Slowking used Shadow Ball, and Metagross took the hit head-on before responding with Meteor Mash.
From the outset, Luther could see that Conway's Slowking was at a disadvantage.
Although Trick Room allowed Slowking to move first and land its attack, the damage it dealt to Metagross was minimal.
After being hit by the Shadow Ball, Metagross paused briefly before launching its Meteor Mash, sending Slowking flying.
Slowking lay on the ground for quite a while before managing to get back up, panting heavily, just as the battle data had indicated.
In order to maintain seamless Trick Room coverage, Conway repeatedly sent Slowking out just before Trick Room expired to reset it.
By now, Slowking had already taken significant damage and was extremely fatigued.
"Using Trick Room against Dakota's team is a solid strategy, but the Pokémon isn't strong enough. It can't expand the advantage, it can only just compensate for the power gap."
"Conway's defeat is already sealed."
As a Gym Leader, Candice could see the situation clearly. Just as she finished speaking, Metagross charged straight through another incoming attack from Slowking, dodging nothing and relying purely on its powerful body and stamina to take the hit.
Another Meteor Mash struck Slowking. This time, after being sent flying, it couldn't get back up.
As Slowking was knocked away, Conway's helpless expression didn't escape Luther's notice. He must have realized his situation by now.
The Trick Room strategy had indeed severely restricted Dakota's team. After all, Dakota's team was generally fast, so using Trick Room to strike first and steadily accumulate damage was a reasonable approach.
However, Trick Room had two major problems.
Firstly, the Trick Room setter had to be extremely durable. They didn't need to deal damage, but they absolutely couldn't be fragile.
In this respect, Conway's Dusknoir and Slowking were only just acceptable.
Secondly, and most importantly, once your Trick Room setters have sacrificed their offensive capability to become pure support Pokémon, the entire responsibility for defeating the opponent falls to the rest of the team.
Conway had two Trick Room setters, meaning only four of his Pokémon could deal damage. To compensate for this, those four Pokémon needed to be exceptionally strong, stronger than all of Dakota's Pokémon except Darkrai.
However, based on the match data, Conway's Pokémon had not demonstrated that level of power. Although he pushed Dakota to the limit—becoming the first contestant in the Lily of the Valley Conference to force Dakota to use a second Pokémon, that was as far as he could go.
Conway's final Pokémon was Lickilicky, while Dakota still had two Pokémon left, in addition to Metagross.
Luther sighed and stopped watching. The outcome was already decided.
Candice and Mai exchanged a glance and followed him out.
When they arrived at Team Rocket's stall inside the venue, Luther knocked on the counter to get their attention. The trio were watching the match on their phones.
"Huh? The battle's not over yet... why are you already out?" Jessie asked in surprise.
Just as she finished speaking, cheers erupted from inside the stadium. Looking down at the screen, Meowth said, 'It's over. That annoying Dakota won."
Luther remained silent, eating the ice cream Team Rocket had given him.
Seeing his expression, the Team Rocket trio didn't dare say anything further; they thought the ice cream might be wrong in some way or simply not to his taste.
Jessie quietly tugged on Mai's sleeve. "What's wrong with your boyfriend? He looks kind of pale."
Mai had also noticed that something was off with Luther. Ever since they left the VIP seats, he had seemed distracted, as if deep in thought.
"Probably got something on his mind."
That "something" was the battle they had just watched.
Luther had once imagined how he would approach Dakota's team line-up if the two teams ever faced each other.
One of the strategies he had considered was Trick Room. However, now that Conway had used it, Luther had witnessed the risks of that approach firsthand.
The next round, the Top 8 to Top 4, would be a full six-on-six battle. Ettore and Ash's match was scheduled for the afternoon, and unless something unexpected happened, they would both likely advance to the quarter-finals of the Lily of the Valley Conference.
Was this... nervousness?
Luther quickly dismissed the idea.
It wasn't anxiety. It wasn't stage fright.
It was overexcitement, so intense that it was difficult for him to breathe.
Even after defeating Sho and advancing to the Top 8, he hadn't really felt it. The match had been too easy, leaving him feeling uninspired.
The only thing that gave him a faint sense of anticipation was the thought that if he won the championship, he could live out his dream of happily slacking off for the rest of his life.
But after watching Conway's battle against Dakota, and then seeing the tournament bracket, Luther's delayed realisation finally kicked in.
He was changing the original storyline.
He was writing a story that belonged to him.
Luther quickly finished his ice cream in a few bites, then asked James for another one and started eating again, looking much more relaxed.
"Better appetite now? So you've figured it out?" Meowth said, nodding. "I don't know what's bothering you, but don't lose your temper so easily; we're still counting on you to make us money."
Luther paused mid-bite at Meowth's words and turned to James.
"After the tournament ends, are you going back to your old ways?"
James hadn't expected that question. He hesitated before slowly replying, "We're Team Rocket. Isn't that only natural?"
"Only natural?" Luther repeated, savoring the phrase. "By 'natural', you mean constantly doing bad things, being chased by the Pokémon League, getting blasted off by Ash and his friends every day, starving in the wilderness, wasting your talents, and forcing yourself to do thankless, exhausting tasks?"
James frowned. "We're cooperating peacefully right now. Maybe we shouldn't talk about this."
Luther knew James was trying to avoid conflict in order to maintain their profitable partnership.
However, since the topic had come up, Luther had no intention of backing down. Some things were better said sooner rather than later.
"Not talk about it?" Luther smiled. "James, Jessie, and Meowth, since the start of this tournament, I think our cooperation has been pretty good. You've made quite a bit of money by now."
"What I've seen during this time is that your abilities are genuinely impressive. You could even say your execution is better than most people's. The reason I'm bringing this up now is simple: after the Lily of the Valley Conference ends, we won't be enemies."
James fell silent for a long time before letting out a sigh.
"We won't be your enemy. Do whatever you want."
(End of Chapter)
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