This Trainer Has No Sportsmanship Chapter 30

Demon Lizard Yihao used both hands to strike with Brick Break, forcefully meeting Axon Krawler's sharp thorned claws. After blocking the impact, he grabbed it at close range and unleashed a Seismic Toss.

The two Krawlers were only level 10. Without a Trainer's command, Spell Card support, or any attribute advantage, they were quickly smashed into scrap metal by Neon Stone Sprite and Demon Lizard Yihao.

This time, just as You Zhi had expected, because they had been "destroyed in battle," the Pokémon's second trait did not activate to summon more Krawlers.

"Where is this?"

Alisa had recovered somewhat. Although she was still a little dizzy, her mind was clear. After looking around, she realized she had arrived somewhere with absolutely nothing to do with Ecruteak City.

Of course, she did not start screaming and assume she had been kidnapped.

You Zhi explained the concept of an Anomaly. After listening, Alisa fell silent for a moment before asking with some curiosity, "So this is the legendary Spirit Realm?"

"You believe what I said? Aren't you afraid I'm tricking you?"

"The spiritual energy here is incredibly dense, no less than at Violet City's Training Tower. Unless we happened to be standing on a spiritual vein node, only the Spirit Realm fits the conditions." Alisa rolled her eyes before explaining, "I just think you like lying, not that you have no brain. If you say one plus one equals two, am I supposed to question whether it's true?"

"That makes sense."

"And besides..." Alisa turned away somewhat awkwardly, twirling her hair around a finger. "Besides, you saved me earlier. Th-thank... Anyway, that cancels out. Neither of us owes the other anything!"

"Though I don't think I owed you anything in the first place, let's call it that."

Alisa glared at You Zhi, but she did not complain further. Instead, she asked the important question. "Do you know how we can get back?"

"Have you played video games? Role-playing ones?"

"My parents wouldn't let me touch electronic heroin, but I watched my brother secretly play before. Why?"

"To leave this place, we need to clear the plot like we're playing a video game."

Alisa thought about it and asked, "So we need to find the hero protagonist first, help him gather his companions, defeat the enemies along the way, and finally destroy the Demon King before we can go back?"

You Zhi said, "In theory, we only need to do the final step. As long as we defeat the Demon King, we clear the game. We can skip everything in between. But finding the protagonist will help us better understand the main storyline. After all, not every game ends with defeating the Demon King."

"Where do we look for the protagonist?"

"The beginner's village... Wait, more enemies are coming. There are a lot of them. Get ready to fight."

Crystal Beasts

Not long after You Zhi gave the warning, dozens of Krawlers charged in from every direction.

"You take one side, I'll take the other. Watch each other's backs."

You Zhi ordered Demon Lizard Yihao to evolve. Gaining the Steel-type would further increase his resistance, allowing him to join Neon Stone Sprite in blocking the Krawler swarm.

"Got it."

Alisa drew a Pokémon Card from the void and successfully summoned Material Dragon, which made her breathe a sigh of relief. Material Dragon had been left in the original world and had not been teleported with them, so she had been somewhat worried that she would be unable to summon her.

"Use Rock Slide!"

Material Dragon channeled spiritual energy and summoned a huge mass of rocks, hurling them at the Krawler swarm. The attack successfully knocked them onto their backs, but they soon climbed back up. They had barely been hurt and immediately resumed their assault.

You Zhi advised, "Don't use Rock-type moves against Steel-types. Especially when their Defense is generally high, you'll have a hard time dealing damage without a type advantage."

"I know that without you teaching me. That was only a test. Now comes the real counterattack!"

Alisa drew another Pokémon Card from the void and summoned a massive mammoth with a dark yellow gem embedded in its forehead and four long tusks. She ordered, "Amber Mammoth, use Earthquake!"

The giant beast raised its forelegs and slammed them into the ground, dipping forward as the earth erupted into violent tremors. The vibrations became shockwaves that spread along the ground.

Although the Krawlers had high Defense, they were all two-star Pokémon with pitifully low health. They were first knocked down by the tremors, then struck by the shockwaves. Casualties were severe for a time, with only the flying Krawler Receptors escaping unharmed.

[Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (4 stars) Earth]

[Lineage: Rock-type, Ground-type]

[Level: 24]

[Attack: 1700 (1870)]

[Defense: 1600 (1760)]

[Beast-Type, Effect: When a face-up monster with "Crystal Beast" in its name on your field is selected as an attack target, you can change the attack target to this card. When this card is destroyed in the Monster Card Zone, instead of sending it to the Graveyard, it can be placed face-up in your Spell and Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card.]

Relying on its massive size, Amber Mammoth charged about recklessly, completely ignoring the Krawlers' attacks. Every time it stomped the ground and unleashed a Ground-type skill, it crushed a large swath of enemies.

After fighting for a while, You Zhi noticed that the Krawlers had marked Alisa and him as targets to be killed. They showed little interest in the four Pokémon fighting them head-on. Unless absolutely necessary, they could not be bothered to waste effort attacking them, focusing only on bypassing the defense line and attacking the Trainers behind it.

