"What?"
The crowd was shocked. Was he really going this far? To used Curse right from the very start.
Below the stage, Tetsu patted Sato's shoulder and asked, "Hey, is this how people battle now? Using a Curse move the moment they come out?"
"Using Curse right away isn't against the rules," Sato replied while watching the match. "In fact, I think it's an excellent idea."
"For the next period of time, Scizor will be under the influence of the Curse. If it doesn't defeat Slowking in a short amount of time, Scizor will definitely be the one to lose. This is a brilliant move."
"Is it already this dangerous right at the beginning?" Tetsu asked, sounding worried.
Eichi's expression shifted as he saw Slowking's eyes become shrouded in a grayish-black light. Consequently, the charging Scizor suddenly stiffened and came to a halt right in front of Slowking.
An extremely uncomfortable, soul-piercing pain surged through it. However, the agony lasted only two seconds before things returned to normal. Although the piercing pain vanished, it felt as if something had been forced into its body, making it extremely uncomfortable. Most importantly, it felt a sudden, significant drain on its physical stamina.
Conversely, after using Curse, Slowking's blank face was covered in sweat. It panted slightly, appearing quite exhausted.
Despite this, Scizor resumed its charge without any drop in speed. It appeared before Slowking in an instant, its massive red claw swinging fiercely to leave a red afterimage as it struck Slowking.
Bang!
The speed was too great; Slowking had no time to react before being sent flying.
Bang!
Slowking's entire body crashed into a massive rock behind it. The rock shattered into fragments, some of which pelted the Pokémon's body. Slowly, Slowking crawled up from the ground and stared at Scizor.
"Slowking, use Trick Room."
"Ya-don!"
Just as Scizor prepared to move in for another attack, Slowking's eyes glowed with a blue-silver light. Scizor's vision blurred, and when it looked again, it found itself inside a bizarre dimension. The space was filled with alternating blue and white patterns, containing only itself and Slowking. It felt its body grow heavy, and its speed slowed down instantly.
"Scizor, Agility!"
"Ha-sha!"
Scizor's eyes flashed with red light as it attempted to boost its speed, but a sudden, soul-piercing pain surged through its body again. Its movements faltered as another quarter of its stamina was drained before the pain subsided.
How is it happening so fast? Eichi frowned.
The move Curse functioned differently here than in the games. In the games, it drains a quarter of the user's health every turn. In reality, there is no concept of "turns"; typically, it drains a quarter of the stamina every minute and a half. This ninety-second interval applies to Pokémon that have just learned the move. If a Pokémon reaches a high level of mastery over the move, the time interval shortens.
Only about thirty seconds had passed since the start. It seemed Asen's Slowking had reached a very high level of mastery over Curse.
Once the pain stopped, Scizor continued its charge toward Slowking.
"Scizor, Double Team!"
"Ha-sha!"
While sprinting forward, Scizor split from one into two, then two into four, eventually creating countless clones that surrounded Slowking.
"Scizor, Cross Slash!"
Eichi didn't intend to drag this out any longer. He planned to defeat Slowking in a single blow, ordering Scizor to use its finishing move. The numerous identical Scizor clones surrounded Slowking without attacking; instead, they stood in place, eyes closed, as energy began to gather throughout their bodies.
Asen frowned as he watched the motionless Scizor clones. He knew Scizor was charging a powerful move and realized he had to stop it. Otherwise, he would certainly lose.
"Slowking, Water Pulse! Knock them all out!"
"Ya-don!"
Slowking maintained its vacant expression as it gathered energy in its mouth and fired. A massive pillar of water shot straight toward the Scizor directly in front of it. Under the impact, the Scizor clone vanished instantly. Slowking then rotated its body to the right, striking down the Scizor clones one by one.
Slowking spun a full 360 degrees, quickly extinguishing almost all the Scizor clones. However, just as it was about to hit the final Scizor, that last one suddenly split into countless new clones.
Asen's face darkened. He had a question in his mind: How does Eichi manage to use another move while distracted by a different one?
Meanwhile, Scizor continued to gather and channel energy. During this process, another wave of soul-piercing pain surged. Scizor gritted its teeth and endured, continuing to build power. Slowking looked at the dense crowd of clones, still appearing dazed.
"Slowking, Double Team!"
"Ya-don!"
Slowking's eyes glowed yellow, creating a clone in front of every single Scizor clone. Asen wasn't without options; even if Scizor used a powerful move, if it couldn't find the real body, the move would be wasted. This would surely lead to Slowking's victory.
"Slowking, Headbutt!"
The heads of the countless Slowking clones glowed white as they lunged toward the Scizor clones in front of them. Just as the strikes were about to land, all the Scizor clones opened their eyes simultaneously. Slowking was startled by this sudden development.
In unison, every Scizor performed the same motion, swinging their crossed claws forward with force. Cross-shaped wind blades manifested in the air, accompanied by a buzzing sound and a sudden whirlwind. Asen felt a slight breeze brush against his face.
On the field, the Cross Slash wind blades struck Slowking. The numerous Slowking clones vanished one after another upon impact. Simultaneously, the Scizor clones that had fired the blades also shattered and disappeared.
The scene was exceptionally spectacular as countless clones of both Scizor and Slowking vanished. Among them, only one Cross Slash was real. Suddenly, a cry of pain echoed across the field.
After all the clones disappeared, only the real Scizor and Slowking remained. Slowking lay on the ground, having lost the ability to battle. Scizor stood in place, panting heavily. It had been close—only a few seconds remained before the effect of the Curse would have triggered again, likely resulting in its defeat. Fortunately, it had defeated Slowking just in time.
Asen's eyes narrowed. Slowking lost?
How had Scizor discovered Slowking's true body? Looking at the composed Eichi, Asen refused to believe it was a mere coincidence. Did Scizor have a way to break through Double Team?