Chapter 67: Psychic Terrain
Arthur's sailboat was already equipped with an electric motor, and they had a Magneton on board specifically to charge electronic devices like cameras, so power was not an issue.
After determining the source of the dragon cries, they immediately furled the sails, stopped following the wind, switched to motor power, and headed directly towards that area with clear direction.
Normally, the production team members would definitely not allow the host to act so recklessly, but now they didn't care anymore.
The young man at the bow had already performed too many actions that were incomprehensible yet deeply impactful; this next one hardly seemed out of place.
However, along the way, they still asked quietly, "What is that sound? Is it Gyarados?"
Arthur felt this question wasn't something that couldn't be broadcast, so he answered without avoiding the camera.
"It doesn't sound like it. Gyarados's cry is much rougher than this and lacks this level of penetration. I think it sounds more like Dratini or Dragonair."
Numerous doubting voices surged in the live stream's bullet comments at this moment.
"For real?"
"Host, don't talk as if you've seen all these Pokémon before."
In reality, Arthur had indeed seen them all, and quite often.
Fortunately, Justin didn't need to intervene from the backend; these comments were quickly buried under denunciations and other chat messages.
Many viewers who had watched the previous two days' streams had learned by now to hold their tongues first.
Because this host was truly somewhat unbelievable, the success rate of doubting him was rather low.
Before long, the boat smoothly approached the area where the sound originated.
But just then, Arthur suddenly spoke up, loudly calling for the boat to stop.
"Captain, stop the boat now!!"
Their boat began to slow down according to his words.
But everyone was puzzled: "What's wrong? What happened?"
At this moment, the others hadn't noticed anything amiss on the sea.
However, Arthur's expression had inexplicably turned exceptionally serious.
He tossed a small seashell to his Froakie and solemnly instructed, "Use Fling once, change your type to Dark, then go scout ahead. Be careful. Come back before your type is about to change back."
Seeing the screen full of question marks in the live stream, Justin quickly added a voiceover explaining the effect of Froakie's Protean ability.
This was about all he, as an assistant, could do. Honestly, he also didn't know what Arthur was suddenly up to.
Froakie casually tossed the shell, using the "Fling" move to briefly change its own type, then leaped from the bow towards the sea ahead.
After a short while, Froakie swam back to the boat, shook its head, wiped its face, having found no reportable abnormalities.
Yet Arthur remained solemn, his expression grave as he looked ahead, still showing no intention of letting the boat start moving again.
"What exactly happened?"
Justin asked, holding up a board.
His Pidgeotto, flying overhead, had also detected nothing unusual.
However, Arthur kept his brow tightly furrowed.
At this point, the doubts and impatient voices in the bullet comments that had just been suppressed began to rise again.
"What's he doing? Is this just awkward acting?"
"Forcing drama when nothing's happening?"
After more than ten seconds, Arthur finally spoke, "A Pokémon must have set up 'Psychic Terrain' here earlier. There are still lingering traces around, but it's uncertain if the Pokémon that used the move has left."
"Psychic Terrain" is a large-area field-setting move of the Psychic type. Its basic effects include boosting the power of Psychic-type moves within the area and significantly enhancing the user's sensory perception and reaction speed within the terrain.
Furthermore, Pokémon deeply proficient in this move can add various derivative effects within the area. These effects often carry distinct individual characteristics, making them difficult to guard against.
Psychic-type moves have always been known for their bizarre and unpredictable nature.
This was precisely why Arthur had insisted earlier that Froakie change its type to Dark before scouting ahead.
One must maintain caution when facing the unknown.
Dark-type Pokémon are largely immune to Psychic-type attacks, which could ensure Froakie's safety to the greatest extent.
But perhaps it was precisely because of this that Froakie's scouting just now triggered no anomalies.
For a moment, the doubting voices in the bullet comments grew even louder.
"Acting like it's real."
"This is so cringe my toes are curling."
"It must be hard for the host, acting against thin air. Must be tiring."
The people on the boat didn't know how to help smooth things over either.
Because, frankly speaking, they also couldn't see any traces of residual Psychic-type skills on this calm sea surface ahead.
Moreover, "Psychic Terrain" is a skill with a considerably high learning difficulty. It's rarely known among wild Pokémon, let alone here at sea, which isn't an environment frequented by Psychic-type Pokémon.
Could this really be just for show effects?
Should we perhaps play along?
Just as the production team members on the boat were thinking this, Arthur suddenly pinpointed a location.
"Right there, the direction I'm pointing. Pidgeotto, take Froakie over there. When you get there, jump down and use Dark Pulse."
Justin, however, didn't think too much. He chose to trust Arthur unconditionally and immediately commanded Pidgeotto to dive down and pick up Froakie.
Once over the designated area, Arthur used his mental link to signal Froakie to let go and jump.
As it neared the sea surface, Froakie unleashed the prepared "Dark Pulse."
Initially, the production team members were still marveling at how many skills this Froakie knew, even the rather advanced "Dark Pulse."
But when the dark ripples swept across the sea surface, just one second later, everyone—whether the uncles on the boat or the viewers watching outside the screen—stared with wide eyes in astonishment.
Wherever the ripples passed, the space distorted, and crimson halos continuously flickered, shattered, and dissipated. Ultimately, the entire camouflaged image was torn apart.
Leveraging the Dark type's advantage over the Psychic type, Froakie used "Dark Pulse" to clear the remnants of the "Psychic Terrain" in that area.
The camouflaging illusion was finally broken!
Then, the source of the earlier dragon cries was finally revealed truthfully before everyone's eyes, and was also captured by the camera lens.
At that moment, the bullet comments in the live stream were instantly plastered with a sea of exclamation marks, immediately followed by large waves of "WTF" and "Censor!"
The reason many people typed "Censor" was that the scene in the sea ahead, after the illusion was broken, was quite graphic, perhaps even becoming somewhat inappropriate for the all-ages rating this show operated under.
The visual illusion created by psychic powers had concealed the true bloody scene at this location.
The sea area where Froakie had landed was actually already filled with deep red.
An injured Dragonair lay weakly on the sea surface, calling out feebly, surrounded by fragmented pieces of flesh, drifting blood, and floating fish carcasses...
The unknown user of the "Psychic Terrain" had added a visual distortion characteristic effect to this skill, and the purpose, it seemed, was precisely to cover up the bloody incident that had occurred here.
At that moment, the minds of everyone on the boat were buzzing.
They immediately realized that something major must have happened here.
But then, just at this moment—
From high up in the distant sky came even louder, clearer dragon cries, and the sound was rapidly approaching!
It didn't take much brainpower to guess: the ruling power of this reserve area, Dragonite, had arrived!
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