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The effects of Taunt took hold only after a significant delay.
This would be absolutely impossible in the games, yet the reality facing Li Xiang told him that if a Pokémon's nature was slow/dull enough, the effects of Taunt could indeed be delayed.
'Another unique trait?'
It was probably a "side effect" leftover from its time as a Slowpoke...
Beyond that, Li Xiang couldn't think of any other possibility.
The current result was that the opponent had successfully set up Trick Room, its range large enough to cover the entire field.
Every Pokémon on Li Xiang's team was faster than Slowbro… a weakness his team couldn't avoid.
He sighed.
Trick Room, a Psychic-type status move. In the games, its effect allows slower Pokémon to move before faster ones, though priority is unaffected. In Li Xiang's world, Trick Room's effect was altered: it swapped the Speed stats of the two Pokémon within the space.
For example, now, Corviknight's Speed became Slowbro's Speed, and Slowbro's Speed became Corviknight's Speed.
If three Pokémon were present, the middle Speed stat remained unchanged. With four, the fastest and slowest swapped, the two in the middle swapped, and so on.
Priority-based speed boosts were still unaffected by Trick Room.
Overall, whether this was a buff or a nerf depended on the specific situation—it was a matter of opinion.
Fortunately, being slow here didn't necessarily mean losing the right to act; Trick Room was just the icing on the cake.
Wasn't Toxapex incredibly slow too, yet still managed to do everything it needed to right where it stood?
"Caww!"
Corviknight flapped its wings, stirring sky-blue air currents that swirled around the field. Purple mist rose from the ground, and an invisible wall in front of the Galarian Slowbro trembled before shattering with a crack.
Without a doubt, all of Toxapex's previous setups had been destroyed by Corviknight in one go.
Moreover, the residual poison on the ground had no effect on Corviknight either.
At most, under Trick Room, Galarian Slowbro's movement speed was a bit faster than Corviknight's, but it wouldn't affect Corviknight's physical agility.
"Flamethrower!"
"Beep!"
A thick pillar of fire shot from the shellfish head held by the Galarian Slowbro, aimed at Corviknight in mid-air. The crimson flames caused the air to distort!
Corviknight abruptly leaned backward, narrowly dodging the Flamethrower. A faint pink light glowed in front of it as a pink barrier materialized.
—Light Screen!
'Setting up screens isn't your exclusive trick!'
At that moment, due to its backward lean, Corviknight had to lower its flight altitude before climbing again.
Li Xiang's expression changed; he realized the Flamethrower was meant to force positioning.
Lowering its altitude... wasn't that giving Galarian Slowbro an opportunity?
Sure enough…
"Brick Break!"
The Galarian Slowbro suddenly leaped up, swinging its large shellfish glowing with a brown-red light, smashing down towards Corviknight's body!
Brick Break to shatter screens!
"Beep!"
The whistles sound grew slightly urgent.
The crown on Corviknight's head turned into a shining silver. It didn't dodge or evade, instead fiercely charging head-on towards the Galarian Slowbro!
Iron Head!
'Let's see who knocks whom back!'
Crack!
Boom!
The newly erected Light Screen shattered. Silver and brown-red collided, erupting in a sudden explosion before the two figures separated, each returning unscathed to the air or the ground.
The Galarian Slowbro, shedding its foolish expression, landed with instantly sharpened eyes, as if burning with fire!
The moves used in the collision had directly canceled each other out!
"A mixed attacker Slowbro? Impressive!"
Li Xiang was slightly shocked. He had thought the Galarian Slowbro was a special attacker, but it turned out to be a mixed attacker.
The move it used wasn't even STAB, yet its power was extraordinary. Being able to cancel out Corviknight's STAB Iron Head seemed quite exaggerated/amazing.
This was probably this Delinquent's ace Pokémon.
On the other side, the Delinquent was also surprised that his Slowbro had failed to overpower Corviknight in a contest of strength.
What exactly was this thing's role? Did it want endurance, speed, and attack? Plus so many supporting moves?
Where did it find the time to learn so many moves?
But it didn't matter.. Slowbro was already fired up!
As Corviknight used Screech, assailing the Galarian Slowbro's body and lowering its Defense, the Delinquent shouted in slang.
"Show your Gust! Slowbro! Aqua Cutter!"
