You Can Fly Without Wings / A Special Hobby

A-Du gave a slight rebuff, after all, he hadn't played a role in the final stage and had instead dragged the team down. You Zhi and Lorelei, on the other hand, accepted it calmly, as it was what they deserved.

Huan Xing solemnly declared, "I will strive to transform this world into one where people can live happily even without the Perpetual Motion Machine."

You Zhi his finger across his forehead with a flourish. "Be confident. You don't need to reflect anyone else's light now, because you are already the brightest star in the night sky."

The three figures completely disappeared from this world, passing through a time tunnel and returning to the shrine in the Ilex Forest. During this process, intense spiritual energy flowed back to the three of them.

You Zhi felt incredibly comfortable, and his spiritual power level rose steadily, quickly reaching the threshold of Nine-Star. He had a feeling that with just a little effort, he could break through the ceiling and advance to Ten-Star.

A-Du spoke first, "I'm ashamed to say that I didn't play any role in this operation and benefited greatly from it. If there's anything I can do to help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask."

Lorelei, "Given our relationship, there's no need to be so polite."

"Yes, so I was saying this to You Zhi, it has nothing to do with you."

"... a boring man."

Lorelei rolled her eyes at the other person, summoned the Blue-Eyes White Night Dragon, mounted it, and flew away.

A-Du showed no intention of stopping him, nor did he chase after him. Instead, he shook his head and sighed, lamenting how willful women could be.

Even You Zhi, who prides himself on being straight, was speechless and said, "Mr. Watari is still single, isn't he? Have you ever considered finding a partner?"

A-Du didn't understand why the other person suddenly brought up this topic, but still replied, "Let it be, I won't force it. I have my spirit companion, that's enough."

"Without desires, one is upright." You Zhi didn't try to persuade him further; no one stipulated that a rich, handsome, and successful man had to get married.

Besides, there are beautiful female Dragon-Type elves too. At most, they are limited by their spiritual bodies and cannot have children. For some people, this is even an advantage.

As Awato was about to leave, he thought for a moment and asked, "By the way, have you heard about the joint alliance tournament between Kanto and Johto?"

"I heard it from Professor Elm, what's wrong?"

"I look forward to the day I can face you in the big tournament."

Awatari was full of fighting spirit; even though he was under Mind Control, he still paid attention to You Zhi's battle with the Mechanical Angel.

"Before this, I heard that the Gym Leader of Blackthorn City, Clair, is from the same Dragon Tamer Clan as you, and she has the eighth badge that I want. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Just follow the rules and come to challenge her. Clair never uses any Spirit Duel. With your strength, as long as you don't make any careless mistakes, it shouldn't be difficult for you to win."

Even though Clair was his cousin, Adu had no intention of flattering her and left after saying that.

You Zhi did not leave. Since the Chaos Phantasm was destroyed and the Uria, Lord of Searing Flames was still in the process of reconstructing his spiritual body, he had no mount available for the past few days. Even if he didn't care about appearance, the Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder and the Phantom Emperor, who could also fly, were in the same situation.

"Sigh, I've saved the world so many times, and I still haven't solved the mount problem. My lack of focus is too severe. I wonder where I can find a female elf with wings."

At this point, You Zhi no longer craves a cool and handsome non-humanoid sprite; he just wants something that can fly at high speed.

After checking his surroundings and confirming that there was nothing amiss, he left Ilex Forest and headed north to Goldenrod City. After resting in the city for a day, he bought a bicycle and followed the official route to Ecruteak City. He then passed through the Mt. Mortar Tunnel and returned to Mahogany Town, heading straight for the Mahogany Gym.

"Take it. I've already heard about it from Watari. As agreed, the badge is yours."

Upon meeting, Pryce tossed the badge to You Zhi.

"So straightforward, no need for a duel to test your strength?"

"There's no need. Not only did you pass the test of the Timelord and enter the Anomaly, but you also played a crucial role in resolving a world-ending event. With that kind of strength, you can easily pass the challenge of the seven badges. Although I am competitive, I'm too lazy to make things difficult for myself. That's enough, don't disturb my work."

You Zhi was kicked out just like that. He put the snowflake-shaped badges into the specially prepared box, glanced at the last dent, and decided to strike while the iron was hot and collect them all as soon as possible.

