The battle commenced.
The starting Pokémon for both sides were Kilowattrel and Mimikyu.
“Huh?
Is that Mimikyu, the special Pokémon from the Alola region?” As the Gym Leader of Levincia, Iono was extremely familiar with Pokémon.
“This Pokémon’s ability is very powerful—it can completely block an attack’s damage once.
So we shouldn’t rush into an offensive clash.
Kilowattrel, Tailwind!” Under her oversized punk sleeves, her small hands gestured softly, giving a sweet wink toward the camera.
“Quick Iono tip: Kilowattrel’s Wind Power ability lets it enter the Charge state after using Tailwind~” The exquisite young girl’s sweet wink undoubtedly dealt a mountain of damage to her stream fans.
Even the trolls who had hopped over from Xia Chi’s stream started spamming “I’m dying from cuteness” in the chat.
After Kilowattrel finished using Tailwind, Mimikyu’s Trick Room immediately followed.
“Huh?
Trick Room?” Iono knit her brows in slight surprise.
“That move is pretty rare.
It kind of counters our Tailwind setup…” Because combat in *Pokémon: Champion’s Road* involved real-time commanding, there wasn’t much time for Iono to overthink it.
“Whatever, let’s play normally!” Iono continued commanding: “Kilowattrel, Air Cutter!” “We need to watch out for Mimikyu’s Disguise ability, so let me break it first with Air Cutter.” Because of Trick Room, the speed order was reversed.
Before Kilowattrel could flap its white-glowing wings and approach, a pitch-black ball of energy suddenly shot out.
“Shadow Ball?” Iono giggled softly.
“This guy is finally using some normal moves.” The Shadow Ball hit on screen, dropping Kilowattrel’s HP by a small chunk.
Iono didn’t care at all.
With that kind of damage output, Kilowattrel could easily hold out for a good while longer.
Air Cutter successfully broke Mimikyu’s Disguise.
What followed was Iono’s true offensive surge.
“Kilowattrel, Thunderbolt!” Brilliant electrical sparks continuously erupted on the screen.
Although Kilowattrel’s Speed was heavily reduced, under the Charge state, it was brewing a thunderous strike packed with power.
“Shui Ye, take my Thunderbolt!” With a cute shout from Iono, the electrical light on screen flared to its peak and instantly exploded.
“Heh heh, my Kilowattrel is maxed out on Special Attack EVs!
A tiny Mimikyu definitely can’t hold out!” Iono’s triumphant smile vanished right alongside the dispersing light.
It transferred directly to the face of a brownish, big-headed ant standing resolutely in the center of the screen.
“W-What is this…
Trapinch?!” Iono’s wide-open mouth conveyed her utter astonishment.
“That guy actually sent out a first-stage Pokémon?!” It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed Xia Chi’s team preview, but at the time, Iono had assumed the Trapinch was just there to fill a slot.
After all, who would actually use Trapinch as a main battle Pokémon?
Thus, she had completely failed to consider that the Ground-type Trapinch could immune a Thunderbolt boosted by Charge.
At this moment, the chat in Iono’s stream reached a peak.
“LMAO, I knew old mate Shui would never disappoint me.” “I really love that line from Iono: ‘What can a Trapinch do?'” “Do your best, big ant without antennae!” Iono forced herself to stay calm.
“It’s fine.
Even if it tanked that Thunderbolt, a Trapinch is still just a Trapinch.
It’s a Pokémon that can’t even compare to Charmander.
It poses zero threat to our Kilowattrel.” Flustered, Iono hadn’t considered at all how terrifying a Trapinch—a Pokémon even slower than Torkoal—could be under Trick Room…
Meanwhile, inside a certain dormitory at Hushi University.
“Stone Edge!” Having set up the field, Xia Chi launched an all-out assault.
A massive, razor-sharp rock erupted from the ground, thrusting straight toward Kilowattrel in midair.
As mentioned before, *Pokémon: Champion’s Road* wasn’t a simple turn-based game.
It highly simulated real-life Pokémon battles.
Whether it was movement commands or legendary skills like “Dodge it!”, the game gave players ample room for playmaking.
Precisely because of this mechanic, the combined effect of Trick Room and Tailwind reversed the speed of the two Pokémon even more thoroughly.
The audience watched as a brownish, big-headed ant darted across the field like lightning, dodging Air Cutters.
Kilowattrel, which should have been nimble, hung in midair like a sitting duck, getting mercilessly skewered by Stone Edge.
With every rising rock pillar, Iono grew more tilted behind her screen.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to switch Kilowattrel out, but whether it was her backline Mismagius or Luxray, both high-speed Pokémon couldn’t escape this deadly Trick Room.
All Iono could do now was try her best to stall out the opponent’s Trick Room and her own Tailwind.
“That guy will definitely chain another Trick Room when this one ends.
The moment he switches Trapinch out is my best opportunity!” Iono gnashed her sharp shark teeth, growling, “Once I deal with that Mimikyu, just watch how I torture him!” Harsh words couldn’t change the state of the match.
Kilowattrel’s durability was already weak, and taking consecutive double-effective Stone Edges proved too much.
No matter how well Iono had trained it, Kilowattrel failed to survive the duration of Trick Room.
With a strange cry from Trapinch, it crashed down in defeat.
Left with no choice, Iono was forced to switch in her second Pokémon, Luxray.
She muttered to herself, “Don’t panic, there’s still a chance.
Our Luxray has the Intimidate ability, which lowers that Trapinch’s Attack by one stage…” Before she could finish her sentence, Trapinch struck with an Earthquake.
Iono’s eyes went dark.
“An immediate Earthquake?!
Isn’t this guy afraid I’d switch into Mismagius?!” Mismagius had the Levitate ability, making it completely immune to Ground-type moves.
Yet, whether Xia Chi was blind-guessing or predicting her play, the pre-empted Earthquake hit the newly arrived Luxray square on.
The bad news was that Trapinch possessed the Hyper Cutter ability, which prevented its Attack stat from being lowered.
The double-effective STAB Earthquake came close to one-shotting Luxray.
The good news was that Trick Room ended right after that Earthquake.
“The counterattack begins now!” Keenly seizing the window of opportunity, Iono shouted, “Luxray, charge in!
Ice Fang!” Without the support of Trick Room, a Trapinch that possessed pure offense and no speed was no different from a sitting duck.
A single Ice Fang was enough to instantly obliterate the frail Trapinch.
However, in a flash of light, Trapinch instantly vanished from the screen.
In its place stood a slender, blue and pink figure—Hatterene.
“He switched to another Pokémon that can set up Trick Room?” The sudden switch didn’t surprise Iono.
She had already figured out the tactical core of Xia Chi’s lineup: using Trick Room to create an offensive environment for low-speed Pokémon.
“If I knock you out before you can cast Trick Room, your strategy falls apart!” Iono giggled.
“Luxray, Volt Switch!” As electrical light coursed, Luxray instantly dashed in front of Hatterene.
The previous attack had already dealt damage to Hatterene.
As long as this Volt Switch landed, the incoming Mismagius could follow up with a double-effective Shadow Ball.
Iono was confident she could knock Hatterene down before it set up Trick Room!
Yet, the light of a Pokémon swap flashed once more.
That brownish, big-headed ant reappeared on the battlefield.
And so, inside the livestream room named “IonoZone,” only a sharp, earsplitting shriek remained, echoing like Exploud’s Boomburst: “I’M DONE PLAYING!”