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Wh...what!

Someone actually knows the answer!

The teacher, who was trying to appear calm, suddenly felt a sense of frustration.

Whether or not I show off my knowledge is irrelevant; the main problem is that the exhilarating feeling that was about to be released was abruptly cut off at the last moment, which is as painful as if I had stopped moving!

Huh, how would I, a woman, know what it feels like to be stopped?

While the teacher was still thinking, the little girl with short, navy blue hair who was eager to answer the question had already started chatting with the children around her.

"That's not all. Sylveon, Cyprinus, and many other Pokémon now known as Emerald Form were all discovered by Senior Xia Chen."

Wow, Riko, you know so much! That's amazing!

"No...no, I just know a little bit about Senior Xia Chen."

"..."

It was this child?

Seeing Rico blush and blush shyly as she was praised among the children, the teacher changed her opinion of this girl, who she had previously thought was somewhat taciturn, for the first time.

Riko... seems to be a child from the Padia region?

The [Yunze Lake Summer Camp] is held annually, where twenty to thirty children from all over the world who love elves visit and play in this renowned place for a month.

To be honest, Yunze Lake has nothing particularly remarkable about it except for its beautiful scenery.

But ever since "that man" rose to fame more than a decade ago, the Yuanling Island where he opened the Yuanling Gym has become a "trainer's holy land".

Even many trainers from other regions consider it an honor to obtain a prestigious Spirit Badge.

Unfortunately, he retired young, choosing to retire in his prime in his twenties and return home to live a slower life. He also handed over the Yuanling Dojo to Christina to manage.

Xia Chen's entire family, including the elf, has vanished without a trace; they've disappeared to who-knows-where.

As a result, Yuanling Island gradually lost its former sacred aura and became a well-known dojo with beautiful scenery.

…………

"Teacher...Ms. Kobayashi, can you hear me?"

The childish voice drew Ms. Kobayashi's attention. Looking down, she saw that the little girl named Riko had somehow appeared in front of her, and a brightly colored pendant hanging around her neck was sparkling in the direct sunlight, making it particularly eye-catching.

She replied shyly, "Oh, it's Riko. I didn't hear you clearly. Is there a problem?"

Riko seemed a little shy, rubbing her little hand on Eevee's bag for a while before asking, "I wanted to ask, how many days will we be staying on Spirit Island?"

"Hmm... the plan is for three days, right? Why?"

Hearing the answer, Riko was a little disappointed and muttered softly, "Only three days..."

Teacher Xiaolin smiled and patted the girl's head: "Because Yuanling Island itself isn't very big, there aren't many other activities besides watching the Yuanling Dojo Challenge and visiting the Yuanling Museum. Three days is more than enough time."

Rico retorted, "That's not all. In the Gracidia Flower Fields in the southeast corner of the island, there's a seedling of the Eternal Flower; on the northern mountain, there's a dragon's nest that Guleton once built; and at the foot of the cliff on the northeast side is Milotic's favorite place to molt..."

Wow, this is a true fan!

Looking at Riko, who was speaking eloquently, Ms. Kobayashi was filled with emotion.

This would have been an extremely common occurrence ten years ago, but with that man's retirement and the increasing momentum of various leagues in creating star trainers, it's rare to encounter his die-hard fans anymore, let alone someone so young.

Ms. Kobayashi kindly reminded you, "Well... actually, those places you mentioned are currently closed, and you can't go in without permission."

"Ah—is that so...?"

Riko's face betrayed her disappointment, and her little hands, which were gripping the shoulder straps, immediately relaxed.

Ms. Kobayashi couldn't bear to see such a cute little girl looking so wronged, so she quickly comforted her, "It's okay. When we get to Zhijiang City, I can take you to visit Xia Chen's alma mater. Speaking of which, I'm actually his junior from the same school."

Children's emotions come and go quickly. Just moments ago, tears were welling up in Riko's eyes, but now she was all smiles. Her innocent smile stirred the heart of Ms. Kobayashi, who was nearly thirty.

Yunze Lake isn't very large. Enjoying the surrounding scenery and wild creatures along the way, the yacht soon docked at the pier on Yuanling Island.

Compared to other parts of the world that are now filled with skyscrapers, Yuanling Island still strives to maintain the harmonious coexistence between humans and elves that existed at its inception.

The tallest building on the entire island is only twenty or thirty meters tall, the Yuanling Dojo. This circular building, with its striking design, is quite eye-catching.

Even more eye-catching are the dozen or so lifelike elf sculptures displayed in front of the building.

Sylveon, Gardevoir, Milotic, Zoroark, Dragapult... and even legendary Pokémon like Guruton, Deoxys, and Zeraora.

Anyone can see that this is the entire Pokémon lineup that legendary trainer Xia Chen had before his retirement.

These sculptures, made of an unknown material, are incredibly lifelike, even though they are enlarged several times in proportion. From their color and expression to the details of their bodies, they are indistinguishable from the real thing.

This stunning sight completely captivated the group of kids, especially the little fangirl Rico, whose Rotom flash on her phone never stopped.

…………

"These statues were cast by the Ultimate World people to commemorate Master Xia Chen's outstanding contributions in the fight against dark matter."

Ms. Kobayashi introduced with ease: "Even today, Genrei Island is still a must-see attraction for tourists from the Ultimate World. Look, aren't there many people with different skin colors here, as well as many Ultra Beasts that you rarely see?"

