Roy and the other two walked into the large manor house.
The courtyard was very quiet.
A small path paved with bluestone slabs wound forward, with various shrubs, flowers, and plants planted on both sides.
Sunlight spilled down through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground.
Roy walked in front, his steps very steady.
Delia followed behind him, and Misty walked at the very back, clutching the corner of Roy's clothes.
The three of them maintained a close distance.
They crossed the courtyard and arrived in front of the main entrance.
Roy suddenly stopped.
His Aura clearly perceived something above the door.
A bucket.
A bucket full of water was placed right on top of the door frame.
It was suspended by a thin string.
As soon as the door was pushed, the bucket would tip over.
And then...
A bucket of water would drench someone from head to toe.
The corners of Roy's mouth curled up slightly.
This kind of little trick...
"Sister Delia, Misty," Roy said in a low voice, "stand to the side."
"Huh?" Misty blanked for a moment.
"Don't ask, just do it."
Delia obediently walked to one side of the door.
Although Misty didn't understand why, she followed along anyway.
Once the two of them were in position, Roy raised his hand.
Psychic power activated.
An invisible force wrapped around the doorknob.
The door was slowly pushed open.
Sure enough.
Just as the door opened a crack, the bucket on the door frame lost its balance.
An entire bucket of water poured down.
It splashed right onto the ground in front of Roy.
Water splashed everywhere.
But not a single drop of water touched Roy's body.
Because he wasn't standing at the doorway at all.
He used Psychic power to open the door.
Misty's eyes widened.
"This... what is this?"
She looked at the large puddle of water on the ground, then looked up at the door frame.
"Someone put a bucket of water up there?"
"Mm," Roy nodded.
"No way..." Misty looked speechless, "Is this Gym really that bored?"
"Instead of doing serious business, they're dedicated to this kind of pranking?"
Roy smiled.
"This is the style of a Ninja Gym."
"It tests a Trainer's alertness."
Misty rolled her eyes.
"This is just too ridiculous..."
Roy added another sentence.
"The Gym isn't bored."
"It's a certain someone who's bored."
Misty didn't understand and looked at Roy with her head tilted.
Roy didn't explain either and stepped inside the door.
Delia followed, and Misty quickly kept up as well.
Inside the main entrance was a long corridor.
The walls on both sides of the corridor were wooden, and the floor was covered with dark wooden planks.
Overhead were beams from which a few paper lanterns hung, emitting a dim yellow light.
The light was somewhat dark.
The atmosphere was created quite convincingly.
"Pika pika~"
Pikachu was on Roy's shoulder, its little paws clutching his clothes, its red cheeks flashing with electricity from time to time.
Eevee also poked its head out from Delia's arms, its ears perked up high, alertly looking around.
Delia simply held Eevee tighter.
Eevee's fluffy body was pressed against her chest, soft and warm.
Roy walked at the very front, his Aura fully active.
The structure of the entire corridor was within his perception.
Every wooden plank, every gap, every place where a trap might be hidden...
Soon, Roy discovered a problem.
The third wooden plank ahead...
It was empty underneath.
Aura clearly perceived that there was a hollow space under that plank.
Inside the hollow space...
There was a round thing.
Carrying a weak electrical current.
Voltorb.
Roy knew what was going on.
He slowed his pace and walked up to that wooden plank.
And then...
He naturally stepped over it.
With one step, he landed steadily on the solid floor ahead.
Delia followed closely and also stepped over it, imitating Roy.
Although Misty didn't understand, she trusted Roy and followed suit.
Just as the three of them passed that wooden plank.
A soft sound suddenly came from behind.
That wooden plank flipped open automatically.
Revealing the hollow space beneath.
A Voltorb lay inside, its red and white body particularly conspicuous in the dim light.
Its eyes were tightly closed as if it were sleeping.
But as long as someone stepped on the plank, it would wake up immediately.
And then... boom, it would explode.
It wouldn't cause much damage, but it was enough to make someone jump in fright.
Misty looked back and took a sharp breath.
"This... there's a Voltorb hidden under here?"
Her voice changed pitch.
"Mm," Roy continued walking without looking back.
"If someone steps on it, will it explode?"
"Mm."
"...These people are too devious!"
Misty couldn't help but complain.
"This is a Ninja Gym," Roy emphasized again, "Ninjas, you know, value the element of surprise."
"Surprise shouldn't be handled like this..."
Misty muttered.
The three of them continued forward.
The end of the corridor was a corner.
As soon as Roy turned the corner, his Aura perceived movement ahead.
