Ritual Evolution / 1:1

However, this method won't work right now, because Dahlia and Norman are both using their last Pokémon, so they can't engage in a battle of attrition.

Seeing the situation on the field, Palmer concluded with a sigh, "What a pity. If Dahlia had summoned a spirit with defense far exceeding attack, there might still be hope in this battle."

Upon being reminded, You Zhi immediately noticed that the effect of Sleeping Giant Gudong was to change its own attack and defense stats to the opponent's attack power +1000, rather than the opponent's attack and defense power +1000. If it really encountered a Pokémon with low attack and high defense, it would actually be at a disadvantage.

For example, if the opponent's Pokémon has "Attack 500/Defense 3000", Sleeping Giant Gudong will become "Attack 1500/Defense 1500", putting Giant Slumber at a disadvantage overall.

Unfortunately, this is useless against Dahlia on the field. Tyrant Thunderstar is the last Pokémon she summoned and cannot be replaced. In One for One situation, Sleeping Giant Gudong is almost invincible.

As predicted, the battle unfolded as Dahlia did. Despite her best efforts and top-notch command skills, including quickly identifying and exploiting the Sleeping Giant's clumsy movements, she was still unable to reverse the vast difference in their strength.

As the Sleeping Giant swiftly swung his arm, a Hammer Arm that shook the earth struck Tyrant Thunderstar and shattered him, sealing the victory.

Despite it being an open tournament held by the Battle Frontier, the players sent by the organizers ended up losing. While the audience was still savoring the shocking experience brought by Sleeping Giant Gudong, they couldn't help but sigh that the Battle Frontier was serious and didn't try to fool anyone.

"Dear audience, let's give a warm round of applause to the winner! Thank you to both trainers for a spectacular duel!"

Guided by the host, the audience stood up and applauded. The battle just now was well worth the applause, and many people remembered the name of Norman, the head of the Hoenn Gym.

When the applause subsided, the organizers did not immediately begin the second duel. Instead, they sent out a group of adorable "Fairy Tale Animals" elves. These elves were predominantly pink and beige, with an air of detachment from worldly affairs, as if they truly came from a fairytale world, a complete contrast to the previous Sleeping Giant.

Watching these adorable elves perform their show rather clumsily on stage, making small mistakes from time to time, the audience's emotions were soothed, and even their facial muscles couldn't help but relax.

After the performance, the host returned to the stage and announced that the second duel was about to begin.

This time, the battle team features Lord Liemu from the Battle Factory, and Dujuan, the Rustboro Gym Leader, who also hails from the Hoenn Region.

Dujuan is a quiet girl with ribbon-like hair, wearing pink tights, and looking quite young. In fact, she has just graduated from the Trainer Academy in Rustboro City. She works as a Gym Leader and a teacher at the Trainer Academy, and is known locally as "the high-achieving student who is obsessed with Rock-type".

As a beautiful girl, Dujuan received preferential treatment, and the welcome she received when she appeared was much more enthusiastic than that of a rough man like Norman. Unfortunately, as a trainer, her strength did not match this preferential treatment.

From You Zhi's perspective, Liemu's Pokémon level is about the same as Dahlia's, but Dujuan's Pokémon lineup is not only inferior to Norman ', but also below average among all Gym Leaders. Her command skills are not bad, and the timing of using Spell Card is very precise. She did not make any obvious mistakes throughout the process, which is worthy of her status as a top student. However, these skills are not enough to make up for the disadvantage in overall strength.

2:3

This is the final result: Liemu won without summoning his third Pokémon, showing no mercy just because his opponent was young and beautiful.

The audience applauded, marveling at the ruthless womanizer, while also gaining a deeper appreciation for the organizer's authenticity.

Palmer stood up and said, "It's our turn for the third round. Have you thought about how to make a cool entrance?"

"There's such a requirement?"

"Of course, a dashing entrance can boost morale; the duel begins the moment you step onto the stage."

That makes sense.

