Several figures were already standing at the entrance of the town, carrying backpacks and fully equipped. They couldn't help but look back at the entire Zhenxin Town and let the breeze blow across their cheeks.
"It's finally time to set off..."
Xiaozhi rubbed the cheek of the electric mouse lying next to his shoulder, his eyes flashing with excitement and nervousness.
One month of special training has gone by in a blink of an eye, and it is already time to set off.
"Pickup!"
Pikachu jumped directly on Xiaozhi's head, stood on the latter's red and white hat, and was furious.
After a month of training, Pikachu's figure has now returned to that of a normal electric mouse, instead of the thick fat he had a month ago, and his movements are strong and powerful.
Standing next to Xiaozhi are his eternal good friends Xiaogang and Xiaoxia, as well as his temporary best friend, photographer Archer. At this moment, everyone is about to leave Zhenxin Town and go to the venue of the Quartz Conference—
—Quartz Plateau.
His fellow countryman Xiaolan, who was also going to attend the Quartz Conference, was originally going to travel with them, but unexpectedly, the latter left a note and left early two weeks ago.
Xiaomao, on the other hand, left Zhenxin Town early and could only skip around in the vast land.
It can be said that only Xiaozhi is still training silently in Zhenxin Town. As Chi said, he has gone through a long journey and faced many opponents. He needs to calm down for a while to digest the gains and losses.
The process of experience is very important.
Dr. Oki, his mother Hanako and other relatives and friends in Zhenxin Town are temporarily holding back, planning to go to the Quartz Plateau after someone reaches the top 16.
The games before the top 16 were all played in the flashy arenas outside. Only after the top 16 did they all gather at the main arena of the Quartz Conference.
If we go now and find that none of the Zhenxin Town trainers have advanced to the top 16, it will be Dr. Ohki and the others who are embarrassed.
"Come on, the future is promising!"
Dr. Oak just patted him on the shoulder, indicating that Xiaozhi could leave Zhenxin Town first.
...
"By the way, I had a dream recently."
Thinking of Dr. Oak's top 16, Xiaozhi suddenly said a sentence, which also attracted the interest of others.
Xiaozhi put Pikachu on the ground, took a deep breath, and slowly told what happened in the dream.
"I dreamed that I attended the Quartz Conference and reached the top 16 smoothly..."
Generally, dreams cannot be remembered after waking up, but the strange thing is that this time the dream is still very clear even after waking up, as if it really happened before.
In the dream, he even relied on the giant crab to start a string of three. This was something Xiaozhi couldn't accept. He had previously thought that putting the giant crab on the bench this time would be the kind to cheer everyone on.
Cheerleader Crab.
"Isn't this nice?"
"To debut in the top 16, the future is already promising."
Seeing the confused expressions on his friends' faces, Xiaozhi waved his hand and continued:
"The problem is that in the round of 16, my opponent was very strange..."
In the dream, he couldn't see his face clearly, but Xiaozhi remembered that it was a boy who also wore a peaked cap and also used Pikachu, Yusanjia, and Baddie, which he also owned Pokémon.
The smell is even more familiar, like...
"Am I fighting with myself?"
Yes, it's like fighting against another self.
Everyone: "?"
Is this some kind of riddle?
But looking at Xiaozhi's thoughtful look, Xiaogang just patted the former's shoulder, indicating that he was too nervous.
"This could be inner demons."
"Inner demon?"
"Yes, everyone is likely to have inner demons at every stage, and the most common inner demon is our own shadow."
This is Xiaozhi's first tournament challenge. It's reasonable for him to be so nervous that he has inner demons.
However, with Xiaozhi's current strength, the top 16 is too much. He even thinks that the top 4 are basically stable.
The premise is that I didn't meet the royal masked man in advance.
It has been officially announced in the news recently that the royal masked men will participate in this quartz conference, and the king will come to the fish pond to fry fish.
If you meet him in advance, you can already start preparing for activities in your circle of friends and transform into buying some quartz conference purchasing agents...
...
However, not only Xiaozhi, but also the dream appeared in the mind of Chi, who was connected to his soul. Even in the dream, he could see further than Xiaozhi.
He saw the inner demon's face. In fact, it was not similar to Xiaozhi, but its aura was strangely similar, as if it was the second Xiaozhi.
Xiaozhi's dreams were generally not deceptive, and had magical meanings. Chi did not regard them as meaningless dreams.
He remembered that the last time he had a dream was in Nibi City. In Xiaozhi's dream, his journey lasted for 20 years, but Xiaozhi never became the champion.
And in that dream, Chi did not exist.
He even suspected that if he was not possessed by Xiaozhi, maybe this would be the latter's path...
"hiss..."
Chi couldn't help but shudder. He hadn't won the championship in 20 years. This was something he couldn't accept...
But this time, it was Xiaozhi's second dream, dreaming about another Xiaozhi.
But when it comes to Xiaozhi, something seems to be missing...?
"What's missing?"
Chi struggled for a long time, and it was only now that he finally figured out what the second Xiaozhi in the dream lacked compared to Xiaozhi himself.
Protagonist halo.
The world chose to revolve around Ash in this new town, not another Ash.
The same is true for one's own possession.
Chi even has a special intuition. At this quartz conference, they can meet the second Xiaozhi...
...
Reality, the hill outside Zhenxin Town.
"Hmph, it's just the top 16, I can at least reach the top 8 this time!"
Xiaozhi secretly clenched his fists and shouted in a low voice, trying to forget this weird dream.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the ground suddenly began to shake inexplicably, as if something terrible had happened.
But the amplitude is not strong, maybe only a magnitude 2 to 3 earthquake.
"Was there an earthquake? Strange, Zhenxin Town shouldn't be at the junction of the continental plates, right?"
Xiaogang couldn't help but frown.
Since leaving Honglian Island, and after learning that the group of geologists in his Nibi City had cheated Honglian Island, Xiaogang has now begun to study geology. According to ordinary logic, Zhenxin Town should not
Earthquake.
Soon, the vibration ended, causing no harm to the waves flying in the sky.
"Sniff..."
Xiaozhi sniffed sharply. Maybe the other people had poor sense of smell, but he could smell something new in the air at this moment.
It was a smell similar to smoke and sulfur. It was very familiar, as if he had smelled it somewhere before.
"It seems like the smell we smelled over at Red Lotus Island...?"
As soon as Xiaozhi finished speaking, the three of them trembled at the same time, their eyes widened, and they even exclaimed in unison:
"Wait, how many days has it been since we left Honglian Island?!"