Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

With nothing else to do, the group decided to have a fishing competition by the lake, and they had a great time.

In reality, which of these people doesn't own a mansion around the world, and which doesn't have a day or two of free time for vacation and relaxation? It's just that they are usually immersed in training or bound by their respective careers.

This long-lost, simple joy perfectly reflects the saying, "But few are as idle as the two of us."

…………

When Xia Chen finished making breakfast, those guys were having a great time fishing, so he had no choice but to move his things to the lakeside.

Breakfast mainly consists of local specialties from various parts of Donghuang, such as xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), shengjian (pan-fried dumplings), and changfen (rice noodle rolls). These are very novel dishes for guests from different regions.

Even Longye and his group, who also came from Donghuang, were no exception—Shangjing was known as a culinary desert, and that wasn't just a saying.

Fishing is a slow-paced activity. Enjoying the gentle breeze and the beautiful late autumn scenery of Yunze Lake, a morning passes by in the blink of an eye.

In the afternoon, the fighting reignited, though it's unclear who started it.

The guys, who clearly hadn't had enough fun last night, went to the pitiful arena that had just been repaired after being badly damaged, and started a Pokémon battle tournament called the "Elemental Cup".

There's plenty of time in the afternoon than in the evening, and since the two players who teamed up last night basically disliked each other, the format was naturally changed to singles.

Just looking at the lineup of participants, it's undeniably impressive, featuring the champions of the previous two Masters tournaments, the newly crowned Unova champion, Gadriya, and Karuni, who could potentially become the new Carlos champion.

If this isn't just an entertainment tournament, then the Yuanling Cup will become the second most prestigious competition after the Eight Masters Tournament.

However, these guys who usually play serious matches are not going to settle for a normal match when they finally get a chance.

At the suggestion of the most enthusiastic Da Ye, they organized a big event – ​​blind selection battles.

The blind selection is naturally for Pokémon. Each person picks three of their own Pokémon and puts them into the total Pokémon pool, and then blindly selects three Pokémon in turn.

Of course, most people can recognize their own Poké Balls. To prevent someone from deliberately picking out their partner's Poké Ball, Big Leaf even came up with the idea of ​​each other choosing Poké Balls for the other.

It has to be said that only a guy like Da Ye, who is so unreliable, could come up with such a crazy and exciting way of playing.

Perhaps because they had had so much fun these past two days, no one objected to the competition format, and the Yuanling Cup officially began at 1 p.m.

Without the tacit understanding of familiar partners, the key to this great battle lies in adaptability, on-the-spot command, and most importantly, luck.

How lucky is Xia Chen?

This question is rather mystical and takes a macro perspective. It's definitely a stroke of luck on the level of a chosen one. As for this kind of insignificant situation, his luck is more abstract.

Cynthia's Lucario, Mario's Togekiss, and Mikoto's Serperior.

From elite to champion level, they are all widely distributed. Most importantly, the trainers of these three Pokémon all have a tacit, special relationship with Xia Chen.

Xia Chen looked at Cattleya, who was equally surprised as she drew these three Pokémon for him, and seriously suspected that this girl was behind it all.

The latter saw through Xia Chen's thoughts and rolled his eyes. "I'm not that bored."

This means that she had the ability but didn't use it. Given Cattleya's personality, she wouldn't stoop to lying about such things, so Xia Chen could only attribute it to luck.

…………

There were exactly sixteen participants in the "Yuanling Cup," a perfect number for an elimination tournament.

The participants, in a very serious manner, drew lots to determine the upper and lower halves of the competition area and the schedule.

Xia Chen's opponent in the first round was an incredibly lucky idiot, Long Li.

This girl doesn't seem to have inherited her father Ryūno's battle talent at all, and has now decided to develop in the direction of a Coordinator.

However, this did not hinder her good luck. Her team consisted of her father's Charizard, Karune's Ice Dragon, and Mikuri's Gyarados.

Three classic Pokémon whose names contain "dragon" but are not actually dragon-type.

Even so, the overall strength of this lineup is extremely powerful—any one of them is at least a King-level player, so how could it not be powerful?

If the Pokémon battles were a series of three 1v1 matches, she could easily win using a simple strategy similar to Tian Ji's horse racing strategy, but unfortunately, that's not the case.

This battle reinforced Long Li's belief in the harsh reality that she had absolutely no talent on the path of becoming a trainer.

The two teams' starting Pokémon were Togekiss and Charizard, and the difference in their strength was not particularly large.

Togekiss is, after all, the second strongest Pokémon in Mawile's hands, barely reaching the threshold of the Elite Four level.

Therefore, Xia Chen didn't hold back his attack like a weakling; he immediately unleashed a burst of primal power.

Although Long Li lacks talent, she still understands the most basic relationships of mutual restraint.

The fact that Fire and Flying Pokémon are four times weaker to Rock startled her, and she hurriedly made Charizard dodge.

Her lack of command ability, coupled with a somewhat tense mindset, led to a somewhat one-dimensional way of thinking. She only dodged, but failed to launch an effective counterattack against her opponent.

This made Charizard feel very frustrated, and the frustration didn't stop there. Being led by the nose by Xia Chen, Long Li gradually couldn't keep up with the fast-paced battle situation of the Elite Four level Pokémon.

Often, it takes Xia Chen several seconds after she gives the order to come up with a solution, leaving Charizard with very little time to react.

Several times Charizard tried to fight using its own strategies, only to have its plans disrupted by Long Li's completely opposite commands, resulting in nothing but negative consequences.

