Niche Counter Cards / The Sixth Badge

Just then, You Zhi said, "I'm launching 'Hammer Shot'!"

A massive wooden mallet appeared above the head of the Minotaur Centaur, plummeting down with a huge shadow.

If its physical condition were good, the Minotaur could have easily dodged before the Minotaur Centaur fell. However, it had lost its footing on its hind legs and couldn't even roll over. It could only watch helplessly as the heavy mallet crashed down and exploded into particles of spiritual energy with a "bang".

"You timed it perfectly, maximizing the power of this destructive Spell Card. Combined with your previous performance, you've already met the standard for six badges."

A-Si praised him again, his gaze towards You Zhi filled with admiration. Whether as a trainer or a martial artist, Yu Zhi's performance greatly satisfied him.

You Zhi raised an eyebrow and said, "You mean we don't need to continue fighting?"

Gym leaders have considerable discretion. If they feel a challenger's strength meets the standard, they don't need to adhere to the original rules and it's more reasonable to leave the time and Pokémon for other challengers.

Of course, to make things look good on the surface, you can send out a weak elf to go through the motions, so that others can't find fault with the procedure.

"Of course not! As a trainer, one should strive for excellence and constantly challenge one's limits in order to become a top-tier powerhouse!"

If it were Morty, he might have done the same, but A-Si believed that strict teachers produce outstanding students. The more he liked someone, the higher the standards he had to set for them. His eyes sharpened, and he pulled out a Pokémon Card from thin air.

"The tail of death tears the earth, the ultimate fist shakes the heavens, with the might of a conqueror, it brings a deep tremor to all things, descend, Master of Oz!"

With a flash of light, a three-meter-tall green koala appeared on the field. Unlike its lazy and cute counterparts, this koala was all muscle, wearing red boxing gloves and red boots. A vertical scar on its left eye added to its ferocity. Its left arm was raised high, revealing thick armpit hair that exuded male hormones. With a flick of its thick kangaroo tail, a towering column of water shot into the sky.

[Master of Oz (9-star) Land]

[Genealogy: Fighting-type]

[Level: 45]

[Attack Power: 4200 (4200)]

[Defense Strength: 3700 (3700)]

[Beast-Type, Polymerization: "Big Koala" + "Des Kangaroo"]

You Zhi took a look using the cheat code. This Pokémon didn't have any fancy characteristics; it was simply strong, with its base stats approaching those of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

He thought for a moment, then chose to summon the Gem-Knight Quartz. The Elf trait was then triggered, consuming life force to automatically create a Perpetual Polymerization Spell Card.

"I initiate the Scatter Fusion, a union of fleeting brilliance and eternal solidity, unleashing the knight's light on the battlefield! Emerge from the earth Gem-Knight Lady Rose Diamond!"

The long-unsummoned Gem-Knight Rose Diamond makes her appearance wielding a rapier, her entire body radiating a crystalline light. Facing a powerful and oppressive opponent, she shows no fear.

At the same time, Quartz's second characteristic is activated, and when it evolves into its Fusion Form, it restores the life force of its own star level, replenishing the life force it had previously consumed.

A-Si praised, "Good eyesight, but fighting spirit alone is not enough. Numbers are sometimes useless, but sometimes they can become an insurmountable cliff. I'll activate 'Counter Machine Gun Punch'."

[Perpetual Magic: Counter Machine Gun Punch]

[Effect: If the DEF of the attacked defense monster is higher than the ATK of the attacking monster, then that attacking monster is destroyed.]

You Zhi saw the effect but didn't pay attention, ordering Rose Diamond to launch an attack.

With a flick of her wrist, Rose Diamond charged forward, unleashing the Fairy-type Play Rough, her rapier swaying and creating a flurry of sword flowers.

The Master of Oz roared and met the attack with a series of punches. The powerful punches collided with the sword at high speed, and the resulting energy exploded into waves in the pool.

Neither side would yield, with Master of Oz having an absolute advantage in power, but being countered by the Fairy-type in the lineage. The balance of power was even, resulting in a stalemate for the time being.

"Not triggered?"

A-Si glanced at the already launched "Counter Machine Gun Punch" and felt puzzled.

You Zhi kindly explained, "The Rose Diamond's property protects the Gem-Knight on the field from being destroyed by effects."

He didn't say it all; there was actually a limit of once per round.

