On the battlefield, the Poison-Tera Sneasler shimmered with crystalline light as it faced Slowking, who stood calmly with hands behind its back.
Yellow took a deep breath.
An unprecedented pressure weighed heavily on her heart.
She knew she had to stay calm—but without question, this was the first time she had ever been pushed into such a hopeless situation.
She was a genuine prodigy—and a lucky one at that.
Ever since she met Selene and her younger companion last year, was brought before Dylan, and then taken in as an apprentice of the Rota Gym—
Resources, tactics, Pokémon—she had obtained everything with ease.
Dylan treated her exceptionally well. Ilene, Leaf, Lillie, Selene, the receptionist, and even her junior Silver had all taken great care of her.
She had grown steadily, then set out on her own journey. Thanks to her talent and strength, things had always gone smoothly.
Even in the World Championships, despite encountering powerful opponents, she had relied on her special Viridian power to struggle forward step by step to reach this point.
But today—
She truly felt the pressure of absolute despair for the first time.
And she knew it full well: Dylan was already holding back.
He hadn't even used any standard Legendary Pokémon.
She wanted to do better.
She really wanted to perform better!
"Slowking, Psychic!"
Yellow's expression was grave. No matter what, she had to take down this Sneasler first, didn't she?
Slowking let out a low cry as deep blue light flickered in its eyes.
A powerful, invisible psychic force wrapped around Sneasler, lifting its body gradually into the air.
Control-type Psychic!
Psychic and Confusion were very similar Psychic-type moves, but Psychic was the superior version in every respect—both in control and raw power.
"It's useless."
Dylan remained perfectly calm.
Sneasler began struggling violently. The psychic restraint visibly destabilized.
As its claws flared with purple light and it slashed outward—
The psychic force shattered completely.
Sneasler landed smoothly on the ground.
"Even if your Slowking is very strong now, trying to completely restrain Sneasler is nothing but wishful thinking," Dylan said.
Slowking's power had already surged thanks to Yellow's Viridian ability.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have even been able to lift Sneasler off the ground.
Yellow didn't feel particularly frustrated.
This had only been a probe.
"Quick Attack."
Sneasler lowered its body, instantly turning into a gray blur as it shot toward Slowking at extreme speed.
"It's coming! Slowking—Trick Room!"
Yellow shouted without hesitation.
This was exactly what she had been waiting for!
Slowking dipped its head slightly. The shell crown atop its head glowed as a translucent spatial cube began to form and rotate.
Trick Room, Psychic-type.
"As expected—you were prepared with Trick Room," Dylan smiled faintly.
"But I can't let you succeed so easily."
"Sneasler!"
Bang!
In the blink of an eye, Sneasler appeared directly in front of Slowking, slamming into it with Quick Attack.
Slowking grunted, but did not stop activating Trick Room.
Quick Attack alone wasn't strong enough to interrupt it.
"Throat Chop!"
A cruel smile spread across Sneasler's face as black light flared around its right claw and stabbed viciously into Slowking's shoulder.
Dark-type Throat Chop!
Agonizing pain surged through Slowking's body, forcing a pained cry from its throat.
The nearly completed Trick Room collapsed instantly.
"Slowking!!"
Yellow gasped in shock.
It had been interrupted!
That was exactly what she feared—Trick Room being broken mid-cast—which was why she had activated it during Quick Attack.
Quick Attack alone shouldn't have been enough to stop it.
Even if Sneasler used Taunt afterward, once Trick Room was established it would still take effect—losing access to status moves afterward wouldn't have mattered.
But she hadn't anticipated just how fast Sneasler was.
Nor how fast Throat Chop was.
This move wasn't particularly powerful, but it inflicted overwhelming pain.
Anyone struck by it could be rendered unable to use sound-based moves for a short time—
Because when it hurts that badly, all you can do is groan. How could you shout?
"What a shame… Dylan really was prepared," N shook his head.
"Yeah, if Trick Room had gone up, the situation could've turned around," Iris said regretfully.
Trick Room—also known as Reverse Room or Deception Space—
It created a bizarre field where slower Pokémon moved before faster ones.
