Beep!
On the big screen, the icon for Rillaboom beneath Leon's portrait dimmed.
The World Champion was off to a rough start!
News headlines shot up the trending lists. No one had expected Leon to be the first member of the Masters Eight to lose a Pokémon!
Could the title of strongest trainer really be up for grabs this year!?
Baimu was surprised too. In the story he knew, Rillaboom had dispatched Alain's Chesnaught and Malamar with ease. Now it was the first Pokémon in the Masters Eight to fall.
Back in his previous life, that might have earned it a place on the wall of shame.
But Rillaboom had hardly performed badly. It had simply run into Diantha's trump card, Mega Gardevoir.
For all Leon's strength, he had never beaten someone's trump card with anything but his own.
Usually, a trump card was what you used to beat a trump card...
Huh?
That was an oddly rigid hierarchy.
The stands buzzed with discussion, and the livestream erupted in debate. Everyone wanted to know what was going through Leon's mind.
Ash blinked. Had he imagined it? Diantha's tactics just now had looked an awful lot like Baimu's.
The Team Rocket trio returned to the stands and resumed their live coverage. Orre TV had other staff on hand, so they weren't needed there for now.
James and Meowth were both astonished that Diantha had scored the first victory. Jessie, looking thoroughly unconvinced, shouted, "It's still early! Come on, Leon!"
She had actually started cheering for Leon.
Down on the field.
Leon recalled the Rillaboom that was unable to battle. His initial shock gave way to a smile. "Well, I didn't see that coming."
He would have thought nothing of that move from Baimu. But from Diantha?
Had battling Baimu influenced her