Therefore, after the initial confrontation, Rose Diamond decisively retreated, creating distance, while circling around her opponent. It seemed as if she had finished probing and was looking for an opening to launch a formal attack, but in reality, she was stalling for cooldown time.

This was A-Si's first encounter with the Gem-Knight Rose Diamond. Not knowing the details, he was inevitably misled, thinking that the Spell Card he had specially prepared had wasted spiritual power. He was a little frustrated for a moment, but since this was not an important competition, he quickly composed himself.

"Gem-Knight's Pokémon are all Rock-type, but she has an additional Fairy-type, so her weaknesses are Water, Grass, Ground, and Steel, which is doubly weak to her... Use Heavy Slam!"

Heavy Slam is one of the few Steel-type moves that Master of Oz possesses, and the heavier the Oz Master, the greater its power.

The green wombat raised its arms and charged towards Rose Diamond with a thunderous roar, creating a straight wall of waves.

"Don't be afraid, go forward!"

While commanding the spirits to attack, You Zhi activated the Spell Card "Miniature Ray".

Under the strange light, the size of the Master of Oz was shrunk to half its original size, the power of its Heavy Slam was suddenly reduced, its defense was temporarily reduced to zero, and its "Counter Machine Gun Punch" lost its effect.

Rose Diamond used Play Rough again, charging head-on with her sword. The two collided without any room for maneuver. The skills with opposing attributes clashed, splashing water everywhere, and both were severely injured and sent flying.

Chapter 191 Targeting Unpopular Cards

Rose Diamond suffered from the double disadvantage of type disadvantage, while Master of Oz suffered from the double blow of type disadvantage and 0 defense, resulting in a draw in this aspect. However, Rose Diamond's Fairy-type gives it a power boost when using moves of the same type, an advantage that Master of Oz lacks, which affected the outcome.

The Rose Diamond, which had been knocked away, had its impact partially absorbed by the water flow. With an elegant spin, it landed steadily. The Master of Oz, on the other hand, tumbled around in the pool several times like a gourd before finally managing to get up with difficulty.

A-Si wasn't too bothered by the loss, and simply shouted encouragement, "Don't be afraid, just show some perseverance!"

The Master of Oz nodded, clapping his fists together, his eyes growing even more ferocious, and charged again.

"Wave-Motion Punch!"

At the same time, A-Si combined his waist and stance, unleashing a standard Sun-Character Punch. A goose-shaped wave immediately rose from the Rose Diamond in front of him and rushed forward, growing larger and larger until it reached more than two meters high, completely obscuring the view.

However, the wave pillar itself was not very powerful. Rose Diamond easily cut it in half with a swing of her sword. But Master of Oz took the opportunity to get close and unleashed a flurry of punches. Rose Diamond had to react hastily and was forced to retreat.

Since A-Si himself had made a move, You Zhi naturally had to retaliate. He kicked forward with his right leg underwater with a swift but small motion, sending a hidden force towards the Master of Oz.

Just like the previous Minotaur Centaur, the Master of Oz, after being hit, bent its legs and was about to lose its balance. However, like a kangaroo, it forcibly supported its body with its tail. Then, its forehead flashed with a metallic luster, and a Steel-type "Iron Head" shot rammed into it, directly breaking through Rose Diamond's defensive stance and knocking it away.

At this point, the effect of the "Miniature Ray" faded, and the size of the Master of Oz gradually increased again, returning to its original size.

The tide of battle seemed to have turned in an instant.

You Zhi pondered, why not simply use the Strength-Weakness Mimicry to simulate the physique of Psychic -type Pokémon, and then give this green-skinned giant tree bear a Psychic?

But wouldn't doing this be a bit too direct?

After careful consideration, he decided to abandon this tempting plan.

Although this world has humans like A-Si who are stronger than ordinary elves, they all use physical forces within the realm of common sense. People with special abilities like Morty only use their powers for divination. If he were to reveal such a skill, it would be unlikely that he would be captured and dissected, but it would be a pipe dream for him to try to keep a low profile.

Ultimately, if it's a life-or-death battle, then exposing one's trump card is fine, but exposing one's trump card in a gym challenge is simply not worth it. Even if Rose Diamond loses, she still has a summoning slot and the Angel of Destruction Lu Yin can reappear.

Having considered his options, You Zhi decided against any unconventional tactics and opted for a safe and steady approach to secure a victory in the duel.