You Zhi agreed, stroked his chin, pondered seriously, and then got up to leave.

"The third duel is about to begin! Let's give a warm round of applause to Palmer, the leader of the Battle Tower, and his personally selected mystery guest!"

The audience had assumed the third match would be Battle Frontier and the Gym Leader of the Hoenn Region, but then a mystery guest suddenly appeared, surprising them and generating anticipation—no one thought that the "mystery guest" designation was only necessary because the opponent was too unknown.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, seven enormous orbs of light appeared out of thin air, suddenly collided together, and burst forth into a rainbow bridge. Palmer descended to the ground on the rainbow bridge as if riding an elevator, accompanied by his elf Dark Magician.

The audience instinctively turned their gaze to the other side of the arena, where the ground suddenly rose up and thick vines burst forth, intertwining to form a circular platform with a diameter of ten meters. You Zhi appeared on the platform in the pose of the Terminator, slowly rising with a disdainful look in his eyes.

The audience applauded and cheered, but Palmer on the field was filled with doubt: where was the opponent's spirit?

Chapter 168 Ritual Evolution

You Zhi learned this vine-summoning technique from Woodscale Dragon. He has a body that can switch Strength-Weakness Mimicry, so he doesn't need to rely on the power of the spirits and can use it on his own.

To others, it would simply be seen as You Zhi using special methods to hide his Pokémon, or recalling them in time during their appearance, because doing so would be profitable.

Generally speaking, the Pokémon used when a battle begins is assumed to be the first Pokémon to be used in the battle. Just like with Dahlia and Norman, neither of them recalled their Pokémon and immediately started the battle.

It's not impossible to take it back and replace it with another Pokémon, since there's no explicit rule against doing so. But doing this in front of tens of thousands of spectators is just too embarrassing. Not only would it make you look weaker, but no one with any standing would do such a thing.

A faint murmur of boos rippled through the audience.

Palmer himself did not feel disdain, because he had not noticed You Zhi's Pokémon during the process, which meant that the opponent either had a particularly good way of hiding it or grasped the timing of recalling the Pokémon very precisely. Either way, it required excellent skills to achieve.

With such skills, it's only natural to gain an initial advantage.

Without giving the audience time to build up their emotions, the host decisively announced the official start of the third open match.

Just when Palmer thought You Zhi would send out a Pokémon with a lineage that could counter the Dark Magician, a flash of light appeared and a Steel-Armored Lizard appeared on the field.

"The Aberrant Lizard · Demon Lizard Yihao?"

Palmer was somewhat surprised. This Pokémon did not have an advantage in the lineage. In fact, before its evolution, the Demon Lizard Yihao was countered by the Psychic- type Dark Magician.

In truth, You Zhi had no choice. It wasn't that he didn't want to send a Dark-type Goblin Attack Force, but the level difference was too great.

[Dark Magician (7-star) Dark]

[Genealogy: Psychic]

[Level: 42]

[Attack Power: 2500 (2750)]

[Defense Strength: 2100 (2310)]

[Spellcaster, Description: As mages, their attack and defense are both at the highest level]

The Goblin is only level 25, and even with the advantage of lineage, it would be difficult to defeat a level 42 Dark Magician. At most, it could try to take the opponent down with it by using Self-Destruct tactic, but doing so would contradict the goal of testing its own strength.

In this battle, victory or defeat is secondary.

As a Champion-level trainer, Palmer's main battle Pokémon are all above level 40. To fight against him, your level cannot be too far behind.

"While I don't know if you sent this spirit out of a sense of fairness, I won't hold back. Dark Magician, use Psychic Shock!"

At Palmer's command, the Dark Magician waved his staff, and an invisible wave of spiritual energy shot out.

However, Divergent Lizard Yihao often sparred with the Silent Magician, and they were the most compatible partners. He was most familiar with this kind of attack, and as if he could see it with his own eyes, he dodged it with a side dive, and then quickly rushed to the side of his opponent and silently scooped out a Shadow Claw.

