"Elite Four Jin—what's so urgent?"
Standing on Dragonite's back, Hu Yan'er asked again.
Jin Peng answered, a little awkwardly, "Actually… I'm here to ask you for help."
An active-duty Elite Four coming to a student for backup—honestly, it was embarrassing.
But the moment Hu Yan'er heard his purpose, it felt like thunder exploding in her head.
"Help? Me?"
"Elite Four Jin… you're not joking, right? Shouldn't you be looking for my teacher?"
Hu Yan'er didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Her?
A student who hadn't even reached Pseudo-Elite Four, going to help against an opponent even an active-duty Elite Four couldn't handle?
It sounded like a bad joke.
Then Jin Peng's helpless voice cut in.
"At a time like this, how could I joke?"
"Your teacher is probably tied down by Lie Ke. Right now, you're the only one who can help. And why you? Because your teacher told me so himself."
"He said if I ran into an opponent I couldn't hold back, I could come to you."
"Teacher said that…? Oh. Then I understand."
Hearing that, Hu Yan'er suddenly got it, and her right hand instinctively brushed the Poké Ball hanging at her chest.
If Teacher had said it, then the one being called on had to be the Ninetales inside.
Still, one question lingered.
"Elite Four Jin… are you sure you heard right?"
"Lie Ke—that old guy—can actually hold my teacher back? Teacher beat him senseless!"
If Jin Peng had named someone she didn't know, she might've believed it.
But Lie Ke… a guy who'd been shut out completely—what power did he have?
At that, Jin Peng's expression turned solemn.
"This time, the Seven Sages came prepared."
"Lie Ke seems to have a Legendary Pokémon. That's how he's managed to keep Teacher Guo pinned. And the one we need to face now… is probably a Legendary Pokémon too."
They still didn't know Kyurem's true identity.
But it was almost certainly a Legendary Pokémon.
Otherwise, strength like that in an ordinary Pokémon would be… terrifying beyond reason.
"I see."
Hu Yan'er nodded.
So with a Legendary Pokémon backing him, that old man could finally delay her teacher.
Even hearing that Lie Ke had a Legendary Pokémon, Hu Yan'er didn't worry about her teacher's safety at all.
Even though Teacher had handed Zapdos to her and Ninetales to Xiao Xue for protection—in Hu Yan'er's eyes, her teacher was always unbeatable.
A Legendary Pokémon, so what?
It wasn't like they'd never fought one before!
Right now, compared to Teacher, Hu Yan'er was more curious—what Pokémon had they brought out that left two active-duty Elite Four at a loss?
"Strange… why are all these storm clouds moving that way so fast?"
As they flew, Hu Yan'er noticed something off in the cloud layer.
The clouds were sliding west at a speed visible to the naked eye—like they were being pulled along by some invisible force.
Jin Peng squinted into the distance, uncertain. "That direction… isn't it the Secret Realm where Guo Yi is?"
The clouds were too dense for him to be completely sure.
"Teacher…?"
Hu Yan'er murmured, watching the dark mass drift.
Soon—with Dragonite's high-speed flight, Jin Peng brought Hu Yan'er back to Huilongkou at last.
And by then, the situation at Huilongkou had turned extremely unfavorable for the League.
Even though the Seven Sages had only deployed a single Pokémon—Kyurem—the League's side was being forced back, step by step.
At the edge of the battlefield, Flygon and Haxorus had already lost the ability to fight, collapsed on the ground.
As Jin Peng's second-string team, they could hold their own against ordinary Elite Four Tier Pokémon.
But against Kyurem—especially an Ice-specialized Dragon-type Legendary Pokémon—the mismatch was brutal.
Even a graze could leave them critically injured.
And besides those two, the others weren't in good shape either.
Half of Hydreigon's wings were frostbitten; it could only stay airborne by relying on levitation, barely keeping itself aloft.
Its mobility had been gutted.
And Gyarados's red armor of scales was now covered in cuts and gouges.
In a few places, it had even cracked.
Among the Pokémon Jin Peng still had on the field, only Charizard—and Aerodactyl, which had just arrived—were in relatively decent condition.
As for Lin Feng's side—because the Trainers were still present and actively commanding, his Pokémon were doing a bit better than Charizard.
But only a bit.
If the fight dragged on, defeat was inevitable.
"Lin! I'm back!"
Just as Lin Feng was about to tear his hair out, Jin Peng's voice rang from the sky.