Most importantly, she is her trainer's most beloved youngest daughter. If it were anyone else, the unruly Charizard would have already given up and lay down on the rocky terrain to sleep.

After an extremely frustrating and bizarre battle, Xia Chen and Togekiss defeated Charizard almost effortlessly.

Furthermore, because the [Heavenly Grace] ability doubles the probability of triggering additional effects on moves, Togekiss boosted both of its stats twice through the power of the Primal.

The snowball kept getting bigger and bigger, and Long Li became more and more panicked as she fought it.

In the end, a "near-Elite Four" Pokémon actually managed to defeat three Elite Four Pokémon in a single battle!

The importance of a trainer's on-the-spot command in Pokémon battles is evident.

…………

Although it may be a bit impolite, Ying Longli being a newbie is not something to brag about.

However, Togekiss's former trainer was quite happy to see this.

It has nothing to do with personal feelings; Ma Xiu is happy for Pokkis's long-awaited display of all-out effort.

Like all trainers, Mash initially aimed for the top, working alongside Mawile and Togekiss.

But talent is something that can be incredibly disheartening.

It's hard to say whether it was because the bond wasn't strong enough, the training wasn't rigorous enough, or the command ability was a step below others, but Ma Xiu quickly discovered her limits after becoming the head of the hall.

She didn't insist, understanding that ordinariness is the final destination for most trainers.

Moreover, equating a gym leader with an ordinary person is somewhat of a stretch. Some of Versailles' statements are undeniable; a gym leader is already among the top trainers.

However, stagnation is always a very frustrating thing.

For Ma Xiu, it was alright. She had her own side business as a fashion designer, and after meeting Xia Chen, she devoted herself to the glamour contest.

But for elves, whose competitive spirit is ingrained in their very being, battles are not their entire life, but they are an indispensable part of it.

It had been a long time since Ma Xiu had seen such a radiant smile on Pokkis's face after defeating such a powerful enemy.

It's not that Tokiss is unhappy in normal times, but the warm and trivial happiness in daily life is very different from this kind of fulfilling joy.

Ma Xiu was delighted to see such a smile.

As it turns out, the strength of a Pokémon is not the only important factor on the battlefield; the trainer's command skills are equally important.

Most of those who advanced to the second round were top trainers like Cynthia, Cattleya, and Alder, even though the Pokémon they drew weren't as strong as their opponents on paper.

Whether by coincidence or not, Xia Chen encountered his good teacher, Gadriya, in the second round.

…………

The duel between the two superpowered individuals drew cheers from the onlookers, who eagerly prepared their snacks and drinks, ready to enjoy this tale of "kindness between teacher and student."

The two players drew equally strong Pokémon, both having champion-level powerhouses and support Pokémon like Serperior. It was hard to predict who would win before the match.

After a fierce battle lasting nearly half an hour, the rebellious disciple Xia Chen finally managed to defeat Cattleya through a difficult underhanded act.

Despite showing no anger at yesterday's first-round exit, Gadriya's face hardened after this match's defeat.

Although she usually doesn't show much expression on her face, her emotions were clearly fluctuating a lot at this moment.

After leaving the field, Xia Chen chuckled and said, "What, you're not convinced?"

Caldelia ignored him, having already answered the question with her actions.

In the end, Xia Chen took the initiative to back down, repeatedly saying that "it's mainly because of Teacher Jia Deliya's good teaching," and only then did this girl with no special abilities give up after whining.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield near Xia Chen's new home, a new round of attacks and skills were unleashed.

It's only because Gullit was there to oversee things on the sidelines; otherwise, the aftershocks of his moves alone would have been enough to hurt the people on the sidelines.

In addition to the mentor-student showdown between Xia Chen and Gadriya, the second round also replicated the classic battle from the Masters 8 tournament two years ago: Cynthia vs. Adek.

It is widely believed that that match forced Aldeck into retirement.

Although there seems to be a direct causal relationship in terms of time, only Teacher A knows the truth.

What Xia Chen didn't know was what Alderk was really thinking beneath his cheerful expression when he suffered another defeat at Cynthia's hands.

At the very least, it probably won't be pleasant.

Time passed amidst a series of interesting battles and the constant laughter and cheers that filled the battlefield, until evening arrived.

After two rounds of competition, the final four contestants have been determined. Apart from Xia Chen and Cynthia, the other two are Karune and Professor Oak.

A result that wasn't entirely unexpected—

The former is a top trainer with a chance to become the new Carlos champion, while the latter is a former big shot who has achieved great success.

Xia Chen's next opponent is none other than the legendary figure in the Pokémon world, Yukito Ooki, with whom he has a mentor-student and friend relationship.

…………

In a way, Xia Chen and Professor Oak have some strange similarities—both made huge contributions to the Pokémon academic world that are destined to be recorded in history, and both were legendary trainers who dominated their time.

Although Xia Chen is not yet, no one doubts that he will be in the future.

In fact, back in Professor Oak's time, there were far fewer trainers than there are now, and their strength was certainly much less.

However, people always tend to praise the past and belittle the present. Even today, many people believe that if the ancient masters had faced off against the legendary Masde in today's Masters Tournament, they could have easily crushed the opponent.

However, after Xia Chen came into contact with this level of big shots, he gradually realized that if he didn't bring his martial arts master Xiong Shi along, this legendary fighter would most likely only be eliminated in the first round of the modern eight masters tournament.

As the terminator of the hegemony of that era, Yukinari Ōki's strength was undoubtedly high.

Of course, the name Professor Oak has a deeper meaning for Xia Chen—he is almost the starting point for every Pokémon fan to understand the series.

Whether it's games, anime, or comics.