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

Even after a difficult defeat of the heavily depleted Gardevoir, Alakazam immediately collapsed in Sylveon's hands.

The last hippopotamus was no exception; with a steady roar following the high-speed star, Sylveon's number of defeats in this tournament increased by one.

Thus, Xia Chen narrowly defeated Jiang Pei, the inheritor of the Huangsha Dojo, and advanced to the main competition of this year's National Youth Trainer Competition.

After the battle, Xia Chen led the Pokémon to the Pokémon Center at the Blazing Arena.

This match was different from the relaxed and carefree first two days. Milotic was seriously injured, Gardevoir fought to the very end, and only Sylveon was still alive and kicking.

After handing the two badly injured Pokémon to Nurse Joy, Xia Chen cleaned the dust off Sylveon's fur while silently summarizing his thoughts on the match.

Jiang Pei's strength is roughly between that of Hu Yang and Yin Yuan, so winning this match was not easy.

Although it seemed like he was completely dominating, one important reason was that Jiang Pei wasn't familiar with him.

Conversely, Xia Chen, who had information about his opponent provided by the "Shanghai University Think Tank," was able to gain a relatively clear understanding and knowledge of Jiang Pei before the battle.

In subsequent matches, this information gap is unlikely to occur.

In this battle, Xia Chen's fighting style and the characteristics of his three Pokémon were completely exposed. Future opponents only need to study this match.

It can be said that the real battle begins when it comes to pure tactics and strength.

Moreover, based on past trends, the further the competition progresses, the more trainers like Jiang Pei will become proficient in certain tactics and strategies.

They are often the inheritors of dojos or training centers, and their strength should not be underestimated.

The opponents I faced today, Jiang Pei and Wang Ding from Bingzhen Dojo, are not the strongest. According to the information provided by the school, Lu Weiyu, the successor of Yunze Dojo, is the biggest favorite to win this competition.

It's quite a coincidence that, like Xia Chen, she is also from Zhijiang.

However, Xia Chen has not yet challenged the local Yunze Dojo, so the two have no prior experience fighting each other.

If you want to win the championship, Lu Weiyu is a formidable opponent that you have to face.

Xia Chen pondered the information and materials sent from the school.

A rain team centered around Swampert...?

…………

"The next match is a bit special because one of the contestants is a traveling trainer from the Kanto region named Red. He is also the only contestant from outside the region participating in this tournament. In the first two matches, he only used two Pokémon, Pikachu and Poliwag, demonstrating extraordinary strength..."

The familiar name coming from the television hanging on the wall interrupted Xia Chen's thoughts.

Crimson...is his match about to begin?

He turned to look at the TV and saw the familiar figure in the red and white training uniform standing quietly by the battlefield, with a yellow rat perched on its shoulder that looked eager to jump in.

There were many matches in the past two days, and Xia Chen left in a hurry, so he didn't get to watch Crimson's matches. Today he has the opportunity to see just how strong Crimson really is now.

Holding Fairy Cloth on his lap and continuing to groom her, Xia Chen looked up to watch the live broadcast of Group A's match.

Crimson's opponent was a student from Huangdong University. Judging from his background, his strength was probably inferior to that of the apprentices from those dojos and training centers.

But Huangdong University is still one of the top three universities in the entire Donghuang, so it is enough to serve as a touchstone for Chihong.

Xia Chen originally thought so, but in fact, Crimson still ended the match without sending out his third Pokémon.

Actually, the opponent's strength is not weak, but when facing Pikachu who hasn't even started playing yet, the gap is quite large.

Pikachu carried the team throughout, and Poliwag is a completely different player compared to a year ago. In just over five minutes, Crimson easily won the main tournament ticket with a score of 3-0.

"As expected of him..."

Xia Chen sighed softly, casually crumpling the fabric fibers pulled from the comb into a ball and playing with it in his hand.

"Buyi!"

Fairy Cloth didn't have much to say about Crimson's growth, but she was very unhappy about Xia Chen playing with her fur. She stretched out her silk and snatched the fur ball that had just left her body back.

Xia Chen ignored her and continued to think about the crimson matter.

That Poliwag is alright; it doesn't seem to have reached the elite level yet. Although its growth rate is frighteningly fast compared to ordinary Pokémon, it's still not enough compared to Sylveon and the others.

But that Pikachu's strength was a bit outrageous... Xia Chen didn't dare to make any rash judgments about Pikachu, he could only say that he really couldn't figure it out.

Aside from the two known Pokémon, the identity of Crimson's final main Pokémon remains a mystery...

Snorlax? Venusaur? Or Charizard?

The answer to this question may only be revealed when he encounters a more powerful opponent.

…………

After the intense battle, Xia Chen didn't pay much attention to the remaining matches.

Instead of wasting this time, why not spend some last-minute time cramming with the elves to improve yourself?

So, after the preliminary rounds were completely over, Xia Chen learned that three of the ten students from Beijing University who had come with him had already been eliminated.

