Age of Elves: I started flashing with my handheld.

25. Couple's Rivals

"Uh..." Nanfeng scratched his head, realizing he had won this round without lifting a finger.

"If I say I'll take you flying, I will!" Li Xiaoyu patted Nanfeng's shoulder casually, not caring at all about Nanfeng's recent slacking off.

"Wow! Your Kabuterimo is exceptionally fierce. You're destined to be the future Water-type Gym Leader, Li Xiaoyu!" Nanfeng offered his praise at the opportune moment. He also guessed that Li Xiaoyu's Kabuterimo probably didn't come from a Pokémon breeding center, as it was too wild and ferocious, making it a Pokémon well-suited for battle.

“Be bold, I’m aiming for the Heavenly King!” Li Xiaoyu said without any politeness.

Nanfeng silently wiped his sweat. Having won the preliminary round of the street competition, he was now aiming for the top spot.

After that, if you win the Qiantang University grade competition, won't you aim for the championship and the position of headmaster?

Amidst scattered applause, Nanfeng and Li Xiaoyu stepped off the battlefield.

The official match at the West Lake Arena will begin in half an hour, which gives Blue Crocodile time to recover. However, Blue Crocodile didn't suffer any serious injuries; after applying some good wound medicine, half an hour of recovery time should be enough.

On the other side of the West Lake Arena, the team that won the first spot in the West Lake Arena was reminiscing about the battle between Nanfeng and Li Xiaoyu.

"That frog is very fast, and the blue crocodile is very strong. It might be difficult for us to win," Chen Hong said with some worry.

But Li Ming, her boyfriend, had a completely different opinion.

"It's not difficult. The official trainer team has already provided us with a tactical plan: first, team up to take down the Blue Crocodile, then turn around and fight the Froakie two-on-one."

The battle just now proved one thing: between the frog and the blue crocodile, the blue crocodile is clearly the boss. Once the boss is taken down, the underlings are nothing but fish on a chopping board, to be fought however they want!

Chen Hong thought about it and realized it made sense. "I'll listen to you."

Within half an hour, the number of spectators around them grew larger and larger; they were all high school graduates from all over the country who had come to Qiantang to study.

A trip to Qiantang is incomplete without visiting West Lake, and there are already so many spectators gathered around the lake; the number of visitors will only continue to grow.

Soon, the rest and waiting time ended, and both trainers took to the field.

"Now we begin the West Lake Arena Finals, with trainers Li Ming and Chen Hong facing off against trainers Li Xiaoyu and Nanfeng. Each trainer may use one Pokémon. The battle ends when both Pokémon on one side are unable to battle!" The referee checked the status of the four trainers and then raised his hand to signal.

"Now, both sides, please send out your Pokémon simultaneously!"

The four people faced each other and simultaneously took Poké Balls from their waists and threw them into the air.

The Poké Ball opened, and four Pokémon landed.

Nanfeng and Li Xiaoyu are still using the Froakie and Crocodile combination. The organizers haven't prohibited players from using other Pokémon in the second round. However, Nanfeng doesn't plan to change, while Li Xiaoyu has no Pokémon to switch.

Li Ming and Chen Hong's Pokémon are Marill and Lanternfish.

The former is a chubby blue mouse, known as the "Dragon Slayer" because of its fairy attributes and "strongman" talent. There was also a meme of Marill slaughtering dragons in a previous life.

The latter, the lanternfish, is a rare Pokémon that is both electric and water-type, and it occupies a relatively high ecological niche in major rivers.

The referee confirmed that both sides were in position, raised his hand, and announced, "The match begins!"

"Marilluri, use Ice Punch!"

"Lanternfish, use smoke!" As soon as the battle began, Li Ming and Chen Hong launched a fierce attack.

Mariluri jumped up and threw a punch, but instead of attacking the frog or the blue crocodile, she struck the surface of West Lake.

A pale blue light erupted from Mariluri's fist, like a wave that froze all the water it touched!

The frozen area is limited, but it has sealed off the area around the froghead frog and the blue crocodile.

The intention behind the move is quite clear: to block the froghead frog and the blue crocodile from jumping into the water.

The lanternfish exhaled black mist, which quickly spread across the battlefield, aiming to separate the blue crocodile and the frog.

"Not again?" Nanfeng raised an eyebrow. "Froghead, move closer to the blue crocodile."

"Crack!" The frog immediately turned and sprinted away, but after taking only two steps, a thin beam of lightning swept over, forcing the frog to jump backward.

"It still succeeded." Nanfeng was speechless. Was he going to have no gaming experience again?

As soon as the words were spoken, a Marill suddenly emerged from the smoke, its small fist shimmering with pale blue light, and delivered a Freeze Punch straight at Frog.