Chapter 248 Flying Even Without Wings

To get from Mahogany Town to Blackthorn City, you have to cross another mountain with an Ice Path. Not only is the temperature extremely low, but there are also many powerful Pokémon there, making it arguably the most dangerous place in the Johto Region besides Mt. Silver.

Some professional trainers come here to hone their Pokémon, but they don't dare to venture too far in. After all, wild Pokémon don't care about martial ethics. Once they are ambushed and hit, no matter how skilled the trainer is in dueling or how powerful their Pokémon are, it's all for naught.

The saying goes, "I can't deal with your Pokémon, but I can deal with you, the trainer."

Of course, You Zhi wasn't worried about any of that. He swaggered through and even gave the Amazoness Empress a little training session. And let me tell you, the leveling efficiency was quite high.

Many of the wild Pokémon inside are level 20 or higher, but unfortunately most of them only have "average" talents, meaning their maximum level is 30, which makes them unappealing to tame.

No incidents occurred along the way, You Zhi successfully traversed the Ice Path, arriving at Blackthorn City.

This is a quiet city nestled in the mountains, surrounded by mountains on three sides, as if embedded in the rock wall. You Zhi glanced around and knew that it must be the work of the elves, who forcibly hollowed out the mountain and created a flat area. Moreover, it was very likely the work of the Dragon Tamer Clan.

The most famous place in Blackthorn City is the Dragon Den, located behind the Blackthorn Gym. It is home to a large number of Dragon-type Pokémon, attracting the covetous eyes of many. However, thanks to the protection of the Dragon Tamer Clan, the tragedy of overfishing has not occurred.

The Dragon Tamer Clan knew that doing this would offend people, since their own people also tamed spirits from Dragon Den, which could easily give the impression of them hoarding the blessed land and being unwilling to share it with others.

In fact, their clan has strict rules about this, and it's not something anyone can just enter. The number of spots is fixed every year. But it's hard to convince people with such a statement, so they made an exception and stipulated that only trainers who pass the Blackthorn Gym Challenge with a difficulty level of four badges or higher can be qualified to enter the Dragon Den to catch a Pokémon.

As is both reasonable and expected, the leaders of the Blackthorn Gym have always been members of the Dragon Tamer Clan. In order to protect the Dragon Den lairs from over-exploitation, they often set very strict tests, using the highest standards that comply with the Pokémon League's regulations, which are extremely unfriendly to challengers.

Of course, if you haven't even collected all four badges, the difficulty of the challenge will drop significantly, even below average.

Blackthorn Gym used this method to increase its pass rate and make itself less conspicuous; that's what data is all about.

This situation continued until Clair succeeded as the head of the dojo. She didn't care which badge you were challenging for, and applied the highest standard to all of them. As a result, the pass rate of the Blackthorn Gym has plummeted in recent years, making it the last place in the Johto Region.

The Dragon Tamer Clan had some reservations about this, feeling it was too ostentatious and violated their ancestral precept of keeping a low profile, making them easy targets for criticism. However, Clair was the clan's second-best genius trainer after Lance, and had the right to be willful. They couldn't teach her a lesson and could only let her be.

Nowadays, trainers in the Johto Region usually consider the Blackthorn Gym as their final challenge. After all, if you can't even get the badges from the other seven gyms, there's no need to make things difficult for yourself by challenging the highest difficulty level. Besides, the roads in Blackthorn City are really hard to navigate, and it would be exhausting without Flying-type Pokémon. Over time, fewer and fewer trainers have taken on the challenge.

This is all the information You Zhi has gathered. He's not particularly interested in the qualification to enter the dragon's Dragon Den. He already has a Dragon-Type dragon in his party, who's more of a mascot, so there's no need to add another one. He's more concerned with the fixed storyline.

"I remember in the original Yugi, there was an NPC in Blackthorn City who traded Pokémon. I think they used Dodrio to trade for the player's Dragonair, hmm..."

You Zhi thinks the designers must have lost their minds when they came up with this storyline. In the Pokémon world, would anyone really trade Dragonair for Dodrio?

Dragonair evolves into Dragonite, a pseudo-legendary Pokémon. It is not only incredibly powerful but also extremely rare. In fact, three of the eight Pokémon Pokémon tournaments have used Dragonite, and Ash's team also has one.

What about Dodrio?

An ordinary bird-type Pokémon without even wings, lacking strength, appearance, rarity, and presence.

If a popularity vote were held for the existing thousand or so Pokémon, Dodrio would likely not even make the top 900.

It's not even as good as Kricketune!

