The Eighth Badge Is Mine / The Might of Panda Dragon

Protected by the Duel Barrier, You Zhi will not be injured. His opponent is not a god-level spirit, and his attack and defense stats are only average. He does not have the ability to break the barrier.

Of course, it was within the rules for him to retaliate, and no one could criticize him for it, but the thought only crossed his mind a few times before he gave up on it.

Although he has already revealed his strength to others, there is no need to announce it to the whole world, and this duel does not require such underhanded tactics to give himself an advantage.

Just as You Zhi was bracing himself for the impact, he suddenly heard A-Tsuru shout from the opposite side, "The Proto-Dragon is back!"

This shout used spiritual power, and with the added support of the Duel Barrier, the Primordial Dragon abruptly stopped, halting less than half a meter from You Zhi, and turned back with an expression of resentment.

Clearly, A-Tsuru didn't want to take advantage of her. She said, "Sorry, this elf isn't very obedient. I hope it didn't scare you."

You Zhi said, "Mastering Pokémon is one of the important standards for testing a trainer's ability. From this point of view, you are not as good as Lance."

"I know without you saying it, let's continue the duel."

A-Tsuru acknowledged this, not giving You Zhi a chance to manipulate her mind, and at the same time, she covered the field with the Spell Card she had already crafted.

You Zhi glanced at the Pokémon Card in his hand, wondering if summoning the Demon Lizard Yihao right now would be too obvious a target.

To be honest, he didn't care much about revealing his martial prowess; he had cultivated it step by step on his own. On the contrary, the cheat he had inexplicably acquired was more worth keeping secret.

After a moment's thought, he decided to put on a little performance to lay the groundwork for the plot and make it easier for his opponent to accept.

So, when Lunalight Cat Dancer returned from the other dimension, he immediately ordered her to attack the Progenitor Dragon. As expected, her attack was blocked by the dragon scales, and even the energy she shot out did not cause any damage.

"Immune to combat and effect damage?"

You Zhi's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape, revealing a surprised expression.

As expected, A-Tsuru dutifully explained, "The Ancestor Dragon Gulong are unaffected by Pokémon traits, and they also cannot accept battle damage from Pokémon without traits."

She concealed one point here: the true characteristic of Ancestor Dragon Gulong is that they are immune to battle damage from Pokémon in their normal forms without special abilities. If it is a Pokémon in a special form such as through Polymerization, ritual, or synchronization, even without special abilities, it still cannot harm Protodragon. However, such Pokémon are extremely rare.

Starry Night Dragon is immune to combat damage and effect destruction from DARK Attribute spirits, but cannot resist effect damage. Ancestor Dragon Gulong, is unaffected by spirit traits, including effect destruction and effect damage. However, in Card Duel, Lunalight Cat Dancer's effect deals damage to the player and cannot be resisted.

With a look of sudden realization, You Zhi naturally summoned the Giant Lizard Demon Lizard Yihao.

As expected, A-Tsuru didn't suspect anything. She had already explained that the opponent would naturally summon a Pokémon without any special characteristics to deal with Protodras. It would be more alarming if they didn't do that. However, she was slightly surprised that someone could actually raise a Pokémon without any special characteristics other than the starter Pokémon to be so powerful.

The four Pokémon paired off and fought each other. The Starry Night Dragon and the Proto-Dragon had no coordination whatsoever, and the Cat Princess and the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao were equally lacking in teamwork, so they simply fought separately. The Cat Princess continued her scraping attack on the Starry Night Dragon, while the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao engaged in a fierce battle with the Proto-Dragon and took the upper hand by relying on its lineage advantage—Dark/ Fighting-type dual-type versus Rock-type /Dragon dual-type.

A-Tsuru couldn't stand by and watch the situation continue to spiral out of control, so she immediately activated a face-down Spell Card.

[The Perpetual Trap: The Starry Night, Arrival]

[Effect: This card's effect can only be used once per turn. During your or your opponent's Main Phase, you can activate 1 of the following effects: ● Target 1 Level 7 Dragon-Type - Light Attribute monster you control; return that monster to its owner's hand. ● Special Summon 1 Level 7 Dragon-Type - Light Attribute monster from your hand.]

"I activate the Continuous Spell 'The Starry Night, Arrival' to deflect the Radiant Dragon of the Holy Night back to the Pokémon Card!"

