Chapter 646: Forced Errors
Although pressure is invisible and intangible, no one can deny its existence.
Just like Aaron in the past, who was a killing machine in team training matches but often made bad decisions and performed inconsistently in real matches. He was eventually benched, remaining there until Arthur arrived.
This is the impact of pressure.
This phenomenon is not limited to Pokémon battles; there are countless examples in various traditional sports and esports.
There is a professional term called "forced error," which refers to mistakes made by high-level professional players not actively, but under pressure.
And at this moment on the field, Arthur was deliberately creating pressure and forcing errors from his opponent!
He could have saved this mid-battle switch authority, letting Lina take a bit more damage to fight Infernape directly.
But he didn't!
He deliberately switched to the little dragonfly at the last moment, creating an appearance that the little dragonfly would take all the kills, putting psychological pressure on the opponent!
Arthur was deliberately threatening a sweep!
In one fell swoop, he broke through the psychological defense of the Primordial Sea captain!
This mistake was fatal, allowing the little dragonfly to refresh her Dragon Dance!
Then the little dragonfly easily took out Infernape.
Triple kill!
And with two aces down, the calls for a sweep grew louder and louder. In the Primordial Sea captain's consciousness, the pressure was as heavy as dark clouds pressing down on the city...
Fourth round—
Arthur sent out Specter!
And at this time, having scored three points first, he had already obtained the second mid-battle switch authority.
Would he repeat the same trick? Would the opponent switch to that Flygon again at the last moment after wearing down my Pokémon? Does this person really want to sweep my whole team with one Pokémon?
When such distracting thoughts began to intrude, even a professional player found it difficult to concentrate fully.
Sweat poured down the Primordial Sea captain's temples.
In this round, he sent out his last remaining ace Pokémon: Bisharp.
But at the start, he misjudged again.
"Bisharp, fall back and Swords Dance!"
"Specter, Focus Blast!"
Arthur deliberately delayed his command at the start. Seeing the opponent use Swords Dance, he had Specter delay his Mega Evolution and launch a Fighting-type ultimate move, Focus Blast, with momentum like a Kamehameha.
Originally, Focus Blast gathered energy slowly and often missed during intense exchanges. It was a niche ultimate move with poor practicality in the arena, rarely chosen by anyone.
Unexpectedly, the Primordial Sea captain made a bad move right at the start, having Bisharp use Swords Dance on the spot. Shaking its hips seductively and posing alluringly, it was almost like it was seducing Specter to blast it.
This pose was too perfect, making Specter feel that not blasting it would be a disservice to nature's gift.
So a Qigong Focus Blast wave pushed forward!
Bisharp was sent flying on the spot!
Fighting-type moves are doubly super effective against Bisharp!
Instantly, the whole venue exclaimed, and the Hoenn audience wanted to bang the table in anger.
In the rest area, the Hoenn professional players were also gnashing their teeth in anger.
"What is that guy doing?! Bisharp has a huge type advantage against Gengar. Why rush to risk buffing at the start? Wouldn't fighting normally be a sure win?"
"Did he predict the opponent would evolve first and use Phantom Force? Come on! That was the Kubfu player's counter to Trick Room before. He doesn't necessarily start every match like that. Isn't this prediction blowing yourself up?"
"Why learn to predict like others when you have a type advantage? Just fight as you should!!"
Everyone was right. Bisharp's Dark/Steel typing gave it an absolute advantage against Gengar—
Dark resists and counters Ghost; Steel is largely immune to Poison and cannot be poisoned.
This type advantage was already quite terrifying.
It was so advantageous that even if Bisharp were just a slightly weaker counter-pick Pokémon, professional players would feel this round was winnable!
Not to mention Bisharp was the Primordial Sea captain's ace Pokémon!
Having an ultimate move shoved in his face at the start of a sure-win game was unacceptable to many.
Only Arnold, who had just been a victim recently, sighed and barely spoke a fair word for his friend on the field.
"He was forced too. Trailing by too much, he probably wanted to gamble."
And Steven, sitting in the back row, hit the nail on the head again.
"His heart is already in chaos."
When the heart is chaotic, operations become deformed.
This is true in any competitive sport.
And this chaos directly triggered a chain reaction, causing the Primordial Sea captain to slide towards the abyss even faster!
Then Specter evolved!
Shadow Tag ability activated!
The most domineering aspect of this championship ability, once popular in the arena, is that it can seal all the maneuvering space for the disadvantaged side. Once one's side has a certain advantage, the enemy will feel very desperate facing this ability!
No chance to stall or maneuver!
Once the bayonets are drawn, there's no holding back!
Both Pokémon's conditions declined very quickly!
Before long, Bisharp couldn't hold on anymore.
And at this time, Arthur took out his Poké Ball again, timing it perfectly to recall Specter with a beam of red light, dodging an incoming Night Slash.
Even though Arthur gave up his mid-battle switch authority, equivalent to consuming a tactical switch opportunity, the Primordial Sea side should be happy.
However, seeing Gengar retreat, the Primordial Sea captain's face became increasingly gloomy and uneasy.
Gulp.
He swallowed hard.
The thing he feared most finally happened—
Facing the heavily damaged Bisharp, Arthur sent out the little dragonfly again!
The whole venue cheered, and the audience seats boiled over!
"Sweep the team!! Six kills!! Sweep the team!! Six kills!!"
Except for the audience from Hoenn, fans from other regions didn't mind watching the fun. At this moment, they all shouted excitedly, pushing the atmosphere of the stadium to a climax!
The enthusiastic atmosphere and the cheers of the audience were like sharp knives stabbing into the Primordial Sea captain's heart.
The more he feared the abyss, the closer the abyss stepped, gazing at him affectionately.
Soon, the little dragonfly, still retaining the Dragon Dance buff, easily finished off the low-health Bisharp with Earthquake.
Quadra kill!
The little dragonfly had four kills!
And she still had the Dragon Dance buff!
The opponent's ace Pokémon were all down, leaving only two counter-pick Pokémon, one of which was confirmed to be a Grimmsnarl with little offensive capability!
She was on a killing spree!
The feat of a single Pokémon sweeping the team was close at hand!
This was a true feat!
A feat worthy of being written into the history of the Champions Cup!
At this moment, the Primordial Sea captain looked at the screaming and reveling audience, trembling all over in the heat, his hands and feet cold.
It's over...
This time, it's really all over...
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