This Trainer Has No Sportsmanship - Chapter 48

But before the two could let out mocking laughter, the Neon Stone Sprite lowered her little head and swung out her two hammer-like braids like a lizard whipping its tail, smashing both of them squarely in the head.

With over 3,000 Attack behind them, even two braids carried tremendous force. What was more, those braids were made of crystal, leaving Toon Goblin completely dazed.

The Neon Stone Sprite pressed the advantage, finishing them off with one punch each. She absorbed the scattered spiritual energy and immediately leveled up.

"Take back what I said. I underestimated you."

Whitney apologized sincerely, then stared at the Neon Stone Sprite with sparkling eyes. "She's cute and powerful. I'm so jealous. I remember you called her Icejade Aegirine. After the match, could you tell me where you met her?"

"I can tell you the location, but you probably won't find a second one there."

"I still have to try. Maybe I'll run into one."

Whitney loved cute Pokémon the most, just like how she used Clefairy and Miltank in the Pokémon world.

After a while, Whitney finally remembered her duties as a Gym Leader. She patted her cheeks with both hands, forcing herself to calm down, then drew her second Pokémon Card. "Be careful. My next Pokémon is rather special. It doesn't look as cute as the others, so don't get scared."

With a flash of light, a massive beast appeared on the field. It had two horns on its head, crimson skin, and a purple mane.

[Behemoth, King of Beasts (7 stars) Earth]

[Lineage: Normal]

[Level: 28]

[Attack: 2700 (2430)]

[Defense: 1500 (1350)]

[Beast-Type, Effect: Omitted]

The Beast King intimidated the entire arena the moment it appeared. Its heavy body clearly contained immense power. Compared to it, the Neon Stone Sprite was not even as large as one of its forelimbs.

"Roar—"

The Beast King habitually threw back its head and roared, trying to overwhelm its opponent through sheer presence.

You Zhi spoke first. "Don't forget about Ice Rink. Pokémon other than Water-type Pokémon lose their balance when they enter the field."

The ice flashed, and friction vanished for a brief moment. The Beast King had barely made a sound through its nostrils before its feet slipped, sending it sprawling flat on its back.

The Neon Stone Sprite seized the chance to attack, smashing her fist into its savage face. The blow sent the Beast King flying, spinning seven hundred and twenty degrees before crashing heavily to the ground, tears and snot streaming down its face as saliva sprayed everywhere.

In terms of Attack, the Neon Stone Sprite, empowered by Divergent Lizard Yihao, was even stronger than her opponent.

Seeing this, Whitney hurriedly activated the Spell Card she had just refined.

[Charge Spell: Intimidating Roar]

[Effect: The opponent's Pokémon temporarily cannot attack. If Behemoth, King of Beasts is on the field, this can be activated directly without charging.]

A Pokémon with a lion's head, eagle wings, and a scorpion's tail appeared on the field. It opened its mouth and unleashed a furious roar, sending violent sound waves outward and leaving the Neon Stone Sprite too frightened to move.

The Beast King instinctively shrank back as well.

Both Pokémon were rendered unable to attack. By the time they recovered, the phantom behind the Neon Stone Sprite had vanished, and her Attack had fallen back to normal.

Whitney said, "Just as I guessed, the Attack boost was only temporary. Then there's nothing to worry about. Behemoth, use Horn Attack!"

The Beast King rallied, shook itself, and regained its imposing posture before charging furiously at the Neon Stone Sprite.

However, the ice remained. It no longer removed all friction as it had before, but the Beast King was running too fast. Its feet slipped again, and it crashed face-first into the ground.

Fate's Die

With her opponent down, the Neon Stone Sprite naturally showed no mercy. Without Divergent Lizard Yihao's boost, however, her Attack had returned to normal. Rather than engage in close combat, she summoned a pile of ice blocks and pelted her opponent until its head was covered in bumps.

Whitney glanced at the smooth ice covering the field and frowned. "Use Earthquake."

The battered Beast King got up and stomped both feet down. The ground shook violently, shattering all the ice. Ice fragments flew everywhere, and the ground became pitted and uneven. It was still difficult to move across, but the disadvantage of this terrain now applied to both sides.

Then, under their Trainers' commands, the two Pokémon engaged in fierce combat.

The audience had thought that the Neon Stone Sprite's tiny body would be crushed by the Beast King within three minutes. Instead, the two fought back and forth, neither able to gain the upper hand.

On the offensive, the Beast King held a slight advantage. Yet even when it landed a hit, it often failed to deal much damage.

That was not surprising. A look at their stats made the reason clear. At level 30, the Neon Stone Sprite had 1,500 Attack and 3,000 Defense. Her total stats even exceeded the Beast King's. Calculated separately, her Attack surpassed the Beast King's Defense, while her Defense exceeded the Beast King's Attack. She completely suppressed it at both ends.

The immense energy contained within her tiny body was no exaggeration.

