The tiny flame atop Litwick’s head suddenly erupted into a thick cloud of black mist, quickly spreading across the battlefield.
Within seconds, the entire arena was engulfed.
From the spectator stands, only the upper half of Onix’s towering body remained visible above the swirling darkness.
Already small to begin with, Litwick immediately followed up with Minimize, shrinking its body to nearly half its original size.
Now…
It was practically impossible to see.
“Onix!”
“Use Rock Slide!”
“Crush it in one hit!”
Onix’s eyesight had never been particularly good.
Its enormous body only made matters worse.
Inside the Black Mist, it couldn’t see anything.
After Litwick minimized itself…
It completely vanished from Onix’s vision.
Unable to locate its opponent, Onix fired off a Rock Slide blindly across the battlefield.
Unfortunately…
Lady Luck wasn’t on its side.
The attack completely missed.
Onix could only turn helplessly toward its Trainer, silently asking what to do next.
Roxanne frowned.
She had been distracted by how adorable Litwick looked earlier and hadn’t paid attention to where it moved before the mist covered everything.
Before she could think of a solution…
Onix suddenly felt a burning pain shoot through its tail.
Startled, the massive Rock Snake twisted its head around.
Inside the black fog…
A tiny blue flame was quietly burning at the tip of its tail.
Before it could even make out what it was…
The blue flame disappeared back into the darkness.
What Onix didn’t realize…
Was that it had already been inflicted with a burn.
The searing pain continued to sap its strength with every passing second.
“Don’t rely on your eyes!”
“Use your senses!”
Roxanne suddenly shouted.
There was an interesting fact recorded in the Pokédex.
The magnet inside Onix’s brain acts like a compass, allowing it to travel underground without losing its sense of direction.
Closing its eyes…
Onix relied on the magnetic field surrounding the battlefield.
Soon…
It located Litwick.
The Ghost Pokémon was hiding in one of the arena’s corners.
Roy raised an eyebrow.
Looks like Roxanne really does deserve her reputation.
She has talent.
“Use Slam!”
Roy immediately took that thought back.
She has talent…
Just not enough.
Litwick didn’t even bother dodging.
Onix’s enormous tail slammed straight through Litwick’s body…
Without causing the slightest bit of damage.
The tail simply…
Passed through it.
The crowd that had been preparing to celebrate Onix’s victory instantly froze.
“What?”
“Why did it go through?”
Several senior students familiar with Ghost-type Pokémon immediately began explaining.
“Ghost-types are immune to Normal-type and Fighting-type moves.”
“Unless your Pokémon knows Foresight or has the Scrappy Ability…”
“You simply can’t hit them with those attacks.”
Educational moment…
Over.
Within the black mist…
A rainbow-colored beam suddenly struck Onix squarely between the eyes.
Its vision blurred.
Strange lights exploded across its mind.
Colorful rings spun endlessly before its eyes.
Something…
Was interfering with its emotions.
Then…
The little candle floated right in front of it with an infuriating grin.
It turned around…
And slapped its tiny wax-covered backside in blatant mockery.
I can tolerate this…
But my ancestors certainly can’t!
Onix completely exploded with rage.
Its massive tail whipped violently toward Litwick.
Smack!
A sharp pain erupted through its body.
Only then did Onix realize…
The Litwick it had attacked…
Was actually itself.
Before its rocky brain could process what had happened…
Another Litwick appeared.
Then another.
And another.
Soon…
Dozens of Litwick danced around it inside the fog.
Every single one mocked it.
Every single one taunted it.
Onix completely lost its mind.
It began attacking wildly.
Rock Slide.
Tail Slam.
Gyro Ball.
Anything it could think of.
Unfortunately…
Most of those attacks landed on…
Itself.
No matter how desperately Roxanne shouted from the command platform…
Onix ignored every command.
She had completely lost control of her Pokémon.
Thankfully…
Its level wasn’t high enough to seriously damage the arena.
