Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

Even though I might have to release it in a minute, this is still the first Pokémon I've ever caught, and it's something to remember.

Pressing the button on the Poké Ball caused a red light to flash, and Froslass reappeared before him. His sapphire blue eyes were somewhat bewildered, completely unaware of what had happened.

The Greenland region is sparsely populated, and some Pokémon may never see a trainer in their entire lives.

Xia Shen took out the prepared medicine and carefully treated her.

So this is what it feels like to be a trainer...? Froslass's gaze softened as she looked at Xia Shen, a strange warmth flowing through her heart.

Perhaps because Zoroark held back, the wound medicine was remarkably effective.

In no time, the Snow Fairy had fully recovered. She whimpered and seemed very happy.

Seeing that she was alright, Xia Shen nodded to Zoroark, who then picked her up, and the two set off again.

Looking at the somewhat dejected Snow Fairy behind him, Xia Shen silently apologized.

The Snow Fairy was indeed not in the team he envisioned. Out of a sense of responsibility to the elves, Xia Shen chose this approach, which aimed to minimize the impact on them as much as possible.

He gains five minutes for each Pokémon he unlocks in the Pokédex, so he needs to hurry and catch as many Pokémon as possible.

……

The rest of the trip went very smoothly: Zubat, Bigtooth, Little Wild Boar, Curly-eared...

One Pokémon after another went in and out of the Poké Balls. Including the Froslass from the beginning, five Pokémon have now been unlocked in the Pokédex.

After releasing the healed curly-eared catfish, Xia Shen took out two chocolate bars from her spatial storage, peeled one, and put it in her mouth.

He handed the other one to Zoroark.

"Let's eat something first, can we continue?" Xia Shen asked.

Zoroark nodded and started eating chocolate like Xia Shen, his brows furrowing slightly as he took a bite.

A few seconds later, he began to chew with relish, a happy expression on his face.

After finishing the chocolate, just as they were about to set off again, they were drawn to the sudden sounds of fighting not far away.

The human and the fox exchanged a glance and ran off in that direction in perfect unison.

Before long, they arrived at the snow slope from which the sound had come.

Xia Shen looked into the distance and saw a small figure being attacked by two ice demons.

My heart started racing and I held my breath.

Because that stubbornly resisting elf was one of my targets on this trip!

(Thanks to the bath pills and ruaruabick for the donations, it's too much of a waste, red bean paste is awesome)

## Chapter 5 Even the most beautiful elves would look up to you!

On the snowy slope, a fierce battle was taking place between three elves.

To be precise, it was a one-sided rampage by two Glalie against Gible.

When Xia Shen and Zoroark arrived, they saw the battered Gible desperately dodging a Glalie's freezing ray.

Behind him, another Ice Ghost Guardian unleashed a wider-ranging icy wind that struck his dorsal fin, intensifying the pain on the little shark's face.

Ice-type moves are the natural enemy of Garchomp. The four times the damage from Ice-type moves means that in battles of the same level, a hit from these moves is basically a death sentence.

Although Gible, which had just been hit by an icy gust of wind, could still barely stand up, its swaying movements revealed its exhaustion.

Sensing the prey's condition, the two Ice Ghost Guardians were in no hurry to continue attacking the Gible.

Instead, they floated to the left and right in front of the little shark, teasing him like a cat playing with a mouse, their icy blue eyes full of mockery.

Gible roared angrily, but it didn't even have the strength to use any moves.

It could only leap up with all its might, trying to resist the enemy with the most primal impact, but then fell helplessly onto the snow.

The Ice Demon Guardian chuckled, its already terrifying face becoming even more ferocious.

Seemingly having had enough fun, white light gathered between the two horns on the Ice Demon's head, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to its prey.

Knowing it couldn't withstand the freezing ray, Gible reluctantly closed its eyes, awaiting its death.

"Boom-"

The expected explosion sounded, but... why doesn't my body feel any pain?

Gible opened its eyes in a daze, only to see a head of flowing pink and white hair flying in the wind.

The purplish-black energy ball that shot out of its mouth collided with the two beams of freezing light that were aimed at the Gible, resulting in a violent explosion.

This is... a Zoroark?

Although the giblets are relatively new, they have already seen their neighbors near their habitat a few times.

But why did he come to help me? The surviving little shark was puzzled.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Zoroark, use Dark Blast to finish them off!" Xia Shen finally arrived at the battlefield and stood beside Gible to direct the battle.

Zoroark glanced back at Xia Shen, his eyes clearly conveying, "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Xia Shen took out two chocolate bars from her spatial storage, winked at Zoroark, and Zoroark nodded in understanding.

He turned back, glanced at the two ice demons who were both shocked and frightened, and curled his lip in disdain.

Zoroark bent down slightly, a red light flashing in his orange eyes, and black energy instantly gathered in his hands.

"Haaah!" Zoroark roared, slamming his hand on the ground. The thick layer of snow was instantly shaken up, revealing the yellowish-brown earth.

The next instant, a tidal wave of dark energy, accompanied by drifting snowflakes, surged wildly toward the two Ice Ghosts.