So in the ensuing battle, he let Rose Diamond do as it pleased, fighting fiercely with the Master of Oz, while he was only responsible for preventing A-Si from interfering in the battle—it wasn't that he hadn't considered attacking the Master of Oz, but the other party was thick-skinned and didn't care about ordinary attack methods at all.

Of course, You Zhi didn't forget to use "Spell Removal" to destroy the opponent's Counter Machine Gun Punch.

A-Si immediately realized that the Rose Diamond's characteristic was definitely not "not destroyed by effects" as the other party claimed, otherwise there would be no need to destroy this Spell Card. However, what's done is done, and even if he guessed this, there was nothing he could do.

In the ensuing battle, the two elves unleashed their full potential, employing every trick in the book. The spectacle was even more exciting than before, drawing cheers from the onlookers.

Both Rose Diamond and Master of Oz have their advantages, but the latter is of a higher level and has an advantage in attack and defense stats as well as health, which gradually became apparent after intense battles.

In the final moments, Rose Diamond was exhausted and could no longer withstand the onslaught of the Master of Oz. She was knocked off her stance by a single punch. The Master of Oz showed no mercy, his thick tail gleaming with metallic luster as he unleashed a powerful Iron Tail attack, delivering the final blow.

You Zhi immediately activated the Spirit-Accumulating Spell Card that had been placed on the field. "I activate 'Absorption Shield' to negate one of my opponent's attacks and restore HP equal to the attack power!"

This is an Associated Card with the Divergent Lizard Yihao". When "Divergent Lizard Yihao" is on the field, it can block not only combat damage but also effect damage, which doesn't seem to have much impact on the current situation.

A round shield appeared in front of Rose Diamond, emitting a light screen that enveloped Rose Diamond, awaiting her opponent's attack.

With Master of Oz's terrifying attack power of over 4,000, it would be enough to restore Rose Diamond to its peak in one strike, A-Si naturally couldn't agree to it.

"Don't even think about it! I activate 'Royal Decree,' negating all Spirit-Accumulating Spell Card on the field except for this one!"

With a thunderous roar, a majestic royal palace wall appeared on the field, emanating an invisible restrictive force. The Absorption Shield dissipated on its own under the influence of this force.

There are such powerful restriction Spell Card!

You Zhi was taken aback. He glanced at another Spell Card face down on the field, "Bright Flame." He had originally planned to use this Spirit-Accumulating Spell Card to force Master of Oz down if Rose Diamond lost, but now he was blocked.

In Card Duel, there might be a chain reaction of activations or a situation where the second player gets the first turn. But there's no such rule in Spirit Duel. Whoever activates their card first gets the effect first. If they activate at the same time, the Spell Card, and the player with the higher level has priority.

However, this incident inevitably affected Master of Oz, causing him to hesitate in his attack, giving Rose Diamond a chance to catch her breath. She immediately rolled to the side, dodging the opponent's Iron Tail and barely managing to save her life.

However, the unfavorable situation did not change. Rose Diamond kept her distance, dodging left and right, and dared not make contact with her opponent, which only seemed to slightly delay the outcome of her defeat.

"The only way to disrupt the 'Royal Decree' is with Instant-Activation Spell Card, but I haven't obtained the universal Spell Card 'Mystical Space Typhoon' yet, so I don't have one on hand... Wait a minute, it seems like there's a card that could come in handy!"

You Zhi quickly reviewed the Spell Card he knew.

For professional trainers with massive inventories, recalling all their Spell Card is no easy task, let alone doing so during battle. Otherwise, by the time they finish recalling them, it will be too late.

Ke You Zhi had less than fifty Spell Card by now, and after excluding the ones he usually used, less than half remained. He locked onto his target in an instant and immediately began to refine it.

He wasn't worried that Rose Diamond wouldn't last, because it was an E-grade card of unknown significance, consuming very little spirit energy, and it was activated in less than ten seconds without any hesitation.

"I activate 'Double Trap' to destroy 1 card with the effect of 'negating the effects of Spirit-Accumulating Spell Card '!"

Because it sounded a bit convoluted, it took A-Si a while to realize what it meant. "What the heck! Is it targeted like this? No... why would you have this kind of card?!"

Chapter 192 The Sixth Badge

Actually, what A-Si should really complain about isn't "why you have this kind of card," but rather "why you even thought of using this kind of card."

Because if he checked his card collection, he would find that he also had this card, but he hadn't used it once in over twenty years since he obtained it through random summoning, and had long forgotten about it.

