Whirlpool Cave / Reappearance ...

6

Chapter 179 Whirlpool Cave

"This thing doesn't feel like scales to the touch; it feels more like a piece of jade."

You Zhi played with the parting gift Jasmine had given him, and the more he touched it, the more he felt something was off.

He initially thought these were scales that had fallen from legendary Pokémon, since there's a similar concept in Yugi Pokémon Gold and Silver where Golden Feather are used to summon Ho-Oh and Silver Feather to summon Lugia.

But then I thought, the spirits in this world are all made of spirits, and anything they drop will soon turn into spiritual energy and dissipate, so there's no way they'd leave anything behind!

After thinking for a while, I couldn't come up with a solution. The most likely explanation is that the mysterious spirit used its abilities to modify the material in reality, in which case things wouldn't revert to their original form.

Regardless, carry it with you and try your luck; what if it works?

Riding the Azure River Dragonmaid across the sea was initially quite novel, with people looking around and admiring the seascape. But after a while... it wasn't boring, because you could occasionally encounter some Water-type spirits you'd never seen before.

New trainers are usually advised not to venture out to sea just because they have a Water-type Pokémon. If they encounter a powerful wild Pokémon along the way, they may end up drowning. It's best to bring a Flying-type Pokémon for escape to ensure safety.

You Zhi naturally didn't need to worry about this. Although the Azure River Dragonmaid could only serve as a mount in his team, compared to wild elves, she was already considered a local overlord.

Most wild elves would keep their distance from the Azure River Dragonmaid. Occasionally, one or two foolish creatures would be blown to smithereens by her Dragon Breath, and then a proud expression, similar to a "humph," would appear on her dragon face that even humans could easily understand.

Slaying weaker opponents is the perfect way to relieve stress and boost your mood.

Besides wild Pokémon, you can also encounter marine trainers at sea. They generally prefer to use Water-type Pokémon and enjoy swimming in the open ocean. They might even wear swimsuits, ride their Pokémon to the open ocean, and then swim together in the water.

In Pokémon Yugi, these are the kind of NPCs that You Zhi dislikes the most, because these guys are all poor and you won't get much money even if you win, although it fits the setting—wearing a swimsuit means you can't carry cash.

In reality, it doesn't matter. First, there's no concept of getting money from your opponent by winning a duel, unless you want to be a bandit. Second, these people won't immediately rush up to challenge You Zhi to a duel. Being at sea, if something unexpected happens, they'll most likely end up as fish food, unless they're pirates.

Most of the ocean trainers were quite enthusiastic. When they saw You Zhi, they went up to chat for a bit, probably because he was feeling cooped up in the vast ocean. While there was freedom here, there was a lack of interactive elements.

By consulting with these ocean trainers, You Zhi continuously adjusted his course and, after half a day, successfully arrived at the Whirl Islands.

Since it's called an archipelago, it's not a single island, but rather a collection of many smaller islands. According to a story circulating in Olivine City, Whirl Island was once a huge island that two nations fought over. One day, the spirit guarding the island became extremely disappointed and shattered it with lightning, disappearing at the bottom of a waterfall, hoping that the unspoken trust between humans and spirits could reappear.

According to the Yugi's setting, the Whirl Islands consist of four large islands with interconnected caves at their bottoms, forming a maze-like labyrinth. Furthermore, each island is surrounded by strange, whirlpool-like sea surfaces that prevent access.

As for which island the legendary Pokémon corresponding to Lugia is on, You Zhi really couldn't remember. His memory wasn't that good. He only remembered, thanks to the rumor, that he needed to climb a waterfall to get there.

"Forget it, let's try them one by one. We've brought camping gear anyway."

This voyage was not a spur-of-the-moment decision; You Zhi had made thorough preparations.

In the Yugi, you have to teach your sprite the skill "Whirlpool" to eliminate the whirlpool by rotating in the opposite direction in order to land on the island. In reality, it's not that complicated. Although the Azure River Dragonmaid can't fly, she can levitate and easily pass through the whirlpool by floating on the sea surface.