The extremely large energy fluctuations made the two Ice Ghost Guardians realize in despair that they could not escape and could only face the dark explosion head-on.

"Boom—" Xia Shen couldn't help but cover his ears. Zoroark's full-force Dark Blast was much louder than the explosions from the previous clashes.

As the thick smoke dissipated and the drifting snowflakes gradually fell, the two Ice Ghost Guardians, who had been largely unharmed, lay motionless on the snow.

……

Gible stared blankly at Zoroark's tall back, its eyes filled with longing.

"Do you want to be as strong as him?" Xia Shen squatted down in front of the Gible and asked him earnestly.

"Awooo!" Gible nodded vigorously, its expression resolute.

"Come with me. Press the button on the Poké Ball, and one day, all the Pokémon in the world will look up to you!" Xia Shen took out a Poké Ball and looked at Gible sincerely.

Without hesitation, Gible hopped along on its short legs and reached out to press the button on the ball.

With a "click," a red light flashed, and Xia Shen officially captured Gible!

Looking at the Poké Ball in his hand, Xia Shen couldn't hide his excitement and couldn't help but imitate Ash's dramatic shout: "Gible, get-daze!"

Having released his inner chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur), Xia Shen nervously glanced around.

Fortunately, the surrounding area was covered in ice and snow, so no one could hear him except for Zoroark, who was looking at him with a strange expression.

Xia Shen released the Gible and formally greeted it: "From today onwards, we are partners fighting side by side!"

The giblets sensed his feelings and roared excitedly.

Xia Shen took out the prepared frostbite ointment and applied it to the Gible to relieve the little shark's injuries.

Those two Glacial Guardians weren't like Zoroark; they went all out against the Gible.

The medicine Xia Shen carried alone certainly wouldn't be enough to cure him; further treatment would have to wait until they left the secret realm.

With its injuries subsiding, the giblets became even more lively, leaping and bounding into Xia Shen's arms.

Xia Shen chuckled and touched the notch on the gible's dorsal fin, saying, "You're a boy, yet you like to act all cute?"

The little shark in his arms cried out defiantly, refusing to get down from his arms.

Fortunately, Gible is not like Tyranitar, weighing only 20 to 30 kilograms. Xia Shen held Gible and experienced what it's like to be a father.

Soon, the exhausted Gible fell into a deep sleep, giving Xia Shen the opportunity to collect it into his Poké Ball.

There are still two Ice Ghost Guardians that haven't been dealt with.

Xia Shen wasn't embarrassed at all for disturbing the two Ice Ghost Guardians' hunting.

In the world of elves, the strong prey on the weak. Since they have the right to prey on other elves, they must also be subject to interference from other factors.

So Xia Shen treated the same way he treated the previous elves, releasing and withdrawing them, then simply treated the wounds, and that was the end of it.

Because she was focused on healing the Gible as soon as possible, Xia Shen didn't plan to continue collecting entries in the Pokédex.

Considering that he always logged on from the place where he logged off the previous day, Xia Shen asked Zoroark to take him back to their habitat.

After handing the two chocolate bars to Zoroark as agreed and bidding farewell to the leader, Xia Shen concluded his exploration of the secret realm for the day.

……

Back in the real world, Xia Shen tapped on the table, pondering how to explain the existence of Gible to his parents.

Found it on the street? A gift from a friend? Neither seems quite right. Who would believe something like that? Please, this is a near-god!

After racking his brains for a long time, Xia Shen still couldn't come up with a good reason. Seeing that he was going to be late for school, he had no choice but to hurry up and leave the house under his mother's urging.

There's always a way out. At worst, you can just say "it was a gift from a friend" and that'll be easy to explain to your parents.

Since the school has a medical room specifically for Pokémon, Xia Shen didn't plan to ask for leave to go to the Pokémon Center Hospital directly.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The morning self-study break at Zhijiang Middle School is quite long, a full half hour. Xia Shen took advantage of this time to run to the infirmary to examine and treat the Gible.

"Wow, Gible." After all, it's a pseudo-legendary that's rarely seen. The school doctor looked at the little shark sleeping soundly on the hospital bed and exclaimed with great interest.

"Teacher Lu, my Gible got a little injured this morning while battling someone. Could you take a look at the injury and see how serious it is?" Xia Shen asked earnestly.

"Let me see..." Teacher Lu turned over the sleeping Gible and roughly analyzed the condition: "It looks like the injuries are relatively simple, all of them are damage from ice-type skills, and there is no physical damage, so it is relatively easy to treat."

"We need to examine the injuries with instruments to determine the exact extent. Wait a moment." With that, he lifted the Gible into a sophisticated-looking instrument next to him.

The instrument beeped, and data that Xia Shen couldn't understand scrolled across the screen.

Looking at the data, Teacher Lu rubbed her chin and said, "It's not a big problem. This gible is in good health, and you applied frostbite ointment for emergency treatment immediately. You can leave it with me. It should be fully recovered by noon. Go back and focus on your classes."