As she said, among the bustling crowd of tourists were some eye-catching blue-skinned Ultimate World people, whose expressions were much more solemn and dignified than those around them.

After a brief introduction, Ms. Kobayashi led the reluctant Riko and the others into the Elemental Dojo.

As the undisputed "number one dojo in the Donghuang region," this place attracts so many people that you have to book a month in advance just to barely secure a spot.

Whenever there is a gym open challenge, not only are the stands at the battlegrounds packed, but the number of viewers watching the live stream on online platforms also surpasses that of most major Pokémon tournaments.

The current gym leader, Christina, doesn't have that much influence. It's mainly because Xia Chen, this elusive guy, comes back from time to time to guest star as the gym leader. He does this once or twice a year on average, and it's almost become a regular feature of the Yuanling Dojo.

"Judging by the time, it's been more than half a year since Master Xia Chen last appeared. Maybe we'll get lucky and see him today."

Ms. Kobayashi, who was leading the summer camp group and taking her seat in the audience, said with a smile.

That being said, it was just a joke. The probability of running into Xia Chen was only slightly higher than encountering a legendary elf.

"Teacher, why do you always call Xia Chen 'Master Xia' instead of 'Champion Xia'?"

After taking their seats, a clever little boy asked a question.

Ms. Kobayashi explained, "Because he's never been a champion."

A chorus of "wows" immediately erupted from the surrounding area.

These kids who didn't experience Xia Chen's era never imagined that this universally recognized legendary trainer had never been a champion.

Teacher Xiaolin's eyes welled up with memories, "Xia Chen didn't even go to the Donghuang Championship Challenge back then. He said there was a lonely Gengar that no one was taking care of, and he went to check on it, which made the old champion Gu Kunshan very angry."

When it was time for story time, the children all gathered around, listening intently as the teacher recounted the gossip of the past.

"Then the following year, unfortunately, it coincided with the wedding. Anyway, nobody remembered the championship challenge that year, or even other major competitions. Their glory was overshadowed by that grand wedding."

"Teacher, teacher, is it true that several female champions got into a fight on set over who would be the bride?"

Ms. Kobayashi's face darkened. "Uh... has it gotten this far? There will definitely be Pokémon battles, since most of the attendees are top-tier trainers. But the purpose isn't to steal the bride; it's just to liven things up and have some friendly sparring."

One of the kids, completely lacking in tact, pressed on, "Really, teacher? You know so much because you were there at the time?"

Teacher Lin's face darkened even more. What level or status do I have? Just because I'm from the same hometown or a junior, I can attend the kind of wedding where the entrance is the owner of the venue.

She said dejectedly, "No... but Da Ye Tianwang did a short live stream at the time, and I could see some clues."

"Hehe, so that could be true!"

"That's right, didn't they say his second daughter, Xia Nuoyi, looks a lot like Mingyi Champion?"

"Oh dear, this is no secret anymore. Some people have even analyzed that the newborn baby's blonde hair color is the same as that of Champion Cattleya!"

"..."

Ms. Lin, who was listening from the side, was completely dumbfounded.

What's going on? Are kids in their early teens these days so precocious?

Wait, I don't think I've heard of this before. Is it the same as Lillie the Champion?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

But thinking about it, it's still pretty exciting, isn't it? The forbidden relationship between master and disciple...

…………

A sudden roar of thunder and waves inside the venue interrupted Mr. Kobayashi's dangerous thoughts and drowned out the group of kids' terrible gossip.

Looking down, a familiar yet unfamiliar figure suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

With his ever-bright smile, "that man" made a dashing entrance riding his Doronbaluto. He leaped off the battlefield and waved to the spectators cheering for him from all directions in the stands.

"Oh—it really is Senior Xia Chen!"

Wow—what incredible luck! I've encountered such a wonderful thing!

"Haha, I don't know about anything else, but that guy who came to challenge the dojo must have been sweating buckets."

"No way, if you don't want to fight, let me go. Then I can brag that I've fought someone who's a legendary trainer."

"..."

The thousands of spectators in the stands went almost into a frenzy because of this unexpected and special surprise.

Although Lillie, the youngest member of the golden generation of young players, is already a thirty-year-old woman, the brilliance of that era has never faded.

When Xia Chen, the legendary trainer, reappeared in public, the sensation he caused was far greater than that of any other trainer of this generation.

At the same time, the number of people in the Yuanling Dojo live stream room is also rising at an extremely exaggerated rate.

In other words, there are no network problems in this era of technological explosion, whereas ten years ago, the entire server would have crashed.

Lico's bright eyes were fixed on Xia Chen in the arena, her head still feeling a little dizzy.

Even after the entire dojo challenge ended, she still couldn't believe that her most admired idol had appeared right in front of her.

There's not much to say about the match itself; it was just an ordinary gym challenge, so Xia Chen obviously wouldn't use any of his main Pokémon.

This was a source of regret for everyone present, including his opponents.

However, even when using ordinary Pokémon bred in the gym, Xia Chen's occasional brilliant commands still managed to create waves of sound in the gym.

In the end, Xia Chen won the match, much to the delight of the audience. The challenger earned the Yuanling Badge for his excellent performance, and the dojo challenge came to a happy end.

…………

The competition ended, but the audience was still somewhat reluctant to leave, even though Xia Chen, who had temporarily taken on the role of curator, had already slipped away to slack off.