"Sneasler—Fighting- and Poison-type, evolved from Hisuian Sneasel.
This one's not easy to deal with at all."
Dylan smiled as he gave a brief introduction.
So it really was a Pokémon from the Hisui era?
Yellow immediately understood. No wonder she had never heard of it before.
She knew this much: Hisui was the ancient form of the Sinnoh region.
But as time passed, the environment changed completely, and many Pokémon from the Hisui era simply could no longer exist in the modern age.
And the reason Gym Leader Brother could have Hisuian Samurott and Sneasler—Pokémon from that era—
Was because he had Dialga.
Yes. Dialga could traverse time.
Which meant Dylan could travel back to the Hisui era, capture these Pokémon, and then return to the present.
This—was the true value of the Time Dragon!
Yellow stared at the tall, lean, malicious-looking Sneasler.
It still shared some similarities with Weavile, but it was noticeably larger, lacked the Dark type, and looked more like a high-speed attacker.
"Blastoise! Water Gun!"
After some thought, Yellow gave the command.
The Dynamax time had already ended, and Blastoise had returned to normal.
However, the rain left behind by Max Geyser—and the residual water effects from G-Max Cannonade—were still present.
As Yellow's command fell, a column of water suddenly shot upward from the pooled water on the ground, blasting toward Sneasler at incredible speed.
Sneasler reacted instantly.
Its eyes turned cold as its claws flared with eerie deep-purple light, slashing straight through the water column.
The water pillar shattered immediately.
Blastoise let out a low roar as two massive streams of water blasted from the cannons on its shell.
Water Gun!
"Quick Attack."
Malice flickered in Sneasler's eyes as it lowered its body and shot toward Blastoise at extreme speed.
The incoming water streams were cleanly dodged with its astonishing agility.
Bang!
Sneasler slammed heavily into Blastoise.
Blastoise staggered back a step, but quickly stabilized and roared angrily.
"Blastoise! Zen Headbutt!"
Yellow remained calm.
The Fighting + Poison typing had decent resistances, but its biggest flaw was obvious—
A four-times weakness to Psychic.
Blastoise's head glowed with multicolored light as it charged straight at Sneasler.
"Dodge."
A cruel grin curled at the corner of Sneasler's mouth.
With a twist of its feet and a lean of its body, it easily sidestepped Blastoise's slow headbutt.
That kind of sluggish attack—who did she think it would hit?
Sneasler's grin widened.
"Dire Claw!"
Its razor-sharp claws erupted with sinister purple energy as both arms slashed downward.
"Blastoise! Rapid Spin!"
Yellow had already anticipated Zen Headbutt being dodged and had prepared Rapid Spin as a defensive follow-up.
But she hadn't expected Sneasler to be this fast.
RIP—!
Dire Claw struck Blastoise cleanly—its limbs hadn't even fully retracted into its shell yet.
Blastoise cried out in pain.
Sneasler's right claw had raked across its neck—hard.
Hit-and-run.
Sneasler leapt back instantly, maintaining a distance perfect for both attack and retreat, tilting its head as it stared at Blastoise with a wicked smile.
"Didn't follow up?" Yellow felt confused—but then she noticed something wrong.
"Blastoise?!"
Her expression changed.
Blastoise was frozen in place, its body stiff, arcs of electricity crackling around it.
Paralysis?!
How was that possible?
Did Sneasler use Thunder Wave?
No—it hadn't.
Yellow's face paled.
Was it… Dire Claw?
"As long as Dire Claw hits, there's a chance it'll inflict poison, paralysis, or sleep," Dylan said with a smile.
Yellow frowned deeply.
So that was it.
But this was awful.
Blastoise was already far slower than Sneasler—now add paralysis, and it was completely hopeless.
"Sneasler, Swords Dance."
Dylan calmly ordered a boost instead.
Sneasler let out a low cry as white light surged around it, its aura sharpening, killing intent overflowing.
Swords Dance—two stages of Attack raised.
"Come back, Blastoise!"
Yellow decisively recalled it.
It had already been a bad matchup—now with paralysis, it was impossible to continue.
"Arcanine!"
She threw out Arcanine once more.
The majestic Pokémon landed in front of her, roaring powerfully at Sneasler, invisible pressure radiating outward.
The white glow around Sneasler faded—
Intimidate had lowered its Attack.
"Switching to Arcanine? It won't help," Dylan chuckled.
"Arcanine, Extreme Speed!"
Yellow's face was serious.
She had sent Arcanine out precisely for this—
Extreme Speed to close in, then Psychic Fangs.
There was still a chance.
White light flared around Arcanine as it vanished forward in a blur.
"Quick Guard Counter."
Dylan watched the barely visible streak.
Extreme Speed was fast—but so what?
As long as there was a counter, it wasn't unbeatable.
Sneasler locked onto the trajectory, claws twitching.
Left!
Having confirmed Arcanine's path, Sneasler's right claw flashed white as it swung hard to the left.
