Chapter 466: Why Are You So Good At This?
Seeing Arthur send out Mismagius, Forrest decisively sent Absol back into the fray. Both were single-type Pokémon, and the Dark-type Absol had a natural type advantage over the Ghost-type Mismagius. Even though Absol was the weakest of Forrest's three aces in a straight fight, the type matchup alone was enough to give him the confidence to use it here.
Dark is super-effective against Ghost. The advantage is mine!
He even tried to get greedy at the start, attempting to set up another play. "Absol, use Future Sight!"
But Arthur immediately shut down this nefarious manipulation of the timeline. "Mismagius, use Torment!"
The Dark-type move: Torment. It used a mental suggestion to prevent the opponent from using the same move twice in a row. Mismagius hovered in the air, swaying gently. Upon seeing this, Absol was struck by a sudden, inexplicable feeling of guilt. It hadn't done anything wrong, yet this guilt gnawed at its conscience like an unshakable parasite, making it resist the urge to use Future Sight again.
Before Forrest could even react, Arthur continued, "Mismagius, close in!"
Forced to abandon his setup, Forrest switched to offense. "Pounce and attack!"
After a brief exchange, Arthur saw an opening as Absol leaped forward and gave a decisive command: "Now! Use Skill Swap!"
The next moment, Mismagius spun, the hem of its ghostly cloak brushing against Absol's face as it flew past. The move activated on contact. Absol, having just missed its pounce, suddenly found that it couldn't come down from its mid-air jump.
"???"
It began to doggy-paddle frantically with all four paws, but it remained stuck, hovering in the air. At the same time, Mismagius, having landed gracefully, felt a wave of exhilarating power, as if fortune itself was on its side. It had swapped its Levitate ability for its opponent's Super Luck.
This opening exchange made Forrest frown slightly. He keenly sensed something: this Mismagius seemed unusually proficient with these strange, unconventional moves. The execution was too smooth, and the cooldown seemed to be compressed to the absolute minimum. This Mismagius was likely not weak at all.
Next, Mismagius unleashed a Will-O-Wisp. But this time, Absol was luckier than Salamence had been.
"Absol, use Magic Coat!"
Absol had a move specifically designed to counter status effects like this. Forrest timed the command perfectly, pulling off another brilliant, highlight-reel-worthy play. The commentator praised it, "Beautiful! The timing on that Magic Coat was absolutely perfect!"
Forrest had finally managed to read Arthur for once. But it was ultimately of little consequence.
"Mismagius, use Aromatherapy." Mismagius wasn't bothered by status effects.
A moment later, Arthur gave another command: "Mismagius, use Astonish!"
Mismagius let out a piercing shriek, its eyes glowing red as it created a terrifying illusion to startle Absol. This time, perhaps fate was on its side. The illusion Mismagius created must have struck a nerve deep within Absol's psyche. The battle-hardened ace actually flinched in fear, its body freezing solid for a moment.
Mismagius took the opportunity to circle behind it and once again inflicted it with Will-O-Wisp. This left Forrest feeling utterly helpless.
Back in the lounge, the Blaze Team members were discussing the match with mixed feelings.
"This Mismagius… is it strong or weak?"
"It doesn't have much offensive power, but if you say it's weak, how is it so good at all these dirty tricks?"
"How can it be so skilled? Just how many opponents has it played dirty against?!"
Furthermore, the fact that it could make Absol flinch, even with the help of the Super Luck ability, was proof that Mismagius's own base power wasn't that far behind Absol's. A weak Pokémon could rarely intimidate one that was much stronger.
No one could understand it, not even Forrest himself. How in the world does Arthur train his Pokémon? This breaks all the fundamental rules!
But regardless of whether Mismagius was playing by the rules, Forrest was beginning to realize that he had been careless. He had underestimated this Mismagius. Even if it wasn't an ace, it was still one of Arthur's Pokémon. And his Pokémon were capable of anything.
He had no choice but to abandon his Future Sight setup and focus on the present. "Absol, use Snarl!"
Snarl would disrupt the enemy's energy flow and lower its special attack. He refused to believe that Arthur wouldn't go on the offensive eventually. This was a preemptive measure.
But Arthur was in no hurry. "Use Torment again."
Well, now he had to switch moves again. Forrest sighed and used another move slot. "Absol, use Dark Pulse instead!"
And still, Arthur wasn't rushing. It was only after Absol had finally gotten used to its new floating body and couldn't resist pouncing again that Arthur revealed his true fangs.
"Now! Use Pain Split!"
"?!"
Forrest's eyes widened again. Arthur had outplayed him once more.
In the lounge, the Blaze Team players groaned. "Oh come on! How can he be so dirty?!"
"Arthur, I never thought you were this kind of person!"
On the field, Mismagius looked innocent. In the past, it had only ever used this move to genuinely share Specter's pain. How could they call that dirty? It was clearly Specter's guardian angel. And if that angel happened to reveal a devious little smile when its target was someone other than Specter, well, that was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?
Pain Split forcibly averaged out the health of both Pokémon. When the power levels of the two were close, this averaging was an irresistible force of nature, much like Shuckle's Power Split. In an instant, countless tiny wounds appeared all over Absol's body. At the same time, Mismagius, which had been hit repeatedly by Snarl and Dark Pulse, looked as if it had just swallowed a miracle cure, its wounds visibly healing.
Even the stoic Forrest almost lost his composure at the sight. I can't believe you, Arthur! You look so honest, yet you're so skilled at these dirty tricks! I actually thought you were a gentleman!
Arthur's expression remained calm and unchanged. Can you really call what a competitor does 'dirty'? This is called tactics.
Forrest was left speechless. He had been truly careless this round. Who could have imagined that one of Arthur's non-ace Pokémon would have so many tricks and strategies up its sleeve? And that Pain Split was unleashed so quickly it was impossible to react to, so practiced it was painful to watch.
Forrest was out of options. After two more cycles of Absol attacking, getting flinched by Astonish, and then being hit with Pain Split, Absol, lacking a powerful finishing move, was unable to end the match quickly. In the end, it was slowly dragged to "death" by Mismagius.
The referee raised his flag. "Mismagius and Absol are both unable to battle!"
The two had fought to a mutual knockout. But this was a result Forrest simply could not accept. Absol was his last ace! And the Future Sight he had set up at the beginning had been consumed in this round because it had dragged on for too long.
And now, Arthur had four points. This final match was, at the very least, going into overtime.
Starlight and Frost was now just one step away from victory.
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