"What kind of setting does this Spirit Realm have? A machine uprising? Intelligent robots trying to kill all humans?"

Neon Stone Sprite and Divergent Lizard Yihao were not as good at intercepting enemies as Amber Mammoth, so some inevitably slipped through. Considering the Krawlers' traits, You Zhi did not want to act personally. He could only summon Gagaga Girl to protect him at close range. He first knocked the enemies to the ground with a punch himself, then had Gagaga Girl finish them with Fire Punch.

After a prolonged battle, all five Pokémon had leveled up. Gagaga Girl had even gained two levels, yet Krawlers continued pouring in without end.

Alisa wiped the sweat from her forehead and suggested, "This will never end if it keeps going. Should we break out?"

You Zhi hesitated. "Wait a little longer."

Alisa said unhappily, "What are we waiting for? You were incredibly decisive before. When you said we'd launch a sneak attack, we launched one. Why are you suddenly being so indecisive?"

"The protagonist. If these mechanical bugs are the villains in this setting, then with all the noise we've made, the protagonist will definitely notice if he's nearby."

"This world doesn't look small. How can you guarantee the protagonist is nearby?"

"Based on our previous encounter, the Anomaly will teleport us near the protagonist. We only have one example right now, so it isn't enough to serve as strong evidence, but there's no harm in trying. If you can't hold on, I can help share the pressure."

Alisa huffed. "Who said I can't hold on? I'm worried you don't have enough spiritual energy. Maintaining three Pokémon at once must be exhausting, right? I'm kindhearted and magnanimous. As long as you ask for help, I can let bygones be bygones."

As the two bickered, a disturbance suddenly arose behind the Krawlers.

Before long, three people and a dragon came charging through the Krawler swarm, unstoppable as they smashed their way through. They quickly reached the center and joined up with You Zhi and Alisa.

Leading them was a sword-wielding youth clad in crude armor made from Krawler parts. Panting, he said, "This area has been marked. Krawlers will keep being deployed here. If you don't want to be worn out, leave this place quickly."

[Chosen by the World Chalice (3 stars) Fire]

[Lineage: Normal]

[Level: 24]

[Attack: 1600 (2080)]

[Defense: 0 (0)]

[Psychic-type, Description: A kindhearted youth armed with Krawler wreckage. He had always admired the "World Chalice Hero" of legend, passed down since ancient times in the Forest of Stars. At Lee the World Chalice Fairy's request, he set out with companions granted light upon a journey to free the seven World Legacies. "Hero of starlight, raise your sword and gather the light. Cut down the Great Darkness."]

You Zhi glanced at the Cheat Appraisal information. A starlight hero—there was no doubt he was the protagonist!

With his initial goal achieved, there was no reason to keep fighting. You Zhi nodded, recalled Gagaga Girl and Neon Stone Sprite, and ordered Divergent Lizard Yihao to charge ahead and force open a path.

Alisa was no fool. The moment she saw this, she knew You Zhi had guessed right. Even she had to admit that this group of three people and one dragon had the air of a protagonist party. She immediately ordered Amber Mammoth to charge, driving back the Krawlers attempting to close in from both sides and opening an escape route.

No further words were needed. Everyone worked together to break out. The Krawlers could not stop them at all and could only pursue from behind. Once they had escaped five li away, the mechanical bugs all stopped chasing.

Clearly, the marked area the sword-wielding youth had mentioned was real.

"Thank you for saving us," You Zhi said.

"You're welcome. Any warrior who fights Krawlers is our ally." The sword-wielding youth smiled warmly.

However, another young man, with an enormously long scarf wrapped around his shoulders and a spear in hand, wore a guarded expression. "With your strength, you could have broken out even without our help. What I don't understand is why you stayed in the bug swarm instead of leaving."

The final girl reproached him, "Brother, don't speak to them like they're criminals. They're also companions fighting against the Krawlers."

The young man was unconcerned. "Hmph. Krawlers are humanity's enemies, but humans aren't necessarily humanity's companions."

The sword-wielding youth hurriedly tried to ease the atmosphere. "Sorry, he just has that kind of bad temper. Please don't take it to heart. My name is Auram. These are my companions, Eve and Ningirsu."

The little blue dragon, resembling a puppy, cried out in dissatisfaction. The sword-wielding youth hurriedly crouched down and stroked it. "Sorry, I nearly forgot the introduction. And this is the dependable Imduk."

The Hero Protagonist Party

"My name is You Zhi, and this is my companion Alisa. We are people from another world. Because of an accident, we entered a Space-Time Vortex and were transported here. The moment we arrived, we were attacked by those mechanical bugs."

Now that he knew they were this world's protagonists—and standard hero-type protagonists at that—You Zhi did not hide anything and honestly introduced their identities.

After hearing this, Alisa could not help shooting him a surprised look. Is it really okay to tell them we're outsiders the moment we meet?

