This Trainer Has No Sportsmanship

After satisfying his curiosity, You Zhi finally got down to business. "Just how large is the Spirit Realm connected to this Anomaly? Although I consider myself much stronger than I was a month ago, I'm not confident I can handle a medium-risk Anomaly."

Morty said, "Theoretically, an Anomaly that does not dare reveal itself before high-star trainers cannot be connected to a large Spirit Realm, so the risk should be low. But that is only speculation, so we need to confirm it first."

He took out two L-shaped metal rods. "These are Spiritual Power Fluctuation Detectors. They may look crude, but they really can detect spiritual power. You can even use them to search for Skill Stones."

You Zhi took the Spiritual Power Fluctuation Detector and could not spot anything remarkable about it. Apart from the dial embedded in the shorter section, it was no different from an ordinary metal rod.

"How do I use this?"

"If you want to search for Skill Stones, simply hold one in each hand and keep them parallel. Once the instruments detect abnormal spiritual power fluctuations, the two metal rods will resonate, and the dials on them will turn as well. Investigating an Anomaly is even simpler. Just throw one of them inside. The dial on the other one will tell you the spiritual energy density within. Generally speaking, the denser the spiritual energy in a Spirit Realm, the more dangerous it is."

"So the first step is just an investigation?"

"Mm. If the Spirit Realm connected to the Anomaly is extremely dangerous, I naturally cannot let you risk your life. We can only seek another solution. Conversely, if it is relatively safe, I will have to ask you to clear it out. Of course, you can also bring a few companions. In addition to Pokédex points, the city has also set up a monetary reward."

"Then there's no problem. I'll take this commission."

"Thank you." After thanking him, Morty remembered what he had promised during their private chat. "I nearly forgot. I promised to divine the location of the person exchanging Pokémon with you. Let's change locations."

The two drained their coffees, rose from their seats, and left the café for the Gym Leader's lounge at Ecruteak Gym.

You Zhi had assumed the other man would take out something like a crystal ball or a magatama as a tool. Instead, Morty merely summoned a Pokémon assistant, closed his eyes, pressed a sheet of paper to his forehead with his fingers, and asked him to provide clues related to the target of the divination. Then he activated his special ability.

Rather than a medium's divination, the posture looked more like a Psychic's precognition. Especially since the assisting Pokémon was not a Zombie-type as You Zhi had initially guessed, but a Psychic-type.

[Psychic Reflector (1-Star) DARK attribute]

[Lineage: Psychic]

[Level: 25]

[Attack: 400 (1200)]

[Defense: 300 (900)]

[Psychic-type, Effect: Omitted]

The Pokémon wore an outfit that looked distinctly futuristic. With both hands spread open, circular magic arrays emerged in its palms, and streams of rune-like data cascaded past like waterfalls.

A moment later, Morty opened his eyes and handed the paper pressed to his forehead to You Zhi. "I have Thought Written the divination result onto the paper. Take a look yourself."

Forced Plot

You Zhi took the paper and glanced at it. There was an address and a name written on it. After thinking it over, he wisely chose not to question its reliability.

If you doubted someone, do not use them. If you used someone, do not doubt them. Since he had come to ask for help, it would be low emotional intelligence to question whether the other party was trustworthy.

Morty seemed to be in a good mood and asked proactively, "Is there anything else you need me to divine?"

"Oh? Is this some kind of grand discount promotion?"

"Just think of it as buy one, get one free."

You Zhi thought for a moment and immediately recalled the Sudowoodo he had failed to find despite searching for half a day. He decided to treat a dead horse as if it were alive and said, "I'm looking for a Pokémon. Rock-type, located at the border between Ecruteak City, Goldenrod City, and Violet City."

"There should be quite a few Pokémon matching those conditions. Do you have more specific information? Its appearance, for example?"

"Its talent is at least Good," You Zhi said, recalling Sudowoodo's appearance. Somewhat uncertainly, he added, "It should look fairly humanoid."

Good corresponded to the Strong Rank talent in Cheat Appraisal, while Excellent was Ferocious Rank. That was the standard classification generally accepted by the public.

Morty said helplessly, "My Psychic ability cannot lock onto a Pokémon's talent. If I had that ability, I would have already captured a huge batch of Pokémon with Excellent or better talents."

Uh, he had just said Psychic ability, right? So it really was not proper divination after all, yet he still called himself a medium!

"However, humanoid Rock-type Pokémon are extremely rare. That information should be enough."

Morty took out another sheet of paper and pressed it to his forehead, taking longer than before to complete the Thought Writing.

You Zhi accepted it and saw that this time, it was no longer text but a map. A circle had been drawn in the middle. He guessed, "Does this mean the Pokémon I'm looking for is in the circled area?"