You Zhi circled half of the first Whirl Island and found a cave entrance. After entering, he felt the temperature drop by several degrees and could vaguely hear the sound of air flowing.

"It is indeed connected, and there are no signs of oxygen deficiency."

He walked inside, when suddenly there was a rustling sound. A group of bats had been awakened. These bats had sharp fangs and looked like vampires. It was clear at a glance that they were not normal animals.

[Dark Bat (3-star) Dark]

[Lineage: Poison, Flight]

[Level: 9]

[Talent: Weak]

[Attack Power: 1000 (800)]

[Defense: 1000 (800)]

[Winged Beast-Type, Description: Bats that live in the Dark World and use mental fluctuations to find their enemies]

Whether they were just startled awake and didn't notice the difference in strength between them, or they relied on their superior numbers, the swarm of bats charged directly at You Zhi.

"The Pokémon that replaced Zubat, right? Azure River Dragonmaid uses Bubble Beam, Neon Stone Sprite uses Icy Wind."

Although he could do it himself, a trainer should act like a trainer. You Zhi quickly summoned Neon Stone Sprite and gave commands to the two Pokémon.

The Azure River Dragonmaid spat out a stream of water mixed with colorful bubbles, which disoriented the group of Dark Bat, trapping them one by one in the bubbles.

The Neon Stone Sprite pushed its tiny hands forward, unleashing Mystical Space Typhoon carrying a chilling aura. As it froze the bubbles, it also froze the Dark Bat inside into a pile of ice blocks, which then fell to the ground with a "thud."

A few Dark Bat narrowly escaped death turned tail and ran. You Zhi was too lazy to chase them down; the level difference between the Pokémon was too great, and even if he defeated them, he wouldn't gain any experience.

Following the direction of the airflow, he continued walking in and never encountered another wild elf that dared to attack him.

However, the path inside the cave was not straight; it was sometimes narrow and sometimes wide, and there were no obvious landmarks. The surrounding scenery all looked the same. After walking for half an hour, You Zhi had to admit that he was lost because he had returned to the place where he had left patterns on the cave wall with stones.

"Although this place seemed particularly confusing while playing the Yugi, the top-down Yugi actually made it much easier to identify things compared to experiencing it firsthand."

Getting out wouldn't be difficult; he could simply have the Pokémon use the "Dig" skill. But You Zhi's purpose in coming here wasn't to play an escape room game.

After thinking for a moment, he took out a bunch of Pokémon Card and asked, "Does anyone have a knack for finding their way or sensing presences?"

Immediately afterward, Lunalight Blue Cat's Pokémon Card flashed a few times, You Zhi immediately summoned it.

Lunalight Blue Cat sniffed, seemingly taking a sniff, and finally pointed in one direction, saying, "There's a very powerful elf cat over there."

"You lead the way."

You Zhi trusted his employees implicitly and entrusted them with full authority.

The Lunalight Blue Cat moved forward by sniffing the air, and after walking slowly for more than forty minutes, the surrounding air movement intensified.

You Zhi quickened his pace, and as he stepped out of the passage, he suddenly felt his vision open up, and a huge cave appeared before him. Half of the cave was seawater, and a group of bird-type Pokémon lived there.

"Floowandereeze?"

Upon seeing the identification details of the cheat, You Zhi discovered that these Pokémon belonged to the same system.

Chapter 180 Reappearance

Watching a flock of toucans, ostriches, robins, and bald eagles running around in front of him, You Zhi fell into a long silence.

It's not that I mind that these birds don't live in the same ecological environment at all; after all, they are elves and don't need to abide by the biological laws of reality. But these guys just don't seem to have anything to do with mythical beasts.

You Zhi checked the opponent's abilities through the cheat. The base stats weren't high, with attack and defense around 1000. Since they were all 1-star Pokémon, the stats on the panel were quite impressive. The trade-off was their low health. Even Neon Stone Sprite could take on a whole group of them by themselves.

Furthermore, while their special abilities are great in Card Duel, they are practically useless in Spirit Duel.

Calling it a weakling is a bit of an exaggeration, but no trainer would actively want to catch it.

