Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

As for Zoroa and Sticky Baby, the large bed in the room could easily fit them all.

The soft, comfortable bed relieved Xia Shen of the fatigue from her journey and the mental tension caused by the terrifying incident on the plane.

Silent all night.

…………

We gathered in the lobby downstairs in the dormitory building, where the principal finally announced today's schedule.

"Before breakfast, we'll run a lap around the nearby artificial lake. As I always emphasize, good physical fitness is the foundation of becoming an excellent trainer."

"In the morning, we will attend Fujiwara-sensei's class on Pokémon battle analysis. In the afternoon, we will have special training for each of your main Pokémon."

"As for tonight... I'm sure you've all expected it, we'll be going to the East Capital Pokémon Battle Arena for Pokémon battles."

"However... your opponents may not be as strong as you, so you should be prepared for that."

Xia Shen and the other members of the school team looked solemn. With such a tight schedule for the day, no one had the mood to joke around.

……

After eating a few tree fruits to replenish their sugar and calories, Xia Shen and his friends started their day's special training by running around the lake.

----------

Author's Remarks

Thank you so much to Qianzi and Xielingjiu for the generous donations! It's too much of a waste of your time! I'll just say a quick reply to those who were going to say my post was short: tomorrow's post will be much longer!

2022-05-26 18:00

## Chapter 86 On Tactics: Everyone Here is Trash!

Keiko Fujiwara is considered by outsiders to be the strongest contender for the title of [Luggia], and this is by no means undeserved.

Although the strength of the Pokémon is still unclear, the trainer's command skills and ability to control the battle situation were fully demonstrated in this morning's Pokémon battle analysis class.

The first video analyzed in this class was a recent, exciting match between two professional 9-dan players.

Although the Masters title matches, King of Fighters matches, and even the championship matches are even more exciting.

However, it's a bit too fantastical for these college students. As an analytical teaching material, it's not as good as a battle between professional ninth-dan players.

……

"So this is a classic teaching case of a heavy space team. Yuzuru 9-dan's space master Brimwyn, relying on her powerful ability Magic Mirror, successfully created Trick Room."

"In this match, Brimwyn not only used Blink to reduce the opponent Tyranitar's health, but also provided an excellent output environment for the Bronze Elephant that was substituted in later."

After summarizing the lecture, Keiko Fujiwara on the podium took a sip of water.

He cleared his throat and continued, "Everyone can discuss for five minutes. In a moment, we will analyze a very interesting match."

As soon as he finished speaking, the quiet classroom began to buzz with discussion.

The classroom for the battle analysis class has a rather unique layout; it is not a typical lecture hall.

Perhaps to facilitate student discussions, the classroom seating consisted of easily movable tables and chairs.

Xia Shen and the other eight sat in a small circle and discussed quietly.

The rest of the classroom was much the same, with nearly a hundred people divided into small circles, each quietly discussing the game they had just played.

However, among nearly a hundred people, there are always a few exceptions, and unfortunately, they happened to be right next to Xia Shen and his group.

……

"Nohara, your predictions are absolutely amazing! You got every single starting lineup and substitution right!"

"Is that even a question? Nohara is one of the top twenty freshmen at Tokyo University this year!"

The noisy sounds were particularly jarring. The object of everyone's attention in that small circle was a young man with a rather flamboyant hairstyle and appearance.

His facial expression was calm, and his nonchalant demeanor suggested that he didn't care about the praise from the crowd.

However, the slight upturn of his lips still betrayed his enjoyment of the flattery around him.

His eyes kept glancing towards Wang Yiyi next to Xia Shen, as if trying to see how the beautiful high school student who had come from afar would react.

Unfortunately, Wang Yiyi was quite aloof. Not only did she not give him the admiring and respectful look he had imagined, but she didn't even throw a look of disgust at him.

Instead, he continued to discuss with Xia Shen the selection of a space team's main attacker.

The peacock spread its tail feathers but no one paid any attention, so Nohara had no choice but to turn away dejectedly.

……

Five minutes is a very short time. After exchanging only a few words, Keiko Fujiwara clapped her hands to signal everyone to be quiet.

"The next match I'll analyze is from the Nordic region. It was a very interesting match between two professional 9-dan players a few days ago."

"The format is the popular six-out-of-three Dynamax singles tournament over there. Let's take a look at the lineup first."

She pressed the remote control in her hand, and the large screen behind her displayed the lineups of both sides.

[Tobias: Corviknight, Gardevoir, Whimsicott, Mimikyu, Cinderace, Sylveon]

[Aiselin: Ice Ninetales, Snorlax, Excadrill, Dragapult, Primarina, Togekiss]

"Given that neither side's Pokémon can Dynamax, which Pokémon do you think will be in the battle lineup?"

