Chapter 462: Future Sight
Absol is a rare Pokémon with a quadrupedal beast's body and a humanoid face. They are seldom seen in the wild, preferring to inhabit remote, high mountain ranges, and are thus often shrouded in an aura of mystery.
Due to their innate talent for vaguely perceiving impending natural disasters within a certain radius, coupled with a generally gentle and benevolent nature, they often try to warn other intelligent creatures of the calamities they foresee. This has led to Absol being strongly associated with the word "disaster" for a very long time. In more superstitious times, people couldn't distinguish between predicting a disaster and causing one, and so they branded it with the title of "Disaster Pokémon."
In the modern era, scientific progress has dispelled such superstitions, but the ancient title "The White Disaster" has been preserved. Today, however, the title no longer symbolizes misfortune and suffering. Instead, it adds a certain cool, edgy flair to Absol. Many young people love the name, not because they're grateful for the Pokémon's warnings, but simply because it sounds incredibly cool and powerful when you say it, like "Dark Flame Master."
However, not many trainers have chosen to use this Pokémon in the professional league. Firstly, they are extremely rare and therefore expensive, and their lack of an evolutionary line means they have a very long development period. Secondly, the Pokémon's overall potential doesn't quite justify its high price and long training time.
Absol are generally quite frail, and that includes Forrest's captain-level ace. Even among its peers, it's considered a glass cannon. But because of this, he developed a very unusual tactical system.
From the very start of the match, Forrest revealed the core move of this system. "Absol, use Future Sight!"
It was the Psychic-type ultimate move that maximized Absol's predictive talents: Future Sight! A very peculiar and niche move that even most Psychic-type specialists rarely master. In daily life, it could be used to sense vague, fragmented images of an uncertain future. Pokémon not specialized in the move could rarely perform targeted, specific predictions, making it more suitable for fortune-telling and theatrics than practical use.
In battle, however, its effect was even more unique. The move allowed the user to project their psychic power onto an illusory timeline, delaying the attack's activation. This psychic blast would then be hidden at a future point in time, erupting suddenly to catch the opponent completely off guard.
Admittedly, it was a very cool concept. You could use the move, then coolly state, "You are already knocked out," turn your back, and wait for the opponent to be struck down by the sudden psychic blast ten or twenty seconds later, leaving only your dramatic silhouette behind.
It's just that almost no one used it on the professional stage. A short delay was pointless—you might as well just attack directly. A longer delay could potentially set up the next matchup, but it came with a significant risk: professional matches have mid-game intermissions. If you chose the wrong point on the timeline, and the psychic blast was set to go off during the break, the move would be a complete waste. This wasn't an unheard-of occurrence in past professional matches.
The reason Forrest utilized this strategy, besides Absol's own exceptional predictive talent, was because his Absol's ability was Super Luck. In reality, this ability, true to its name, brought an extraordinary amount of good fortune, meaning Absol's chosen detonation point for the psychic blast was rarely a dud.
"Specter, Mega Evolve! Close in with Sludge Bomb!"
Arthur didn't even bother with Phantom Force this time; it was too slow. He also wasn't aiming for the Shadow Tag trap, because he knew Forrest would recall Absol soon enough. All he wanted was to deal as much damage as possible to Absol in the limited time he had.
That's right, Forrest's strategy was a long-delay Future Sight. He was setting up for a later battle. This was also why, in the previous round, he had allowed Lucario to be defeated by Greninja rather than exercising his right to switch Pokémon mid-battle. He always saved his switch-out for coordinating with Absol.
"Again, Future Sight!"
After casting Future Sight twice, Forrest decisively recalled Absol.
Time ticked by, second by second. The first psychic attack from Future Sight had still not arrived.
Forrest then sent out his final ace: his own goofy, younger Salamence.
"Awoooo~"
The moment it appeared, the young Salamence let out a peculiar, warbling howl. The audience was already used to its antics. The commentator chuckled, "Trainer Forrest's Salamence is as playful as ever."
But playful or not, when it came time to battle, this captain-level Salamence was an extremely fierce fighter. It was bold enough to tease its own Champion-level father; in a real battle, it was utterly fearless.
On Arthur's side, he showed no intention of switching Pokémon. Specter remained on the field. But when the broadcast camera panned to the trainer's platform, it showed Arthur's expression had become exceptionally grave.
"This is going to be tough for Arthur, isn't it?"
In the Starlight and Frost lounge, everyone was starting to sweat for him. The Salamence currently on the field was no weakling. And hidden on the illusory timeline were two devastatingly powerful psychic blasts, waiting to erupt at any moment.
This was the torment of facing Forrest's Absol: the most dangerous attack is the one you don't know when is coming. Perhaps it was due to the Super Luck ability, or the trainer's own keen judgment, but so far this season, Forrest's Future Sight had only misfired once. Every other time, it had hit its mark, often exploding at a critical moment to deliver a decisive, final blow.
Every professional trainer who had faced Forrest this season could empathize with the feeling. Knowing an attack is coming, but not knowing when, was agonizing.
The battle resumed. Specter was on constant alert for the impending psychic impact. Forrest, however, was now free to launch a bold, all-out assault.
"Salamence, dive! Use Crunch!"
He wasn't worried about Specter's Shadow Tag ability this round. Salamence wasn't a glass cannon like Absol. Its thick hide and tough body meant it had no fear of being trapped in a one-on-one duel. Not to mention, it had the hidden Future Sight attacks to support it.
In this matchup, Salamence seemed to be completely at ease.
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