Hearing the noise, the flock of Floowandereeze turned their heads to look, showing no fear whatsoever. The toucan had a blank expression, as if it were immersed in its own world; the ostrich glanced at them and then looked away, continuing to dig in the wet mud with its claws, searching for food; the bald eagle spread its wings and soared proudly, flying swiftly through the cave full of obstacles; the robin was completely unafraid of strangers, even landing on You Zhi's shoulder, chirping as if urging him to tame it.

If these guys were strong and handsome, You Zhi might have impulsively pulled out a Pokémon Card, but their cute art style didn't appeal to him at all, so he ignored them all and turned to ask Lunalight Blue Cat: "Where are the 'powerful Pokémon' you mentioned?"

"Still deep inside, meow."

Lunalight Blue Cat continued to lead the way, with You Zhi following behind through flocks of birds. The further they went, the lower the temperature became, and eventually, even the water in the cave was covered with floating ice.

Spiritual energy is not internal energy and has no effect on resisting heat or cold. Fortunately, the strength of the Strength-Weakness Mimicry can be automatically adjusted according to changes in the environment. You Zhi himself did not feel cold, but Lunalight Blue Cat could not stand it. The body made of spiritual energy had normal tactile sensation, and it couldn't help but feel electricity crackling all over its body to resist the cold.

A moment later, You Zhi finally met the person in question and fell silent once again.

[Floowandereeze x Empen (10 stars) Wind]

[Lineage: Ice, Flight]

[Level: 40]

[Talent: Ferocity]

[Attack Power: 2700 (2430)]

[Defense: 1000 (900)]

[Winged Beast-Type, effect: omitted]

It's clearly a penguin that can't fly, yet it possesses the Flying-type... which doesn't seem so strange. Doduo can't fly, and neither can Gyarados, but that doesn't stop them from being Flying-type Pokémon.

Its attack and defense stats are a bit low, but its 10-star rating is still respectable, considering that even the Three Egyptian Gods are only 10 stars. In addition, its special abilities are quite useful.

The first characteristic is that it automatically creates a Spell Card of the Floowandereeze system. The second characteristic is that it prevents specially evolved spirits from activating their effects. The third characteristic is that by sacrificing a Spell Card, it temporarily reduces the opponent's attack and defense values by half.

With both restrictive and offensive characteristics, it is more practical than the Celestial Gold Knight in some ways, but You Zhi still cannot accept that this guy is a replacement for Lugia, not for any other reason than that this guy completely lacks the aura of a god.

Look at the Three Egyptian Gods, and then look at the Three Sacred Beasts. Regardless of their strength, their mere appearance is enough to intimidate everyone. The sense of oppression is overwhelming. Anyone can tell at a glance that these three are not simple. Ordinary trainers would probably not even be able to think normally when facing them.

The Empen in front of me Floowandereeze, looks just like an ordinary Empen, except for some patterns on its body. It has no majesty whatsoever, and is even a little cute. It looks like it will be photographed and made into an emoji and sent to a chat group at any moment.

How can someone who looks like that be a god!

Of course, this doesn't stop him from wanting to subdue the other party.

I've finally encountered a high-talented elf who isn't a girl, how can I let this opportunity slip by?

So what if his looks don't appeal to him? Those pretty girls aren't in his favor either, but he still accepts them without batting an eye.

Just as You Zhi was about to command the Pokémon in battle, Empen suddenly cawed at him, then turned around and walked inside. After walking a while, realizing that You Zhi hadn't followed, it turned back and beckoned to him.

"Master, it asks you to come with it, meow," said Lunalight Blue Cat.

"This doesn't need translation."

You Zhi suppressed his fighting spirit and followed behind his opponent deeper into the cave. He could clearly feel that they were walking downhill, and the temperature was getting lower and lower. Before, it might have been in the single digits, but now it was definitely below zero.

Seeing that Lunalight Blue Cat was shivering, You Zhi had no choice but to recall it to his spirit form, allowing only the cold-resistant Neon Stone Sprite to accompany him.

