“Mismagius, Mean Look!”
The moment it entered the field, Terrance cut off Norman’s chance to recall Spinda. A layer of black mist instantly enveloped Spinda.
This mist could effectively block the Poké Ball recall mechanism. Facing a Spinda that couldn’t return and was already low on stamina, Mismagius didn’t attack. Instead, it let Ominous Wind swirl around itself, forming an offensive-and-defensive Ominous Wind barrier while using the opportunity to raise its stats through the move’s special effect.
“Zen Headbutt!”
Spinda danced as it charged swiftly toward Mismagius. Before Terrance could even issue a command, Mismagius instinctively sensed the danger. The dense Ominous Wind collided head-on with the incoming Spinda.
What neither Terrance nor Mismagius expected was that Spinda could dance freely even in midair. Combined with Zen Headbutt, it fought evenly against the Ominous Wind.
Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Terrance’s eyes as he ordered, “Skill Swap.”
With its body merged into the Ominous Wind, Mismagius drifted to Spinda’s side, endured its Dark-type energy-shrouded Sucker Punch, and stripped away Spinda’s Own Tempo Ability and transferred it onto itself.
“Spinda, fall back.”
After losing its Own Tempo Ability, Spinda’s threatening dance immediately became disordered. Norman tried to call it back so that it could adjust to its condition, but being suddenly affected by the Levitate Ability, Spinda missed its timing and failed to land in time.
With a loud boom, Mismagius, who had fallen asleep, was engulfed as Mystical Fire poured down from all directions, forming a mass of flames that swallowed Spinda whole. At this moment, Mismagius also dispersed the energy from the Skill Swap.
“Spinda is unable to battle. Contestant Norman, please send out your next Pokémon.”
Mystical Fire burned through Spinda’s Toxic, altering the poison and quickly breaking through its first line of defense. Immediately after, the intense flames surged forward, and the already exhausted Spinda collapsed instantly. Though it was powerful, its stamina was clearly quite ordinary.
“Taking a hit just to find an opening, I originally thought that was a terrible move. But I didn’t expect this Mismagius to quickly enter a sleep state and still launch a follow-up attack smoothly. That way, the consumption is almost nonexistent.”
Elite Four Sidney, the Dark-type master, spoke in surprise. Spinda’s hasty Sucker Punch should have heavily damaged Mismagius, yet it ignored the pain to use Skill Swap and disrupt Spinda, making him glance unconsciously at Phoebe.
“Why are you looking at me?” Phoebe said, leaning back in her chair. “This Mismagius has taken a new approach to training; it’s different from mine.”
As the Ghost-type Elite Four of the Hoenn League, Phoebe often took part in infiltration, assassination, and reconnaissance missions. Her mastery of illusion skills surpassed that of Terrance and Mismagius.
However, applying Hypnosis from illusion skills to numb one’s own sense of pain, forcibly maintain consciousness, and interfere with the selection of Sleep Talk. This method made Phoebe’s eyes light up.
If Mismagius’s illusion skills shown earlier in the Champion League had been conventional, then this new application now made it truly stand out.
“Spinda’s Teeter Dance and Hypnosis seem to have no effect on that Mismagius. It faced the dance head-on without being affected in the slightest. That’s the fundamental reason it was able to win the battle,” Glacia said curiously. “So, which Pokémon does Mr. Norman plan to send out next?”
“It’s Exploud!”
Norman’s choice made Terrance frown.
What Ability would it have?
Exploud’s two main Abilities—Scrappy and Soundproof—both heavily countered Mismagius.
The former allows Normal- and Fighting-type moves to hit Ghost-type Pokémon, while the latter blocks sound, making it immune to sound-based attacks.
Mismagius’s illusion skill Hypnosis has two main methods: visual and auditory.
If the opponent ignores sound, then Mismagius’s performance would be greatly restricted.
Seeing Norman’s calm expression, the Top Trainers nodded inwardly. With a single choice, he had already put his opponent in a dilemma. Truly impressive.
From sending out the Pokémon to Terrance beginning to think, less than two seconds had passed. Before Terrance could even decide whether to recall his Pokémon, Exploud had already launched its attack.
The holes all over its body began vibrating rapidly, generating endless sound waves. The waves compressed against each other, producing an ear-splitting explosion that immediately spread destructive force across the entire field. In such a situation, Mismagius was forced to hastily conceal itself, yet it was still shaken out by the shockwaves, its body compressed by the strong sound waves.
“It’s the Scrappy Ability—my oversight. Regardless of whether it’s Soundproof or not, how could Exploud possibly lose in a battle of sound?” Terrance’s expression grew serious. In other words, no matter what Ability the opponent had, Mismagius’s illusion skill incantations would be extremely ineffective. After all, this was no ordinary Exploud.
As it was being compressed by the sound waves, Mismagius endured the pain and attempted to counterattack. However, before it could even release a move, it was crushed by the continuous, wave-like barrage of sound.
“It’s already been six seconds! Exploud has maintained a powerful move like Boomburst for six seconds straight! Mismagius still can’t find an opportunity to counterattack and can only resist. How much longer can it hold on?” the announcer shouted.
In fact, Mismagius’s situation was extremely dire. Under the constant bombardment of sound waves controlled by Exploud, even if it forcibly used a move, it had no chance of hitting Exploud. Moreover, by spreading the sound waves across the entire field, Exploud reduced the success rate of Mismagius’s illusion skills through sheer density of attacks.
“We have to gamble!”
Mismagius endured Exploud’s fierce assault through Rest and self-induced Hypnosis, but at the cost of enormous energy consumption and accumulating heavy damage. With no time to think, Terrance could only have Mismagius cast Lucky Chant on itself, choosing to rely on luck and reflect a Confuse Ray to disrupt Exploud’s offense.
Under Lucky Chant, Confuse Ray was fortunately not immediately swallowed by the incoming Boomburst. Instead, it slipped through the gaps in the sound waves and entered Exploud’s field of vision. This change in the move turned the situation around. Exploud instantly lost its spatial awareness, fell into chaos, and began firing sound waves wildly, gradually creating openings for Mismagius to act.
“Now!” Terrance gave the order. Mismagius used Phantom Force to rapidly close the distance, gathering Will-O-Wisp and Ominous Wind. Facing this swift strike, Norman initially intended to break through directly, but instinctively felt that Terrance’s objective was not such a simple frontal attack.
In the previous match, Terrance had sacrificed Tyranitar to land a Hyper Beam on Spinda. What about this time?
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