"A Slowking?!"
"Then my Pokémon will be this one."
At that moment, Christian took out a Poké Ball.
With a flash of white light, a Golduck appeared on the field.
Slowking vs Golduck!
These two Pokémon are experts in both the Water type and the Psychic type.
For Christian to send out Golduck to face Slowking could be said to be a direct confrontation without concessions.
"According to the information, this Christian is an expert in Flying-type and Water-type Pokémon, right?" Ethan smiled slightly. "This matchup is quite interesting."
"Then go ahead, use Confusion!"
Ethan immediately gave the order, and a blue flash could be seen in Slowking's eyes.
"We'll use Confusion too!"
Christian's expression was extremely confident.
Immediately afterward, both Pokémon used the move Confusion at the same time, and the two forces began to clash against each other.
But the very next moment, Christian's eyes widened in shock: at the moment of impact, Golduck's Confusion was overwhelmingly defeated.
Wrapped by psychic power, Golduck was completely immobilized in place, unable to move, its duck face visibly flushed red.
"Golduck, break it!"
Upon hearing his trainer's command, Golduck's eyes began to shine intensely.
Boom!
But before it could break free with force, its waist arched violently.
It looked as if its abdomen had received a devastating blow, causing its eyes to widen.
Boom!
The next instant, before the audience could react, Golduck's face jerked sharply to the left.
As if its right cheek had been struck hard by a punch!
"What exactly is going on?"
"From the looks of it, it should be a Psychic-type attack from Slowking, right?"
"But what's wrong with Golduck? Why isn't it dodging?"
The spectators watched Golduck taking attacks without resistance, filled with confusion.
"No... that's not it."
"It's not that Golduck isn't dodging, it's that it's being controlled!"
Suddenly, a spectator shouted in alarm. On the screen of his laptop, it could clearly be seen that Golduck's entire body was completely wrapped in psychic energy.
"Here it comes again, it's another psychic attack!"
That same spectator shouted again when he saw, on his screen, a purple flash appear and disappear in an instant, signaling the arrival of another Psychic-type attack.
Boom!
At the same time, Golduck's jaw received another devastating blow, making its head snap violently backward.
However, the psychic energy surrounding it still held it firmly. Just as its body began to rise, it was forced to remain suspended in midair.
"Finish this, use Psyshock!"
Ethan gave a new order.
It could be seen that both Slowking and the Shellder on its head simultaneously concentrated psychic energy.
Then, before the incredulous gaze of all the spectators, an invisible shockwave suddenly burst out, making even the surrounding space tremble.
The next instant, Golduck's body was struck directly in the abdomen by that wave, sending it flying and crashing violently against the protective barrier.
"D-did... the battle just end?"
The spectators were completely stunned.
That was Christian, one of the eight strongest rookies from four years ago!
Since then, those eight had been considered direct candidates to represent this generation at the world championship.
It could be said that Christian was a guaranteed seeded contender!
But what had they just witnessed?
Christian's main Pokémon, Golduck, had been completely unable to resist Ethan's Slowking!
This left many spectators utterly confused.
So... was Ethan too strong, or was Christian too weak?
"I can't believe the result turned out like this."
"Speaking of which, that Slowking's psychic power is terrifying!"
"It used Confusion to control the opponent and attacked at the same time! How is something like that possible?"
Experts see the essence while laymen only watch the spectacle. At that moment, the expressions of the more powerful trainers were far more solemn than those of the ordinary audience.
The power of psychic abilities depended entirely on the user's mental strength and awareness.
Because of this, in psychic combat, doing two things at once was an absolute taboo: dividing attention caused a loss of focus, drastically reducing the power of the attack.
But this Slowking not only completely controlled Golduck, it also launched Psyshock at the same time!
And the most terrifying thing was that, despite splitting its attention, the power of its psychic ability did not decrease at all!
Combining both factors, this Slowking's use of psychic abilities was already bordering on the unnatural.
"How is that possible?"
Not only the audience—even Christian looked as if he had seen a ghost. His expression became extremely unpleasant.
Just a moment earlier, he had still been acting arrogantly like a veteran, expressing false pity. The next moment, his Pokémon had been defeated in an instant.
The slap had been fast and brutal!
Now, the looks from the people around him made him feel even more uncomfortable, his face completely flushed.
