shen has no chance. Think about the Gible from the last match. Xia Shen and Yan Yan are alumni, and their starter Pokémon are both Gible. Their relationship is quite intriguing."

"Therefore, the move that combines Flame Fang and Meteor Shower is something the opponent has to be wary of. Alright, that's all for now, let the match begin."

"As expected, Snivy activated Grassy Terrain as soon as it entered the field, boosting the power of its subsequent Grass-type moves. Gible, on the other hand..."

"He went straight for the meteor shower! This... I have to say Xia Shen's choice was too aggressive. But the moment the Green Vine Snake finished opening the arena, the meteor shower had already crashed down, leaving no room to dodge!"

"Although it was hit by a Meteor Shower at the start and was a bit hurt, the Snivy still has a fighting chance. Grassy Terrain has been opened, and as long as it can recover its health with Leech Seed and Mega Drain, its chances of winning are still quite high."

"As expected, Viper used Leech Seed, but Gible dodged it with Dig. Xia Shen is very clever; he knew that Viper had many ranged attack methods, so he chose to use Dig to get close."

"The Green Vine Serpent has no way to force the Gible out of the ground, so it simply stands still and waits for the enemy to tire itself out, and can also take the opportunity to recover its strength on the grassy ground. You can see that the Gible's dorsal fin exposed above the ground is getting closer and closer to the Green Vine Serpent, and a fierce battle is about to break out!"

"The ground is shifting, it's out! Gible appeared beneath Viper. But Viper was prepared, twisting to dodge Gible's attack and firing a Leech Seed in return..."

"The Leech Seed got dodged again? Gible seemed to have anticipated that it wouldn't be able to hit him, emerging briefly only to disappear back into its burrow without hesitation. This time, it emerged incredibly fast! Its Flame Fang struck the Slug before it could even react!"

"When it rains, it pours. The Green Vine Serpent is also affected by the burning effect of the Flame Fang. It can't run away, so it has no choice but to bite the bullet and fight back."

"Gible made no attempt to dodge Leech Seed, instead forcefully retaliating with its Dragon Claw. The two Pokémon were engaged in a fierce melee! But Snivy seemed to be no match for Gible."

……

"Another Flame Fang strike! Green Vine Serpent falls to the ground, unable to fight. The contestant who advances to the semi-finals is Xia Shen!"

------

Facing an opponent with a relatively fixed fighting style, Xia Shen finished the battle without much effort.

In the next two matches, Lin Li defeated his opponent—a corporate slave who used a Pompeii—relatively easily.

In another match, Su Mei was defeated by Jiang Chuan, the trainer of the Dragonair, and was eliminated.

The matchups for the semifinals are now set:

Xia Shen VS Lin Li

Yan Yan VS Jiang Chuan

This is the second worst fortune for Yan Yan.

Yan Yan's worst luck was naturally drawing Xia Shen.

In battles between the same type of Pokémon, where type advantages and move pools are relatively unpredictable, the battle comes down to the trainer's strategy and the Pokémon's physical attributes.

The two train together every day and know each other well. At present, it is really difficult for Yan Yan to defeat Xia Shen.

If she draws Lin Li, Xia Shen could give her some pointers, since he once defeated Lin Li's strong chicken in the breakout round.

But Jiang Chuan... Xia Shen really couldn't figure out his strength.

In fact, Patch Liz performed very well in that match, but unfortunately, Hakron was immune to electricity, and Patch Liz's attack power was indeed terrible.

This allowed Jiang Chuan to withstand Patchlitz's attacks and defeat him without revealing any of his trump cards beyond his basic skills until the end.

One side has already revealed its hand, while the other side is like the tip of an iceberg on the sea. This kind of battle is difficult for Xia Shen to win even if he draws the right hand.

If Dragonair really has Ice Beam, a move that is extremely effective against Gible, then Yan Yan really has no hope at all.

As for Xia Shen, facing an opponent he had just played against a few days ago, as long as he is still on guard against the double payout from Lizhuangji, his chances of advancing to the finals are very high.

…………

The first match of the semifinals was between Yan Yan and Jiang Chuan.

Because the players and their Pokémon are quite good-looking, coupled with the buzz surrounding Yan Yan's amazing performance in the quarterfinals on the internet.

The Zhijiang Cup, which was originally only well-known locally, has quickly become popular, and its live stream viewership has already ranked among the top in the Pokémon battle category.

……

"I've come here because I've heard so much about it. May I ask if this is the live stream of the strongest Gible?"

"I've come to see my wife!"

"Shut up, you who's calling for your wife. Aren't you afraid her sister Yan Yu will come looking for you on a fire-breathing dragon?"

"Yan Yu is Yan Yan's older sister? Is that true?"

"It's absolutely true, the forum has already exposed it, but the post was censored when the original poster went on to expose their family..."

"Ha, just another second-generation Yan Yu who's been promoted by his family and capital!"

"Where did this sour smell come from? Why didn't you imitate the previous Bug-type Elite Four member who was born a commoner?"

"You mentioned the previous generation yourself. Look at the current master-level trainers, aren't they all made through spending money?"

……

The chat content gradually veered off-topic, but this did not affect the progress of the competition.

As most people predicted before the match, Gible found themselves in trouble from the start.