A 70% promotion rate is an astronomical figure that other schools can only dream of, but for Kyoto University, it can only be considered barely satisfactory.

The three eliminated contestants had no desire to stay in Funan any longer. As soon as the preliminary rounds ended, they took a plane back to Beijing overnight.

Although elimination may not be due to a lack of ability, but rather bad luck in the draw, young people of this age are very concerned about their image.

We all come from the same school. You advance to the next round and I'm cheering you on from the sidelines... Who can stand that?

Xia Chen ignored everyone else; he was studying his upcoming schedule.

From the very first match of the main tournament, the entire competition adopted a standard single-elimination format.

That is, a tournament format that divides the competition into upper and lower halves, allowing participants to clearly map their path to the next round using a bracket chart.

Similar to the final round of the winners' bracket, Xia Chen was in the lower half of the bracket, while Hu Yang and Chi Hong were in the upper half.

So unless it's the finals, I probably won't have the chance to play against them in this tournament.

The bad news is that the two favorites to win the championship, Lu Weiyu and Bai Mu, are both in the same half of the competition.

Fortunately, judging from the match schedule, Xia Chen won't encounter them too early, leaving himself, or rather, Zorua, some time to evolve.

Hopefully, the little fox will evolve soon...

------

The spirit world.

The sky remained a hazy gray, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, as if the entire world had lost all sense of time.

However, for the vast majority of beings in the spirit world, time is indeed a meaningless thing.

Drifting aimlessly, living in a daze, perhaps what sustains their existence is existence itself.

However, the spirit world is not only filled with such unconscious remnant souls. Just like raising Gu, there are always a few "Gu Kings" who have devoured enough other remnant souls and gradually regained their self-awareness.

At this moment, the remnant soul before Zoroah, which looked almost identical to an ordinary dream monster, was clearly one of them.

A month ago, when Zoroia first saw this remnant of the dream demon's soul, she was startled.

At first glance, Zoroya thought that there were other living elves in the spirit world besides himself.

After careful observation, she confirmed that these were still lifeless spirits.

But how did it rise from a remnant soul to this level?

Could it be because Mismagius is a Ghost-type Pokémon that this change occurred?

There are too many unsolved mysteries in the spirit world, and Zoroah can only guess at it.

She didn't know how this ghost had become like this, but Zoroia had a vague feeling that the fragments of this dream demon ghost's soul would give her a very big surprise.

So, starting a month ago, Zoroa began trying to defeat this dream demon ghost.

The dream demon was much more difficult to deal with than she had originally imagined, because it had begun to possess something important: intelligence.

Therefore, Zoroah temporarily named these undead spirits, such as the Dream Demons, as the "Wisdom Species".

Although the intelligence of intelligent beings is not even comparable to that of normal elves who have not yet emerged from their infancy, it is still a leap forward compared to ordinary remnant souls who cannot even say "Aba aba".

With its initial intelligence and at least two-star elite-level strength, Zoroya was initially almost unable to pose any threat to this intelligent species.

Fortunately, Zorua possesses the ability to freely travel between the two worlds. He is not good at anything else, but he excels at protracted battles.

After a month of intense back-and-forth, today marks the moment of reckoning.

On the barren land, the shadows cast by Zoroah's feet stretched ever longer, and a sinister ghostly hand suddenly burrowed into the body of the dream monster from the shadows.

The last straw broke the camel's back, and the nightmare demon, tormented for a month, was finally freed from its torment and its soul scattered.

Only a single crystal, emitting a soft purple light, remained, floating quietly in mid-air.

…………

Within the gray fog space, only two life forms remain: Zoroya and the Tree of Souls.

After a year of irrigation, although no fourth branch representing new abilities has grown on the tree, the sapling that was initially about the same height as Zoroia has grown to nearly two meters.

With the beautiful purple crystal, which he wasn't sure could be called a [soul fragment], dangling from his mouth, Zoroya placed it into the familiar branch in the middle, and began the Dark Harvest.

It sprouted, blossomed, and bore fruit. Before long, a fruit with a deep purple sheen appeared on the branch.

With practiced ease, Zorua plucked the fruit and began to examine its exceptionally sweet and enticing aroma.

[Dream Demon Soul Fruit]: Consuming this fruit grants the user some of the Dream Demon's abilities.

Zoroya stared wide-eyed in astonishment at the unprecedented information displayed on this special fruit.

Is this the fruit formed from the soul crystal of the "wisdom seed"?

Consuming it will grant some abilities...

What is meant by partial ability?

A specific move or basic ability?

It can't be a characteristic of the Dream Demon, can it?

The vague introduction confused Zorua. This thing... wouldn't it make him weird if he ate it?

But if the Ghost-type doesn't eat it itself, it can't be wasted, or let other unsuitable partners, or even Xia Chen, eat it, right?

What if Xia Chen turns into a ghost?

Wait, becoming a ghost like me... Come to think of it, that doesn't seem so bad.

Forget it, I can only keep this thought to myself.