Xyz Maxx / It's Time for Something to Go Wrong ...

[Awakened Warrior Yihao (Tier 4) Water]

[Genealogy: Fighting-type, Fairy-type]

[Level: 45]

[Talent: Berserk]

[Attack Power: 2950 (3688)]

[Defense Strength: 2800 (3500)]

[Reptile-Type, XYZ: 3 x 4-star monsters]

A-Tsuru murmured, "A form I've never seen before, what kind of form is this?"

"Xyz Form!"

As a trainer, You Zhi received a certain message and instantly understood. "If Synchro Form represents the mutual trust between the Pokémon and the trainer, then Xyz Form represents the Pokémon's trust in itself."

Chapter 266 Supermassive

Originally, A-Tsuru wanted to share her thoughts on the duel, summarize her experiences and lessons learned, and encourage the genius trainer whom even her older brother had high hopes for. However, after seeing the new form of the Demon Lizard Yihao, all of these thoughts were put to the back of her mind, leaving only curiosity about the unknown.

"A Pokémon's trust in itself... can I interpret that as confidence? Can a confident Pokémon evolve into Xyz Form?" A-Tsuru repeated it a few times before quickly questioning, "If that's all there is to it, I think Xyz Form would have been discovered long ago. Not to mention others, at least the Pokémon under my command are very confident in themselves."

You Zhi thought for a moment and analyzed, "First of all, this Pokémon must have the potential for Xyz Evolution. If it doesn't have Xyz Form at all, it naturally can't Xyz Evolution."

Just like in the Pokémon world, no matter how powerful you raise Kricketune, it can't evolve any further. This has nothing to do with talent or potential. Unless Game Freak adds a new form in the new generation, Kricketune will not evolve no matter how high its talent, how deep its potential, or how strong it is.

The people of this world haven't fully understood Pokémon yet. They might think that each Pokémon has infinite potential and that if they are nurtured, it might evolve into a powerful form. But You Zhi knows very well that the Pokémon in this world follow the official settings of Yu-Gi-Oh! -Oh! There are no DIY creations or fake cards. Otherwise, Dartz would have used an "Orichalcos Heavenly Sweep" in the previous duel.

Therefore, A-Tsuru simply raised an eyebrow, remaining noncommittal.

"Secondly, this Pokémon must possess multiple evolutionary branches."

A-Tsuru recalled the scene before the Demon Lizard Yihao evolved, where three phantoms surrounded and merged into one, and agreed with this.

At the same time, Icejade Aegirine spoke with the Warrior Yihao and relayed his words to You Zhi. You Zhi nodded and said, "Finally, this is my personal speculation: an elf must affirm itself, acknowledging its strength while accepting its weakness. It must be confident but not blind. That kind of muddled, unfounded arrogance definitely doesn't meet the requirements."

"I see. That makes a lot more sense now."

"However, the above conclusions are only based on the case of the Demon Lizard Yihao, and may not be suitable for other Pokémon. Moreover, we need to test it to know exactly how good this Xyz Form is," You Zhi added cautiously.

"Then let's test it here! The Blackthorn Gym has the most professional Pokémon training ground, with complete facilities. Even those top-tier training grounds that cost hundreds of thousands a day might not be as good as this one."

A-Tsuru enthusiastically offered himself up, You Zhi didn't refuse, not caring if others learned the relevant knowledge.

Rather, it would be more in line with his wishes if more Xyz Form Pokémon could be created, raising the average strength of trainers and leading to the emergence of more Master Trainers.

The world is more interesting when it is colorful and diverse.

Behind the Blackthorn Gym is Dragon Tamer Clan, who are not short of money or manpower. They even have a standard procedure for testing Pokémon. After a series of tests, everyone quickly gained a general understanding of Xyz Form.

Firstly, Xyz Form does not exist in any particular evolutionary chain stage; it can evolve into Xyz Form at any stage. For example, Demon Lizard Yihao can evolve into Divergent Lizard Yihao, and Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao can also evolve into Warrior Yihao.

Secondly, after transforming into the Xyz Form, the health is calculated proportionally, rather than increasing or decreasing based on star rating;

Thirdly, although the "Awakened Warrior Yihao" Pokémon Card is marked with 4 dark stars, actual testing shows that its vitality is equivalent to a 6-star spirit—the attack and defense values identified by the You Zhi Cheat Appraisal are also calculated based on a 6-star level.

Fourth, the Xyz Form is a temporary state and cannot be maintained for long. Warrior Yihao has three Spirit Core orbiting around his body like satellites. When he fights, he consumes the energy of the Spirit Core. One Spirit Core can last for about one minute. When the three Spirit Core are exhausted, he will exit the Xyz Form and revert to his pre-evolution form.