A flash of light appeared on the field, and the Starry Night Dragon returned to the Pokémon Card. Without the slightest hesitation, A-Tsuru summoned the Starry Night Dragon again.

"The Radiant Dragon of the Holy Night's ability is activated: when it is summoned to the field, destroy one Spell Card or one spirit on your opponent's field!"

"Wait a minute, isn't this effect only activated during its special evolution?"

You Zhi knew the reason, but still pretended to be surprised and questioned.

"The Radiant Dragon of the Holy Night's first trait can be activated when it is summoned or undergoes a special evolution."

Just like his explanation of the characteristics of the Protosaurus, A-Tsuru did not lie and gave an explanation that was consistent with the situation at the time, although he did not tell the whole story.

This behavior is not objectionable. After all, the battle is still ongoing, and it's already quite good that he's willing to give his opponent an explanation. He can't just stop giving instructions and spend ten seconds explaining the Pokémon's characteristics from beginning to end; that would turn into a battle tutorial, and his opponent might even feel it's a deliberate insult.

With a flap of its wings, the Starry Night Dragon once again unleashed a dazzling burst of divine starlight, shooting towards the Lunalight Cat Dancer.

While the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao can threaten the Protodras, it also lacks any resistance and is susceptible to combat damage and effect destruction. In A-Tsuru's opinion, it is far less threatening than the annoying Lunalight Cat Dancer, who possesses combat destruction resistance.

The Cat Dancer hurriedly dodged, but the starlight had a tracking effect and there were quite a few of them. Half of them still hit her and exploded on her, causing considerable damage.

A-Tsuru didn't stop, pressing her advantage. "'The Starry Night, Arrival' has activated its hidden effect. When Radiant Dragon of the Holy Night is on your field, this card's effect has no cooldown!"

With a flash of light, Starry Night Dragon was bounced back into the Pokémon Card, then summoned back into the field, its special ability activated once more, unleashing a series of holy starlight beams at Lunalight Cat Dancer.

"Unlimited destruction plus leaving the field to avoid damage!"

You Zhi was genuinely surprised this time, since his Cheat Appraisal the hidden effects of the Spell Card his opponent was using.

It must be admitted that this combination is quite powerful. On the one hand, it can continuously unleash destructive effects without limit, and on the other hand, it can protect the Starry Night Dragon, somewhat similar to the Extinction Effect of the Cosmic Blazar Dragon.

For example, if You Zhi summons the Celestial Gold Knight to activate its destructive properties, the opponent can dodge the sword energy by retrieving the Starry Night Dragon.

You Zhi glanced at his hand; there was a "Spell Removal" card, but unfortunately, Starry Night, Arrival was Trap Card, which wasn't a good match.

He felt a little regretful; he should have crafted a Mystical Space Typhoon as a backup instead of choosing Spell Removal in order to conserve spiritual energy.

Despite acquiring many mid-to-high-level Spell Card from the Tomb Keeper Clan's collection, You Zhi still habitually prefers to use low-level Spell Card that consume little spirit and are quickly crafted, as they can synergize with the traits of Silent Magician and Celestial Gold Knight to increase attack power—these two elves' traits only care about the number of cards.

"If I start forging the Mystical Space Typhoon now, I wonder if I'll make it in time..."

Chapter 262 Acquisition of the Eighth Badge

Seeing that You Zhi had discarded the half-finished Spell Card and started working on a new one, A-Tsuru was certain that the opponent intended to create Mystical Space Typhoon to disrupt "The Starry Night, Arrival." She wasn't disappointed by this.

She never intended to use this combination to overwhelm You Zhi's team; simply eliminating the two Pokémon on the field was already a huge gain.

In fact, in a battle mode like Spirit Duel where Spell Card can be precisely searched, there are basically no unsolvable tactics, unless you deliberately arrange tactics around this combination, such as using delaying tactics in the early stages to deplete the opponent's spirit power and Spell Card inventory, and then using an unsolvable combination at the end, leaving the opponent with no choice but to concede defeat.

However, this all-or-nothing tactic relies heavily on luck, essentially placing all hope on the opponent's card inventory. Therefore, it is generally only used in low-level duels. Professional trainers prefer to use a series of powerful combinations to force their opponents to counter their moves, thereby gaining the initiative and leading their opponents by the nose.

