Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

The average roaring whale king is about fifteen meters long, but this roaring whale king is over forty meters long!

It floats on the boundless blue sea, just like a cruise ship.

The seawater was parted by its enormous body, forming huge waves around it.

……

Yan Yan stood on the flat, smooth body of the Whale King, gazing at the magnificent building standing on the sea in the distance.

Not far away, Yan's father and a blond, blue-eyed middle-aged Western man stood side by side on the head of the Whale King, chatting and reminiscing.

The blond man, speaking fluent Mandarin, laughed and said, "It's been more than ten years, Master Yan... no, I should call you President Yan now. You're still as dashing as ever!"

Yan's father seemed to be an old acquaintance of his, and jokingly replied, "More than ten years have passed, and your Chinese has not only not deteriorated but improved. If it were when you first started learning Chinese, you would probably have used something like 'great talent and strategy,' Director Kane."

This topic seemed to evoke memories of the past for Kane, and the slight awkwardness between the two when they met again melted away.

He said with a touch of emotion, "Since your initial exploration of the secret realms of Britain, it's been a long time since you've ventured into any new areas, hasn't it?"

Yan Jing shrugged. "Those smaller secret realms aren't very dangerous, so there's no need for me to get involved. Besides..."

He turned around and glanced at his daughter, who was staring blankly at the sea behind him, and remained silent for a long time.

Kane patted him on the shoulder understandingly. "It's inevitable in our line of work. Fortunately, you're semi-retired now, so you can spend more time with your family and enjoy the rest of your life."

Yan Jing laughed and said, "Didn't you catch me again? What, did you make any new discoveries in the secret realm?"

Finally getting back to business, Kane straightened his expression and replied, "That's right. A few months ago, we detected the unusual fluctuations that preceded the appearance of the secret realm again in the sea near the British Secret Realm."

"But strangely, in previous precedents, even the smallest secret realms were at least hundreds of kilometers apart, but this time... judging from the signs, the new secret realm will appear within a few kilometers of the British secret realm."

"We were worried that there might be something fishy about this unusual new secret realm, so we specifically invited you and several other Seven Star Investigators. You were the first to arrive."

After listening to Kane's description, Yan Jing touched his chin, still somewhat confused.

Based on his more than 20 years of experience in the industry, he believes that mutual repulsion between secret realms is an age-old theorem. This time, the situation is so unusual that he doesn't know if there will be any unexpected events.

Everything else is fine; I've seen all sorts of storms, but Yan Yan...

He couldn't help but look back at his youngest daughter, who hadn't yet become an amateur trainer. At that moment, he felt a pang of regret for bringing her out in the first place.

But the look in her eyes when she asked to come with me... was firm, yearning, and with a hint of longing that I couldn't understand.

Yan Jing, who was being asked this by her youngest daughter for the first time, found it hard to refuse.

……

Kane seemed to sense Yan Jing's dilemma and comforted her, "It's my fault for not explaining things clearly in the email. Don't worry, our research institute is far from the opening of the secret realm and it's very safe. Just treat this as a vacation."

Having come this far, Yan Jing had no other choice but to agree.

Still feeling uneasy, he took out a Poké Ball from his belt.

A flash of red light appeared, and a deep purple, round sprite emerged. Its eyes were scarlet, and its grinning mouth carried a terrifying smile, yet upon closer inspection, it also appeared somewhat comical and cute.

Kane was quite surprised to see the Pokémon appear. "Could this be the Gengar that you went through so much trouble to catch in the secret realm of Britain?"

Yan Jing nodded, and Kane, somewhat moved by the affirmative reply, said, "He should have had near-King-level strength more than a decade ago, but now he probably already is..."

Yan Jing smiled but didn't answer him. Then he led Gengar to Yan Yan.

“Xiao Yan, this matter... is probably more troublesome than I imagined. I will have Gengar hide in your shadow to protect you. Also, Pidgeot, although its strength is only at the professional level, its speed can surpass many master-level Pokémon. If we really encounter danger, be sure to ride on its back to escape.”