The Dark Magician left an afterimage as Teleport to the other side of the arena, unleashing another wave of mental energy. His movements were highly skilled, clearly demonstrating that he had mastered this tactic.

Divergent Lizard Yihao was also very familiar with this tactic, after all, the Silent Magician was also good at this, so it wasn't too difficult for him to deal with. For a while, neither side could do anything to the other. It wasn't that they didn't have other tactics, but the side that changed tactics first would undoubtedly suffer.

If the Pokémon can't break the deadlock, the trainer has to help.

Palmer quickly crafted a D-rank Spell Card and activated it without hesitation.

[Normal Magic: Thousand Knives]

[Effect: Can only be activated if you control a face-up "Dark Magician" monster. Target and destroy 1 monster your opponent controls.]

In an instant, countless throwing knives appeared out of thin air and shot towards Divergent Lizard Yihao.

After seeing the actual effect, You Zhi actually breathed a sigh of relief. Spell Card had no coercive power, especially damage Spell Card.

Sure enough, facing the barrage of flying knives, Divergent Lizard Yihao remained calm and composed. His arms moved forward rapidly like drums, each strike causing the air in front of him to vibrate and explode, scattering the flying knives in all directions.

He didn't take all that beating for nothing!

With its martial arts skills, the Divergent Lizard Yihao withstood the damage from the Spell Card head-on. Occasionally, when a flying knife came from behind, it would be knocked away by its tail, since its tail was covered with thick steel armor and was not afraid of sharp blades.

"Impressive! I've encountered Pokémon that could block 'Thousand Knives' with their own strength before, but this is the first time I've seen one that could perfectly block it with just martial arts skills. No wonder the trainer I chose is so outstanding!"

While praising You Zhi, Palmer didn't forget to praise himself, his tone quite proud.

You Zhi did not become complacent because of the praise, and immediately activated his newly crafted Spell Card "Axe of Fools".

A smiling axe appeared in the hands of the Divergent Lizard Yihao, instantly increasing its attack power by 1000, while the negative effect of nullifying the Pokémon's ability was ignored.

With his Divergent Lizard Yihao no longer dodged. Facing the Psychic Shock released by the Dark Magician, he directly met the charge head-on and swung his axe at the front.

The Dark Magician hadn't expected his opponent to suddenly adopt such a mutually destructive fighting style. He didn't have time to use Teleport after making his move and could only dodge awkwardly. However, he couldn't dodge, and his staff was cleaved in two. He also took an axe blow to the chest and was sent flying with severe injuries.

Having landed a successful blow, Divergent Lizard Yihao didn't give his opponent a chance to use Teleport to create distance. He immediately launched a relentless and continuous offensive, tightly entangled with his opponent.

In close combat, the Dark Magician was no match for him and quickly found himself in a precarious situation.

"Dark Magician, hold on! Use the Psycho Cut!"

Palmer gave instructions while refining the card.

Without his magic wand Dark Magician gathered his spiritual power in both hands and unleashed a crescent-shaped Confusion wave, incredibly sharp, which successfully forced the Divergent Lizard Yihao back, finally gaining a chance to catch his breath. He immediately used Teleport to create distance.

Palmer sighed, "That's terrifying. It was just a small flaw, and once it was caught, it immediately fell into an irreversible decline. Your elf is exceptionally well-trained; both its skills and courage are top-notch. I'm afraid the Dark Magician alone is no match for it."

"So you want him to evolve?"

You Zhi didn't think the other party's words meant to admit defeat. Besides, as one of the starter Pokémon, Dark Magician was known for having many evolutionary forms. It would be strange if it didn't have a more powerful form at level 42.

"Every trainer has their favorite type of Pokémon. Some like a particular lineage, some like a particular species, but my favorite is Ritual Form."

Palmer flipped open the Spell Card in his hand and shouted, "I activate 'Chaos Form,' transforming myself into the wind of ritual, emerging from the darkness of chaos! Ritual Evolution, Chaos Dark Magician!"

