"It's not that Gengar didn't want to dodge — it's that it simply couldn't."
Hearing the audience's comments, Ethan only shook his head with a faint smile.
The reason Gengar had been unable to move was simple: Shellder had used telekinesis through its psychic power to immobilize it.
The entire sequence of the battle between Slowking and Gengar had actually been quite straightforward.
First, Slowking used the move Teleport to appear behind Gengar; then, Shellder unleashed a psychic force to hold it still, and finally, Slowking released Psychic.
A smooth, flawless combination — leaving Gengar not even a second to react.
Even Ethan couldn't help thinking that Slowking and Shellder were fighting two against one, and the worst part was that they were thinking and acting in perfect sync...
That wasn't fair combat at all — it was practically cheating!
"What's going on?"
"With that attack speed, Gengar should've been able to dodge!"
Rowan Thorne was also trying to understand it. As people said, all his Pokémon were trained for high attack and high speed — he had never invested much in defense.
For him, speed was the best defense: as long as you didn't get hit, who cared about endurance?
But he had never imagined that his last defensive line would fail completely, and that his Gengar would be taken out with a single strike.
"I don't get it... I just don't get it!"
Rowan clenched his teeth, his face darkening. Frustrated, he glared at the Slowking on the field, then grabbed another Poké Ball and released his next partner.
Out of the light emerged a Sableye — a small, dark purple humanoid creature with gem-like eyes and a red stone embedded in its chest, glowing with a sinister aura.
"A Sableye — Dark and Ghost type?"
"A good choice to face Slowking."
Ethan smiled, though he had no intention of switching Pokémon. After all, aside from its Psychic-type moves, Slowking's Water-type attacks were also formidable.
"The first move is ours. Slowking, use Hydro Pump!"
Upon hearing the command, Slowking reacted immediately, firing a powerful jet of water.
"Sableye, dodge it!"
With a nimble leap, Sableye darted to the side, dodging the attack at incredible speed — a clear display of its agility.
"So fast!"
The crowd was amazed.
But just as everyone was praising Sableye's speed—
The Hydro Pump suddenly curved midair!
At a completely impossible angle, the torrent of water bent ninety degrees and struck Sableye head-on, blasting it into the air.
And before the audience could even react, Slowking had already summoned glowing stones with Power Gem and hurled them upward. The gems struck Sableye midair and slammed it into the arena's protective wall with a thunderous crash.
"What the hell was that?!"
"That Hydro Pump turned ninety degrees! That makes no sense!"
A spectator jumped up from his seat, convinced he was dreaming.
"It must be using telekinesis to steer the water."
"So it's attacking with Hydro Pump and controlling it with psychic power at the same time?"
A bespectacled student adjusted his glasses and spoke seriously.
"Multitasking?"
"I clearly saw that after using Hydro Pump, it also used Power Gem. So it wasn't 'one thing at a time'..."
"When you think about it, that Pokémon's attacking in three ways simultaneously — Hydro Pump, psychic control, and Power Gem. That's triple action!"
The comment left the crowd utterly stunned.
"Triple multitasking"? That was practically impossible!
"Sableye is unable to battle! The winner is... Slowking!"
The referee fell silent for several seconds, mentally repeating the result before announcing it aloud. He also took note of the name Ethan had used — Slowking — and immediately adopted it.
"Another instant knockout!"
"That Slowking is broken — it's insane!"
"So it's called Slowking — the 'king' of Slowpoke! That makes sense!"
The crowd erupted once again in shouts and astonishment. Slowking's overwhelming power left everyone speechless.
"This... this can't be real..."
Rowan could barely accept what he was seeing. His hands trembled as he held his Poké Ball, staring at Slowking with a mixture of dread and despair.
That Pokémon... what the hell was it?
All his partners had been instantly defeated — not a single one stood a chance. It was as if that Slowking were his natural nemesis!
"Triple multitasking? Yeah, right. This is clearly a two-on-one battle."
Ethan smiled. Man, this hack felt so good.
"Competitor Rowan Thorne, please send out your final Pokémon."
The referee urged him when he saw Rowan still frozen in place.
"My third Pokémon..."
After a few seconds of silence, Rowan gritted his teeth and threw out his last card — Dusclops.
A gray Ghost-type Pokémon with floating hands and a single red eye glowing in the center of its body.
But even it, under the flawless coordination of Slowking and Shellder, was swiftly defeated. The two attacked with perfect synergy, leaving Dusclops powerless to resist.
The entire stadium fell silent in shock.
This was the final round for the Starter Pokémon slot — and yet it had been a one-sided massacre!
The battle between Ethan and Rowan had been total domination.
"So... this is his true power?"
"Then why didn't he use that Slowking when he fought me?"
"Could it be... he never took me seriously?"
In the stands, Lucien Foster was the one suffering the most.
In their previous battle, even though he'd lost, everyone knew his strength had been superior. Ethan had won through strategy — and because Lucien had underestimated him.
But now... Ethan was displaying utterly crushing power — defeating three Pokémon in a row without taking any damage.
Lucien, who had always comforted himself with the thought, "If we fought again, I'd win," suddenly realized that his rival hadn't even been fighting seriously against him.
Frustration and bitterness swallowed him whole.
(End of Chapter)