The facts proved that there was indeed no problem.

The residents of the Spirit Realm were not exactly accustomed to outsiders, but neither were they unfamiliar with them. Although the three heroes had never encountered any before, they had often heard about them in stories from their elders. Thus, they were merely somewhat curious and could not help looking at You Zhi and Alisa a few more times. It was nothing like the shock Earthlings would feel upon encountering aliens.

"So you're outsiders. No wonder I've never seen you around here." Eve, who held a staff and had long blue hair, readily accepted the explanation. "Judging from that battle, you're Summoners, right? You fight by commanding spirit pets."

[World Chalice Priestess (2 stars) Water]

[Lineage: Psychic]

[Level: 20]

[Attack: 0 (0)]

[Defense: 2100 (3150)]

[Spellcaster, Description: A priestess who offered prayers for departed souls to the star gods. The staff in her hand was a ritual vessel inherited through generations, transforming power into barriers that protected the people of the forest from Mekk-Knight rule. Though she possessed Psychic power capable of taming the Forest Guardian Dragon, in daily life she was a warm girl who cherished her brother and childhood friend.]

After reading the Cheat Appraisal description, You Zhi pointed at the little dragon. "It's the spirit pet you tamed, right? From that perspective, you're a Summoner too."

Eve smiled somewhat foolishly at his words. "Haha, I suppose that's true. But I'm a priestess, a genuine priestess. Although Imduk does most of the fighting, I can use barrier magic to protect everyone."

"Enough, Eve. You don't need to explain so much. There's no proof of their identities at all. Don't trust what strangers say so easily."

Ningirsu hurriedly cut her off. His wariness toward You Zhi and Alisa had not diminished in the slightest. In fact, because of You Zhi's friendly conversation with Eve, his hostility had grown even stronger.

[Lured by the World Chalice (4 stars) Earth]

[Lineage: Normal]

[Level: 28]

[Attack: 1800 (2160)]

[Defense: 0 (0)]

[Warrior-Type, Description: A young man who fought Krawlers day and night. When the Krawlers inhabiting the forest's outskirts suddenly became violent, he still refused to retreat even a single step as he continued defending against their intrusion into the barrier. Even the people of the forest were inspired by his ever-leading figure, but the reason he swung that spear so fiercely was merely to protect his only sister.]

So he was a sister complex. You Zhi decided not to argue with him and instead asked about this world's background.

Auram enthusiastically explained, while Eve occasionally added a sentence or two. Although Ningirsu remained wary, he did not stop them. First, this was common knowledge everyone knew and did not need to be hidden. Second, the question did fit the identity of outsiders.

According to the two of them, this Spirit Realm was ruled by seven mechanical lifeforms known as the Mekk-Knights. They had created an endless army of Krawlers to monitor the land. These Krawlers were not interested in ordinary people and specifically targeted villages and powerful humans.

Therefore, people in this world usually built their villages amid forests and valleys, using natural vegetation to conceal their traces and avoid detection by Krawlers. Powerful people also chose to live in seclusion and avoid the world.

The village where Auram's group lived was in a somewhat better situation. As a priestess, Eve could summon a massive barrier to cover the village, shielding it from the Krawlers' surveillance.

After hearing this, You Zhi asked in confusion, "The Mekk-Knights sound very hostile toward humanity, but why are they doing this?"

Auram and the others exchanged looks. They had truly never considered that question. To them, it was as self-evident as a person falling back to the ground after jumping. It was common sense, part of the natural order, with no reason to ask why.

"Maybe it's to maintain their rule? They're afraid humans will rise up and overthrow them," Auram said uncertainly.

"Then why do they want to rule the world? Do mechanical lifeforms also need pleasure or crave power?"

Ningirsu snorted. "Maybe there is no reason. Perhaps the person who created them simply programmed such logical instructions into them, and they are merely following orders."

You Zhi shook his head. "Even then, the question remains unchanged. Why did the person who created the Mekk-Knights input such instructions?"

Auram frowned and thought for a while before guessing, "Hatred of humanity?"

You Zhi immediately denied it. "Impossible. If it were out of hatred for humanity, then the Mekk-Knights should order the Krawlers to kill every human they see, rather than specifically targeting human villages and powerful humans. That's also what feels most contradictory to me.

"If their goal is to rule the world more effectively, they should accept humans and promote soft-boned elites among them, using humans to enslave humans. That would both divert hatred and allow for better exploitation.

"But they neither accept humanity nor exterminate it. What they do feels more like a gardener tending a courtyard. Once branches grow too long and affect the appearance, they trim them."

Ningirsu said dismissively, "So you're saying the Mekk-Knights are acting out of good intentions?"

You Zhi said, "For the beauty of the courtyard, pruning branches is necessary. But that may not be true for the plants themselves. Whether it is good intention depends on the perspective from which you view the issue."

Auram said, "The answer to that question can probably only be known by the Mekk-Knights' creator. And we don't even know where the Mekk-Knights are. Worrying about it is meaningless."

"That's true."