Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

Fortunately, Zubat is fast enough that it managed to raise its body after hearing its trainer's command, narrowly avoiding the dragon breath.

The opponent was not one to back down easily. Seeing that the Zubat had dodged the attack, it immediately prepared to counterattack. "Zubat, fly over and use your wings to attack!"

With a flash of white light on its wings, the Zubat dashed and flew right up to the Garchomp.

Then... it was caught in the mouth of Garchomp.

Xia Shen shook his head. He hadn't encountered such a straightforward opponent in a long time. Before attacking, you should at least circle around to disrupt Garchomp's judgment.

Flying straight over like that is just delivering food to the baby sharks, isn't it?

The giant beak bat flapped its wings, trying to fly away, but it couldn't escape the powerful bite of the fanged land shark.

"Whoosh—" Flames flared on the teeth, and the giant beak bat was in agony under the dual torment of sharp teeth and raging flames.

"Big Mouth Bat—" The gloomy man gritted his teeth and let out a powerless roar, but it did nothing to change the situation on the field.

"Gallopian, let's finish him off." Xia Shen had no interest in this kind of opponent; he just wanted to crush him as quickly as possible.

Garchomp nodded knowingly, and the ball of light in its mouth began to gather.

"Wait, I surrender!" the gloomy man shouted.

Xia Shen smiled and said, "I'm sorry, it's too late."

"Boom—" The deafening explosion was deafening. When the smoke cleared, the Zubat had lost its ability to fight and lay on the ground, unable to get up.

"Referee, I complain! I clearly conceded defeat, but my opponent continued to use his moves. He violated the rules!" the gloomy man shouted hoarsely.

As the strongest member of their team, Zubat's elimination will greatly weaken their strength.

He's already starting to regret provoke the group for a mere thirty points.

Xia Shen was also making an excuse to explain, "He only shouted after I had already used my Pokémon move, it's not my fault."

Actually, that was all made up. With Garchomp's current control and reaction, he could easily stop his attack at the beginning of the charging phase.

He simply didn't choose to do so because he didn't hear his own command.

Xia Shen herself wasn't unaware of what was happening, nor was she oblivious; she simply disliked the gloomy man.

Rotating Rotom analyzed for a while and finally determined that Xia Shen had not violated the rules.

Thus, in the first round of the gauntlet battle, Garchomp emerged victorious.

"So, are you still going to fight?" Xia Shen asked with a smile.

The gloomy man, his face dark, coldly snorted, "We admit defeat, we're not fighting anymore!"

Xia Shen shook his head regretfully. He had originally wanted to achieve a 1v8 victory, since the strongest opponent was only at this level.

But what can you do when the other side is too cowardly...?

One side chose to surrender, and the numbers on both sides' Rotoms began to change, eventually settling at 10 and 70 respectively.

The challenge ended there, and the eight opponents were about to leave, looking dejected.

Xia Shen called out to them.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but I'd like to challenge you."

Fourthly, in order to prevent score manipulation, a team cannot challenge the same team consecutively.

However, the challenge was initiated by the opposing team, so Xia Shen and his team still have the right to challenge.

Xia Shen smiled maliciously, "Robbery! Hand over your points!"

(Thank you so much to reader 20190326181757531 for the generous donation! It's too much of a waste of your money. Thank you so much!)

(I'm always looking forward to reading more!)

## Chapter Sixty-Four: The Unexpected Orange Card Guardian

After extorting money from the gang of thugs using the tactic of fighting evil with evil, the notorious villains Xia Shen and Yan Yan continued their journey deeper into Yunlin Mountain.

Having already tested the feasibility of outsmarting the guardian spirit with the purple badge, they set their sights on the orange card, which was worth fifty points.

However, orange cards are extremely rare. They only found two purple cards and one blue card all afternoon, without even a glimpse of an orange card.

In the last moments before nightfall, Xia Shen and his team used the same trick they had that morning to get a purple card from a professional-level Earth Tortoise.

Then everyone ate dinner together and reviewed the day's achievements.

"Five purple cards and one blue card, a total of 170 points. Add to that the 15 points those idiots brought, and it's a total of 185 points." While calculating, Zhou Yuanyuan sighed regretfully, "If only those people had come later."

"Don't rush, tomorrow is the main event." Xia Shen stroked the Zoroa in his arms and said, "Most people will choose to play it safe on the first day, but if you want to achieve a high score, you will definitely get closer and closer to the center of Yunlin Mountain tomorrow. This assessment is essentially still a Pokémon battle."

Lin Weiyu asked, puzzled, "Then do we need to conserve our energy? It feels like challenging the orange-level guardian spirit is too inefficient. It only costs fifty points; we can win it in one challenge, right?"

"Not necessarily. Not all teams can get such a high score," Jiang Chuan explained. "If a team has a high score, it just means they are not easy to beat. Not only is there a possibility of losing points, but even if you win, you will pay the price of losing combat power."

Xia Shen nodded in agreement and said, "So our best plan is to collect as many points as possible tomorrow at the lowest cost, and then challenge other teams before the assessment ends."

