Roxie took out a Poké Ball and silently recalled the frozen Scolipede.
Yet just as that red light recalled Scolipede, she actually felt as though a bone-chilling cold had spread onto the Poké Ball itself!
How was that possible!?
Its power was so great that its energy had spread to the Poké Ball!?
There had been no tactical contest, no type advantage, not even a fierce exchange of attacks. With just one punch, the Scolipede she had painstakingly raised and taken such pride in had been frozen in place like a flying insect crashing into a wall of ice, stripped of all ability to resist!
She had only vaguely experienced this feeling when she had just become a Pokémon Trainer and first watched those Elite Four members battle other powerful opponents in person.
But even the Pokémon those Elite Four members commanded couldn't do this, could they?
She lowered her head, hiding her expression, and simply stared at the Poké Ball in her hand. At that moment, the uproar and chatter in the venue seemed very, very far away.
By then, the spectators had already erupted.
The earlier clamor had become an enormous wave of sound mixed with shock, awe, and fervor.
"You've got to be kidding! That was Scolipede! One of Roxie's signature Pokémon!"
"The cold coming off that Ice Punch just now... I was sitting in the third row, and it still stung my skin..."
"That Infernape earlier was already fierce enough, but this Snorlax... it's even fiercer!"
"Just... where did this new challenger come from?"
"Exactly! Looks like Roxie hit a brick wall this time. No, she crashed into an iceberg!"
"Looks like her winning streak is about to end!"
Xia You ignored the surrounding noise and simply watched Roxie's reaction with interest.
He could sense that