Her only weakness was her low HP. If the fight dragged on, she would inevitably lose. Not to mention that she had already taken a Shadow Toon earlier. But You Zhi understood that situation just as well, so he successively activated Goblin's Secret Remedy and Goblin Thief to replenish her HP. He even used the E-rank Spell Card Fiend's Curry, restoring a total of 1,300 HP.

That amount of recovery was insignificant for a high-star Pokémon, but for the Neon Stone Sprite, it was practically an extra life. Moreover, it consumed barely any spiritual energy, costing only two D-rank cards and one E-rank card.

Goblin Thief also had the effect of damaging the opponent's Pokémon. The Beast King's enormous body could not dodge the bomb thrown at it, and it took the explosion head-on, leaving it covered in wounds.

You Zhi and Whitney tacitly refrained from interfering with the Pokémon's battle, allowing them to fight freely while the two Trainers silently refined Spell Cards.

By the time the Neon Stone Sprite and the Beast King were both exhausted, Whitney held one Spell Card in her hand and had two set on the field. You Zhi held four cards and had one set on the field—all four in his hand were E-rank cards.

"It's time to end this. I activate the Spell Card Form Reversal!"

Whitney made the first move, flipping over the Spell Card set on her field. A shaggy lion with four pairs of horns appeared in the arena. It let out a roar, and the Neon Stone Sprite's body trembled slightly as her Trait was nullified.

[Charge Spell: Form Reversal]

[Effect: The opponent's Pokémon and your own Pokémon have their Traits nullified in turns. When Behemoth, King of Beasts is on your field, your own Pokémon's Traits will not be nullified.]

The card's original effect was, "As long as this card remains in the Spell and Trap Zone, during your turn, the effects of face-up monsters on your opponent's field are negated. During your opponent's turn, the effects of face-up monsters on your field are negated." Because it received a linked enhancement from the Beast King, the latter half of the effect was removed.

Whitney's strategy was not over. She decisively slapped down the Spell Card in her hand.

[Quick-Play Spell: Boar Charge]

[Effect: Declare one Attribute. Activate by targeting one Pokémon on your field. When the targeted Pokémon battles an opponent's Pokémon of the declared Attribute, destroy that opponent's Pokémon. If Behemoth, King of Beasts is on your field, destroy all opponent Pokémon of the declared Attribute.]

"I declare the Water Attribute!"

Although Whitney had no cheat and did not recognize the Neon Stone Sprite, if she still could not guess its Water Attribute after their earlier battle, she would have to be blind.

When You Zhi saw the effects of the two Spell Cards, he immediately understood. "I see. First, use Form Reversal to negate the Neon Stone Sprite's resistance to effect destruction, then use Boar Charge to destroy her."

In truth, Form Reversal had not been necessary at all. The Neon Stone Sprite could only gain one instance of resistance to effect destruction when she was targeted. But since Whitney did not know the details, she could only treat it as resistance to effect destruction.

When the Beast King attacked again, a wild boar burst out of the Spell Card and charged toward the Neon Stone Sprite like a meteor. Its body was covered by an energy barrier to prevent it from being intercepted and destroyed midway.

It was worth mentioning that even though the boar was an ally, the Beast King still shrank to the side when it charged past.

Just as the boar was about to slam into the Neon Stone Sprite, You Zhi immediately activated the set Order to Retreat.

A flash of light followed, and the Neon Stone Sprite was bounced back into her Pokémon Card, evading the boar's charge.

"What a pity. I thought that combination was foolproof, but you dodged it with a D-rank card."

Whitney's face was full of regret, but there was nothing she could do.

That was how Pokémon duels worked. It was not enough for the Spell Cards you used to be stronger. Just like in Card Duel, someone could spend three minutes performing a combo, exhaust their Extra Deck to summon three powerful boss monsters, and still have their entire field effortlessly cleared by a single Dragon's Egg.

The audience cheered loudly instead. They clearly loved this sort of twist.

After recalling his Pokémon, You Zhi had the right to switch. He had originally planned to send out Silent Magician, and the four E-rank Spell Cards in his hand had been prepared specifically for the opponent's Trait. But after glancing at Form Reversal still on the field, he decided to use another Pokémon.

Although Form Reversal's effect was cyclical, once it affected his side, Silent Magician would lose her Attack-boosting Trait. Her base Attack and Defense were only 1,000, so she was no match for the opponent at all.

After thinking briefly, You Zhi decided to summon Gem-Knight Quartz. Using its entrance Trait, he obtained and activated the Spell Card Scatter Fusion. Under the radiance of gemstones, Quartz immediately evolved into Gem-Knight Lady Rose Diamond.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! That's the Pokémon from the video, right? She's not my favorite cute type, but she's beautiful and cool. I really want one."

Whitney was clearly tempted, though her eyes did not sparkle as wildly as before.

You Zhi said, "She's not just beautiful and cool. She's also powerful. Rose Diamond, use Brick Break to finish the opponent."