Morty looked slightly tired. "Probably."

"Why 'probably'? As the precog, shouldn't you be the one who knows the details best?"

"Sorry. I am only responsible for divination, not interpretation."

If Morty had given him an exact address near Ecruteak City, You Zhi would not have minded searching for the Pokémon first. But now he only had a map of some unknown area, which left him completely at a loss.

It was like randomly cropping out a square from a map of China and asking someone to identify which village lay at its center. Unless they were a specialist who studied such things, they would be helpless. After all, they would not even know the scale, so they could not find anything to compare it against.

You Zhi put away the map and asked, "Can we go now?"

"You are not going to rest first?"

"Time is precious. I do not want to waste it."

"What admirable resolve. You will definitely become someone important in the future!"

Morty gave him a thumbs-up and praised him sincerely. Then he took out a calling card. "The Burned Tower has now been cordoned off by the police, and outsiders are prohibited from entering. Show them this, and they will let you through."

You Zhi put away the calling card and took his leave.

He hailed a taxi outside the Gym and arrived at the ruins of the Burned Tower shortly afterward.

The tower itself had been completely destroyed by fire. Now that the site had been sealed off, it was surrounded by blue metal barricades, making it impossible to see anything from outside.

At the entrance, an elderly security guard sat in a chair looking at his phone. Perhaps he was a rehired retiree. He looked to be around seventy, no different from those old men who watched over gatehouses.

You Zhi took one look and felt that slipping inside would be easy even without the calling card.

It was not hard to understand. There were no precious treasures inside, only something strange that made people vanish mysteriously. Warning signs saying "Danger: Keep Out" had also been erected outside. Anyone who still insisted on sneaking in to seek death could only be praised for contributing to humanity's average IQ.

Thus, after You Zhi presented the calling card, the guard did not inspect it carefully at all and let him through with ease. From his words and reactions, the guard also seemed a little hard of hearing.

The moment he stepped into the ruins, the Spiritual Power Fluctuation Detector he carried began to vibrate. The vibrations steadily intensified as You Zhi approached the center.

However, after searching the surface ruins, he found nothing resembling an Anomaly. The detector's vibrations also remained within a moderate range, and the Pokédex did not issue any warning at all.

"Looks like I have to go down to the first underground level. Hmm, in the Pokémon games, the protagonist also encountered the Legendary Beasts underground."

Just as You Zhi prepared to head down the stairs, an angry young woman's shout suddenly came from above. "Found you! Don't think you can avoid a battle this time!"

Looking up, he saw Alisa, the girl with golden curls. She was riding a golden Material Dragon and looked as though she had come to settle a score.

"A rival blocking the road and forcing a battle? It really is a fixed plot. There is no need to recreate this part, is there?"

Before You Zhi could finish complaining, Alisa ordered the Material Dragon to use Rock Slide, summoning a pile of stones to crash down from above.

As You Zhi dodged, he said, "This is a precious historic site in Ecruteak City, a protected cultural relic. Are you sure you want to battle here?"

Alisa froze for a moment, then questioned him, "What kind of protected cultural relic is surrounded by metal walls? It is obviously a fire-damaged building about to be demolished. Do not think you can fool me again!"

Having been deceived once, You Zhi's credibility in her eyes had basically fallen to zero. Especially after she was knocked unconscious and carried home on the Material Dragon's back, where her older brother and sister happened to see her. Those two bastards had been mocking her about it ever since.

Even after her parents learned about it, they criticized her for being too reckless while secretly laughing. They even said they wanted to give him a gift to thank him for showing mercy.

It was infuriating!

Did he know how she had endured these past few days?

Completely unaware of her feelings, You Zhi patiently explained, "The Burned Tower of Ecruteak City. You should have heard of such a famous building, right?"

"Hmph. So what if I have? So what if I have not? Today, you must have a fair and proper Spirit Duel with me!"

Though she said that, Alisa did not have the Material Dragon use Rock Slide again. Instead, she had it dive, intending to grab You Zhi in its jaws and leave this place before dueling.

You Zhi did not feel obligated to cooperate. He also did not think he had done anything wrong, much less want to continue tangling with her. So he met it head-on with a flying kick aimed at the Material Dragon.

Alisa had not expected him to be so "overconfident." A trainer actually dared to attack a Six-Star Pokémon directly. She had indeed come to get revenge and vent her anger, but she had never intended to take his life. She hurriedly ordered the Material Dragon to change direction.

But the Material Dragon had just used Tackle. How could it possibly turn in time? The result of its forced braking was that Alisa was flung forward from its back.