Fifth, the skills used in Xyz Form will change.

On the training field, Warrior Yihao roared, and energy gathered above his head, eventually condensing into a giant fist that charged towards the Curse Dragon opposite him. Upon impact, it created a powerful explosion, shattering the dragon in one blow!

"The power of this move is terrifying, surpassing even Close Combat. Converted to a numerical value close to 150, it's comparable to Hyper Beam, and it has no side effects whatsoever. This surpasses most Pokémon's exclusive moves."

"It's not without side effects; at the very least, it consumes more of your Spirit Core than ordinary techniques."

"As long as it can inflict crucial damage on the opponent, this kind of expenditure is completely worthwhile. After all, in a duel, a Pokémon's actual combat time is only three minutes."

"That's true."

The gym trainers serving as testers abandoned their usual complaints and became extremely enthusiastic, vying to recommend their own Pokémon as training partners.

Unlike the astonishment of others upon first encountering it, You Zhi immediately realized that this was Dynamax!

The restriction of the Spirit Core is equivalent to the limit of the number of turns in Dynamax. In Dynamax mode, each type of move will become the corresponding Dynamax move. Just now, Warrior Yihao clearly used "Max Knuckle"!

However, unlike the nerfed Max Knuckle in the Pokémon Yugi, Max Knuckle here is much more powerful, even surpassing other Max Moves.

You Zhi wasn't surprised by this, because he had discovered long ago that the Pokémon in this world didn't have any power-up skills, and there was no situation where dancing would double their attack power.

Skills like "Agility" and "Iron Wall" do increase speed or defense when used, but their power decreases once the skill is discontinued. The only way to boost their power is through Spell Card or spirit traits.

In the Pokémon Yugi, Max Knuckle raises the user's Attack by one stage. However, Max Punch used by Warrior Yihao does not have this effect. On the contrary, Max Starfall can cover the surrounding environment with a hazy pink mist, which is called Misty Terrain.

You Zhi boldly speculated that the power of those Dynamax moves that enhance abilities has been increased.

At this moment, he activated the "Compulsory Evacuation Device," returning the Warrior Yihao to the Pokémon Card, and the card immediately reverted to the Demon Lizard Yihao.

"As expected, Synchro is equivalent to Mega Evolution, and the Xyz won't fade even if you switch to Dynamax, and the state will disappear once you switch to another form, but there's no restriction that you can only Dynamax once per battle, and you're not limited to using Dynamax moves."

Chapter 267 It's Time for an Accident to Happen

After watching the entire test, A-Tsuru remarked with envy, "This Xyz Form is essentially a burst skill. Although three minutes is a short time, if used properly, it's enough to influence the outcome of a duel."

You Zhi thought to himself: I'm afraid most Xyz Form won't even last a minute...

He wasn't very familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh!!'s Xyz Mode, but he knew that Xyz Monsters activated their effects by extracting Xyz Material, and considering the situation of Warrior Yihao, Spirit Core were those Xyz Material.

Most Xyz Monsters require two Xyz Material, meaning they can only last for a maximum of two minutes. Each time an effect is activated, it consumes one Xyz Material, effectively halving the duration.

The situation with Warrior Yihao is rather special. It has no special ability and uses all its Spirit Core in battle. If it were a Pokémon with other abilities, it would have to make a choice: whether to use a Max Move for explosive damage or to shorten the battle time and activate its ability to turn the tide.

Regardless, having an additional means of burst damage will undoubtedly greatly enhance a Pokémon's strength, which is beneficial and harmless. If you don't find Xyz Form useful, just don't evolve it in battle. After all, this isn't a necessary transitional stage, but rather an extra branch. Having a choice is always better than having no choice at all.

At least A-Tsuru felt she had gained a lot and decided to try out all her main battle Pokémon to see if she could train one of their Xyz Form.

Feeling she had benefited greatly from the experience, she felt embarrassed to take it for free and invited You Zhi to visit the Dragon Den, saying that he could catch as many Pokémon as he wanted, and she would take care of things with the clan.

You Zhi refused, feeling that he already had enough Pokémon under his command. Even excluding the Three Sacred Beasts, he already had more than six main battle Pokémon, so there was no need to add another Dragon Girl.

A-Tsuru didn't give up. If she couldn't take this opportunity to make friends, how could she have the nerve to ask for help when she encountered problems with Xyz Evolution in the future? She didn't expect to become very close, but she had to at least exchange pleasantries and become acquainted with him, leaving a good impression.