"Just like the preliminary rounds of the competition, I'll give you five minutes to discuss this. We'll submit our predictions in groups later and see which group's prediction is the closest."

…………

"Do people in Northern Europe really like fairy-like attributes?" Xu Chong noticed a common thread between the two teams.

They all brought three or more Fairy-type Pokémon.

"It's probably due to regional characteristics, but neither of these teams has a very clear tactical core," Chu Si replied.

"The Ice Nine-Tails should definitely be included," Li Yu said indifferently, and then fell silent.

Seeing the puzzled looks from the crowd, he added, "Because the Ice Nine-Tails is very strong!"

It turns out he was just praising his own elf... which isn't wrong.

"To be honest, Ninetales wouldn't be very useful, would it? It's four times weak to Steel, so if Corviknight gets caught, it's all over. Besides, it seems like Cinderace can also use Iron Head to hit her." Li Chen's words seemed to make sense.

……

While the group was discussing quietly, a noisy commotion came from next door.

"Putting everything else aside, Ninetales and Dragapult are definitely out of the running. Dragapult's STAB moves can't hit most of the opponent's Pokémon at all."

"The next team will most likely be Togekiss and Excadrill, and I think the last one will be Snorlax. The opponent won't have much of a chance against Snorlax."

"Nohara's analysis is truly brilliant!"

The noise drew disgusted looks from many people around them, but they didn't seem to care.

Seeing that Xia Shen hadn't said a word, Wang Yiyi couldn't help but ask, "How do you think the next line will be arranged?"

Xia Shen was startled awake from her reverie.

"Ah, you're asking me? I think... it's not impossible for Dorombalto to appear."

Because her thoughts were interrupted, Xia Shen did not lower her voice. This deduction, which contradicted everyone else's, attracted the attention of those around her.

Although most people looked at Xia Shen with strange eyes, no one said anything out of politeness.

It's not unusual for a high school student who's just auditing a class to say something like that. We should be more tolerant of younger students.

Most people are normal, but some people just happen to have a sharp tongue.

……

"That's hilarious! Do you even understand Pokémon battles? With so many Fairy-types on the other side, Dragon-type moves are basically useless. Doesn't the opponent predict your moves? With your understanding, you should just go back to the mainland and play the Pokémon League!"

The one who spoke was one of Nohara's two henchmen.

To be honest, although he was a bit sarcastic, he spoke the minds of most people.

Besides, they were classmates, so no one stood up for Xia Shen.

Before Xia Shen could react, Xu Chong jumped out to defend his junior, "Our group is discussing our own things, what does it have to do with you? Who are you trying to smear?"

Xia Shen was surprised. Xu Chong usually seemed quiet and unassuming, but he really stepped up when something happened. This guy was someone you could get along with!

This is happening on someone else's turf, that's incredibly brave!

Since Xu Chong stood up for him, Xia Shen would definitely stand behind his brother. He glanced at the foul-mouthed man.

He said indifferently, "I can understand if you don't understand, after all, that's your limited perspective. But if you don't understand and still keep spouting nonsense, it only shows that you're not only stupid, but also lack manners."

……

Xia Shen's first half of his sentence wasn't an insult; it was his genuine thought.

In the past, Pokémon battles were turn-based games that relied purely on stats, and the most engaging aspects were team composition and tactics.

Many strange team compositions and strategies have emerged.

Things like ganging up on Arcanine, turning Chansey into a small Chansey, swapping the ability of a Mood Smeargle with a high-defense teammate, and using Shadow Tag and Perish Song...

In reality, these trainers who had just entered university were focused entirely on raising Pokémon and engaging in regular single battles.

Even if you want to have a full-scale 6v6 battle, you can't even gather all the Pokémon. It's already quite good if you can understand common tactical systems like weather systems and Trick Room.

Let alone Xia Shen, even some experienced players who transmigrated here could say without hesitation—

"Fujiwara-sensei, please stand up for a moment... I'm not targeting anyone in particular, but when it comes to tactics, everyone here is trash!"

…………

The foul-mouthed man was about to retort when he realized that if he swore back, it would prove that he was low-class, and he became furious.

Seeing his underlings suffer a setback, Nohara also joined the fray.

"Discussion is fine, but isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to resort to insults? Besides, Takashima probably wasn't wrong, was he? To say something like '[Dorambaruto can also play]' shows a high level of tactical awareness, doesn't it? Are you mainlanders so unable to accept criticism?"

This one is even more significant, exhibiting both double standards and labeling.

Xia Shen sneered and retorted sarcastically, "So you used the [Seal], huh? You're allowed to mock others, but others can't use the same move to talk back."

Xu Chong chimed in sarcastically, "That's right, your Takashima is so pure and innocent, it couldn't have been him who started it. It must have been us who started insulting him for no reason!"