Chapter 381: It's Already Over
For a long time, Arthur had been dissatisfied with the extremely pragmatic and utilitarian approach to Pokémon training in the modern professional circuit.
But just complaining like an angry youth would only make people laugh; it was meaningless.
What he really needed to think about was how to use these people's methods to specifically counter them!
What is the drawback of a utilitarian training style? Naturally, it's the lack of bond and chemistry between a trainer and their Pokémon.
But in an arena duel, the lack of a bond doesn't affect a trainer's ability to command. So, what could be done?
In this round, Arthur presented an answer he had been contemplating for a long time—
Design an environment where the trainer cannot command freely!
The dense fog obscured the view, and Leo could no longer see the situation on the field.
Relying purely on their mental link, the chemistry between him and his Hydreigon was no match for Arthur and Specter!
"Use Fly! Ascend and break out of the fog!"
Helpless, Leo could only try to have his Hydreigon escape the range of the fog as quickly as possible.
The Flying-type move: Fly!
It can instantly grant a Pokémon a vertical acceleration, allowing it to soar into the sky in an instant!
But Arthur was not concerned.
Since he had designed this tactic, how could he let his opponent escape so easily?
"Specter, use Perish Song!"
As a fellow Ghost-type, Specter naturally also knew Perish Song.
And his strength was greater than Mismagius's. Before his body had started to fail, in his prime, he was a full tier stronger than the Hydreigon in the sky!
Unlike the calm situation with Mismagius, when Specter sang Perish Song, if Hydreigon didn't find a way to stop it, after hearing the whole song, it would really die!
"Dive down! Stop him!"
Helpless, Leo once again gave the command. The Hydreigon that had just ascended had to dive back down.
"Stop singing. Play with it! Use Ice Punch later!"
When Hydreigon returned to the fog, Specter immediately stopped singing. It nimbly weaved through the fog, dodging the bites of the opponent's three heads.
The moment its cooldown was over, it secretly used Ice Punch to hammer the two side heads of its opponent.
Hydreigon is very suited for the move Crunch, precisely because it has three heads and three mouths.
But now, with Specter appearing and disappearing in the fog, it first focused on one head, beat it senseless, then moved on to the next.
Gradually, Hydreigon's Crunch counterattacks grew weaker and weaker.
Two of its heads were now covered in frost, its mouths cracked, its cheeks swollen. It looked utterly miserable.
Only the middle head was relatively intact.
Unfortunately, even with three intact heads, it couldn't catch Specter. Now, with only one head left that could bite, it had even less of a chance.
In his mental link, Leo continuously received useless, complaining feedback from Hydreigon. He was also suffering.
"Use Snarl!"
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he used his last move slot.
The Dark-type, sound-based move, Snarl, deals damage while also disrupting the enemy's energy flow, suppressing their special attack.
Although this debuff would also be slowly cleared by the Haze, he couldn't worry about that now.
A sound-based move was the safest, most reliable damage-dealing skill that was guaranteed not to miss!
But at this moment, Arthur smiled.
It was the calm confidence of someone who knew the battle was already decided.
Because his opponent had already used up all of his move slots, he deliberately gave a silent command through their mental link—
"Specter, use Confuse Ray!"
Visibility in the fog was extremely low, making it difficult for the trainer to make a prediction.
And Hydreigon's own combat experience was clearly not enough for it to anticipate Specter's intentions.
It wasn't until Leo received the feedback through his own mental link, and saw the referee, with the help of his instruments, silently add another move to the skill counter, that he finally realized his mistake.
But it was too late.
Confuse Ray deals no damage, but it left Hydreigon in a state of confusion!
And at this point, Leo had used up all six of his move slots. He no longer had a way to cure this confusion!
The dense fog had ultimately been his undoing!
If he had been able to see with his own eyes, he could have commanded Hydreigon to dodge in advance, or even used Taunt to prevent Specter from using the move.
But alas, there were no "if onlys" in this match…
The chemistry between him and his Hydreigon had been completely outclassed by his opponent from the very beginning!
The newcomer commentator was still spouting his usual nonsense at this point.
"This is truly magnificent! The two Pokémon are locked in a fierce struggle! The battle is incredibly intense!! Teacher Hwang, who are you more optimistic about now?"
But suddenly, after seeing the referee add a move to the counter, Sage Hwang paused, then spoke, cutting off his partner without any mercy.
"It's already over…"
"Alright, Teacher Hwang is more optimistic about—uh, Teacher Hwang… what did you just say?"
The newcomer commentator was completely bewildered.
Weren't we supposed to just blindly hype things up since we can't see anything? What's going on? Sage, how did you suddenly get clairvoyance?
Sage Hwang ignored his confusion and took over the conversation.
"Arthur just secretly used a Confuse Ray in the fog. Judging from the fact that Leo showed no prior awareness and gave no command, that one must have hit. Hydreigon has now used up all six of its move slots and can no longer cure the confusion. It hasn't even cured the poison status from before. As things stand, this round should be over. We can basically congratulate Arthur in advance on scoring another point!"
When Sage Hwang finished speaking, at first, everyone was skeptical.
"For real?"
"Is it really over that quickly? Hydreigon is a pseudo-legendary, right?"
"Is the Sage starting to jinx again?"
The live stream chat was also mostly filled with doubt. After all, in this match so far, the Sage's mouth had been blessed more than once.
But unexpectedly, Sage Hwang added another sentence, killing all suspense.
"This is not my prediction. This is an objective fact that has already happened. I am just interpreting it."
Now, the number of believers suddenly skyrocketed!
Sage Hwang's predictions are definitely not to be trusted. Anyone who believes them is a fool. Betting against them, on the other hand, has an astonishing accuracy rate!
But Sage Hwang's analysis of the situation can be trusted.
You can always trust the Sage's professional ability!
Sure enough, just a minute or two later, the referee had already stood up, repeatedly adjusting the special infrared goggles on his face.
This meant he was ready to raise his flag at any moment!
And this time, Leo chose a more dignified exit.
He didn't wait for the referee to raise the flag and declare the result. He took out his Poké Ball himself and, from within the dense fog, recalled his Hydreigon, signaling his forfeit.
The confusion couldn't be cured. There was no point in continuing. He had already gotten a few more roars out of Hydreigon after that, which was a small gain.
Although the audience didn't see the specific battle process in the fog, the final result undoubtedly verified what the Sage had said earlier!
The live fans once again erupted!
Arthur had truly subverted everyone's expectations!
Not only had he overtaken Leo.
He was even further widening the gap in the match
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