Many livestream viewers shook their heads at Caster's strategy, missing the finer details of his approach.
"Did the streamer make a mistake? If the opponent is using Arcanine, why didn't you send out Gyarados? Do you even know how to battle with Pokémon?"
"Exactly! From a type perspective, Gyarados clearly has the advantage. Start with Waterfall, one hit and it's game over."
"As far as I know, Arcanine has almost no weaknesses, making it very difficult to counter. Having a fragile Pokémon like Pikachu take the field means the difficulty is quite high. If it takes even one hit, I'm afraid it won't survive."
In the real world, not everyone is a trainer.
But in the online world, everyone is a Pokémon Master!
Even though Caster's battle record spoke for itself, these self-proclaimed experts still thought he needed more practice.
---
Meanwhile, in a residence in Levincia of the Paldea region, the cute and playful Iono was still streaming.
Behind her, the adorably plump Bellibolt acted as her mascot, occasionally wiggling its round belly. Despite its silly appearance, this was actually the Levincia Gym's strongest Pokémon.
The stream had reached its end, and Iono was waving her hand, preparing to sign off.
But just then, her Rotom Phone issued a reminder: "The streamer you follow, 'Fishing Dreamer,' is currently in a live battle."
"Hm? Caster is doing a live battle?"
Iono's interest was immediately piqued. Thinking of Caster's modest few hundred thousand followers, she decided to give him a boost.
She quickly said to her fans: "There's a trainer streamer I know who's doing a battle stream right now. His Pikachu is trained really well. Let me see what surprises he can bring today."
With that, Iono entered Caster's stream and began watching with her audience.
Her fans had no complaints about this. After all, Iono was just about to sign off, so being able to watch longer felt like a bonus.
"Eh? Pikachu versus Arcanine? Isn't the gap between these two Pokémon a bit too large?"
"Streamer, streamer, which of these two is your friend?"
"I'm guessing it's the one using Pikachu."
Most of Iono's fans came for her personality and charm. They weren't particularly interested in Caster and Gary as competitors.
But Iono was a globally top-tier internet celebrity with massive reach. Her watching Caster's stream in her own broadcast caused his viewer count to skyrocket.
Of course, Caster didn't notice this at all. He was now fully focused on the upcoming battle.
After all, his opponent was Gary, the talented young trainer, and Gary was using Arcanine, a widely recognized powerhouse. He had to give it his all.
---
"Awoo~"
The majestic Arcanine howled once, its cry full of authority.
Immediately, everyone saw Pikachu seemingly startled. Its expression changed slightly as its body involuntarily took a step back.
Caster pursed his lips. "Intimidate ability again!"
When playing games, Caster had always liked using Pokémon with Intimidate.
But constantly being on the receiving end was somewhat unpleasant.
"Battle begin!"
As the Rotom Phone's mechanical voice sounded, the battle officially started.
Gary waved his hand confidently, taking the initiative. "Arcanine, Extreme Speed!"
"What! This Arcanine actually knows Extreme Speed? That move is very difficult to learn!"
"Starting with Extreme Speed? With Arcanine's attack power and the power of that move, is this preparing to one-shot Pikachu?"
In Iono's stream, most fans were just surprised that Gary's Arcanine knew such a rare move. They didn't care much about who won or lost.
But the fans in Caster's stream were different. They had watched Pikachu's journey step by step and naturally didn't want to see it get knocked out in one hit.
After all, Pikachu was known for being fragile!
Even Iono couldn't help but close her eyes, seemingly unable to bear watching Pikachu get sent flying.
From Iono's experience, Extreme Speed typically served as an opening attack, usually followed quickly by a powerful finishing move to create a devastating combo.
If it was Arcanine, then the follow-up would most likely be Flamethrower, or even Blast Burn.
With this kind of combo, as long as the first move hit successfully, the second move was usually impossible to dodge.
But then something unexpected happened.
---
Smack!
A dull slap echoed across the field—but it hit Arcanine, not Pikachu.
The Arcanine preparing to use Extreme Speed hadn't even launched forward when its head took a solid hit.
"Awoo~"
After being struck, Arcanine felt its head buzzing. Its focus shattered, and its head involuntarily pulled back.
Arcanine had flinched!
Gary's eyes widened in shock. "Fake Out!!!"
Extreme Speed was considered mid-to-high priority among quick moves, but it wasn't the fastest.
In terms of speed, Fake Out was clearly faster.
Gary just hadn't expected that Caster's Pikachu actually knew the Fake Out move.
But wait—Caster's Pikachu had only been trained for about a month, right?
"Now's the chance, Thunder Wave!"
Seeing Fake Out succeed, Caster wanted to press his advantage.
If Arcanine got paralyzed, the rest would be much easier.
"Pika~"
Using the recoil to jump into midair, electric arcs surged from the electric sacs in Pikachu's cheeks. A peculiar electric wave shot out from between its ears.
"I won't let you succeed."
Gary snorted and shouted: "Flame Wheel!"
"Awoo~"
Arcanine cried out, its body suddenly covered in scorching flames. It transformed into a wheel of fire to meet the Thunder Wave.
Boom!
Under the impact of the super-high-temperature Flame Wheel, the Thunder Wave scattered harmlessly.
Immediately after, Arcanine's Flame Wheel spun faster and faster. The flames burned more intensely, rushing toward Pikachu who was still airborne with nowhere to dodge.
"Pikachu, Protect!"
Caster gritted his teeth and gave the command.
He had thought that Fake Out would give them control of the battle. But unexpectedly, they were immediately at a disadvantage, even forced to use a defensive move.
Pikachu's physical attack was still a bit too weak, and the flinch effect of Fake Out was too brief.
Otherwise, the follow-up Thunder Wave couldn't have been broken so easily.
Buzz!
A semi-transparent barrier appeared, blocking Arcanine's fiery attack.
But Arcanine's power was immense. Even with the barrier's protection, Pikachu was still knocked back several meters, nearly losing its footing upon landing.
"Flame Charge!"
Not wanting to give Caster and Pikachu a chance to recover, Gary launched another offensive.
"Awoo~"
Arcanine channeled fire-type energy. Its entire body burst into flames again, transforming into a fireball rushing toward Pikachu who had just landed.
"This guy Gary is too greedy!"
Caster snorted.
Flame Charge worked like Power-Up Punch—it dealt damage while also boosting the user's stats. It got stronger with each successful hit.
The difference was that Flame Charge didn't increase attack power. It increased speed instead.
Honestly, in many situations, boosting a Pokémon's speed was more troublesome than boosting its attack power.
So Caster quickly countered: "Pikachu, Agility!"
Since you want to attack while boosting, then I'll dodge while increasing speed.
Let's see whose speed increases faster!