Froakie's honed fighting instincts allowed it to sense its opponent's presence the instant it appeared. With a powerful leap, it easily dodged Amaranthus's sneak attack.

Nanfeng immediately realized what was happening and sneered, "Looks like I've been used as a weakness to break through."

"Don't let it get away! Continuous Freeze Punch!" Li Ming shouted.

Mariluri was exceptionally fierce, her fists swung incessantly, a smooth, pale blue aura swirling around her, causing the surrounding temperature to drop even further.

Nanfeng suspected that this was a male Marill, with a strong aggressive instinct and an air of wanting to smash the frog.

Your sneak attack missed, how can you expect to hit me in a head-on confrontation?

Froakie's speed and combat experience far surpassed that of the Amaranth, easily dodging and leaping to avoid Amaranth's Freeze Punch.

On the other side, Li Xiaoyu also saw through the opponent's tactics, rolled her eyes, and cursed these guys for being so boring. Then she wanted to command the blue crocodile to go towards the froghead frog, but she was hit by the lanternfish's "electromagnetic wave" in the smoke and was immediately paralyzed in place, so she couldn't provide support.

Li Xiaoyu could only hope that the south wind would at least cause some damage to them, so that she could have an easier time fighting two against one.

Seeing that Marilulli's continuous attacks were fruitless, Chen Hong quickly joined the battle.

"Anglerfish, use electric shock!"

The two small lanterns beside the lanternfish flashed brightly, creating an electric shock that bombarded the frog.

With two Pokémon, one attacking head-on and the other using ranged attacks to control and block, Froakie suddenly found it much more difficult to dodge.

It only increases the difficulty of dodging; the frog's swift movements still allow it to easily dodge.

"Let the lanternfish move forward, and we'll block its escape routes from the left and right!" Li Ming shouted to his girlfriend. After playing for a while, he vaguely felt that there seemed to be a problem with his tactical target selection.

26. Iai instant kill

"Marilure! Use Ice Punch!"

"Lanternfish, use Electric Discharge!" Li Ming and Chen Hong issued the attack order together.

Lanternfish and Marill, coming from behind, blocked Frog's escape route from the left and right, while launching an attack.

"One against two, and they're blocking both sides, preventing any escape..."

"Then we'll have to fight them head-on," Nanfeng chuckled, raising his hand to give the order. "Froghead, Iaijutsu!"

The frog's expression was as solemn and serious as that of a swordsman in the midst of a duel. Facing the lanternfish and Marill charging at it, it took the initiative to attack with a kunai in its hand, heading straight for Marill.

A deep blue figure flashed across the battlefield.

They travel in both directions, and the distance between them is shortened extremely quickly.

In the blink of an eye, Froakie was already in front of Amarillion, its speed far exceeding that of its opponent. Froakie only needed to slightly turn its body to avoid the fist full of frost power. Advancing forward and crossing paths, the cold and sharp kunai slashed diagonally from Amarillion's upper right shoulder blade to her lower left waist.

If it weren't for the special protection mechanisms of the Pokémon world, Marill would have been cut in two by now.

From the side, the lanternfish raised its two "light bulbs" and hurled them, bursting with lightning, about to imprint them on the frog's head.

The two Pokémon, one on the left and one on the right, even though Froakie charged at Azulbasaur and defeated its opponent, Lanternfish's attack did not hesitate at all. Under normal circumstances, in order to defeat Azulbasaur, this "Electric Shock" attack would definitely have Froakie take the hit.

However, that's under normal circumstances, and only applies to ordinary frogs. As for the frogs of the South Wind, their true speed has not yet been revealed.

"A flash of lightning!"

Just as the lanternfish's electric shock was about to hit, the frog's body suddenly vanished from the lanternfish's sight.

This was merely a true disappearance, happening in an instant, as the froghead frog's speed exceeded the limit of what the lanternfish's eyes could detect.

"Pfft!"

The crisp sound of the chopping echoed across West Lake, like a sharp blade slicing through a strip of cloth.

A slash from the lower right to the upper left pierced the lanternfish's chest, nearly slicing the light on its head in two.

To all the viewers, the froghead frog, the marill, and the lanternfish intertwined, forming a "V" in mid-air with a single, sharp glint of light that could be seen with the naked eye.

Then, Frog, holding a kunai, stood behind the two elves with a cold and solemn expression, just like a dashing swordsman who had slain his opponent and then gracefully sheathed his sword.

"Thud, thud..." The lanternfish and Marilla fell to the ground.

The frog's cool factor is instantly off the charts!

Immediately, the surrounding audience erupted in noise.

"Holy crap! What just happened? How did the lanternfish and marilla de lisiana suddenly collapse?"