Having received praise, Rose Diamond's fighting spirit surged. She moved even faster than usual, lowering herself as she dashed forward. She circled behind the Beast King, leaped into the air, gathered Fighting-type energy into her blade, and slashed down from above.

"Now! I'll gamble on a reversal!"

Whitney activated the final Spell Card set on her field.

[Charge Spell: Lucky Punch]

[Effect: Activate when an opponent's Pokémon attacks. Toss a coin 3 times. If all 3 are heads, randomly obtain 3 Spell Cards. If all 3 are tails, destroy this card. Additionally, if this card is destroyed, your Pokémon takes 6,000 points of true damage. If Behemoth, King of Beasts is on your field, toss a coin only once.]

Tofu Angel

If she guessed heads, she could randomly obtain three Spell Cards. As a Gym Leader, Whitney naturally had several A-rank Spell Cards as trump cards. As long as she obtained one of them, she could secure victory in this duel.

Normally, a Gym Leader could not use A-rank Spell Cards against a Trainer challenging for the fourth Badge, since that would be far beyond the intended difficulty. But randomly obtained Spell Cards were not subject to that restriction.

Of course, considering the numbers involved, she was more likely to obtain low-rank cards.

Two beams of light shot out from the Spell Card, immobilizing both the Beast King and Rose Diamond. Then a coin was tossed high into the air, spinning continuously.

Whitney raised one finger. "I forgot to tell you, my luck has always been good. Turning all three coins to heads might be a little difficult, but just one? Easy."

You Zhi sighed. "Then you don't have as much confidence as I do. Even if there were three coins, I'd be confident I could make all of them land tails."

"Huh? Who do you think you are, the goddess of luck's—"

Whitney's words stopped abruptly, because when the coin landed, it was tails.

In an instant, a rabbit wearing a safety helmet shot out of the Spell Card at high speed and punched the Beast King in the face, instantly blasting it apart!

Even Blue-Eyes White Dragon would have to kneel before 6,000 points of true damage.

You Zhi vaguely remembered that, according to tests conducted by forum experts, although HP changed with level, the changes were not particularly large. Basically, each star rank corresponded to roughly 500 HP. In other words, only a 13-star Pokémon might be able to withstand 6,000 damage.

So the question was, did 13-star Pokémon even exist in this world?

At least, they did not exist in You Zhi's memories.

Rose Diamond had gotten a bargain the moment she entered the field. She had done nothing and still defeated the opponent. However, the Beast King's scattered spiritual energy had to be split with the Neon Stone Sprite, so she did not level up.

Seeing the result, Whitney clicked her tongue, though she was not too disappointed. Winning and losing were normal when gambling on luck. No one could keep getting heads or tails forever, right?

"Forget it. It's only the fourth Badge, after all. Summoning Pokémon that are too powerful would only invite scrutiny from the Pokémon League. Consider it a freebie for you."

You Zhi could not help asking, "Since you like cute Pokémon, why did you capture Behemoth, King of Beasts? It has nothing to do with cute."

"How could that be? Don't you think it looks adorable when it gets beaten up and has terrible luck?"

"...You said something so brutal with such an innocent expression. I don't know how to respond. Let's just continue the duel."

"Sigh. The world does not lack cute creatures. It lacks eyes capable of discovering cuteness."

Whitney sighed regretfully, as though she were saddened by You Zhi's lack of taste. But she quickly regained her Gym Leader composure, drew her third Pokémon Card, and said, "Next is my ace. I'm sure you've already guessed it. When a tranquil heart is broken, surging rage will destroy every living creature in this world. Descend, Yoyo King!"

[Yoyo King (6 stars) LIGHT]

[Lineage: Normal]

[Level: 40]

[Attack: 300 (350)]

[Defense: 100 (117)]

[Fairy-Type, Effect: When this card leaves the field, Special Summon as many "Yuyu" from your Graveyard as possible.]

A gigantic tofu angel appeared in the arena, even larger than the Beast King. Its blank body had three horizontal lines: two longer ones as its eyes and a shorter one as its mouth. A pair of tiny wings extended from its back, while a huge question mark floated above its head.

Despite being a level 40, 6-star Pokémon, its Attack and Defense were both inferior even to Kuriboh's. Anyone unaware of its true nature might instinctively ask: Could such trash really be an ace Pokémon?

You Zhi, who had seen it battle before, naturally did not ask that question. He knew that Yoyo King itself was not the problem. The real difficulty came after defeating it.

Even so, he had no choice but to order Rose Diamond to attack.

Rose Diamond was briefly stunned by Yoyo King's towering body, but as a knight, she had no reason to fear an enemy. She immediately launched her attack.

At that moment, Form Reversal's effect was applied to Rose Diamond, nullifying her Trait. Fortunately, it did not affect her Attack or Defense. She still far surpassed her opponent, and her sword pierced through the air, easily striking the target.

"Use Counter!"