After walking for a while, You Zhi was suddenly blinded by a glare. He moved aside and looked closely, only to find that what appeared before him was a frozen waterfall!

"Croak!"

Empen turned around and called out, then beckoned to You Zhi. Ignoring Gravity, it slid up the frozen waterfall, its belly pressed against the surface, until it reached the top.

"Less than twenty meters, this height is acceptable."

You Zhi looked up and estimated the distance, then reached out and grabbed the Neon Stone Sprite. With the other party looking confused, he first spun around several times, ignoring the shouts of "Wow!", and then threw it upwards with all his might, directly to the top of the waterfall. Finally, he lightly touched the uneven surface of the waterfall with his toes, and after several ascents, he also arrived at the top, looking incredibly dashing and elegant.

Unfortunately, no one appreciates it; at least, the Empen doesn't understand its true value and continues to foolishly lead the way.

This time, they arrived at their destination not long after they set off. What appeared before You Zhi was a huge ice cave, a true ice cave—the entire cave was frozen solid.

The Neon Stone Sprite, still reeling from the shock, became agitated upon seeing the ice cave. It rushed forward, touching the Ice Wall and emitting mournful, anxious sobs.

Inside the ice cave, there were many Crystal Sprite with the same body structure as the Neon Stone Sprite. They held weapons and looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy. Surrounded and glaring at by these Crystal Sprite was a general who wore armor, wielded two swords, had Dragon Tail on his back, and exuded a dark aura.

This situation was clearly on the verge of erupting; if they hadn't been frozen in ice, a fierce battle would have undoubtedly broken out between the two sides.

You Zhi felt that the scene in front of him looked familiar. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he quickly created the Spell Card "Icejade Erosion". He picked up the card and compared it with the card. It was exactly the same!

"What's going on here? Although Spell Card can predict what's about to happen in the Spirit Realm, this is the real world."

You Zhi stepped forward and observed carefully for a while, and found a Space-Time Vortex that was also frozen.

(Zhaizhu: A reader who plays against me on YGO asked me why there's Little Blue on the cover, but the Little Blue never appears in the book. Even the important plot of evolution is just glossed over. I replied to him, "When you use the Dragonmaid Deck, I didn't see you summon the Little Blue either.")

Chapter 181 Unexpected Conflict

"Could it be that this Anomaly erupted without anyone noticing, causing the Spirit Realm and the Spirit Realm to overlap, and coincidentally, a peak battle was taking place in the elven realm? Because of the time travel, the spiritual energy went out of control, and a group of people were frozen, along with the rampaging Anomaly..."

Based on the available information, this is the only guess that You Zhi can make.

Although it sounds too coincidental, there are many coincidences in the world. Probability, in reality, only has two outcomes: 100% that has already happened and 0% that has not happened.

In a past life, a forest ranger was struck by lightning seven times. Although he was injured each time, he still survived in the end. The probability of that was much lower than this incident.

Empen pointed to the ice cave and rattled off a few words.

The Strength-Weakness Mimicry cannot help You Zhi understand language, and the Neon Stone Sprite cannot speak human prophecies; it can only summon the Dark Magician Girl to translate for it.

"It claims to be the guardian of this island. This ice block suddenly appeared and froze its companions. If you can rescue its companions and resolve the crisis inside, it will give you a precious gift."

Why would you ask me for a favor?

"Quack quack..."

"It said it sensed the aura of a powerful being emanating from its master, and the elf accompanying its master seemed to be of the same kind as the elf that suddenly appeared in the ice cave."

You Zhi was speechless for a moment. He had thought that the strange scales that Jasmine gave him were the key prop. After all, from a dramatic point of view, such an obvious foreshadowing would definitely be brought back later. He never expected that the key point would actually be on the Neon Stone Sprite.

If it were any other trainer, no matter how powerful their aura, Empen would most likely choose to fight to test their strength before deciding whether to ask for help. However, upon seeing Neon Stone Sprite, it simply skipped the test and chose to lead the way.

You Zhi's gaze swept around the ice cave and quickly found Empen's companions: several pure white owls, each wearing a strange helmet. Their style was different from the other frozen elves.