A chaotic power, a mixture of black and white, descended upon the Dark Magician, transforming him into a completely new form.

Chapter 169 1:1

[Chaos Magician (7-star) Dark]

[Genealogy: Psychic, Evil]

[Level: 42]

[Attack Power: 2500 (2750)]

[Defense: 2100 (2310)]

[Spellcaster, Effect: ① This card's name is treated as "Dark Magician" while it is on the field or in the Graveyard; ② Once per turn, when a Spell/ Trap Card's effect is activated, you can target 1 card on the field; destroy that card; ③ If this Ritual Summon card is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can Special Summon 1 "Chaos" Ritual Monster from your hand, except "Chaos Magician," ignoring its Summoning conditions.]

Upon seeing the opponent's effects through the cheat, You Zhi was immediately alarmed, especially by the third point. Considering the characteristics of the Silent Magician, he felt a great sense of unease. This Seven-Star spirit was probably even more difficult to deal with than the Ten-Star Cyber End Dragon.

He glanced at the Spell Card in his hand; it was "Compulsory Evacuation Device".

The reason I didn't let the Blue-skinned Lizard appear in the form of the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao was because I was thinking of using the hidden effect of this Spell Card to recycle the Divergent Lizard Yihao while restoring some health points. Now it seems I have to change my tactics.

"Since you are so sincere, it would be disrespectful for me to hold back any longer. Yihao, show me your full strength."

As You Zhi placed Spell Card face down on the field, he spoke in a way that was designed to confuse his opponent.

The Divergent Lizard Yihao immediately roared to the sky, its body radiating the light of evolution. Its size instantly increased, and the steel armor that had been covering it quite well became sparse and scattered. Its whole body exuded an unpleasant dark aura.

The evolved Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao's lineage changed from "Fighting-type, Steel" to "Fighting-type, Dark," giving it an advantage against the evolved Chaos Magician.

"I never knew the Elf Yihao had such an evolved form. I've really broadened my horizons today."

Even the battle-hardened Palmer was seeing the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao for the first time, and couldn't help but marvel at it.

Not only him, but many people in the audience also gasped in amazement.

Elf Yihao is not uncommon. Although its distribution is far less than that of Goblin, it is still a popular elf. Even if the audience has never caught one themselves, they have seen others use it. However, this is the first time they have learned that Yihao has such an evolved form, and they feel that their trip was worthwhile.

Even those who had previously booed now agreed that You Zhi, as the mysterious guest invited by the organizers, was indeed quite capable.

"The Chaos Magician is using Tactic Three!"

Palmer did not give specific orders, but instead gave coded instructions.

This is to prevent opponents from targeting you after hearing the instructions, but it's not suitable for all Pokémon. It must be a smart Pokémon that can remember the specific tactics and adapt to the situation on the field.

The Chaos Magician, wielding his re-evolved staff, slammed it into the ground, unleashing invisible Confusion that altered the nature of spiritual energy, causing subtle changes in the surrounding environment.

"Psychic Terrain?"

You Zhi was extremely familiar with Pokémon moves and guessed it at a glance. This move could change the field environment in the Yugi, thereby increasing the damage of Psychic- type moves by 30%.

With a roar, the Giant Divergent Lizard Yihao pounced forward, launching a swift attack. However, the Chaos Magician, unwilling to linger, decisively used Teleport to move to the other side of the arena.

"After evolving, although its star rating and abilities remained unchanged, it became faster and more proficient at using skills than before."

You Zhi frowned, increasingly feeling that a change in tactics was necessary.

Previously, the Dark Magician would experience a noticeable stiffness after using Teleport. Now, whether due to enhanced abilities after evolution or the enhancement of the Psychic Terrain, the stiffness has almost disappeared. He gathers a large amount of spiritual power, condenses it into a Dark Energy Ball shimmering with lightning, and shoots it out— the Dark Magician's exclusive skill, "Dark Magus."

"Use Sucker Punch!"