As a result, the battle that followed became very tedious. A-Tsuru just kept repeating the process of "recalling, summoning, and activating the ability," while You Zhi focused on crafting Spell Card and ignored him.

Lunalight Cat Dancer dodged the incoming holy starlight with all her might, but as her injuries increased, her once-proud speed also slowed down. She could dodge most of the attacks the first and second time, but only half of them hit the third time, and the vast majority of the starlight hit her the fourth time, leaving her covered in wounds.

The dancing cat girl, barely clinging to life, gasped for breath. Half of her mask was torn off, the ribbons of her skirt were all broken, and her black stockings were riddled with holes. Despite this, she looked even more alluring. Unfortunately, A-Tsuru was a woman with a normal sexual orientation and was not attracted to her. She simply marveled at how well the other woman could hide.

Normally, a Pokémon needs to hit twice to defeat a Pokémon of the same star level at full strength when it uses its destructive effect.

Lunalight Cat Dancer's performance was not beyond common sense; she just held out a little longer than A-Tsuru had expected, which was four times. Without hesitation, she activated "The Starry Night, Arrival" for the fifth time and summoned the Starry Night Dragon for the sixth time.

"You've delayed us for quite a while, but that's enough for now. Time to leave!"

The Starry Night Dragon flapped its wings and once again shot starlight at the helpless Dancing Cat Princess.

At that moment, You Zhi made a move, immediately playing the newly crafted Spell Card: "I activate 'Ballista Squad,' sacrificing Lunalight Cat Dancer to disrupt 'The Starry Night, Arrival'!"

A ballista appeared out of thin air and shot the Cat Dancer away like a crossbow bolt.

Unexpectedly, her opponent hadn't formed Mystical Space Typhoon, and the process took even less time than anticipated. Slightly surprised, A-Tsuru's rich dueling experience allowed her to react quickly. "Activate the effect of Starry Night, Arrival! Retrieve Radiant Dragon of the Holy Night!"

The Starry Night Dragon, which was still emitting divine starlight, was directly deflected. At the same time, the Starry Night, Arrival was hit by the Cat Strike, and the two exploded into particles of spiritual energy.

"I see. Instead of waiting for the elf to be destroyed and then forging it into a C-rank 'Mystical Space Typhoon,' it's better to use a D-rank 'Ballista Squad' to sacrifice the weakened elf. The result is the same, but the latter is faster and consumes less spiritual power. It's amazing that you could think of that in an instant."

Once A-Tsuru came to her senses, she guessed You Zhi's tactics and praised him generously.

"Unfortunately, we were still a step too late."

You Zhi looked at the Pokémon Card in the other person's hand with a regretful expression.

A-Tsuru smiled slightly. She was confident that her reaction and hand speed were second to none. Although there was a slight accident, it did not affect her strategic plan. So she summoned the Starry Night Dragon for the seventh time.

Without any instructions from the trainer, Starry Night Dragon numbly activated its ability, condensing a Holy Starlight that shot towards Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao.

The Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao wasn't clumsy, but it couldn't compare to Lunalight Cat Dancer. Plus, it had been fighting the Proto-Dragon for a while, which had depleted a lot of its life force. If it took this hit, even if it didn't explode on the spot, it would be on the verge of death.

Just then, You Zhi put aside his regretful expression and eagerly played Spell Card: "I activate 'My Body as a Shield'! When my opponent activates an effect that destroys a Spirit on the field, I pay 1500 Life Points to negate the effect and destroy it!"

A blond man wielding two swords and wearing armor appeared in front of the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao, blocking all the starlight with his sturdy back, and then turned into a beam of light that bounced back!

Caught off guard, the Starry Night Dragon's repeated actions slowed its reaction, preventing it from dodging the rebounding beam. It was hit squarely, and combined with the injuries accumulated from the Lunalight Cat Dancer's constant scraping, it exploded on the spot!

A-Tsuru was a little confused. "You have this card, why didn't you use it before?"

You Zhi said, "Using this card is pointless unless 'The Starry Night, Arrival' is destroyed."

If the Starry Night, Arrival, you can avoid the counterattack effect by retrieving the Starry Night Dragon.

This logic is easy to understand with a little thought. A-Tsuru was both ashamed and angry, realizing that she had actually been fooled by the other party's rather clumsy acting skills!