'What the—!?'
Li Xiang didn't process it at first, then realized he was shouting about Guts.
'Isn't that supposed to be guts?! Is your Slowbro a damn Swellow??'
'Wasn't your Ability Quick Draw? Don't go too far! I've been tolerating that Slow Start for a while now!'
Li Xiang's mind was in disarray, internal alarms blaring, compelling him to stop blowing the whistle and shout directly, "Brave Bird!"
The decision was correct.
The opposing Galarian Slowbro seemed to have a switch flipped. Raising the large shellfish in its right hand high, water continuously gathered around it, forming an terrifyingly enormous water blade within mere seconds.
Its height nearly reached the ceiling of the spectator stands!
It was heart-stopping!
'Was this Aqua Cutter? This was clearly a God-Slaying Slash!'
Both Li Xiang and Corviknight were shocked, and the spectators gasped in astonishment.
A few seniors who had been watching with great interest even stood up, their expressions turning grave.
Holding this sky-piercing water blade with both hands, the Galarian Slowbro, gritting its teeth, brought it down with all its might upon Corviknight!
A Moses-parting-the-sea-style overhead slash!
As the long blade swung, wailing sounds filled the surroundings, emitting heart-trembling noises!
Even though the area was wide open and the water blade's attack range was narrow, Corviknight felt as if no matter how it dodged, it couldn't escape.
Should it dodge?
'—Dodge my ass!'
'I, Big Bro Crow, have been around for so long and haven't been afraid of anyone! Go ahead, try to slash me to death!'
Rage burned in Corviknight's heart. Blue-green flames erupted from its body, transforming it completely into a giant firebird that collided violently with the glowing blue sky-piercing blade!
BOOM——!!
Steam exploded, white mist and thick smoke mingling, instantly enveloping the entire battlefield, covering nearly the entire area in smoke!
Even the air above the field was obscured!
'What was the outcome?'
This thought flashed through the minds of everyone watching the match.
Professional blowers at the field's edge started working, quickly dispersing the thick smoke to reveal the scene inside.
The first to appear were the two trainers.
Both were sitting on the ground. One was frowning, expression puzzled; the other looked regretful, yet his face held hard-to-conceal shock.
Following that, the center of the field came into view.
Two Pokémon lay unconscious on the ground. Both had fainted.
It was a mutual knockout.
The referee, Nagayama Kunimi, hurriedly blew his whistle.
"Both sides are unable to battle!" he announced loudly. The spectator stands immediately erupted in hushed conversations.
On the field, Li Xiang frowned deeply.
'That move just now... was probably the Galarian Slowbro's trump card, right?'
No stat-boosting moves, not even a STAB move, yet it managed to one-shot KO the most defensive Pokémon on his team, Corviknight?
Was that reasonable?
Even if calling it a unique trait... this was just too unique!
If even Corviknight couldn't withstand it, Incineroar would probably struggle too.
Using Protect... would probably be risky. If it were the full-strength Protect from the games, that would be one thing, but this version of Protect, which could be broken by powerful enough regular moves, likely wouldn't hold up.
The opponent probably couldn't use that move multiple times. Even if they could, it would require certain conditions to be met.
The fact that it could charge up so quickly was likely due to the Quick Draw Ability.
From this perspective, using Protect would have been profitable, but the question was whether Corviknight could have continued fighting after the shield broke, or if it would need Roost to recover.
And during recovery, whether the Galarian Slowbro would have had enough strength left to finish off Corviknight.
It was even possible that Corviknight could have been hit in the wing, rendering it unable to fly, leading to it being hit by Flamethrower.
There were too many uncertain factors. All things considered, a mutual knockout was perhaps for the best.
There's always someone better, a higher sky beyond this one.
Li Xiang silently warned himself, keeping firmly in mind that he wasn't the only trainer in this world with "strange" Pokémon.
At the higher education institutes, where talents from all over Zhu Xia gathered, there were vast numbers of talented people.
He must guard against arrogance and impatience.
While he was thus introspecting, he was unaware that the Delinquent opposite him was even more shocked.
This blade was a secret technique he and his Galarian Slowbro had spent a full six years honing. After executing it, the Slowbro was half-spent and needed Slack Off to recover before it could continue.
