It Backfired?

"The battle begins!"

Mary gave the order!

The two Pokémon on the battlefield.

"Litwick, use Haze!"

A cloud of black mist spread across the field, similar to the tactic Roy had used against Onix. This time, however, Litwick didn't use Will-O-Wisp. Instead, a mass of purple mist spread from the center of the Haze.

The Pokémon Contest battlefield was far larger than the ones at the academy. Litwick's Haze only covered the half where Roy stood.

The other half of the field belonged to Mightyena.

So it was a Haze strategy after all. Good thing he'd prepared for it.

"Mightyena, charge in and use Bite!"

I'm not afraid you'll come. I'm afraid you won't!

Remembering his trainer's instructions, Mightyena lunged straight into the black mist. He carefully sniffed for Litwick's location, when a pungent stench suddenly entered his nose.

"Woof!"

Mightyena rushed out of the black mist, choking on the foul smell. His trainer was left baffled.

Was that the poisoned status!?

The audience saw purple spots appear on Mightyena's body through the big screen. Anyone who had read basic Pokémon textbooks could tell that Mightyena had been poisoned.

Even Agatha hadn't expected Roy to hide the move Smog until now. That kid really knew how to keep things hidden.

Stone, meanwhile, sat up straight. This was the Roy he knew.

It turned out that Litwick had released Smog at the same time as Haze.

Move: Smog

Effect: Attacks the target by blowing a dirty, thick fog at it. This may sometimes leave the target poisoned.

Seeing that the opposing Mightyena had been afflicted with poison, Roy breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the one who needed to worry wasn't him.

From the Mightyena's moves the system had just identified, they were all close-range moves. It had no recovery moves such as Sleep, nor did it have any long-range attacks.

As long as he didn't let Mightyena get close to Litwick, he would win if he dragged this out.

The other side had outsmarted themselves.

The spectators hadn't expected the battle to take this turn either.

Could you even play like this?

Sure enough, once Mightyena's trainer discovered it had been poisoned, he unconsciously clenched his fists until they creaked.

Had this all been part of the other side's plan?

When he looked up, his gaze met Roy's across the field. Roy's lips curled into his signature smile, and there was no sign that he had been provoked in the waiting room earlier.

That smile confirmed it—Roy had played him.

Roy had clearly seen through his intentions and turned his own plan against him. What a schemer.

Mightyena's trainer had lost all the confidence he'd had before the battle. He hurriedly shouted toward the field.

"Mightyena, endure it and charge in again!"

Mightyena was already poisoned. Dragging things out would definitely lead to defeat, so it was better to gamble everything. There might still be a chance!

Receiving his trainer's command, Mightyena could only charge back into the Haze laced with poisonous mist.

At last, Mightyena endured the poison gas within the black mist and caught a familiar scent.

It was Litwick, hiding in the Haze. It was currently at the very edge of the mist.

Mightyena immediately bit down. Litwick dodged the first attack, but it couldn't match Mightyena's speed. In the end, its body was caught in Mightyena's jaws.

The black mist on the field gradually dispersed, revealing the scene to everyone present.

Erika and May didn't dare make a sound. They stared tensely at the figure at the command stand.

"Good job, Mightyena!"

Just as Mightyena's trainer was about to order it to use Crunch, he suddenly noticed faint flames flickering over Mightyena's body.

While Mightyena had bitten Litwick, Litwick had also afflicted Mightyena with Will-O-Wisp.

Mightyena was now suffering from two status conditions!

Damn it!

Mightyena's trainer cursed inwardly.

"Mightyena, use Crunch! Finish it off!"

But it didn't matter. Once Mightyena used Crunch, it would be the end for Litwick.

In his mind, as long as Mightyena got into Close Combat range with Litwick, he had already won.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Mightyena used Crunch...

Crack!

May covered her eyes, too afraid to look at the battlefield. One hand gripped Norman's arm tightly.

"Dad, how's Litwick?"

May received no answer. When she opened her eyes again, she found Norman staring blankly at the battlefield beside her.

Mightyena had already released Litwick and was rolling wildly across the ground.

Th-This... what was going on?

What had just happened? Could someone explain it?

May looked at Norman in confusion.

But Norman was also thinking over the scene he had just witnessed.

In the end, it was Erika beside them who gave May the answer.

It turned out that at the same time Mightyena used Crunch, Litwick had also used Fire Spin.

The damage from Mightyena's two status conditions, combined with Fire Spin's lingering burns, had forced it to release Litwick.

Litwick, on the other hand, had clearly felt the pain after taking a Crunch, but it didn't show the agonized expression everyone had expected before being defeated outright.

As for the real reason, that was beyond what Erika could figure out. They would have to ask Roy why.

Roy certainly wasn't going to tell them that, when he had gone to the restroom earlier, he had swapped Duskull's held item with Litwick's and given Litwick the Eviolite.

With the Eviolite, Litwick's physical defense had reached 87.5. On top of that, Mightyena was burned, cutting its physical attack damage in half.

Naturally, the damage it dealt to Litwick was greatly reduced.

In other words, Roy had never intended to trade blows with Mightyena head-on.

In the end, luck still stood with Roy. Mightyena was completely worn down by its two status conditions and Fire Spin's continuous damage. Its eyes turned into spirals, and it collapsed onto the field, unable to rise.