"Wait a minute, I remember Dodrio can learn to fly, even though it doesn't have wings, it can still fly. So, will the corresponding Pokémon in this world also be able to fly?"

You Zhi decided to look around first. If the other party also wanted Dragonair- level Pokémon to trade with, just like in the Yugi, then it would be goodbye.

This time, he didn't ask Morty for help with divination, because Blackthorn City wasn't very large. After all, it was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the side that was left was a slope leading down the mountain. There was no room for expansion. It was nominally called a city, but in reality, it was only the size of a village. If someone really wanted to exchange Pokémon, they could find out by asking around.

Of course, You Zhi didn't forget to make a reservation at the gym first, and was told that he could participate in the challenge the next afternoon, which shows that there are really very few trainers who come to challenge the Blackthorn Gym.

Next, he booked a room at a local hotel, put down his luggage, and then went to gather information.

He soon realized he had misunderstood; there were far more trainers in Blackthorn City who wanted to trade Pokémon than he had imagined!

He learned after asking around that because the challenges at the Blackthorn Gym are so difficult, the trainers who come here are often above average. Trainers who fail to complete a challenge don't rush to leave. They usually learn from their experience and come back to challenge again after a few days. This cycle continues until they succeed or lose confidence and leave.

When a group of high-level trainers gather together, they inevitably exchange ideas and practice together. They share their experiences in challenging the Blackthorn Gym and practice to improve their Pokémon levels. In addition, the presence of the Dragon Den makes the concentration of spiritual energy in this place far superior to other places. Over time, Blackthorn City has become a customary circle for elite trainers to exchange ideas.

In particular, the downhill slope south of Blackthorn City has been transformed into a terraced training ground, with steps leading down to make it convenient for trainers to rent space for battles.

Once the number of trainers gathered reached a certain level, the demand for exchanging Pokémon naturally arose, and there were even intermediaries in the area who specialized in providing this service.

Spending a little money can save a lot of time, so You Zhi naturally wouldn't be stingy. After finding out the address, he went directly to the address and asked the elf broker to help him search.

"What are your requirements for the elf, such as race, attribute, lineage, star rating, etc."

The receptionist provided excellent service with a smile and a very gentle tone; after all, Pokémon trainers aren't poor.

You Zhi carefully recalled the Yugi's settings and said, "They can't be from out of town; local trainers are preferred, and their Pokémon must be flying."

He paused for a moment, then added in a helpless tone, "By the way, female elves are preferred."

Chapter 249 Special Hobbies

After hearing You Zhi's request, the receptionist showed no unusual expression, nodded, and began typing on the keyboard to search for Pokémon that matched the criteria.

It wasn't that she had strong facial muscle control, but rather that as a real estate agent, she had heard all sorts of bizarre requests and was used to them. In comparison, You Zhi's request was actually quite ordinary.

Honestly, which is more normal for a man: a beautiful female elf or a muscular male elf?

Of course, the above two are quite normal compared to the requirements of "half-human, half-beast" or "half-human, half-plant".

The only thing that caught the receptionist's attention was that when others made this request, they were either hesitant and embarrassed or expressionless and self-righteous, but she had never seen such a coerced attitude from You Zhi before.

However, she did not ask any questions about it, strictly adhering to her duties as a tool, not listening to what she shouldn't listen to, not asking what she shouldn't ask, and only following the procedures. After all, these elite trainers were people she couldn't afford to offend, and it would be terrible if she offended them because of a certain expression.

"Sir, there are three elves that perfectly match your requirements. If we disregard the last condition, there are nine."

You Zhi was saying that female elves should be given priority, not that he only wanted female elves; this was his last act of defiance.

After taking the information on the eight Pokémon, You Zhi glanced at them and said, "Let's look at the first three first. If none of them work, then we'll look at the remaining six."

"Okay, these three are staying with us. Please follow me."

The receptionist led You Zhi to the warehouse where Pokémon Card were stored. The first Pokémon introduced was "Harpie Queen" (4-star, Winged Beast-Type, ATK 1900/DEF 1200), which belongs to the Harpie Lady series.

Although not as famous as Dark Magus and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Harpie Lady is still a relatively well-known Pokémon. According to publicly available information online, its strongest form is the 8-star Synchro Monster "Harpie Lady: Clawbreaker".

Despite her relatively low strength, the Harpie Lady has attracted a considerable following thanks to her striking appearance, especially among those who, as mentioned earlier, are fond of "half-human, half-beast" characters.