Looking at his father's serious expression, Yan Yan knew this was no joke and nodded solemnly.

Seeing Gengar disappear into Yan Yan's shadow, Yan Jing felt slightly relieved.

With Gengar's strength, even if the Elite Four members came, it could cover Yan Yan's escape on Pidgeot.

As they talked, the magnificent and imposing complex of buildings on the sea horizon came into view.

Yan Jing looked at the sea fortress, which he had personally witnessed being built step by step, with a touch of nostalgia, and patted his daughter's head.

"Let's go. Before things get too busy these next few days, I'll take you to explore the secret realms of Britain and see if there are any suitable elves for you."

------

The day before the knockout stage began, at the Nandu World Cup Athletes' Village.

It was still the reception room in the principal's office. The principal and coach, who had just finished drawing lots, summoned the school team members for a meeting.

The principal's expression was calm, making it impossible to tell whether the fortune he had drawn was good or bad.

Amidst Xia Shen and the others' anxious hearts, he finally spoke, "We have good luck with the draw. Our opponent in the first round of the knockout stage is Wangshan Middle School, which is relatively weak. More importantly, we are not in the same half of the bracket as Nandu Middle School."

With double happiness upon them, Xia Shen and the others exchanged glances, their hearts finally settling down. Li Chen almost burst out laughing.

The coach glared at him. "What's so funny? So what if the opponent is weak? Have you forgotten the first round of the group stage? Be careful you don't laugh until next year."

Li Chen immediately fell silent, and the others, seeing the coach make an example of him, quickly suppressed their laughter.

The coach plays the bad cop, and the principal naturally plays the good cop: "Don't be too nervous, everyone. The coach and I will take care of the match arrangements. You just need to play to your level."

He paused, then looked at Xu Chong, "How's your practice of the spatial magic I've been learning these past few days? Will it be useful in this competition?"

To prove he hadn't been slacking off, Xu Chong quickly replied, "Under the careful guidance of your Night Demon, Principal, Hudi has already grasped the basics yesterday."

The principal nodded in satisfaction, pondered for a moment, and said, "In that case, let's try a new strategy in this arena match. Alakazam, as the first batter, your primary responsibility is still to deal damage. Play normally and try to inflict as much damage as possible, but you must create space before the match begins."

"The second baton is to be given to Aggron. Among the Pokémon that the opponent might field, none are slower than you. You must finish the battle quickly by taking advantage of the time provided by Trick Room. The last baton is to be given to Xia Shen's Ursaring to finish the job, but given the opponent's strength, they shouldn't be able to defeat us to that extent."

“I have a question,” Wang Yiyi asked abruptly, “Why not keep this new tactic hidden in the later matches? I don’t think it’s necessary in the first knockout round.”

The principal wasn't surprised by the question and explained, "Firstly, we can't guarantee that this tactic won't run into problems in practice. It's precisely because the opponent is weak that we have the opportunity to discover problems in time. Secondly, even if the opponent finds out, it doesn't matter. Who says we'll definitely continue to use this tactic in the next match?"

Wang Yiyi nodded knowingly and said no more.

The principal continued, "So, for the three singles matches... the main player will be Swampert. The secondary players will be Garchomp and MetalGreymon. The doubles will still be Grimmsnarl and Fiery Fox. Is everyone okay with that?"

It made perfect sense, and everyone nodded in agreement.

…………

The first round of elimination matches was easier than Xia Shen and his team had expected, except for the only doubles match.

The opponents still chose to abandon the main match and focus on the ring match, but the breakthrough they chose for the first two points was not the two singles vice-captain matches, but the doubles.

Therefore, Zhijiang Middle School won the first three singles matches very easily.

It was a complete replay of their first group stage match, but this time, their opponents' doubles duo was Almost Doll and Iron Claw Lobster.