In simple terms: speed order was inverted.
For Pokémon like Slowking, this was a blessing.
For high-speed attackers like Sneasler, it was a nightmare.
Speed and mobility were everything for such Pokémon.
Lose that advantage, and they were finished.
Fast attackers were universally fragile.
Without speed, fighting became brutally difficult.
"I figured you might try Trick Room, Yellow. You can't assume your opponent is stupid," Dylan said with a smile.
Yellow pressed her lips tightly together.
"If you had really managed to set it up, even I would've had a headache."
"Sneasler, Taunt."
Sneasler hopped back, baring its teeth and letting out a mocking growl.
Slowking glared angrily at it, barely maintaining its regal composure.
Dark-type Taunt—for a short time, Slowking could no longer use any status moves.
"Slowking, calm down," Yellow forced herself to steady her voice.
"Psychic!"
Deep blue light flared in Slowking's eyes as a tangible wave of multicolored psychic energy rippled outward—
Straight toward Sneasler.
"That kind of attack will never hit Sneasler," Dylan chuckled softly.
"Dire Claw!"
Sneasler crouched low and vanished from its spot, evading the incoming psychic wave and rapidly closing in.
"Slowking!"
Slowking tried to track the silver-gray figure darting around it—
But Sneasler was far too fast.
Its eyes could only catch blurred afterimages.
Slowking was clever, though. It spread psychic energy around its body, sensing Sneasler's movements.
The idea was flawless.
The problem was—
It overestimated its own physical reaction speed.
Sneasler suddenly accelerated, completely vanishing from Slowking's vision.
A chill ran down Slowking's spine from behind.
Its psychic senses screamed a warning.
"Slowking—behind you!" Yellow shouted.
Slowking turned quickly, psychic energy gathering—
But—
RIP!
Dire Claw tore viciously across half of Slowking's body just as it turned.
A classic case of the mind keeping up, but the body failing to follow.
Slowking cried out in pain.
Psychic might counter Poison offensively, but it didn't resist it defensively.
With Poison Tera and STAB, Dire Claw dealt heavy damage.
Worse still—Sneasler immediately retreated again, giving no opening at all.
Slowking froze for a brief moment from the hit—
And couldn't pursue.
By the time it fully turned toward Sneasler, the latter had already bounced back four or five meters.
Should it fire Psychic or not?
Fire it—there was no chance it would hit.
Don't fire it?
Slowking stared at the mocking grin on Sneasler's face.
So angry.
So unbelievably angry!!
Then suddenly—
Slowking's expression changed.
Eerie deep-purple venomous light flared across its body.
Poisoned!
The corrosive pain forced Slowking to hunch slightly, but it could still endure ordinary poison.
Unfortunately—
That silver-gray blur had already rushed in again.
"Throat Chop!"
Black claw light sliced past Slowking's side.
When its vision cleared, Sneasler was once again behind it.
A sharp, searing pain erupted from Slowking's left arm—the fresh wound from Throat Chop.
Slowking sank halfway to the ground, gasping, and turned to glare furiously at Sneasler.
Sneasler tilted its head, grinning wickedly, flexing its dark claws as if savoring the sensation.
The audience exploded.
"What the hell is this fight?!"
"This is straight-up bullying!"
"Slowking hasn't touched Sneasler even once after that first Psychic!"
"And Slowking's practically finished already—two super-effective Throat Chops, one Dire Claw, one Quick Attack. The only reason it's still standing is pure rage!"
"Honestly, once Trick Room failed, Slowking should've been recalled. Sure it counters Sneasler on paper, but it's way too clumsy against this one."
"Exactly. This Sneasler is insanely cautious—hit and run, never overcommits. A perfect assassin."
The livestream chat flooded with commentary.
Everyone reached the same conclusion.
Slowking was done.
"..."
Yellow kept taking deep breaths as she looked at the battered Slowking—and that malicious Sneasler.
A profound sense of helplessness washed over her.
How were you even supposed to fight this?
You might as well just forfeit.