A water ball flew over from the end of the corridor.
It was very fast.
Roy sidestepped.
The water ball flew past his clothes.
It smashed against the wall behind.
Water splashed everywhere.
After walking another dozen steps.
Roy suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Misty asked.
"There's a trap ahead."
Roy looked at the ground a few meters in front of him.
The wooden planks looked no different from anywhere else.
But Aura told him that there was a mechanism under that plank.
It was connected to a rope.
The rope was connected to...
Roy looked up, following his Aura perception.
On the corridor beam, a huge wooden hammer was hanging.
As soon as that plank was stepped on, the mechanism would trigger.
The wooden hammer would swing down from above.
Smashing someone until they were dizzy and disoriented.
Roy shook his head.
Aya, this woman...
She really has a lot of tricks.
He leaped lightly, clearing the wooden plank.
He landed steadily.
Delia also wanted to follow the jump, but she was holding Eevee, and her movements were a bit clumsy.
When she jumped, her foot accidentally touched the edge of the plank.
The mechanism was triggered.
Roy was quick-eyed and fast-handed, grabbing Delia by the waist.
He pulled her entire body into his arms.
At the same time.
The sound of rushing air came from overhead.
The giant wooden hammer swung down from the beam.
It swept right through the position where Delia had just been standing.
If Roy hadn't pulled her...
Delia would definitely have been hit.
"That was close..." Delia's voice trembled slightly.
She leaned against Roy's chest, her body shaking slightly.
Eevee was also startled, crying out "Bui bui."
With Roy's Aura, the traps that followed were as if they didn't exist.
The path was clear and unobstructed.
Misty grew more and more surprised as she watched.
"Roy, have you also studied ninjutsu traps?"
"How can you know where the traps are in advance every time?"
"This is just too amazing..."
Roy didn't look back, his tone very casual.
"Child's play."
"To me, these things are as plain as day."
Just then.
"Quack quack quack!"
Psyduck's voice came from up ahead.
Misty's eyes lit up, and she ran over excitedly.
"Psyduck!"
She rushed over and scooped up Psyduck.
"You silly duck! Why are you running around!"
Psyduck tilted its head.
"Quack?"
It had absolutely no idea what it had done wrong.
Misty held Psyduck and turned around, wanting to head back.
But as she turned, her body touched a nearby wooden plank.
A series of sounds from mechanisms starting up.
Misty's face changed color.
"Oh no..."
Before she could finish her sentence.
The plank beside her suddenly flipped, and Misty was squeezed into another room.
A moment later, Misty's scream came from inside the room.
Roy's reaction was extremely fast.
Almost the instant Misty disappeared, he made a judgment, flicked his wrist, and directly grabbed Delia's hand.
Before Delia could even react to what was happening, she was pulled along by Roy as he rushed forward.
Eevee gave a "Bui" cry in her arms, its fluffy tail puffing into a ball from nervousness.
The two of them rushed to the flipping wooden plank.
Roy didn't hesitate for a second.
He pulled Delia and crashed right into it.
The plank flipped again.
The three of them disappeared from the corridor.
...
Dim, tilted, weightless.
Delia felt her body sliding downward.
She subconsciously hugged Eevee in her arms tightly.
Eevee's four little paws kicked wildly in the air, its fluffy tail brushing against Delia's chin.
Delia couldn't help but want to scream.
But before the sound could fully escape, she felt an arm wrap around her waist.
Roy adjusted his posture in mid-air, securing Delia in his arms.
The two of them slid down the tilted floor together.
The sliding process lasted about three or four seconds.
It wasn't long.
But it was enough to make one's heart race.
Delia was pressed against Roy's body, and she could clearly feel the warmth of his chest.
And his steady heartbeat.
This man...
He wasn't flustered at all.
It was as if he had known this would happen all along.
The sliding speed gradually slowed down.
The two of them stopped at the bottom of the tilted room.
The light was very dim.
But the general outline of the surroundings could be seen.
This was a completely tilted room.
The floor was slanted, the walls were slanted, and the ceiling was slanted too.
The entire space was like a twisted box.
Standing inside would give a person a strong sense of visual disorientation.
It felt like you were crooked.
The world was crooked too.
"Sister Delia, are you okay?"
Roy's voice rang in her ear.
"I... I'm fine."
Delia's face turned slightly red; she realized she was still pressed tightly against Roy, feeling very secure.
"Be careful, this room is slanted."
"Mm..."
Delia grabbed Roy's arm and steadied herself.
Eevee jumped down from her arms, its four little paws trying hard to maintain balance on the tilted floor.
