Where was the promised welfare round??
Iono looked at the Gliscor on screen with its calm, unhurried smile, and couldn't help but lament internally, feeling completely powerless.
Of course, there was a Ground-type Pokémon; this was way too torturous!
She felt like she wasn't challenging a gym but solving a headache-inducing puzzle where every move her opponent made was beyond her expectations, completely unpredictable.
But having come this far, she could only grit her teeth and continue. Every bit of information she could gather would help.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to focus as she placed her hands back on the mouse and keyboard. Her gaze sharpened as she began rapidly thinking about how her team could handle this Gliscor.
Her mind started racing.
Besides the critically wounded Magneton, her remaining Ampharos and Galvantula both had other-type moves with decent coverage...
She recalled their movesets: Ampharos had the Rock-type Power Gem, while Galvantula had the Grass-type Energy Ball and Bug Buzz.
But it seemed... none of them were super effective against Gliscor.
Iono couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Ground plus Flying typing perfectly avoided Rock and Grass-type weaknesses, and Bug only dealt normal damage... This thing's resistances were actually that good?
But on the bright side...
Iono paused, trying to think positively for some comfort.
At least this guy wouldn't have that terrifying burst damage, right?
Compared to the earlier Swellow, this seemed like a stall-type Pokémon. No matter what, it had to be better than getting one-shotted like Raichu had been.
As for Magneton...
She looked at her critically injured partner on the field, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.
She definitely couldn't switch Pokémon now and waste turns... it would just have to be sacrificed.
She needed to create a safe entry opportunity for her remaining teammates.
While she was thinking, her previous command could no longer be taken back.
The turn began, and the critically wounded Magneton stubbornly gathered its last bit of strength. Brilliant golden electric serpents erupted around its body as Thunderbolt precisely hit the airborne Gliscor!
But as Iono expected, a despairing message appeared:
"But it had no effect!"
Gliscor lazily adjusted its position in the air, as if that violent electric attack was just an insignificant breeze with no impact whatsoever.
Then something even more unexpected happened: ominous purple bubbles suddenly appeared around the opponent's Gliscor!
A system prompt appeared:
"The opponent's Toxic Orb activated!"
"Gliscor was poisoned!"
"It got poisoned?" Iono read this aloud reflexively, then froze completely.
Wait... what was happening? How did it get poisoned? Is this how you use a Toxic Orb?
She felt her common sense being shattered, her brain completely crashing.
Unlike Flame Orb, Toxic Orb was an item frequently used by Poison-type trainers in the real world.
But this thing's purpose was mainly to provide powerful Poison-type energy for Poison-attribute Pokémon, enhancing their poison-related abilities.
However, because the toxins contained within were too intense, generally speaking, unless it was an Elite Four or Champion-level Poison-type Pokémon, one Toxic Orb had to be used across multiple sessions. Otherwise, even Poison-type Pokémon themselves couldn't handle it.
But now, why was this Gliscor in the game directly carrying a Toxic Orb on its body??
And this thing actually poisoned it directly??
Such a bizarre sight left the chat confused, and comments began flooding in:
"What does this even mean?"
"Could it be Guts ability again?"
"That doesn't make sense. Why not carry Flame Orb then? If Toxic Orb poisons it, won't Gliscor lose HP?"
"Yeah, and Guts Swellow is our old friend, but there shouldn't be any Guts Gliscor, right?"
"Bug? Did the streamer trigger a hidden mechanic again? Or did the NPC equip the wrong item?"
But before anyone could figure out the Toxic Orb situation, something even more unexpected happened in the battle
Gliscor completely ignored its poisoned status and didn't attack the critically wounded Magneton to finish it off.
At this moment, strange light surrounded its body, and a vague, somewhat comical doll-like substitute instantly appeared in front of it, taking its place!
As the doll appeared, its HP bar immediately dropped by more than half, with the game prompt following:
"Gliscor used Substitute!"
"Gliscor's HP decreased!"
Seeing this scene, the chat began discussing again.
"Substitute? This is the first time I've seen this move, even in reality, hardly anyone uses it, right?"
"Haha, you know what, that substitute doll actually looks pretty cute."
"So what's this move's effect in the game?"
"Can't really understand it. The opponent mysteriously poisoned itself and used this move to lose half its HP. Isn't it afraid of poisoning itself to death?"
However, Iono, looking at that floating doll, suddenly had another ominous premonition.
Experience told her that whenever an opponent's behavioral logic in this game was completely inexplicable by common sense, it meant only one thing.
She was about to have a bad time!!
Sure enough, the next moment a prompt appeared:
"Gliscor's Poison Heal ability activated, restoring HP!"
As Poison Heal triggered, the HP Gliscor had just lost from creating the substitute was instantly partially restored!
Under these circumstances, the chat instantly filled with question marks, falling into confusion.
"??? What kind of ability is this?"
"I get it! Toxic Orb triggers Poison Heal! That's why it poisoned itself!"
"Damn, what kind of broken strategy is this!"
Iono was dumbfounded, too.
So this orb was specifically used to trigger Gliscor's Poison Heal ability for HP recovery, essentially like a supercharged Leftovers??
"No choice..."
As the new turn began, Iono knew Magneton had to do something.
But she could only select "Flash Cannon."
"This can't hit Flying-types super effectively, but at least it's a Steel-type STAB move that won't be immune. Hopefully, it can break that substitute."
But as the next turn started, Gliscor's body directly lit up with a green protective barrier!
"Gliscor used Protect!"
Magneton's desperate "Flash Cannon" slammed hard against the barrier and was completely nullified!
"But it had no effect!"
This way, not only did the substitute remain intact, but taking advantage of Protect ending, Poison Heal activated again, restoring more of Gliscor's HP!
