Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

[Where my people are, isn't that where my home is?]

Xia Shen was surprised; he hadn't expected this bear to be so philosophical...

Having run out of ideas, he could only look at other angles. "What if there are no peat blocks in this world? You don't want your descendants to only evolve into circus bears, do you?"

Moon Bear's expression finally turned serious.

This is indeed a problem, and one that we must face and solve.

[So...do you have any advice for me?]

Xia Shen finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Simple, come back to the Reverse World with me. We'll bring back the peat blocks, and then you can stay here as long as you want."

------

A world turned upside down.

Looking at the Moon Bear, a native inhabitant who hadn't returned for a long time and was already quite unaccustomed to the gravity of the reversed world, Xia Shen asked, "Do you know where this is?"

Moon Bear looked around at its surroundings and shook its head.

[The world is so big, I'm only familiar with the area around our territory. I've never been here before.]

Xia Shen rubbed his chin, looking somewhat troubled.

Since the Reverse World is a mirror image of the real world, it must be quite large.

Even if it's just the size of the Emerald Green Secret Realm, it's not something you can traverse on four legs.

If you could fly and find your way while riding on Garchomp, that would be fine, but given Garchomp's size... it probably wouldn't be able to fly while sitting on Garchomp.

[However, I can confirm this is in the south of our tribe's territory, because it's warmer here.]

Finally, Yueyuexiong provided some valuable information.

Although there is no specific location, at least we have a direction.

Having no prior knowledge of the world of Reversal, Xia Shen immediately decided to head north.

Since it was their first time in this place, Xia Shen didn't rush to travel at a fast pace. Instead, he first released the elves to help them adapt to this unfamiliar world.

Don't let yourself be unable to control your own body when you need to fight.

Although none have been discovered yet, Pokémon must exist in the Reverse World, otherwise, where would Bear and the others have come from?

Like Xia Shen, Tibblimm, who also possesses psychic abilities, quickly adapted to the gravity here. Next came Garchomp and Goodra, among other larger Pokémon.

Arcanine and Zoroark, being somewhat awkward types, will simply require more time to adapt.

It took Xia Shen about an hour to wait for all the elves to fully adapt to the environment before they set off.

But there's one more question to answer before that: "Wait... which way is north again?"

The reversed world has a sky, but this sky is empty and devoid of anything, not even the sun.

Xia Shen didn't know where the light source of this world came from. Although it was dim, he could still barely see.

But without the sun... how can we know where north is?

Fortunately, the indigenous moon bears have a special way of finding their way, and after some trouble, Xia Shen finally got on the right track.

…………

Have you ever seen the legendary Hades dragon, Radina?

Since they had nothing else to do on the road, Xia Shen and Yueyue Xiong started chatting.

Hmm... some everyday stuff about Giratina.

Yueyue Xiong glanced sideways at Xia Shen.

Have you ever seen Dialga?

"Yes, I've seen him before." Xia Shen nodded matter-of-factly.

That encounter amidst the distortion of time and space, those eyes as deep as the starry sky—though it sounds a bit strange, they are still deeply etched in his heart.

Moon Bear was speechless for a moment. Was this the answer I wanted? He turned and left.

[You've seen me, but I haven't, okay?]

Xia Shen persisted shamelessly, "Tell me about your world."

[There's not much to say. You've seen it yourself. It's not a thriving environment, nor is it desolate. The Pokémon density is so low that you might not encounter a single Pokémon even after walking for half an hour. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be boring.]

As Yueyue Bear walked, he talked and even yawned.

Xia Shen chuckled and said, "So that's why you don't want to come back?"

Moon Bear remained silent, seemingly acknowledging this viewpoint.

Xia Shen understood immediately; just as he suspected, this was the elven version of Che Guevara...

Going back to the Reverse World is impossible! It's impossible for me to go back in this lifetime!

Xi Cui Island has many friendly locals who speak sweetly, and it also offers delicious food that I've never tasted in the Reversed World.

Oh my, I love it here!

Xia Shen smiled slightly, understanding Yueyue Xiong's thoughts. This Yueyue Xiong was truly honest.

However, this is also good. It's not like Xicui Island can't afford to support a group of Moonbears. In fact, Xia Shen is quite welcoming of these elves who can make the Xicui Project flourish.