She suggested, "Soon, our Dragon Tamer Clan will hold the Dragon Ascension Festival, which includes a psychic ritual that allows elves to communicate with their fellow Spirit Realm and gain new power. The amount gained depends on the elf's talent and the bond with its companions. If you trust me, you can entrust one of your Dragon-type elves to me, and I will give it a psychic summoning slot."

You Zhi thought for a moment, then handed over the Laundry Dragonmaid's Pokémon Card and left his contact information.

A-Tsuru glanced at Katu and promised, "Don't worry, I will definitely train her well during this time. I can't guarantee anything for other elves, but I have a lot of confidence in Dragon-Type elves. Even if we don't gain anything at the Dragon Ascension Festival, I will still make her stronger."

You Zhi opened his mouth, wanting to say that the Laundry Dragonmaid was just a mascot. She was rarely summoned when dueling with people. Her main job was washing clothes, cleaning, and running errands to collect meals. She also served as a vehicle when crossing the sea. It didn't matter whether she became stronger or not. The reason for choosing her was simply because she was the only Dragon-Type spirit in the team.

However, since the other party meant well, and becoming stronger wasn't a bad thing, You Zhi ultimately said nothing, only politely replying, "Thank you for your trouble."

After leaving the gym, they rested at an inn for one night. The next day, they went to the wild to test their skills against the Warrior Yihao. Basically, no wild Pokémon could withstand a single hit. The power of Dynamax moves was too strong. Even with lineage resistance, they would still be defeated in one move.

"Let's stop now, there's only one Spirit Core left."

Seeing that only one satellite remained around the Warrior Yihao's body, You Zhi hurriedly ordered him to rest. Yesterday, the training ground provided free spiritual energy replenishment, which could be retrieved and summoned again. But that was no longer possible. Once the Spirit Core was exhausted, it would be impossible to enter the Xyz state even if summoned again.

Of course, as long as there is no battle, the consumption of the Spirit Core is negligible, which is why A-Tsuru and the others believe that three minutes is enough to handle a duel.

After all, summoned Pokémon aren't always fighting, so it's normal for them to take a break while the trainer is activating Spell Card. Situations like "both sides are in jail" aren't uncommon in duels.

Yesterday, You Zhi was busy testing various abilities and didn't have any free time. Now, looking at him again, he found that the Xyz Form of the Demon Lizard Yihao had become much more handsome, at least to his liking.

He no longer exuded evil aura, and his eyes were no longer filled with madness. Although he was still wearing armor, the aggressive spikes were gone, replaced by wing-shaped pendants, especially on his back, where there were two pairs of small golden wings that radiated a holy light, making his whole body shine, as if he were a divine warrior descending from the sky.

If the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao is an evil creature that undergoes physical modification, then the Warrior Yihao is a righteous knight-errant clad in high-tech armor.

Overall, Warrior Yihao's design has the style of an American comic book HERO. Although he is far from being You Zhi's favorite character, he can still be considered handsome.

You Zhi couldn't help but sigh, "Back then, a plain-skill elf with mediocre talent now possesses Berserk Rank talent comparable to a phantom demon. It's truly unexpected."

Based on his pursuit of practicality, he should have Demon Lizard Yihao or left it on the sidelines for a long time. However, because the other party had a large number of Associated Card, and was diligent, hardworking, and never shirked special training, it gradually got to where it is now, and has secured its position as a main Pokémon as a blank Pokémon.

Looking at it this way, it's truly inspiring!

Of course, part of the reason is also because firing it meant You Zhi lost a suitable punching bag; Goblin too fragile, and the female Pokémon can't really go all out...

"But why Fairy-type again? If I get two more Fairy-type Pokémon, I can form an all -Fairy-type team."

As You Zhi was grumbling, he suddenly received a phone call from Alisa.

Has my brother come looking for you?

Alisa sounded very anxious, and she even forgot to greet them upon meeting.

"I've been staying in Blackthorn City and haven't seen him. What's wrong?"

"That's terrible... I told him your location and asked him to come to Blackthorn City to apologize to you. He agreed, but he suddenly went missing yesterday. No one answers his phone. According to the satellite positioning system, the last location he sent a signal was on the Ice Path. I suspect he may have encountered danger there."

"Are you suggesting that, like our last experience, he was caught up in the Anomaly?"

You Zhi was already used to this; after each gym battle, some unexpected event would occur, and judging by the time, it was time to go to the dungeon.

However, Alisa said, "That's not necessarily true. We can still get his cell phone signal intermittently, but it's very weak and keeps dropping. He probably hasn't traveled to another world."