The seemingly ordinary doubles combination proved surprisingly effective, leaving the long-haired troll and the fiery red fox helpless in the actual fight.

Almost Doll has a very peculiar skill: Simple Beam.

The effect is to change a target's trait to [Simple] - the change in a Pokémon's ability to rise or fall based on that trait is doubled.

This means that with one Dragon Dance, the Iron Claw Lobster can directly increase its attack and speed by two levels!

To make matters worse, the Iron Claw Lobster's attributes are a combination of Water and Dark, while the main damage dealers of the Jiangzhong Middle School team are a combination of Demon Fire, Red Fox Fire, and Psychic.

In addition, the doll is also an excellent support character after it releases its simple beam.

Please help, life-giving droplet, open the wall, and try again...

It could be said that the match was already over when the Longhaired Troll didn't provoke Almost Doll first after it appeared, but instead activated Reflector, allowing Almost Doll to successfully use Simple Beam on Crawdex.

The Iron Claw Lobster, having successfully completed its enhancement using Dragon Dance, received another boost from the Almost Doll.

With the buff fully stacked, a single waterfall climb nearly rendered the demon fire red fox hiding behind the reflective barrier incapable of fighting.

The subsequent battles were nothing short of a one-sided beating.

Thus, Wangshan Middle School managed to drag the match into a knockout stage by winning two points in doubles.

Then... they were directly defeated by the three main Pokémon that Zhijiang Middle School had been lying in ambush inside.

Strictly speaking, Circle Bear didn't even have a chance to appear.

Alakazam and Aggron each took half, and the two Pokémon ended their final battle.

At this point, Zhijiang Middle School is one step closer to qualifying for the finals, and Xia Shen is one step closer to the semi-finals that she has been longing for.

----------

Author's Remarks

Holy crap... Um, I wrote this too late and made another bug. It's fixed now, I'm very sorry. The issue was that the trait had been changed to a simple Iron Claw Lobster, but I added an Adaptability bonus. I'm very sorry...

2022-06-06 08:00

## Chapter 108 The Night of the Full Moon, Master Xiong of the Moon Path (Part 1)

February 7th, 7 PM.

The first semi-final match of the Jiangnan Division Breakthrough Tournament, between Zhijiang Middle School and Ocean University Affiliated Middle School, is about to begin at the Nandu International Pokémon Battle Arena.

The qualifying rounds are coming to an end, with only four matches remaining, including the two final matches.

As Xia Shen's reputation as the nation's top high school sophomore grew, this series of competitions, which was originally only a minor hit in Jiangnan Province, suddenly became the hottest Pokémon battle competition in the country throughout the winter.

So the sponsor was pleased and increased its investment, spending even more time on online promotion and marketing.

They even broadcast the last four matches on television, during prime time on the Pokémon Battle Channel.

Although the emergence of smartphones in recent years has led to the decline of traditional media such as television.

However, in many people's eyes, Pokémon Battle Arena is still the most authoritative competition platform.

After dinner, the whole family gathers together to watch an exciting Pokémon battle, which has long been a tradition for many families.

Therefore, the exposure of this competition has far exceeded that of a typical qualifying round.

Before the competition, the previews for the two semi-final matches, especially the one between Zhijiang Middle School, had already dominated the trending list on a certain social media platform.

Before 6:30, the official live stream room on the online platform was already packed with comments.

……

"Go Shenbao! Mom will be with you all the way to the finals of the National High School Championships. That's your stage!"

"Shēnchē, stop bragging. With that pretty boy's skills, he can't even beat the Greatsword Demon who can't even make it out of the Jiangnan region, let alone the finals. Stop patting yourself on the back!"

"To be fair, Xia Shen is indeed quite strong for a second-year high school student, but his fans are really annoying. So, in this match, I'm on behalf of Ocean University Affiliated High School, and we'll crush his fans!"

That's always been the case on the internet: for every person who praises something, there's someone who criticizes it.