…………

Xia Shen chatted and walked with the elves, taking the opportunity to observe this unfamiliar, reversed world in greater detail.

Along the way, Xia Shen finally encountered some spirits from the reversed world.

Most of them are creatures commonly found in the Green World, such as Longtail and Patchles.

They swung skillfully from the upside-down treetops, looking at the group of elves, most of whom they had never seen before, with the same curious eyes.

Compared to the ordinary elves who were washing greenery, their eyes showed less vigilance.

It seems that the survival pressure in the sparsely populated reverse world is not great, otherwise their first reaction to outsiders should not be so relaxed.

Xia Shen didn't let these information sources slip by, exchanging information with them using some elf food produced in the human world.

However, there was no feedback. They all shook their heads as they looked at the ferocious-looking Moonbear, saying they had never seen such a Pokémon in the vicinity.

Xia Shen wasn't disappointed, but he decided to change his approach, as walking alone was too slow.

After recalling the other Pokémon and leaving only Garchomp, Xia Shen began his fixed-point exploration mode.

The so-called fixed-point exploration means that every ten minutes, Garchomp stops so that Luna can identify whether it recognizes the place.

In ten minutes, Garchomp can probably fly over ten kilometers if it slows down, and Umbreon's activity area is definitely not that small.

This was the most convenient way Xia Shen could think of to search, but they still hadn't reached their destination all morning.

The scenery along the way changed somewhat, with inverted grasslands...inverted deserts...inverted mountains.

Xia Shen and Garchomp enjoyed the sightseeing along the way, which wasn't too boring.

However, based on the Garchomp's steady speed, this is roughly the distance of several hundred kilometers.

If this were placed in the Emerald World, it would be enough for Garchomp to fly from the pure white tundra to the Crimson Lotus Wetlands.

It seems this reversed world is larger than the entire Emerald Washing Realm?

The exploration finally took a turn for the better two hours before leaving Xicui. In a hilly area where one could see the distant snow-capped peaks, Moon Bear finally gave a positive answer.

[Yes, it's in this area, the place where our people once lived.]

Xia Shen breathed a sigh of relief; he had finally found the place. The beginning was always the hardest...

I just hope that things don't turn out like this: "The middle is difficult, and the ending is difficult."

Garchomp had been flying all day, and Xia Shen was also exhausted. They had no energy left to continue exploring, so they decided to stop here and continue the next day.

…………

After leaving Xicui, Xia Shen greeted the ranger in the area where the Moon Bear's territory was located, and then took the King-level Moon Bear away.

The island of Emerald has been restored to its original ecological world as much as possible, with no other places for human activity except for the research institute.

Xia Shen wanted to buy some things that would be useful in the reverse world, but he couldn't. More importantly, the research institute's cafeteria was really... not worth mentioning.

I don't know how Zhou Keke managed to keep going...

It was completely dark when they returned home to Zhijiang from Xicui Island. Xia's parents felt no surprise at the sudden return of their only son.

After all, he had just returned to school from home a few days ago, which is the time when parents are most annoyed with their "unfilial sons who stay at home all day doing nothing".

But when Xia Shen revealed his plans for the second half of the year, they inevitably felt worried again—

Because Xia Shen has a recent history of venturing into dangerous places.

However, they also knew that this was a challenge that trainers had to face on their path to growth, and after some deliberation, they still did not express any opinion.

……

The next morning, Xia Shen, who had rested and prepared well, entered the reversed world almost as soon as she opened her eyes.

The earth's stone slabs are closer than ever before; the sooner this is resolved, the sooner we can have peace of mind.

Today, Garchomp is no longer needed as a means of transportation. Xia Shen only summoned the native Umbreon leader and the translator Zoroark before starting the exploration.

The homeland of the Moon Bear clan is a snow-covered hilly area, neither steep nor flat, with low shrubs growing in the mountains, and it doesn't seem to have abundant resources.

Xia Shen didn't know what the Moon Bear leader ate to grow into a Heavenly King level.

Perhaps because the Earth Slab is nearby, the ground-based energy here is very abundant.

The possibility is not small.

Although Yueyue Xiong had previously shown signs of being too happy to leave Shu, he still showed his affection for his homeland when he actually returned to Shu.

He walked through the mountains with a look of nostalgia in his eyes, his pace quickening unconsciously.

[It's not far ahead, the most important place for our tribe.]

------------

written request for leave