Disgusting

A cloud of black mist instantly burst from the flame atop Litwick's head, enveloping the entire battlefield. The students in the stands could only see the upright upper half of Onix's body.

The already small Litwick shrank to half its original size after using Minimize, becoming even tinier.

"Onix, use Rock Slide and finish it in one blow!"

Onix already had poor eyesight, and with its massive body, it could not see anything within the black mist.

The Minimized Litwick was practically invisible within the mist, and Onix could not find it at all.

Onix casually fired off a Rock Slide toward the field, but its luck was not very good. It failed to hit Litwick.

Seeing this, Onix could only turn back and look pleadingly at its Trainer.

Roxanne was also at a loss. She had been drawn in by Litwick's appearance earlier, and when it released the Haze, she had not carefully watched its position.

Before its Trainer could locate Litwick, Onix felt a scorching pain shoot through its tail.

When it turned its massive head, it saw a tiny ghostly blue flame in the mist, burning its tail. Before it could make out what it was, the blue flame vanished into the Haze.

Little did it know that it had already been Burned. The searing pain continuously drained its strength.

"Onix, don't use your eyes. Use your senses!"

This involved a little-known fact:

(Pokédex: Because Onix has a Magnet in its brain, it will not lose its sense of direction even when Digging underground.)

Using the Magnet in its head, Onix sensed Litwick's position through the battlefield's magnetic field. It was in a corner of the arena.

Roy was a little surprised. It seemed Roxanne had some real ability if she could become the big sister of the class.

"Use Slam!"

Roy decided to take back that thought.

She had some ability, but not much.

This time, Litwick did not even try to dodge.

Onix's tail swept through Litwick's body, passing straight through without harming it in the slightest.

The people who had just been about to celebrate victory were dumbfounded. Why had it passed through?

Some students from the advanced class who knew about Ghost-type Pokémon explained:

"Ghost-type Pokémon are immune to Normal-type and Fighting-type moves. Unless your Pokémon has Foresight or the Scrappy Ability, it can't hit a Ghost-type Pokémon."

End of educational segment.

A rainbow-colored wave of light struck Onix's head from within the Haze. Immediately afterward, a strange radiance filled its vision, and multicolored halos spun through its mind.

Something seemed to be manipulating its emotions. It appeared to see Litwick before it, looking at it provocatively before turning around and patting its little candle butt.

This was intolerable!

Onix flew into an uncontrollable rage and lashed its tail at Litwick. Pain suddenly rippled through its body, and only then did Onix realize that was not Litwick's figure at all—it was its own body.

Before its stone head could process what was happening, Litwick appeared again, making the same gesture. The difference was that this time, countless Litwick danced and swayed before its eyes.

Onix completely lost its mind and began wildly using moves, even Whip Striking its own body and head with its tail.

No matter how Roxanne called out from the command platform, it was useless. She had completely lost control of Onix. Fortunately, its level was not high enough to cause much damage to the arena.

The audience could not make sense of it. Why did Onix keep attacking itself?

In the end, Onix ran out of strength, triggering its Sturdy Ability. As another wave of scorching pain spread across its body, Litwick's Will-O-Wisp took away its last bit of stamina.

With a thunderous crash, Onix's enormous body fell unwillingly to the ground, its eyes turning into spirals. It had lost the battle without even seeing where its opponent was.

The Haze dispersed.

Only a palm-sized Litwick remained on the battlefield, hopping about. If one did not look carefully, they might not even notice it.

The entire venue fell silent.

Roxanne stood blankly on the command platform.

She... had lost?

How had she lost?

Why had Litwick disappeared?

And why had Onix attacked itself for no reason?

Countless questions filled her mind. It was not just her—the audience was equally bewildered. In particular, the faith in Roxanne held by her lackeys crumbled bit by bit. Was this even right? They had watched the entire match and seen practically nothing.

The female students who had been cheering Litwick on also fell silent. Litwick did not seem quite so cute anymore.

Ever since Roy had called out Haze and Minimize from the command platform, they had not seen Litwick again.

What happened to the promised fist-to-fist, one-on-one battle between real men's Pokémon? Why had only Onix been wriggling around the field and constantly using moves? Where had Roy's little candle gone?

Even the referee in charge of the battlefield was completely confused.

It was only after Teacher Lina, who had followed along to watch because she was worried something might happen, reminded him from outside the field that the referee realized the battle was over.

"Onix is unable to battle. The winner of this match is Roy's...!"

Well, the referee had never seen a Litwick before either.

Lina had watched the entire battle through infrared cameras in the arena, allowing her to see through the Haze.

The instant Litwick used Minimize, it launched a Will-O-Wisp at Onix's tail. It then hid within the Haze and used Minimize to increase its evasiveness.

Onix had struggled to locate Litwick through the surrounding magnetic field, but its Normal-type Slam could not harm a Ghost-type Pokémon.

Instead, being too close to Litwick allowed it to be struck by Confuse Ray.

Move: Confuse Ray

Effect: Displays a strange light that confuses the target.

Confuse Ray sent Onix into confusion, making it attack itself everywhere. Meanwhile, the Litwick in the corner used Minimize again. This time, even Lina nearly lost sight of it through the camera.

The Burn continued scorching Onix, making the already confused Onix even angrier. It even ignored Roxanne's commands.

It could be said that more than half of Onix's damage had been dealt by its own confusion. Litwick's Burn had taken less than half its health.

In other words, Onix had lost without touching Litwick even once. Was that even right?

Was the sunny, cheerful boy she had met that morning really the Trainer who had used Litwick from the command platform just now?

Lina's body shuddered.

How could there be such a disgusting tactic?

Was this really her student?

Her prejudice against Ghost-type Trainers: +1.

While everyone was still immersed in the previous battle, Roy, worried that he might get beaten up, left behind the words, "A bet is a bet. I'll be waiting for your love letter tomorrow." Then, with Litwick floating onto his shoulder, he prepared to sneak away from the battlefield.

Roxanne, having snapped out of it, hurriedly recalled Onix and ran toward the academy infirmary.