Chapter 443: The White Devil
Objectively speaking, Yujin's Raichu had improved a lot this year.
He was no longer the hot-headed youth who relied solely on Thunder to get by. His conventional attacking options had gradually become more diverse.
Especially after the team's atmosphere had changed, he had also actively and diligently carried out extra training.
However, it was unfortunate that in this round, his room to maneuver was just too small…
The Pachirisu was constantly harassing and weakening the Raichu, while the Gastrodon's Earth Power was repeatedly landing super-effective critical hits!
He had desperately swung out with his Iron Tail again and again, only to watch the Gastrodon use Recover to heal the wounds over and over.
Despair…
"Politoed, use Hypnosis!"
The Politoed, countered by the Storm Drain ability to the point of being useless, now even resorted to the extremely low-class move, Hypnosis!
However, a naked Hypnosis without any setup will not have a good end.
"Gastrodon, close your eyes!"
"Pachirisu, use Flash!"
The Politoed widened its eyes, and just as a suggestive pink light began to radiate from its pupils, a blinding white light suddenly exploded in front of it!
"Croak!"
The Politoed cried out in pain, covered its eyes, and stumbled back several steps, falling flat on its back.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the move Flash is mostly just used for lighting things up. When used at the right time, it can have miraculous effects.
A specific counter for low-class Hypnosis!
For a moment, the stands were filled with cheers.
"Nice!"
"How could you use Hypnosis on such a cute Pokémon as Pachirisu?! That guy must have ulterior motives!"
"It's everyone's responsibility to oppose low-class Hypnosis!"
Now, the Politoed was truly blind for a short time, in the physical sense…
This made Raichu's life even more difficult…
Not long after, the referee raised his flag. "Raichu is unable to battle!"
Then, the Gastrodon and Pachirisu both turned to look at the remaining Politoed.
"Pachi~ Pachi~"
The Pachirisu let out a cute cry, shook its blue, pointed ears, and flicked a spray of water droplets in the rain.
However, in the eyes of the Politoed and its trainer, this cute appearance was like a devil's smile.
"A demon! She must be a demon! A white devil!" (Note 1)
For some reason, after this match, the nickname "White Devil" for Pachirisu became more and more widespread.
The Cute Pet Association and Pachirisu enthusiasts all expressed their strong protest!
How could such a cute little creature be a demon? Slander! This is blatant slander!
Setting aside the bloody war between the competitive fans and the cute-pet fans online after this match, the competition was still ongoing.
In the first doubles match, Starlight and Frost, thanks to a brilliant, god-tier counter from the headmistress, had secured a very smooth victory!
Unfortunately, this good luck was all thrown back in the second round…
The second doubles match was a perfect illustration of the phrase "a man can't beat a dog"…
Less than a minute into the match, the second Ancient Power from Harry's Aerodactyl triggered the all-stats-boost effect!
Bella's face on the field immediately darkened!
After the match, she returned to the lounge in a huff, so frustrated she wanted to flip a table.
It's the kind of feeling you get when you're playing cards, not losing because of a lack of skill, but because your opponent is drawing god-hands every single time.
This feeling is just infuriating.
In the end, both sides took one match in the doubles segment.
One won through calculated counters, the other won through the favor of fate.
No one could laugh at the other. They were all in the same boat.
And then, the Starlight and Frost team entered the captain's battle with a two-point lead.
At this moment, even the most optimistic Otter fans were clenching their hearts.
Because the one who was about to take the stage was Arthur!
The miracle rookie!
The eighteen-year-old ace!
The youth who subverted all common sense!
A rookie who was completely incalculable!
Someone asked an Otter fan, "Why are you so nervous? Is this Arthur really that good?"
The Otter fan could only reply helplessly, "It's not a question of whether he's good or not. He's just that kind of, that very special kind of…"
The feeling people used to have when facing the Metro Team's captain's battle.
Now, facing the Starlight and Frost team's captain's battle, it was more or less the same feeling! In fact, it was even more nerve-wracking!
It's the kind of feeling where, no matter how big of an advantage you have, you still worry that it's not stable!
In the last round, the Otter Team had barely managed to topple the Metro Team with all their might.