"Good job. But what comes next is the truly important part."
Christian suppressed the fury boiling inside him and spoke in a deep voice.
He had already said those words; now he could only regain his honor in the following battles.
"You're next. Come out, Honchkrow!"
The Poké Ball opened, and Honchkrow appeared—a Dark and Flying dual-type Pokémon.
It was obvious that after witnessing Slowking's terrifying psychic power, he had decided to use a Dark-type Pokémon to counter it.
At that moment, facing Ethan's Slowking, Christian had already begun to gradually abandon his previous contempt.
Moreover, this battle determined qualification for the world championship; after already losing one Pokémon, he didn't dare to be careless.
"Honchkrow?" Ethan smiled slightly when he saw the figure flying in the air.
Suddenly, he remembered the Honchkrow of that man dressed in black, whose level had reached Quasi-Elite.
After that incident, Honchkrow, Bisharp, and Hydreigon—the three Quasi-Elite-level Pokémon—had been successfully confiscated by Ethan.
Later, he handed them over to the Pokémon Researchers' Guild, obtaining a large number of resources, which allowed his Pokémon to improve significantly during those two weeks.
"If I've even fought against a Quasi-Elite-level Honchkrow... then this professional-level Honchkrow is nothing to fear!"
With his gaze fixed, Ethan directly ordered Slowking to use Hydro Pump.
"Honchkrow, dodge!"
With a gust of wind rising, Honchkrow used Tailwind.
With the speed boost from Tailwind, its speed was pushed to the limit.
"Now, Feather Dance!"
After dodging Hydro Pump, Honchkrow began performing a dance, causing the feathers on its body to rapidly detach, carried away by the surrounding gale.
"That's it, Night Slash!"
Accompanying the use of Feather Dance, Honchkrow suddenly flapped its wings.
The black feathers were covered with a massive amount of Dark-type energy and shot down from the sky like a rain of black feathers!
Boom, boom, boom!
But just as that rain of feathers was about to engulf Slowking, a barrier suddenly appeared in front of it.
Amid flashes of psychic energy, it completely blocked all the attacks.
"It's the move Barrier!"
"What incredible thickness! Even an attack of that level couldn't break it!"
Seeing the barrier act like an umbrella that stopped the entire rain, the spectators were astonished.
"It seems frontal attacks don't work. In that case... let's use the Wind Domain!"
Christian frowned slightly when he saw the scene.
"I also have the feeling that attacking head-on won't work," Ethan laughed, following his words.
At that instant, Slowking's figure suddenly disappeared.
And when it reappeared, it was already behind Honchkrow.
Moreover, it could clearly be seen that Slowking was holding in its hand a sphere formed by the move Water Pulse.
At the very instant it teleported behind Honchkrow, Water Pulse was pressed directly against its body!
Boom!
A roar shook the air.
The power of Water Pulse exploded completely in midair!
Like a kite with its string cut, Honchkrow fell straight from the sky.
Boom!
With another crash, its body slammed into the ground.
Just as Honchkrow struggled to raise its head, the water from the exploded Water Pulse fell like a waterfall from the air, crushing it against the ground and preventing it from moving.
"How is that possible?!"
"The connection between Teleport and Water Pulse didn't have even the slightest interval!"
"How did he do it?! Even using two minds at once it wouldn't be possible to attack at the exact instant of teleportation!"
Seeing this, the spectators were once again left speechless.
Is this Slowking cheating or what?!
"Quasi-Elite level?"
At that moment, the other seven people at the back of the stands fixed their gaze on Slowking.
That level of pressure... they had only felt it before from Quasi-Elite-level Pokémon.
As they spoke, all their gazes turned toward Adrian Vane, who was at the front.
Among them, only Adrian possessed a Quasi-Elite-level Pokémon, so he had the most authority to give an opinion.
"No, it isn't. This Slowking is very strong, but its offensive power still hasn't reached the Quasi-Elite level."
"The main reason for its strength is that attack rhythm—perfectly chained together, without any gaps."
"To give an example, right now this Slowking is like two Pokémon fighting together. It's much stronger than an ordinary professional-level Pokémon, but it's still quite a distance away from reaching the Quasi-Elite level."
Adrian thought for a moment, compared it with the power of his own Quasi-Elite-level Pokémon, and then gently shook his head.
(End of Chapter)