You Zhi knew exactly how powerful his kick was and did not dare use it to test the durability of a human body. He hurriedly withdrew the strike and caught Alisa as she flew toward him. The two fell together.

Bang!

The charred floor could not withstand the impact and shattered instantly. Before You Zhi could react, he fell into the underground level while holding her. Looking down, he saw a twisted Space-Time Vortex directly below.

Krawler

Once was unfamiliar, twice was routine.

You Zhi had already experienced crossing an Anomaly once before. Combined with his physique now being far stronger than it had been last time, he quickly shook off the dizziness.

Of course, with someone still in his arms, there was no chance of performing a flawless midair flip followed by a perfect landing. When he realized he was falling through the air, he aimed for a landing spot and first reached out to grab a tree branch, using it to slow part of his descent.

Although the branch snapped at once, he successfully borrowed some of its springiness. You Zhi twisted his waist with the momentum, and the muscles in his back trembled violently. Borrowing force to generate force, he was flung toward the flat ground he had targeted earlier.

The instant he landed, force slammed into his back. You Zhi, whose muscles had long been tensed, remained unaffected. Holding Alisa, he rolled several times across the ground and dispersed all the momentum.

"Ughhh..."

Alisa had not suffered any external injuries, but between the dizziness from crossing space-time and the impact of the landing, even with a human cushion to absorb the blow, she still felt so sick she wanted to vomit.

But the two had no spare time to recover and adapt. You Zhi looked up and saw something resembling a mechanical dog rushing toward him. Although it was an emotionless machine, he could still sense its hostile intent. At the same time, Cheat Appraisal activated.

[Krawler Axon (2-Star) Ground]

[Lineage: Steel]

[Level: 10]

[Attack: 500 (500)]

[Defense: 1800 (1800)]

[Insect, Effect: ①: When this card is flipped, you can target 1 Spell/Trap Card on the field; destroy that card. ②: If this face-up card leaves the field due to an opponent's effect, you can activate this effect; Special Summon 2 "Krawler" monsters other than "Krawler Axon" from your deck in face-down Defense Position, with a maximum of 1 card with the same name.]

Without hesitation, You Zhi activated Mimicry Power. Flame surged from both hands as he launched a Fire Punch straight ahead. Accompanied by a piercing metallic clang, the Krawler Axon flew away several times faster than it had charged in, smashing into a rock and completely falling apart into scattered metal components.

"Damn, I nearly forgot that I'm a Pokémon trainer."

You Zhi turned to look and saw that Alisa was still dizzy and nauseated. She hung her head, wanting to vomit but unable to, and had no time to care about her surroundings. So he quickly drew a Pokémon Card from the void and summoned Demon Lizard Yihao.

At that moment, the remains of the Krawler Axon suddenly began to crackle. An electric arc spread outward, forming a space-time gate overhead. Then two spherical objects flew from the gate. After landing, they unfolded through structural reassembly like transforming robots, becoming an intelligent mechanical body with sharp bladed spikes and another intelligent mechanical body with wings.

[Krawler Spine (2-Star) Ground]

[Lineage: Steel]

[Level: 10]

[Attack: 300 (300)]

[Defense: 2100 (2100)]

[Insect, Effect: ①: When this card is flipped, you can target 1 monster on the field; destroy that monster. ②: Omitted.]

[Krawler Receptor (2-Star) Ground]

[Lineage: Flying, Steel]

[Level: 10]

[Attack: 900 (900)]

[Defense: 1200 (1200)]

[Insect, Effect: ①: When this card is flipped, you can target 1 monster on the field; destroy that monster. ②: Omitted.]

"Defeat one, and two appear. So this is what its second effect meant by summoning two Krawler monsters from the deck in face-down Defense Position... No, that is not right!"

You Zhi suddenly felt that something was off. He carefully reread the effects of the two Krawlers and confirmed that the feeling was not baseless. "It only triggers when it leaves the field due to an effect, but I clearly destroyed it through battle just now."

Could it be that destruction by a trainer counted as effect destruction?

That was far too unreasonable!

He was furious and shivering. When would trainers finally be able to stand tall?

However, no matter how much You Zhi protested internally against the unfairness of the Pokémon world, the two Krawlers would not stop moving. They charged toward him at once.

To avoid triggering the Krawlers' traits again, You Zhi could only suppress his urge to fight personally. Instead, he summoned the Neon Stone Sprite and ordered it to join Demon Lizard Yihao against the enemies.

The Neon Stone Sprite unleashed Icy Wind at the airborne Krawler Receptor, freezing its mechanical shell while slowing it down. As long as it could reduce the opponent's speed, even if it could fly, it would be nothing more than an easy target.