This is not surprising. Trainers generally do not use more than twenty Spell Card in a duel, and they do not use more than eighty cards. Other cards require a lot of memory.

Cards like "Double Trap," which have severe limitations and very mediocre effects, are so memorable that you can recall them instantly like a conditioned reflex. Otherwise, when you see them, you'll only wonder if such a card even exists.

If A-Si were in You Zhi's situation, and his opponent used "Royal Decree," his first thought would still be to use the general-purpose card "Mystical Space Typhoon" to counter it. Although "Mystical Space Typhoon" is a C-rank card and requires more spiritual power and time to craft, it might be more efficient.

Real-world battles are not like playing Yugi. There's no extra time for you to think things through. Even if you give a trainer a card search engine, by the time they finish typing, they may have already missed the activation opportunity. Therefore, all things considered, commonly used cards that don't require much thought are more reliable.

But no matter how shocked A-Si was, You Zhi managed to break the "Royal Decree" before Rose Diamond was driven into a corner.

Without needing verbal instructions, the tactically astute Rose Diamond understood immediately and launched an attack, unleashing her last strength to deliver a dignified blow to the Master of Oz.

Just as Rose Diamond's spiritual power was exhausted and her form dissipated, You Zhi activated the "Bright Spark" that he had been preparing for a long time.

A huge diamond appeared on the field, then shattered, and a phantom of Rose Diamond flew out, radiating the brilliance of gemstones, and swiftly thrusting a rapier at its opponent.

Bright Spark is not an effect destruction; it deals true damage equal to the base Attack stat of the destroyed Gem-Knight, thus ignoring the target's Defense. Rose Diamond's base Attack stat is 2700!

This attack was completely unstoppable; the Master of Oz could only take it head-on, letting out a painful roar as he was pierced by the phantom.

A-Si hurriedly said, "I will activate 'Dean Kate, the God of Healing' to restore the life force of the Master of Oz."

A kind-looking middle-aged woman holding Ankh Cross appeared on the scene and showered the Master of Oz with the light of life to counteract the harm she had suffered.

Among pure healing Spell Card with no cost, "God of Healing" has the highest fixed healing value—1000 points.

A-Si prepared this card so that the Master of Oz could last longer. However, the Master of Oz was also seriously injured in the previous battle. Facing 1700 true damage, he couldn't hold on and exploded on the spot, turning into particles of spiritual energy that spread out.

The martial arts student acting as referee hesitated for a moment before announcing, "The final score is 4:2. You Zhi wins."

Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. A-Si quickly composed himself, handed the badge to You Zhi, and said with a hint of regret, "I can tell you were holding back. It's a pity you weren't challenging for the eighth badge, otherwise you could have given it your all."

Having eight badges qualifies you to participate in various Pokémon competitions. Although there is no explicit rule or identity registration, people will recognize you as a professional trainer.

In theory, Gym Leaders can go all out against Trainers who are challenging for the eighth Badge without holding back—although in most cases Gym Leaders will still hold back, since their average skill level is higher than that of professional Trainers.

The other party clearly intended to be friendly, You Zhi naturally didn't show any displeasure and politely replied, "In that case, perhaps I should be glad that I challenged the Azure Gym ahead of time."

A-Si took it seriously and pondered, "That's not necessarily true. Which two dojo badges are you still missing?"

"Uh, only Mahogany and Blackthorn are left."

"Then I suggest you challenge Blackthorn first. Although Pryce of the Mahogany Gym is very strong, and may even be the strongest among us, he likes to mentor the younger generation and rarely makes things difficult for people. Choosing him as the final guardian will give you a better chance of success. The head of the Blackthorn Dojo is not so easy to talk to. Of course, if you want to challenge yourself and break through your limits, you can put the Blackthorn Gym last."

Thank you for your suggestion; I will consider it carefully.

"You're welcome. You're also welcome to come to the dojo during your break to exchange martial arts insights. We often hold internal sparring competitions here."

"Yes, I will definitely visit when I have time. I hope you won't find it troublesome."

This wasn't just a polite remark. You Zhi had inquired and found that most of the famous professional trainers in Cianwood City were based at the gym.

A-Si advocates that trainers should train with their Pokémon. Although the requirements are strict and few people accept them, as long as they can meet his requirements, they can basically become successful. It is said that half of his disciples who graduate become professional trainers.