"Instant kill? I saw it clearly, but why is this frog so fast?"

"One against two, and an instant kill! This frog is no match for lanternfish or margaritas at all! Is this person really a recent high school graduate?"

The two parties involved, Li Ming and Chen Hong, should be even more surprised.

They stared wide-eyed at the frog and their Pokémon lying on the ground, momentarily doubting if they were hallucinating. But after rubbing their eyes and finding their Pokémon still lying on the ground, they had no choice but to accept the outcome.

Can....

The Pokémon I carefully nurtured... just died so easily?

One second they thought they had victory in their grasp, and the next second they had already lost?

This reversal was incredibly exciting.

"Angelfish and Marill are unable to battle, Froakie wins, so the final winners are Trainer Nanfeng and Li Xiaoyu." After a slight surprise, the referee immediately announced the final result.

"You won? You won?" Li Xiaoyu's eyes widened as she stared at the frog in disbelief, then her gaze fell on Nanfeng, as if she wanted an explanation from him.

Nanfeng shrugged. "Of course, the opponent wasn't strong; they gave us a chance."

Li Xiaoyu looked Nanfeng up and down as if she recognized him all over again, then patted him hard on the shoulder. "You're something else! You're actually that strong!"

"Hey, you little devil, go easy on me!" Nanfeng glared at her, clutching his shoulder. He wondered what this girl ate to grow so strong, she was even stronger than a boy. He almost made Nanfeng vomit.

If you weren't so pretty, I'd suspect you were some kind of female monster hiding among the crowd.

"How come your frog is so strong?" Li Xiaoyu asked curiously.

"It has good talent, plus I trained it well," Nanfeng said honestly.

Frog's talent is exceptional, not only in its individual stats but also in its natural combat abilities, which cannot be seen from the game's stats panel. Furthermore, it has accumulated experience and skill through thousands of battles.

Among Pokémon of the same level, apart from Southwind's Roborock and Ralts, few other Pokémon can compare to it.

Li Xiaoyu nodded thoughtfully, wanting to ask some more questions, but Nanfeng didn't want to continue standing on the West Lake Arena stage being watched like a monkey by others, so she quickly withdrew her spirit and pulled her towards the shore.

"Go claim your prize first."

After leaving the West Lake arena, Nanfeng and Li Xiaoyu received their rewards at the official West Lake scenic spot.

A Pokémon egg named "Fluorescent Fish" and a "Mysterious Water Drop" that can increase the power of Water-type moves by 20%.

Fluorescent Fish is a relatively rare Pokémon in Dragon Kingdom, but its strength is average. It is usually sold as a Pokémon egg for around 10 in the market. The "Mysterious Water Drop" that increases the power of Water-type moves by 20% is also worth about the same price. As for how to allocate these two rewards, it is up to the two trainers to decide.

"Which one do you want? You choose first," Li Xiaoyu said magnanimously.

Nanfeng didn't stand on ceremony and directly took the mysterious water droplet and put it on the frog's head.

If you want fluorescent fish, you can catch them in the game. On the other hand, the frog doesn't have any items to use yet, so this mysterious droplet is just in time.

"Then I'll take the Fluorescent Fish Pokémon egg!" Li Xiaoyu said, holding the incubation device containing the Fluorescent Fish Pokémon egg. She was quite satisfied.

Back to the shore of West Lake.

Min Rou and Ye Junlang both acted as if they were meeting Nan Feng for the first time.

"Dude, didn't you say you were going to study Pokémon breeding? How come you're so strong in Pokémon battles?" Ye Junlang couldn't help but ask.

"Who told you that Pokémon breeding majors aren't good at Pokémon battles?" Nanfeng retorted.

"Uh..." Ye Junlang was speechless. It was true that students majoring in Pokémon breeding could be very strong in Pokémon battles, but to be so much stronger than us students majoring in Pokémon battles seemed a bit too strange.

27. Fight the Dojo Again

The West Lake Arena was just a pastime after dinner, and the reward of the mysterious water droplet was an unexpected bonus.

But Nanfeng wants to say, it would be great if this kind of after-dinner entertainment and unexpected bonus could happen every day.

Beyond the gains in loot and experience, it's also important for Nanfeng to observe and become familiar with his own Pokémon during the battle. After all, it's difficult for Nanfeng to directly grasp the actual combat strength of Pokémon by simply leveling up with wild Pokémon.

During the battle between Froakie and Lanternfish and Marill, Nanfeng experienced firsthand the power of Froakie's secret technique, Iai Slash.

The level difference between Lanternfish, Marill, and Froakie is not significant, and under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a single Iai Slash to instantly kill a Pokémon of the same level.