In reality, the proportion of Harpie Lady have transformed into beasts is very small. Aside from their wingsped and overly long arms and eagle-claw-like feet, the rest are just ordinary hot girls. Therefore, their fans belong to the milder category among "half-human, half-beast" enthusiasts.

The receptionist was well aware of the allure of this type of sprite, so she summoned it directly. In a flash of light, a curvaceous green-haired girl appeared on the spot. She was wearing a thin garment that was almost like a bikini, except for the addition of stockings on her legs, which made her look even sexier.

Compared to the Harpie Lady with their flamboyant and edgy style, the Harpie Queen's hairstyle is quite ordinary: a long ponytail that reaches past her waist and long bangs that cover half her face, giving her an overall sense of melancholy and mystery, which enhances her charm.

"If you're interested in this Harpie Queen, the exchange conditions are that she be level 30 or above, a large-sized Dragon-Type or Machine-Type, and possess at least two of the following traits," the receptionist explained.

With current human technology, it is impossible to accurately measure a Pokémon's talent, but it is possible to measure its level. If a Pokémon's level reaches 30 or above, it means that it possesses at least Strong Rank talent.

The requirement that trainers of the Harpie Queen be level 30 or higher ensures that they can become usable combatants immediately upon acquisition, while also guaranteeing their potential for further development.

You Zhi used his cheat to take a look and found that this Harpie Queen's talent was "Equal" and its level was 30. This meant that it had already reached its limit and could not break through without a lucky encounter, let alone evolve into its final form.

Of course, this does not mean that the other party is setting exorbitant conditions.

Strength is part of an elf, and so is appearance. The other party is well aware that his target is those lecherous men who are attracted to the Harpie Queen's looks; ordinary people shouldn't waste his time.

You Zhi is just an ordinary person. He has no interest in "half-human, half-beast" creatures. He cares more about strength than appearance. Besides, he has a bunch of girls under his command who have already stacked up their resistance. The mere Harpie Queen is not enough to make him lose his mind.

"This one won't do, try the next one."

The receptionist couldn't help but glance at You Zhi again. The fact that he refused so decisively was somewhat unexpected. After all, customers who had made similar requests before, even if they couldn't offer a Pokémon to exchange, would still linger and feast their eyes. Some lustful individuals would even ask to touch it themselves—a request that would be refused by the intermediary on the grounds of protecting the customer's personal safety.

"The second Pokémon is a bit dangerous. You should step back a bit. Of course, it usually won't attack first. If you feel unsafe, you can summon a Pokémon to protect yourself."

"No need, I trust your security capabilities."

The receptionist nodded and didn't try to persuade her any further. After all, there were several Pokémon responsible for security on site. She took out a second Pokémon Card, and with a flash of light, a huge Pokémon that was half human and half insect appeared on the field.

[Ultimate Insect Queen (7-star) Land]

[Lineage: Insect, Poison]

[Level: 28]

[Talent: Strong]

[Attack Power: 2800 (2520)]

[Defense: 2400 (2160)]

[Insect, effect: omitted]

You Zhi glanced at the spiky wings on the other person's back, then at the voluptuous upper body of the woman. Indeed, the agent wasn't trying to scare people; it was truly his request.

"But she can't fly very fast, can she?"

If it's just about levitation, the Azure River Dragonmaid can do that too. What he needs is an elf that can serve as a flying vehicle; speed alone is meaningless.

The receptionist said, "It shouldn't be flying very fast. Do we need to conduct a speed test? If so, we'll have to wait a while while we contact the spirit's master to give the order."

The ownership of the Pokémon Card stored with the intermediary is not transferred. Therefore, the intermediary can only summon the spirit, but cannot give any commands to the spirit. The spirit can even return to the Pokémon Card if it is unwilling.

"No need, this one won't do, get the next one."

If the other party possessed Ferocious Rank talent, You Zhi would accept it even if he had to grit his teeth, since the Ultimate Insect Queen's characteristics were not bad and her base stats were not low. However, a mere Strong Rank talent would only lower the team's average talent level, which he no longer valued and was too lazy to even listen to the exchange conditions.

This sprite should be left to those hardcore "half-human, half-beast" enthusiasts.

The receptionist wasn't surprised; only a very few people could accept the appearance of the Ultimate Insect Queen. She recalled the Pokémon and took out the last Pokémon that met the requirements.