Lin Feng looked up.
Sure enough, Dragonite's familiar silhouette—and the figure behind Jin Peng.
"So that's the support he brought?"
At last, a smile tugged at Lin Feng's heavy expression.
If Jin Peng valued this support enough to race for it, then their strength had to be considerable.
At the very least, they should be able to hold that terrifying ice dragon off.
But—as Dragonite descended, Lin Feng's expression rode a full roller coaster.
"Hu Yan'er?"
"Teacher Guo's student?"
When Lin Feng finally saw who stood behind Jin Peng, the words burst out of him.
Was he seeing things?
Jin Peng's "support" was a student.
Unable to believe it, he rubbed his eyes.
Looked again.
…Nope.
He hadn't seen wrong. It really was Teacher Guo's student.
In an instant, anger surged up his chest.
Before Jin Peng could speak, Lin Feng snapped, "Jin Peng, what are you doing?!"
"This is a battlefield. Is this somewhere a student can meddle? If something happens to her, how are we supposed to explain it to Teacher Guo?"
They already owed Guo Yi a massive favor for this assistance.
If his disciple got hurt on top of that—how was Lin Feng supposed to face him afterward?
Seeing Lin Feng lose his temper, Jin Peng hurriedly explained, "Lin, calm down!"
"This is Guo Yi's idea. He told me that if I ran into trouble, I could come to Yan'er."
"I think he left a trump card with her."
Beside them, Hu Yan'er spoke up as well. "Elite Four Lin, trust me."
"I really can help."
"Tch… sigh."
Lin Feng let out a helpless breath.
Right now—it looked like he truly didn't have another choice.
"That ice dragon is too strong. We need a Pokémon that can at least hold it off."
"Can you do it?"
At this point, he could only pin his hopes on Hu Yan'er.
It sounded unreliable, but it was the only path left.
Hu Yan'er glanced at Kyurem as it wreaked havoc, and her heart trembled.
"S-so strong…"
Watching it casually crush multiple attacks, Hu Yan'er couldn't help the soft exclamation.
Then she turned to Lin Feng. "I can."
"Before Teacher left, he gave us a Pokémon for protection."
Lin Feng's eyes lit up at once.
"A Pokémon? Where?"
If it came from Teacher Guo, its strength couldn't be weak.
"Here."
Hu Yan'er unhooked the Poké Ball from her chest and murmured, "Please."
Then she threw it.
Fwoom!
Before Lin Feng and Jin Peng could even see what emerged—a surge of searing flame shot straight into the heavens.
In an instant, the cold Kyurem had spread across the field melted away in great swaths.
Seeing that, the two of them finally let out a long breath.
Because within that flame, they felt a powerful presence too—maybe not stronger than Kyurem, but on the same tier.
And that was enough.
As long as something could stall Kyurem head-on, this fight was still winnable.
"ROOOAAAARRRR!"
The moment the pillar of fire appeared, Kyurem halted its assault.
As an Ice-type, it loathed that roaring blaze.
Without hesitation, that familiar Ice Beam swept in again, aiming to freeze the flames as well.
But—this time, Kyurem's never-failing attack finally met its match.
The towering fire pillar rapidly drew inward and condensed, and the Pokémon within slowly revealed her full form.
And those nine tails, swaying freely in the air, declared her identity at a glance.
"Ninetales!"
Both Lin Feng and Jin Peng looked stunned.
At first, they'd thought it might be some kind of Legendary Pokémon.
They never imagined it would be a Ninetales.
Ninetales wasn't common, but it certainly wasn't impossibly rare, either.
Whoosh!
Flames gathered in Ninetales's mouth and blasted out.
The heat was even higher than the fire pillar had been.
Ice Beam vs. Flamethrower!
One blazing hot, one bitter cold.
One fire, one ice.
Two utterly different forces collided, and their terrifying energies tore loose at the impact point, venting violently.
In an instant, the battlefield split into two extremes.
On Kyurem's side, snow lay thick and white, jagged ice spikes bristling with murderous chill—enough to make your bones ache.
On Ninetales's side, heatwaves rolled, the ground cracking like midsummer, sweat pouring freely.
In this clash, Kyurem clearly looked more at ease—but its attack was stopped completely.
"I never thought Teacher Guo had another Pokémon this terrifying besides Beedrill."
Watching the scene, Lin Feng couldn't help the heartfelt sigh.
---
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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