"But after sacrificing 1500 life force, your Demon Lizard Yihao is already vulnerable. The Proto-Dragon uses Dragon Star!"

The primordial dragon roared to the sky, and powerful energy surged into the air, exploding like fireworks and transforming into streaks of meteors that plummeted down.

Seeing this, You Zhi calmly played Spell Card: "I activate 'Absorption Shield' to block one attack from the opponent's spirit and restore HP equal to the spirit's attack power."

Another golden-haired knight in armor appeared before the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao, but his appearance was slightly different from the previous one, and his temperament was more dignified. If the previous one was a warrior, the current one was a general.

The golden-haired knight raised his round shield high, unfurling a semi-circular protective shield that absorbed all the Draco Meteor falling from the sky, converting them into life force that flowed into the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao's body, instantly restoring him to near-peak condition.

Before his opponent could react, You Zhi immediately shouted, "Yi-hao, use Close Combat!"

With a roar, the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao pounced on the progenitor dragon, engaging it in close combat. Its arms, knees, tail... every part of its body became a weapon as it unleashed a fierce barrage of attacks.

The Proto-Dragon already inherited the injuries of the Evil Knight Dragon and was in poor condition. Now, facing a powerful opponent, it suffered repeated defeats and was in a precarious situation.

A-Tsuru hesitated, then said nothing, watching helplessly as the Proto-Dragon was defeated by the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao.

Absorbing the spiritual energy particles from the two powerful spirits, the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao roared with glee, its body radiating an evil aura, yet it did not go berserk, its eyes still retaining rationality.

Noticing this, A-Tsuru sighed, took a small object out of her pocket, and tossed it to You Zhi.

You Zhi caught it and saw that it was indeed the Blackthorn Badge. He looked up in confusion and asked with his eyes.

"The tactical wisdom and Pokémon training you displayed in the duel are enough to prove your strength. As the Gym Leader, I acknowledge that you have passed the test," A-Tsuru said expressionlessly.

You Zhi accepted the gift without hesitation, and casually asked, "So, this duel ended early?"

"No, the duel continues! The gym's trial is over; now it's time for a duel between the two trainers!"

A-Tsuru's eyes sharpened as she drew two Pokémon Cards from thin air, her fighting spirit undiminished.

Chapter 263 The Might of the Panda Dragon

A-Tsuru's actions seemed to be forcing his opponent into a duel, but You Zhi was not bothered by it, because the other party could have chosen not to say anything, and he could have given him the badge after the duel, so he couldn't find fault with it.

But A-Tsuru still spoke up, not only clearly telling You Zhi that he had passed the gym test, but also giving him the badge in advance. This kind of honest behavior is more likely to win his favor.

Of course, You Zhi himself also likes this kind of passionate behavior. After all, he's traveled through time, so it would be a waste not to indulge in a bit of chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone who acts like a delusional teenager).

"Come, let me witness the power of the Dragon Messenger!"

As You Zhi spoke, he summoned the Gem-Knight Lady Rose Diamond.

As soon as the dazzling figure appeared, she wielded her rapier, drawing a rose in the air, and finally held the sword upright in front of her chest, exuding a strong sense of ceremony.

At the same time, A-Tsuru threw out two Pokémon Cards from her hand. With a flash of light, a black dragon and a dragon that was half black and half white appeared on the field.

[Red-Eyes Black Dragon (7-Star) Dark]

[Lineage: Fire, Dragon]

[Level: 42]

[Attack Power: 2400 (2640)]

[Defense Strength: 2000 (2200)]

[Dragon-Type, Description: A black dragon with crimson eyes; its raging black flames will incinerate anything that enters its gaze.]

[Light and Darkness Dragon (8-star) - Light]

[Lineage: Flying, Dragon]

[Level: 56]

[Attack Power: 2800 (3360)]

[Defense: 2400 (2880)]

[Dragon-Type, Effect: Omitted]

You Zhi wasn't surprised to see his opponent summon another basic Pokémon, after all, it was Red-Eyes Black Dragon, one of the starter Pokémon, with a whole host of evolutions. What caught his attention more was the Light and Darkness Dragon.

This Pokémon has the ability to negate effects by reducing its Attack and Defense by 500, and there's no limit to once per turn!