A first-order form fighting a second-order form, or a non-flying form fighting a flying form, is inherently a very difficult matchup.

Moreover, Jiang Chuan's Amazing Meteor Shower, which he used before defending against Gible, clearly didn't intend to let Dragonair get close enough to fight Gible.

In a combat style that relies on ranged attacks, Gible is no match for Dragonair.

They wanted to rush up and fight to the death, but they couldn't reach the flying dragon at all.

In the end, Dragonair slowly wore down Gible by using basic moves like Tornado and Dragon Breath, and became the first to advance to the finals.

(Please continue reading~)

## Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Final Battle Begins (Please Read On!)

Xia Shen looked at the expressionless girl behind him as he stepped off the stage and comforted her, "It's okay, I'll get revenge for you tonight!"

Yan Yan shook her head. "I'm not angry. I couldn't beat him anyway, but I didn't expect that I couldn't even force him to use his hidden skills."

She said earnestly, "I feel the more deliberate it is, the less surprised I am that he hid the freezing beam. If only I had fought better, you would have been prepared if you encountered that..."

Towards the end, Yan Yan's tone even carried a hint of self-reproach. Xia Shen felt a warmth in his heart and smiled, "Don't worry, I won't play any finals that are too easy!"

Yan Yan rolled her eyes at him. "You can talk to us after you get to the finals!"

……

The second match began, a duel between Xia Shen and Lin Li.

The chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) boy learned from his defeat in the qualifying rounds and played very cautiously, but apart from that... there was nothing else worth mentioning.

Abandoning a well-established combat style is certainly a courageous thing to do.

But if you change simply for the sake of change, that's more foolish than sticking to your own opinions.

In Pokémon battles, Xia Shen felt that sticking to one's own principles was better than going with the flow, even if it meant potentially going down a dead end.

In the end, Xia Shen defeated Lin Li even more easily than in the breakout round.

He walked over and patted the dejected boy on the shoulder.

"This kind of battle doesn't sound like something you would play. Don't forget what you said the other day."

After saying that, Xia Shen turned and left the battlefield.

With this, all the matches before the final have concluded, and Xia Shen and Jiang Chuan have advanced to the final.

------

The organizers scheduled the final at 8 p.m., a prime time slot that is broadcast on television and online platforms.

This also gave the two players, who had been battling all day, ample time to rest, ensuring they could perform at their best in the finals.

Around 7 o'clock, the official live stream reached the top spot in popularity across all platforms.

Clearly, the final round for the baby-level rookie group wasn't that appealing.

What truly ignited the buzz was the arrival of that woman.

…………

Inside the live stream room.

The male commentator's voice was filled with excitement and admiration: "Tonight we are honored to have invited [China's youngest master], Master Yan Yu, who just won the Yan Emperor title in Zhijiang, to our finals!"

"Welcome my idol Yan Yu!" The female commentator chimed in at the opportune moment, introducing the true protagonist of tonight's live stream—Yan Yu.

Yan Yu sat in the center position directly in front of the camera, smiling, and gave a formal greeting: "It's a pleasure to be here at the Zhijiang Cup finals and to enjoy the exciting match with everyone tonight."

The chat messages in the live stream were scrolling wildly, with the vast majority containing keywords such as "goddess," "wife," and "I love you."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the female commentator began to get down to business, "There's still a little time before the match starts, so let's chat for a bit. I'm curious why Master Yan Yu is commentating on a match featuring a newcomer today?"

Yan Yu said softly, "Because Devon Company gave us just too much..."

The atmosphere in the live broadcast room suddenly froze briefly, and the two commentators didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Before the commentator could feel awkward for even half a second, Yan Yu chuckled and said, "Haha, just kidding. Actually, the most important reason for coming here is to commemorate this moment."

The male commentator immediately composed himself and asked curiously, "Oh? What are you commemorating?"

"This is to commemorate my first championship!" Yan Yu said nostalgically.

The female commentator asked in surprise, "Are you talking about the champion of the Zhijiang Cup rookie group?"

Yan Yan nodded. "So after obtaining my first master title, I returned to the place where I started out to encourage the younger generation."

"Then you've come to the right place!" the male commentator laughed. "The level of this year's players is quite good, especially the quarter-final match this afternoon, which featured what can be called the most exciting low-level match of the year."

Yan Yu nodded with a smile, "I watched that match, and Xiao Yan's performance was outstanding."

"Is she really your sister?" The female commentator's voice suddenly became excited.

Seeing the looks from the other two, he said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect Master Yan Yu to actually bring up this issue. I didn't even dare to ask."

Yan Yu smiled and said, "What's there to hide? We're sisters, bound by blood."

"What about those rumors online..." The female commentator was suddenly interrupted. The male commentator coughed twice and said, "We can see that both teams are starting to prepare to enter the arena. Master Yan Yu, what are your thoughts on this match?"

Yan Yu didn't pay attention to this minor incident and analyzed, "Judging from the attributes, Dragon-type is mutually advantageous, and both sides' Pokémon have good attack power, so this should be a wonderful battle of offense."

"Hakuron's advantage lies in the fact that, as a higher-level evolved form, its attack, stamina, and speed are all better than Gible's. Moreover, with its ability to fly, Hakuron can also gain a significant advantage in low-level battles."