All of the above analysis applied under normal circumstances.
But this match?
Mind games?
Ethan Vale let out a chuckle.
Did you really think my opening pair of starter twins were just here to look pretty?
"Rillaboom, Incineroar—use Fake Out on them!"
On-screen, the massive gorilla with deep-green foliage atop its head charged forward, drumsticks swinging, and slapped Grimmsnarl before it could even move.
Right after that, the ferocious red-striped tiger burst out roaring and slapped Hatterene square in the face.
Smack—
Smack—
Two crisp slapping sounds rang out as both Pokémon fell into the [Flinch] state, unable to act.
A simple, unadorned double Fake Out—straight-up refusing to play the mind game!
The viewers, many of whom had never seen a double Fake Out opener before, were overjoyed. A flood of "Hahahahaha" swept through the chat.
Of course, some skepticism followed.
"Fake Out doesn't do much damage and can only be used once. Other than stalling, what's the point?"
Ethan Vale said nothing, continuing to issue commands.
"Rillaboom, Grassy Glide—target Hatterene.
Incineroar, U-turn!"
Fake Out's flinch only lasted a brief moment.
Grimmsnarl quickly snapped out of it and, relying on its Prankster ability—which allowed priority status moves—successfully set up Trick Room.
At the same time, Rillaboom slid straight beneath Hatterene's skirt.
As the god-tier move that crowned Rillaboom the king of Gen 8 starters, Grassy Glide was terrifyingly strong.
Before its nerf, its power rivaled Flamethrower, and on Grassy Terrain, it gained priority.
Everything about it screamed the beauty of raw numbers.
Naturally, this game used the pre-nerf version. Combined with STAB and terrain boosts, Rillaboom's thick, sweeping kick slammed into Hatterene's frail physical defense.
Its HP dropped by nearly half in one hit.
Then, Trick Room successfully went up.
Speed order across the field instantly reversed. The sluggish Hatterene actually moved before Incineroar now.
A burst of Dazzling Gleam exploded outward. Incineroar, being weak to Fairy, saw its HP drop by a visible chunk.
Thankfully, it immediately escaped the battlefield with U-turn, surviving by a hair.
If Hatterene hadn't been part Fairy-type and thus resisted Bug, a pure Psychic-type probably wouldn't have survived that U-turn at all.
The Pokémon replacing Incineroar on the field was—
Amoonguss.
With a bit of breathing room, Ethan Vale began explaining mid-fight.
"Second method for dealing with Trick Room—use slow Pokémon. As long as I'm slow enough, your switches get slow too."
Trick Room reversed speed order for all Pokémon on the field.
The moment Amoonguss entered, Grimmsnarl's speed visibly plummeted.
Conversely, Amoonguss transformed instantly into an agile mushroom.
Ethan Vale issued rapid commands.
"Rillaboom, Wood Hammer—target Hatterene.
Amoonguss, Spore—on Grimmsnarl!"
Amoonguss became the fastest thing on the field without question. The mushroom atop its head quivered, releasing a cloud of dark-green powder straight into Grimmsnarl's face.
Sleep Powder—no, Spore—took effect immediately. Grimmsnarl collapsed on the spot, entering a baby-like slumber.
Hatterene's Psychic followed, aimed directly at Rillaboom, whose HP had already been chipped by Dazzling Gleam.
Unfortunately for it, Psychic wasn't super effective and failed to bring down the absurdly bulky "Tapu Gorilla."
In return, a delayed but devastating Wood Hammer crashed down, and Hatterene let out a cry before being sent off the field.
First Blood!
"666666, as expected of Lao Shui—still disgusting as ever."
"Two huge, menacing Pokémon, yet Teacher Shui plays them so shamelessly."
"Anyone still questioning the value of double Fake Out? Just copy the Water God's plays!"
"That guy calling him 'Water God'—mods, can you ban him? The bootlicking is nauseating."
"."
Ethan Vale ignored the banter and stayed focused on the match.
Pokémon: Champion's Path emphasized real-time command far more than the old turn-based system.
And since in-game Pokémon had no autonomy—unlike in real battles—if you stopped issuing commands, Rayquaza really could get beaten down by a Caterpie.
Quickly recalling the heavily damaged Rillaboom, Ethan Vale sent out the final Pokémon from the backline—the "protagonist" of this team—
Pachirisu!
No joke—every win with it meant one Master Ball!
If he didn't send it out now and the opponent surrendered, wouldn't that be a tragedy?
The appearance of the small, delicate electric squirrel threw the chat into another frenzy—and the opponent froze as well.
Only after a moment did they recall the fallen Hatterene and send out Conkeldurr.
Ethan Vale thought to himself, Conkeldurr, huh? Then their last Pokémon is probably Rhyperior.
With a four-times weakness to Grass, Rhyperior obviously couldn't afford to show its face in front of two Grass-types.
But honestly, whether it was Rhyperior or Conkeldurr didn't matter.
"Amoonguss, Spore—on Conkeldurr!"
Both opponents were faster than Amoonguss normally, but under Trick Room, that meant both were now slower than Amoonguss.
Dark-green spores sprayed out once more, coating Conkeldurr's deeply wrinkled face.
The arm holding its concrete pillar dropped limply, and the Pokémon staggered before collapsing mid-charge.
At this point, both opposing Pokémon were fast asleep.
Which meant the opponent's only remaining option was to wait for one of them to wake up.
What?
Switch in Rhyperior?
What—were they trying to get more Pokémon put to sleep?
Sadly for them, luck was not on their side.
Even as Pachirisu's Super Fang and Amoonguss's Sludge Bomb battered the field one after another, both Pokémon slept like logs.
After several seconds of silence, the opponent finally surrendered in frustration.
The massive word "VICTORY" filled the screen. Ethan Vale stretched lazily and improvised a haiku on the spot:
"Mushroom too strong,
Sleeps Grimmsnarl, sleeps Conkeldurr—
Even Leon sighs."
——————
"Absolutely cursed!"
"Pure despair!"
"Disgusting!"
"Straight-up criminal!"
"Opponent: How does a Pokémon like Amoonguss even exist?!"
"They surrendered without sending out Rhyperior—could they be an Luna Volt fan?"
"What would Rhyperior even do? Still slower than Amoonguss—just let Lao Shui humiliate you more?"
"At the end of the day, they just didn't bring our Lord Ant God. If Conkeldurr were replaced with slower Trapinch, Earthquake would've wiped them all!"
"LMAO, that's actually true!"
"Ant God eternal! Ant-men!"
"Ant-men!"
"."