"I understand now, damn! Poison Heal plus Substitute plus Protect, this is an infinite loop?!"
"What even is this???"
"This is ridiculous. Why are all the NPCs in this game so unsportsmanlike?"
At this moment, Iono directly collapsed back into her chair.
I'm tired, just end it all.
However, what Iono didn't expect was that this gym battle's torture for her was just the beginning, far from over.
An hour later, through countless failed attempts, she finally figured out the configuration of all Pokémon in the Flying gym team.
Besides the Gliscor she was now familiar with, capable of skillfully using Substitute-Protect while carrying Toxic Orb, and that Flame Orb Guts Swellow with maxed damage output, the remaining three Pokémon were a Fire/Flying dual-type Talonflame with Flame Body ability, a Flying-type Togekiss, and finally a Flying/Dragon dual-type Altaria.
And these three Pokémon obviously weren't easy opponents either; in fact, they could all be described as quite troublesome.
Comparatively, the easiest to deal with was Talonflame. It didn't have Swellow's extremely violent output, but its speed and physical attack stats were also extremely high. Magneton still couldn't tank its damage.
As for the other Pokémon, Togekiss, it gave Iono an incomparable headache, even far exceeding the Substitute-Protect-Toxic Gliscor.
After fighting several rounds with Gliscor and discovering this strategy was just too disgusting, Iono was wondering how such broken move and ability combinations could exist.
But when she finally managed to deal with Gliscor and faced Togekiss, she realized you didn't need so many disgusting setups to make opponents suffer.
This Togekiss's ability, called "Serene Grace" in the game, had a simple and brutal effect: when using moves, there was a higher chance of triggering additional effects.
And this Togekiss in the Flying gym was like it was cheating, its Air Slash, boosted by Serene Grace, would trigger flinch every single time it was used, then trigger flinch again the next time...
Togekiss's speed was also extremely fast, making Iono feel like she was losing her temper.
As for the final Altaria, while it hadn't shown anything particularly special yet, its Dragon/Flying typing meant Electric moves couldn't deal double damage to it.
Moreover, this Pokémon's durability seemed quite ridiculous too, with Dragon-type stats showing their full potential.
Countless times, Iono would struggle to defeat the earlier Pokémon only to fall before this Altaria at the end, falling short of victory.
However, these numerous failures weren't meaningless.
Through countless attempts and resets, Iono finally found the perfect timeline!
Not only did Swellow's Brave Bird miss, but Gliscor's Substitute-Protect-Toxic strategy was broken by a critical hit that created an HP gap, and Togekiss's Air Slash didn't trigger flinch even once before being successfully taken down.
Most crucially, not long ago, reminded by her chat, Iono suddenly remembered she was already qualified for Mega Evolution.
Then, in brilliant rainbow light, everyone witnessed Ampharos's appearance after Mega Evolution. Its dragon lineage awakened, with flowing white hair atop its head, looking mighty, like a dragon crackling with brilliant electricity!
This Mega Ampharos's battle power was naturally quite formidable. While its speed disadvantage wasn't greatly improved, the enhancement in durability and damage output was obvious and dramatic. Iono relied on it to defeat the most troublesome Gliscor.
After defeating the second-to-last Pokémon, Talonflame, Iono still had two battle-capable Pokémon remaining.
One was Raichu, still at full health.
The other was Mega Ampharos, standing proudly on the battlefield with half its HP remaining.
At this moment, the battle music had become incredibly stirring, and the atmosphere grew tense and heated. The stream viewers held their breath, as if everyone was anticipating Iono's victory.
And she herself was frowning intensely, entering a state of complete concentration.
After dozens of challenges, could she finally see the dawn of victory?
The turn began. Red light flashed from a Poké Ball, and as the opponent's final Pokémon, Altaria, entered the field, Iono unhesitatingly shouted out loud.
"Please, Ampharos, use Dragon Pulse!"
Dragon was quite a subtle type, as Dragon-types could be mutually super effective against their own kind, and Ampharos gained Dragon typing after Mega Evolution.
With Mega Ampharos's power after super evolution, if this move could hit Altaria, its powerful damage output could definitely one-shot it directly.
However, Iono's expression wasn't particularly good, because she knew Ampharos was very slow, while Altaria's speed was very likely higher than Ampharos's.
And as a Dragon-type Pokémon, Altaria naturally had Dragon-type moves too.
Sure enough, just as expected, Altaria moved first. With a clear cry, deep blue light waves condensed in its mouth, forming a dragon shape that rushed directly at Mega Ampharos!
Brilliant blue light flashed, a "super effective" prompt appeared, and Mega Ampharos's HP bar began rapidly falling. Obviously, even after Mega Evolution, it couldn't tank Altaria's finishing move with less than half HP.
However, its HP bar stopped at an insignificant red dot at the very last moment of its descent.
With stirring music, a prompt suddenly appeared before Iono's eyes.
"Seemingly sensing its trainer's expectations, Mega Ampharos miraculously withstood the opponent's attack!"
"Is this the bond between trainer and Pokémon?"
Iono froze for a moment, then brilliant, excited light burst from her eyes.
The bond between herself and her Pokémon?!
At this final moment, she had no time to think about anything else. In her boiling excitement, she suddenly stood up and shouted.
"Please, Mega Ampharos!!! One final strike!!!"
"Mega Ampharos used Dragon Pulse!"
Brilliant blue light covered the entire screen as both "super effective" and "critical hit" prompts appeared, seemingly announcing the end of this battle.
However, at this very moment, within the deep blue radiance, brilliant rainbow streams of light quietly began appearing around Altaria.
Then... burst forth wildly!