The little fellow tilted its head, its ears twitching, its face full of Confusion.
Clearly, it had never seen such a strange room.
Only then did Delia notice Misty.
Misty was not far from them.
But her state was very strange.
She was just standing there stunned.
Staring blankly upward.
Looking at the ceiling.
Motionless.
As if she had been frozen in place.
Delia followed Misty's gaze and looked up.
Then she was stunned too.
Above the tilted room, at a height of about three or four meters.
A Voltorb was suspended.
A red and white body.
Perfectly round.
Just floating there in the air.
Motionless.
The Voltorb's eyes were tightly closed as if it were sleeping.
But a weak electrical arc occasionally flashed across its body surface.
And below the Voltorb.
Was Psyduck.
It was holding out a paw, its eyes glowing slightly blue.
Confusion.
Psyduck was using Confusion.
That Voltorb was being controlled by its Confusion, suspended in mid-air.
Misty was completely dumbfounded.
When she slid down just now, she looked up and saw that groove.
And the Voltorb in the groove.
The Voltorb had already been activated.
Electrical arcs were flickering on its surface.
It was about to roll down.
If it rolled down...
In this narrow, tilted room.
There would be nowhere to hide.
The electrical current from the Voltorb's explosion would fill the entire space.
But at the very instant the Voltorb was about to roll down.
Psyduck made its move.
It raised its paw.
Blue light emanated from its eyes.
And then that Voltorb was wrapped in Confusion.
Stopping in mid-air.
Then Psyduck's paw flicked upward.
The movement was incredibly casual.
Just like shooing away a fly.
The Voltorb was flung out by the Confusion.
It smashed through the wooden planks at the top of the tilted room.
Flying outside.
Sunlight shone in through that hole, casting a beam of light in the tilted room.
Dust motes drifted slowly in the beam of light.
Misty finally reacted.
She suddenly turned her head to look at Psyduck.
Excitement flashed in her eyes.
"Psyduck!!!"
Misty rushed over and grabbed Psyduck in a hug.
Holding it tightly.
Psyduck gave a "Quack" as she squeezed it.
It tilted its head.
A face full of bewilderment.
Completely unaware of what had happened.
"Was that you just now? Was it you?"
Misty grabbed Psyduck and shook it vigorously.
Psyduck's head bobbed back and forth as she shook it.
"Quack quack quack..."
"Ah!! You're so amazing!!"
Misty was so excited her face turned red.
"You really are a legendary Pokemon! I knew it! I knew you definitely weren't simple!"
"All those silly looks you usually have are just an act, right!"
"Actually, you're super strong, aren't you!"
Psyduck was shaken until its eyes started spinning in circles.
"Quack..."
It gave a weak cry.
Its gaze was extremely confused.
It had absolutely no idea why its Trainer was so excited.
Misty held Psyduck and jumped up and down.
The tilted floor almost made her fall when she jumped.
But she didn't care at all.
Her mind was now full of 'my Psyduck is so amazing!'
Delia couldn't help but laugh as she watched this scene.
Eevee also cried out "Bui bui," its fluffy tail wagging back and forth.
Roy stood to one side, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.
Misty was excited for quite a while before she calmed down.
She held Psyduck, her eyes full of pride.
"Psyduck, you should use Confusion more often in the future!"
"You're so powerful, don't always just daze around like a fool!"
Psyduck tilted its head.
"Quack?"
It didn't understand at all.
Misty sighed.
Forget it.
Let's take it slowly.
Anyway, she already knew Psyduck's potential.
There would be plenty of time to develop it in the future.
...
While Misty was cheering, Roy turned his head and looked at a wooden wall of the tilted room.
His gaze was calm, but there was a hint of playfulness deep in his eyes.
Delia noticed the change in his expression.
"Roy? What's wrong?"
Roy smiled: "It's nothing."
"Wait for me here for a moment."
"I'm going to go educate a little troublemaker."
Misty looked up.
"Educate? Educate who?"
Roy didn't answer; he stepped toward that wooden wall.
His pace was very steady, and he walked on the tilted floor without being affected at all.
He stopped in front of the wooden wall.
Aura clearly told him.
On the other side of the wooden wall was a spacious main hall.
And in the main hall... there was a person, a woman.
She was observing all the traps in the manor house through a special prism device.
The corners of Roy's mouth curled up slightly, and a faint blue light flashed across the surface of his body.
In the next instant.
Roy's entire person passed through the wooden wall.
Just like passing through a curtain of water.
A ripple spread across the surface of the wooden wall.
Then it returned to its original state.