……

After finalizing tomorrow's plans and having a quick dinner, it was already quite dark, and no one had any further thoughts of searching for the points tokens.

The elves were left to take turns keeping watch, and nothing more was said that night.

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 next morning.

The first rays of morning light awakened the sleeping mountains and forests.

Xia Shen was awakened by the sounds of Bobo and the Fiery Sparrows fighting fiercely.

There is a complete ecosystem among wild elves. Everyone knows that Pidgey and the Spearow are natural enemies, so Xia Shen and his companions are used to it and are making preparations for their departure today.

Yesterday, they searched and moved forward, and they have now approached the core area of ​​this mountain forest.

At this point, it's not just the Pokémon guarding the scoreboards that need to be watched over; you also need to be constantly vigilant against the powerful but temperamental wild Pokémon that may be lurking around you.

So they carefully bypassed Arbok's lair, Onix's habitat, and Zubat's cave.

Even knowing there were points cards inside, Xia Shen wouldn't dare to wander into such a place. It wasn't worth taking such a big risk for a midterm exam.

…………

After an unknown amount of time, scout Hakron finally sent another message.

"Pfft~" His voice sounded a little strange, as if he had seen something unexpected.

Seeing that his Pokémon was acting strangely, Jiang Chuan couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong, Dragonair? Is there danger ahead?"

Haklong looked conflicted, unsure whether to nod or shake his head, before leading Xia Shen and the others to an open space.

This area was incredibly empty, the ground was bare, without a single weed, it didn't look like a scene deep in the mountains at all, but rather like a... battlefield of elves.

However, what surprised everyone even more was not the strange phenomenon on the ground, but the elf standing in the center of the arena.

His body, covered in red and black stripes, was full of strong muscles.

The raging flames encircling his waist seemed to never go out.

Above his muscular chest was a fierce-looking face that commanded respect without a hint of anger.

What's most eye-catching is the bright orange tag hanging around his neck.

Because it's not a native Pokémon, there aren't many Incineroars in Zhijiang City to begin with, and the bracelet on this Incineroar's hand indicates that it's the one Xia Shen and the others recognize.

Upon seeing this familiar Pokémon, Zhou Yuanyuan couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap, it's Brother Afu!"

Standing in the center of the field was none other than the ace Pokémon of Xia Shen's homeroom teacher, Ms. Ye—Incineroar, also known as Afu.

He also noticed Xia Shen and his group in front of him, and a smile appeared on his fierce face as a greeting.

Xia Shen stared at the points plaque around his neck, which shone brightly in the sunlight, and fell silent.

Unexpectedly, the first orange card I found was guarded by my homeroom teacher's elf.

他可不认为阿福面对自己这些“爱徒”会手下留情，相反，平时没有机会好好教训，这次总算能光明正大地揍个痛快。

It would be a pipe dream for them to try to use the same tactics as before to deal with the Blazing Roaring Tiger.

Ah Fu's meaning is quite clear.

Want the brand name? Then take it off me yourself!

"Uh, how about we retreat?" Zhou Yuanyuan was the first to suggest running away.

There was nothing that could be done; not only was Brother Afu much stronger than the elves they had encountered before, but he was also much more dutiful, leaving absolutely no opportunity for them to take advantage of him.

Xia Shen saw that his other companions didn't seem to want to fight either, and was about to retreat when he heard footsteps behind him.

……

"Xia Shen?" The voice arrived before the person. Hearing the somewhat familiar voice, Xia Shen turned around curiously.

It turns out to be Lin Li, the chuunibyou (delusional) boy I met at the Zhijiang Cup.

Since that incident, the two have never seen each other again.

"Long time no see!" Since they were acquaintances, Xia Shen greeted them warmly.

While doing so, he also kept an eye on the other members of the team.

Like Xia Shen and the others, Lin Li's team also consisted of five people, three men and two women.

The boy in the middle is of average height and appearance, but he inexplicably possesses a kind of charisma that makes him impossible to ignore.

He glanced at the Hakron hovering in the sky, then looked with interest at Xia Shen, who was catching up with Lin Li.

After the two finished speaking, he interjected at the opportune moment: "What, Xiao Linzi, aren't you going to introduce him to everyone?"

Lin Li smiled sheepishly and said, "These are friends I met when I played in the Zhijiang Cup in October. They're all from Zhijiang Middle School, and the champion and runner-up are among them!"

He then turned to Xia Shen and the others and introduced them: "These are my classmates from the High School Affiliated to Zhida University, and they are also my teammates for this field trip."

A hint of surprise appeared in the ordinary-looking boy's eyes. "So you two are the champions and runners-up of this year's Zhijiang Cup. Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhao Yi. I was away from Zhijiang for some business at the time and couldn't play against you two. What a pity."

Xia Shen's smile remained unchanged. "Nice to meet you."

But he became extremely vigilant.

Judging from the way this boy communicates with Lin Li, his strength is definitely superior to Lin Li's. I just don't know how strong the others in their team are.