Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

…………

The live stream chat exploded with excitement.

"Wow, that play deserves full marks!"

"Another boy who cried wolf! You think I'm hiding in the sand releasing meteor showers? Actually, I'm just waiting for you to reveal your location by praying for rain!"

"That was so awesome! What I hate most in my life is not being able to hit a flying Pokémon during a battle. Just for this one match, I'm a fan of Xia Shen for life!"

Groudon gave it a thumbs up!

…………

Xia Shen was pleased with himself for achieving his goal. Jiang Chuan, on the other hand, was getting anxious.

He knew that he had lost a major advantage in air-to-ground combat, and the balance of power was quietly shifting.

Seeing the Gible charging headlong towards Dragonair, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Dragonair, protect it!"

"Buzz—" The transparent barrier reappeared, but this time the situation was reversed, and it was Hakkar who barely managed to block a Gible's claw attack.

Xia Shen shook his head regretfully, not expecting that his Hakron would also protect him.

However, Xia Shen knows the seven-word mantra "[Protect or not protect]" by heart. If you can protect this time, what about the next move?

He shouted, "Dragon Claw, one more time!"

"Hakron, tail!"

[Dragon Tail]: A Dragon-type physical skill that knocks back the opponent and forces a backup Pokémon to enter the field.

This is a 1v1 match, with no backup Pokémon. But that doesn't matter; all Jiang Chuan wants is the effect of knocking his opponent away.

After enduring a powerful claw attack, the Dragonair finally managed to escape the Gible's attack range using its tail.

The two elves stood a dozen meters apart, neither daring to move rashly, and tacitly panted heavily together.

The intense battle took a toll on both sides' physical strength.

Xia Shen understood that although Hakron's injuries were indeed more serious now, he still had to be extremely cautious and could not afford to be complacent in the slightest.

The frozen beam of light hung over his head like the Sword of Damocles.

At this crucial stage where victory or defeat is at stake, every detail is of paramount importance.

After Gible finished catching its breath, Xia Shen regrouped and launched another attack.

"Gible, let's burrow in and get closer!" Since their opponent has lost the ability to fly, Xia Shen is not going to give up his advantage of being able to burrow underground.

"Hakuron, Ice Beam!" Jiang Chuan's command made Xia Shen raise an eyebrow. Had he still not learned his lesson?

Even though Ice-type moves are four times super effective against it, they don't do much damage when hitting the dorsal fin.

"It's not over yet," Jiang Chuan continued, shouting, "Freeze everything around you, make it thick, so he can't crawl out!"

Xia Shen was surprised; after fighting for so long, he had finally met an opponent who could use moves to change the terrain.

Rain was still falling over the battlefield, and the ground was full of water. The freezing beams containing extremely cold energy easily froze the water into ice.

Seeing that the ground around Hakron was covered with a thick layer of ice, Xia Shen knew that it would be difficult for him to break through from underground.

He said helplessly, "Come on, let's just rush across the ice!"

Although the underground path was blocked, the smooth ice surface allowed Gibles to approach Dragonair at a faster speed!

Gible sharks, born in the pure white permafrost, are naturally adept at controlling their bodies on ice.

He charged forward like an ice skater, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Hakron.

Jiang Chuan was shocked. He couldn't understand why a giblet could run at the speed of an Iron-Faced Ninja.

"Hakuron, save him..." Before he could finish speaking, Gible's sharp claws had already gripped Hakuron's body.

Another dragon claw strike landed squarely!

"Use the dragon tail to knock him away again!" Jiang Chuan commanded anxiously. His opponent's close-quarters combat ability was too strong. If he could create distance again, he might still have a sliver of hope.

"Gible, jump up and use Fire Fang!" Xia Shen was already prepared for the dragon's tail and would not let his opponent escape Gible's attack again.

Gible leaped high, dodging the sweeping tail of Dragonair.

Its scorching, sharp teeth bit down hard on Hakron's slender body.

Without needing Xia Shen's command, the Gible, understanding its trainer's intentions, had already begun charging up Meteor Shower.

The raging dragon-type energy gathered at the jaws, and the orange-red orb of light expanded in Gible's mouth, so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at it.

Finally, amidst Jiang Chuan's despairing gaze and Hakuryu's mournful cry, Gible released its grip and jumped down, leaving the restless energy ball in place.

The next instant, a deafening explosion rang out, and behind Gible, Dragonite lay dead on the ground.

"Hakuron is unable to battle. The winners are Gible and Xia Shen!" As Rotom referee's emotionless, mechanical voice rang out, applause and cheers from the audience resounded throughout the arena, and the final battle finally came to an end.

------

At this moment, the live stream chat exploded with excitement over this thrilling battle.

"Holy crap, holy crap, a meteor shower! Another meteor shower!"

"Coach, I want to learn that move too, it's so cool!"

"The two Gibles even have the exact same smug expression, their trainers must have some kind of relationship!"

"These kinds of one-sided games are boring. The kind of games Yan Yan played this afternoon were much more exciting and intense!"

"If Gible gets hit by just one Ice Beam, it's basically doomed. You call this a one-sided victory? Are you out of your mind?"