The audience stared in utter confusion.
“Why is Onix beating itself up?”
Eventually…
Its stamina ran dry.
Its Sturdy Ability activated, allowing it to barely hang on.
But another wave of burning pain surged through its body.
The lingering burn from Litwick’s Will-O-Wisp finally consumed the last of its remaining strength.
Boom!
Onix’s massive body crashed heavily onto the battlefield.
Its eyes turned into spirals.
It had lost…
Without ever clearly seeing where its opponent had been.
The Black Mist slowly dispersed.
Standing alone in the center of the battlefield…
Was a tiny palm-sized Litwick happily hopping around.
It was so small…
That anyone not paying close attention could easily overlook it.
Silence.
Complete silence filled the arena.
Roxanne stood motionless on the command platform.
I…
Lost?
How?
Where did Litwick disappear to?
Why did Onix suddenly attack itself?
Questions flooded her mind one after another.
She wasn’t the only one.
The spectators were equally stunned.
Especially Roxanne’s loyal followers.
Their faith in their boss had begun to crumble.
Was…
Was that even a battle?
They had watched the entire match…
Yet somehow understood nothing.
Even the girls who had been cheering for Litwick earlier fell silent.
The cute little candle didn’t seem nearly as adorable anymore.
From the moment Roy calmly ordered,
“Black Mist.”
“Minimize.”
Litwick had completely vanished from everyone’s sight.
They had expected a passionate head-on Pokémon battle.
Instead…
All they saw was Onix frantically attacking itself while Roy’s tiny candle Pokémon seemed to disappear into thin air.
Even the referee looked completely bewildered.
Fortunately…
Lina, who had come to watch the match out of concern, quietly reminded him.
Only then did the referee realize…
The battle had already ended.
“Onix is unable to battle!”
“The winner is…”
“Roy’s…”
He paused awkwardly.
“…”
He had absolutely no idea what Roy’s Pokémon was called.
Unlike everyone else…
Lina had watched the entire battle through the arena’s infrared cameras, which could partially see through the Black Mist.
The moment Litwick used Minimize, it immediately landed a Will-O-Wisp on Onix’s tail.
Then…
It vanished into the mist.
Another Minimize further increased its evasiveness.
Using the battlefield’s magnetic field, Onix eventually located Litwick.
Unfortunately…
Roxanne had ordered Slam.
A Normal-type move.
Against a Ghost-type.
It passed harmlessly through Litwick…
Allowing Litwick to retaliate at point-blank range with Confuse Ray.
Confuse Ray
The user projects a sinister beam of light that confuses the target.
Once confused…
Onix began attacking itself relentlessly.
Meanwhile…
Hidden safely in the corner…
Litwick calmly used Minimize again.
By that point…
Even Lina almost lost sight of it through the infrared camera.
The burn continued draining Onix’s health.
Pain only made the confused Onix even angrier.
Eventually…
It ignored every command Roxanne gave.
In truth…
More than half the damage Onix suffered…
Came from hitting itself while confused.
The burn accounted for less than half of its remaining HP.
Which also meant…
From beginning to end…
Onix never landed a single successful hit on Litwick.
Lina couldn’t help shivering.
The cheerful, sunshine-filled boy I met this morning…
Was that really the same Trainer who just fought this battle?
What…
What kind of absolutely disgusting strategy was that?
Is this really my student?
Her prejudice toward Ghost-type Trainers quietly increased by one level.
While everyone was still frozen in shock…
Roy quietly decided this was the perfect opportunity to escape before someone tried to beat him up.
He caught the returning Litwick as it floated back onto his shoulder.
Then, while slipping toward the exit, he casually called out,
“A bet’s a bet.”
“I’ll be waiting for my love letter tomorrow.”
Only then did Roxanne snap back to reality.
She hurriedly recalled Onix into its Poké Ball…
Then sprinted toward the academy’s Pokémon Center, clutching it tightly in her hands.