Bang!
Quick Guard Counter smashed into Arcanine's forehead.
Arcanine yelped as it was knocked backward.
A Fighting-type move, specially designed to counter priority attacks!
"Arcanine!"
Yellow's face changed.
"Dire Claw!"
Sneasler pressed the advantage, both claws blazing with sinister purple light as it slashed violently.
The claw arcs tore across Arcanine's body.
Arcanine growled in pain and collapsed heavily to the ground.
Even after Intimidate, Sneasler's Attack was naturally high—
And it had already used Swords Dance once.
A STAB Dire Claw hit Arcanine hard.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
After the hit, eerie purple venomous light flared over Arcanine's body.
Poisoned!
The poison triggered immediately, striking Arcanine again before it could even recover.
"How is this possible…?" Yellow stared in disbelief.
"Rock Slide."
With a sweep of its claws, massive boulders formed above Arcanine.
Rock-type Rock Slide.
One stone after another crashed down, smashing into Arcanine and slamming it back to the ground just as it struggled to rise.
Rumble—!
The rain stopped.
The sky cleared.
But amid the rubble, Arcanine lay motionless, spiraling eyes spinning.
"Arcanine has lost the ability to battle. Sneasler wins."
The referee declared the result.
Sneasler casually planted one claw on its hip, looking down at the fallen Arcanine with unrestrained malice still etched on its face.
"Damn… Arcanine's already gone?"
"It was injured from fighting Drapion earlier, sure—but doesn't this Sneasler feel just as terrifying?"
"They fight differently, but have you noticed how often Dire Claw's effect triggers?"
"Yeah—Blastoise got paralyzed, Arcanine got poisoned. Two hits, two triggers."
"Could the poison be from Poison Touch instead?"
"Either way, this Sneasler is insane. Dire Claw plus Poison Touch is way too compatible."
The audience buzzed with discussion.
"…Am I just really unlucky?"
Yellow bit her lip as she recalled Arcanine.
Something felt off.
Even with Dire Claw's effect, was the trigger rate really this high?
One paralysis, one poison—back to back?
She stared at the malevolent Sneasler across the field.
Fast, hard-hitting, and every attack carried debilitating status effects—
Its threat level wasn't inferior to Drapion at all.
"Slowking!"
After hesitating briefly, Yellow sent out her fifth Pokémon.
The regal evolution of Slowpoke stepped forward calmly, hands behind its back, Psychic energy faintly radiating.
"Type advantage? It's not that simple," Dylan said with a smile as he evaluated it.
He understood Yellow's intent perfectly.
Sneasler's typing was four-times weak to Psychic—sending out a Psychic-type was the natural answer.
But Slowking wasn't fast.
If Sneasler closed the distance, things would turn dangerous very quickly.
Still, the appeal of a four-times weakness outweighed the risk.
As long as Psychic or Psychic Terrain–boosted attacks landed once, even if it didn't knock Sneasler out, it would deal devastating damage.
"Yellow, you seem to have forgotten this."
Dylan pulled a black orb from his pocket and gave it a light shake.
A Tera Orb.
Yellow pressed her lips together.
Of course she hadn't forgotten.
But she had no choice—and she had an idea.
"Then, Sneasler…"
The Tera Orb in Dylan's hand burst into gemstone-like brilliance as he threw it toward Sneasler.
Crystalline shattering sounds rang out as the light faded.
A Terastallized Sneasler stood in its place.
Poison Tera — Sneasler!
"Not giving her any room at all. Now it's only a double weakness to Psychic," Alder shook his head.
Originally, Slowking already had type advantage.
But a simple 2× weakness wasn't enough to decide the battle.
Slowking was far too slow to fight Sneasler up close—
And Sneasler was a high-speed attacker with access to priority moves like Quick Attack.
Psychic could provide control, but when the gap in strength wasn't huge, Psychic alone couldn't fully lock an opponent down.
Even if it worked briefly, the opponent could force their way out.
"Wow… this Sneasler is ridiculously good!"
Hilda's eyes sparkled as she stared at it.
Just one swipe and the opponent gets status conditions—how is that fair?!
And that Hisuian Samurott from before, too…
Were all Hisui Pokémon this amazing?
She really wanted to go to Hisui.
If she could catch a few, she'd definitely go further in the next World Championships!
But… would Champion Dylan take her there?
Probably not so easily.
Did she have anything that could tempt him?
As Hilda pondered, her gaze drifted to Rosa beside her—
Then briefly down.
…She sighed.
If Rosa had a hotter figure, she could probably charm Champion Dylan effortlessly.
And then, as her best friend, Hilda would benefit from it all.
Rosa was just too plain!
Seriously!
So unfair!!
"No—there's still a way."
N spoke thoughtfully as he watched Slowking on the field.
Speed and mobility were indeed a huge gap.
But there was one move that could make up for it.
And Slowking just happened to know it.