You Zhi said, "It's also possible that the person went there, but left the phone behind."

"Hmm... that's true, we can't rule out that possibility. In any case, we need to find the person first. I can only ask you for help now."

"We're all friends, it's only right. I'll head to the entrance of Blackthorn City on the Ice Path right now."

"Yes, I'll be right there to meet you. Thank you so much."

Chapter 268 Ice Barrier

You Zhi waited at the entrance of the Ice Path for a short while before Alisa arrived in a hurry on her Jade Pegasus. The two did not waste time exchanging pleasantries and went straight into the cave, talking as they walked.

Through conversation, You Zhi learned that Alisa's Dio's disappearance was likely not related to the Anomaly; it's true that simple curiosity killed the cat.

"So, he first heard from others that a god-level spirit was hidden in the cave at the bottom of the Ice Path, and then confirmed it with you, which sparked his interest in capturing it?"

"That must be it. My silly older brother has always been very interested in legendary Pokémon and god-level Pokémon. His dream when he was in elementary school was to catch a legendary Pokémon with his own hands. If I had known this, I wouldn't have told him that I sensed the aura of a powerful Pokémon in the Ice Path."

A hint of self-reproach appeared on Alisa's face. If her older brother were to have an accident because of this, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.

"Is there any way to locate him? Didn't you say on the phone that you could find his cell phone signal?"

"No, not only is the signal weak and susceptible to interference from the mountains, but three-dimensional structures like caves are also difficult to locate. Plains or forests would be much easier. We can only rely on the Pokémon now."

Alisa's arrival this time was not unprepared. She immediately summoned two spirits, one of which was the Ice Queen, which she had obtained from You Zhi, and the other was a non-characteristic Beast-Warrior-Type spirit named "Ninja Dog Qigou".

"I borrowed the Ninja Dog Qigou from someone else on purpose. It's an expert at searching and can sense spiritual energy fluctuations without needing a scent."

The kobold dressed in ninja attire proudly puffed out its chest.

You Zhi thought for a moment. He didn't have any elves under his command that were good at searching, so they couldn't be of much help in this regard. If he really couldn't find them, he could just summon the Three Sacred Beasts and break through the cave layer by layer. He couldn't guarantee that he would find Alisa's brother by doing this, but he would definitely find the owner of that aura.

Fortunately, Alisa's two spirits were very useful. The Ninja Dog Qigou, was responsible for sensing the fluctuations of spiritual energy, while the Ice Queen, a former local strongman, was responsible for guiding the way. After walking a certain distance into the depths of the cave, You Zhi also sensed that unusual aura.

The two quickened their pace and, after passing through an icy tunnel, came upon a massive hexagonal barrier.

"Is my brother inside?"

Alisa consulted the Ninja Dog Qigou, and after receiving an affirmative answer, she couldn't help but facepalm and complain, "Is he an idiot? This kind of building looks dangerous at first glance. How dare he go in? Even if he didn't, he should have at least gathered some helpers before going in!"

For example, her first thought was to ask You Zhi for help, and she rushed to rescue people without even hearing the news.

Her sister even suggested waiting for the hired trainer master to arrive before setting off, but she refused. Firstly, time was of the essence; saving lives was urgent, and every second counted. Secondly, she believed that if You Zhi couldn't ensure her safety, the arrival of others would be useless. Besides, the cave environment was not suitable for large groups, and forcing a bunch of people without coordination would only interfere with each other and hinder their progress.

The Ice Queen stared at the barrier for a while, then said, "The person who cast this barrier is very strong. I alone cannot dispel it, and forcibly breaking in would lead to unpredictable consequences."

"Even you're not confident?"

Alisa frowned. None of the elves under her command were skilled at breaking barriers; after all, one couldn't expect the Rock-Type to have the finesse.

You Zhi was confident he could break through with brute force, but that was a last resort. He summoned Icejade Aegirine and asked, "This is an Ice-type barrier. Do you think you're confident?"

In terms of pure strength, Icejade Aegirine is no less powerful than those legendary Pokémon; it just lacks the corresponding fame.

She glanced at the hexagonal barrier, stretched out her small hand, and six ice pillars appeared out of thin air, shooting out and nailing to the top of the six corners. Then, the source power from the Icejade Clan surged, covering the hexagonal barrier and enveloping it.

"Forced inclusion and transformation!"

The Ice Queen's tone was slightly surprised. She could sense that the ice crystal girl was very strong, but she never expected that the other party would be this strong.

This method is much simpler than finding patterns to break the barrier, but it requires a higher level of spiritual power from the user, at least exceeding that of the person who set up the barrier.