So far, very few had been able to withstand this single slash.
As long as Galarian Slowbro had time to get fired up and the conditions were right, it could even slash down the Pokémon of the team captain and vice-captain.
Stat-boosting moves were superfluous; they would cause Galarian Slowbro to exhaust its stamina directly.
It was also by relying on this move that he had risen from a normal reserve member to an alternate (though technically still a reserve), even having a chance to become a regular.
But now… A mutual knockout?
'There's something wrong with this Corviknight! Did it take drugs before the match?!'
The Delinquent stared at the Corviknight in the center of the field, his fingers digging grooves into the ground.
...
In the spectator stands.
Tenzoji and Fukoja watched in silence.
In a short time, Li Xiang's Pokémon had successively demonstrated high levels, strong battle awareness, a variety of moves, and a high degree of mastery—results that usually took years to achieve.
Even Haruki was about to be defeated by him.
According to intelligence, the time Li Xiang had spent raising Pokémon was only three years.
Starting from zero... from knowing nothing or being a complete novice, personally raising so many Pokémon, in just three years… Could one really reach Li Xiang's level?
Even if he had started learning about battles very early on.. the strength of Pokémon like Incineroar was still hard to explain.
The trainer was a genius, and the Pokémon were even more talented, the combination of the two producing such results?
It couldn't be that every one of Li Xiang's Pokémon was a genius, could it?
And yet, this was how things stood now.
Upon entering higher education, teenage trainers would experience another period of rapid growth in strength. Li Xiang would likely be no exception.
"Tell me, if we tried to poach him now, could we succeed?" Tenzoji asked, turning his head.
"What do you think? Short of handing Sakura University over to him, what possibility is there that would make him give up on Mist City of all places?" Fukoja retorted, only to break his own composure with the question.
He looked up, covering his face with a hand, and said in an almost groaning tone, "He's only just started school."
As fellow trainers, how could they not be jealous upon seeing someone with such outstanding talent?
Realizing that this person was soon to become an opponent, how could they not pay the highest degree of attention?
Sakura University had also recruited several students who ranked in the top hundred of the Youth Training Camp. Fukoja had met them and even found opportunities to battle them.
Now, looking at Li Xiang again, Fukoja deeply understood why the point difference between first and second place could be so large.
What else could it be but a slaughterhouse when someone like this entered a place full of such "weaklings"?
Ring ring ring—
A phone rang.
Tenzoji answered, conversing with the person on the other end. After a moment, he hung up and turned, "The coach thinks the same as I do."
"And then?"
"I said it's impossible."
"Anything else?"
"The coach said to keep him for a meal. Also, after this match, no more battles. The reserve students can't take it anymore."
'Can't take it anymore.'
The phrase echoed in Fukoja's mind, and a cold expression appeared on his face.
Why couldn't they take it?
Because the students, seeing Li Xiang's Pokémon, were gradually realizing that they would have to compete against such monsters on the battlefield for the next few years.
What was more terrifying than being weak oneself was having no prospect of improvement.
Originally, even if other schools were stronger, they felt they could work hard and progress steadily through teamwork. But now, Li Xiang stood before them like a bronze wall.
Every member of the school team, whether reserve, alternate, or regular, wanted to reach the global stage, didn't they?
But Li Xiang had appeared, blocking the path of every higher institute that might face Mist City, mercilessly telling them— "No passage here."
Just thinking about it was frightening.
On the path of a trainer, there were three crucial elements:
Learning, Perseverance, Humility.
Among these, Perseverance was the most important.
How could one keep fighting after losing repeatedly? Even when there was no hope at all.
Struggling for over twenty years, with more than half of one's professional trainer lifespan gone, yet still not even touching the Ultra Ball rank, and still having to grit your teeth and move forward...
These were all unsolved difficult problems.
Zhu Xia had a total population of 200 million. The number of people holding trainer licenses was as high as 60 million.
The number of PokéBall rank trainers: 8 million.
The number of Great Ball rank trainers: 500,000.
The number of Ultra Ball rank trainers: less than 10,000.
The number of Master Ball rank trainers: just over 100.
And every year, the number of graduates or dropouts from Zhu Xia's higher institutes exceeded 20,000.
One could imagine how difficult and thorny the path of a trainer was.