And now, this round was once again testing the limits of the fans' hearts.
The halftime break ended. With the commentator's passionate shout, "And now it's time for the passionate, top-tier tactical and skillful, no-captain-but-even-more-intense-and-exciting captain's battle!"
In the audience, Leo and the Otter captain, Warren, both cursed inwardly: Commentator, are you being polite? Are you insulting us again?!
Arthur and Serena took the stage together.
Thinking back to the beginning of the season, when their two teams had first clashed, they had also been opponents.
Now, in a different competition, they were still competing on the same stage!
With the referee's confirmation, both sides sent out their Pokémon for the first round.
Arthur led with Specter.
And on the other side, Serena brought out the last ace Pokémon she hadn't had a chance to show in her last battle with Arthur: Milotic.
As for her item, she had brought a Choice Scarf, the same as Roman's Excadrill.
She was determined to focus on a single type.
But you have to admit, Milotic and the Choice Scarf are a good match.
Because it only has the Water type, and the Water-type move pool is very comprehensive—
It has a healing move like Life Dew.
It has a close-range, circular burst move like Water Pulse.
And it has a series of long-range projectile moves like Water Gun and Hydro Pump.
Long-range, close-range, healing—it has it all. It doesn't need to rely on other types.
In addition, Serena's Milotic has the Competitive ability. If it's hit with a debuff, its competitive spirit will be aroused, and its special attack will be sharply raised!
This way, it doesn't even need Haze or Clear Smog.
At the start of the match, Serena commanded, "First, use Safeguard on yourself, then put the scarf around your neck."
Even her small trick of using the item was the same as Roman's.
Use one move first, then put on the scarf, to maximally avoid the item's side effect.
Professional players are all old hands at exploiting bugs.
And Arthur's response was, as always, the same.
"Get in close! Evolve! Then step on its shadow!"
No matter how his opponent schemes, plots, or exploits item bugs, facing the Mega-Evolving Specter, their fate is to be locked in a close-quarters battle to the death!
The Shadow Tag ability, worthy of its champion name!
It's just that unreasonable!
He still remembered that in the regular season match against the Demon King Team, Specter had regrettably missed out on the MVP because he hadn't managed to take down a single one of his opponent's full-health aces.
In the post-match review, Arthur had given the MVP of that match to Little Eevee, which had left Specter with nothing to say.
But now, he no longer had to worry about that.
After Mega Evolving, he was now a stable starter for Arthur.
He would have plenty of opportunities to fight against ace Pokémon!
(Note 1 explanation: The "Pachirisu White Devil" meme mainly comes from the 2014 Pokémon World Championships.
Many pure anime fans may not know that this game also has a world championship. It's a doubles battle, held every year, and has been going on for many years now.
In the 2014 World Championships, a Pachirisu made its debut, competing on the same stage as a host of pseudo-legendaries, legendaries, and Mega Pokémon with a mere 405 base stat total. And in the finals, it played a crucial role, helping its master win the championship! Hence the name "White Devil." It's a very legendary story.)
(Author's Notes: The 2014 World Championships had a very important prerequisite: only Pokémon from the Kalos Pokédex were allowed (the range of usable Pokémon in the World Championships is different every year, and is generally announced at the beginning of the year). This meant that many powerful taunters from previous generations, like Togekiss and Clefable, could not be used.
This was a major prerequisite for Pachirisu's appearance.
But even so, very few people in the world at the time actually used this little guy. That was a version with Megas and no ban on legendaries. A 405 base stat total was, after all, too low.
At that time, the mainstream taunter was an Amoonguss with Rage Powder.
In the final stage, among the top four, only the eventual champion had a Pachirisu. This meant that everyone had no idea of the little creature's strength.
In the end, in the finals, the little guy performed a famous play: it used Follow Me to draw aggro and, in one turn, tanked a combined attack from both a Tyranitar and a Salamence without fainting! Then, its teammate, a Garchomp, got a double kill, sealing the victory!
The moment the Salamence's STAB 130 power Draco Meteor failed to kill the Pachirisu, the opponent had a look of utter despair.
And so, the little guy got the nickname "White Devil"~)
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