"Actually, Hakron played very well, but they still couldn't win. It just shows how terrifying Xia Shen's command is!"

"Aite Qingjing University's Pokémon Battle Department is offering early admissions for genius trainers!"

…………

Inside the live stream room.

Yan Yu looked at Xia Shen, who was cheering and celebrating by raising a Gible on the battlefield, and suddenly remembered her own spirited self from that year. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

"Congratulations to Xia Shen and his Giblets on winning the Zhijiang Cup Rookie Group championship! Thank you both for bringing us such a wonderful match. It was truly an unexpected result! Master Yan Yu, could you give us a brief analysis of this match?"

The male commentator's words brought her back to her senses. Yan Yu paused for a few seconds and said, "Both players performed admirably, and their command was also quite impressive. It's just that Xia Shen seized the few opportunities to change the course of the game."

"The two most crucial points are: first, taking advantage of Hakron's rainmaking ritual to shoot him down from the sky, thus giving myself the means to launch a close-range attack."

"The second one is that battle on the ice. To be honest, I don't understand how that Gible could glide on the ice so skillfully, which gave Jiang Chuan no chance to react."

The male commentator nodded in agreement and continued, "I just saw many netizens discussing whether you taught Yan Yan and Xia Shen their special way of casting Meteor Shower, which is why you have so much confidence in Xia Shen."

Yan Yu frowned slightly and asked in return, "Do you think my elf can open its mouth that wide?"

The male commentator smiled awkwardly, and was about to smooth things over when Yan Yu continued, "Xia Shen is a junior I admire very much. He has a unique understanding of Pokémon battles, and I am sometimes quite inspired by him."

"To prevent you from asking me similar questions again in the future, I'll answer them now in advance."

"In the near future, he will surely bring more surprises to the currently stagnant world of elves. Everyone, please wait and see!"

She smiled and spoke calmly, as if stating a fact.

(Please continue reading~)

## Chapter Forty-Two: Three Rules for the New Home

After the match ended, Xia Shen quickly took Gible to the medical room.

Although the little shark did not suffer much direct damage in this match, the endless digging, the constant tension, and the fast-paced battle left him extremely mentally exhausted.

Xia Shen handed the Gible's Poké Ball to the doctor and went outside to wait.

They happened to run into Jiang Chuan, who was also there for treatment of haloxyfop.

"Congratulations." He looked somewhat downcast after losing the game, no longer as lively as before.

"You played very well too." Xia Shen praised sincerely, this was the most thrilling match he had played since coming to this world.

The boy in front of him sighed, "I thought the level of battles here was just like this, but I never expected there to be such a powerful new trainer as you."

Xia Shen frowned slightly. What did he mean? A defeated opponent was speaking of my hometown from the perspective of a Celestial Dragon.

He couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark: "Then what are you doing here in the Zhijiang Cup? Just to experience the thrill of crushing noobs?"

You come to fish and get eaten by the fish, isn't that embarrassing?

Jiang Chuan understood his deeper meaning, but he didn't bother to argue. He sneered and replied, "Because of family reasons, I will be transferring to Zhijiang Middle School next week. There will be plenty of opportunities to fight again in the future. I hope you won't keep me too bored."

Xia Shen looked at the boy, who no longer concealed his arrogant attitude, and laughed in anger. "Don't come to Zhijiang Middle School. Our little temple can't accommodate a Buddha like you. I suggest you transfer to Zhijiang University Affiliated Middle School. It's more suitable for you there."

There's a chuunibyou (delusional) teenager who's a perfect match for you!

Just as Jiang Chuan was trying to regain some face in the verbal battle, Yan Yan and the others happened to come looking for Xia Shen.

"I knew you'd be in the medical room. Come on, let's go get the award!" Zhou Yuanyuan smiled brightly, as if she were the one who had won the championship.

He put his arm around Xia Shen's shoulder and led her out. Yan Yan glanced deeply at Jiang Chuan, who was left standing there looking sullen, and then turned around and followed.

…………

Because it was a competition for newcomers, the standards weren't high, and there weren't many fancy award ceremonies or the like.

After receiving the trophy and taking a photo with representatives from the municipal government and Devon Company, it was time for the much-anticipated announcement of the champion's prize.

Devon Company is indeed very wealthy. In addition to a 50,000 yuan shopping voucher from Devon Elf Supplies Store, the first prize also includes a Devon latest model amateur-level training puppet worth over 100,000 yuan.

Theoretically speaking, amateur-level Pokémon can be hit with any move they want, and it won't matter how they're attacked.

For a competition that is only at the beginner level, these rewards are already quite generous.

Since she was moving tomorrow, Xia Shen filled in the new address and scheduled delivery for tomorrow night.

This way, you can train in your yard during your free time after meals.

After declining interviews from several reporters, Xia Shen retrieved the Poké Ball from the Gible that had just been healed.

After an extremely intense battle, he and Gible were exhausted and just wanted to collect their prizes and go home to lie down in bed.

Thinking about moving tomorrow, Xia Shen felt a bit annoyed. Why was she always more tired on weekends than on weekdays...?

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