Raihan: Pachirisu Can't Do Anything!

Xia Chi led with Incineroar and Garchomp, while Raihan chose Tyranitar and Archaludon as his leads.

Tyranitar would set up the sandstorm, while Archaludon served as a counter to any Sylveon that might appear.

A very solid opening.

But Xia Chi was far too crafty to reveal Sylveon so easily.

He knew perfectly well that keeping Sylveon in reserve posed a much greater threat than sending it out first.

The battle officially began.

A light flashed, and the tiger god took the field.

Intimidate radiated naturally from Incineroar, immediately suppressing the Attack of the newly arrived Tyranitar and Archaludon.

Archaludon was fine; it mainly relied on special moves.

The effect on Tyranitar was much greater. It was no exaggeration to say its offensive power had dropped an entire notch.

At the same time, Tyranitar's [Sand Stream] Ability activated, instantly filling the battlefield with a raging sandstorm.

Raihan's team looked haphazard.

In reality, Archaludon, Flygon, and even Kommo-o with its [Overcoat] Ability could all ignore the sandstorm's effects.

"Incineroar, use Fake Out on Tyranitar! Garchomp, come back!"

As soon as the match began, Xia Chi issued a command that baffled every viewer.

Recalling Garchomp right at the start?

What kind of play was that?

The situation on the field immediately explained Xia Chi's decision.

The tiger god lunged forward and slapped Tyranitar across the face just as it was about to use Rock Slide.

Meanwhile, the purple energy blazing in Archaludon's mouth revealed the move it was about to use-Draco Meteor!

Unfortunately for Raihan, Xia Chi had predicted all of it.

Garchomp, which was weak to the incoming attack, left the field.

Sylveon switched in and, thanks to the Fairy type's immunity to Dragon-type moves, took no damage from the terrifying attack that would have severely injured Garchomp!

Still feeling a lingering chill, Xia Chi said, "Tch, so you really were predicting an immediate Earthquake. Raihan, you sneaky bastard!"

Meanwhile, inside a villa in Hammerlocke in the Galar Region.

A dark-skinned jock lying on the sofa and watching the game on his TV clicked his tongue.

"Tch, did Iono swap out her brain along with her team?"

Galar and Paldea were geographically close, with frequent travel between the two regions.

On top of that, Iono and Raihan were both Gym Leaders and major internet celebrities, so they knew each other very well.

Nobody would make a fuss over a harmless little joke like that.

And the chat in his livestream reflected exactly that.

Most viewers laughed and teased Iono, while a few reminded him that his actual opponent was the anti-smurfing streamer whose login Iono had scanned. In a sense, she really had swapped out her brain.

Yet even with all those comments, nobody could have predicted what was coming.

A few minutes later, Raihan would lose every trace of his current easygoing composure.

Inside a student apartment at Shanghai University in the Donghuang Region.

The man playing on someone else's account quickly explained, "The mind game here is that, if Raihan is thinking on the first level, he'll have Archaludon try to pressure Garchomp with Draco Meteor, a powerful super-effective move."

"Paired with Tyranitar's Rock Slide, that could easily cripple Garchomp, my main damage dealer, right out of the gate."

"My answer is very simple: just switch in Sylveon."

"But if Raihan predicts that and uses the super-effective Flash Cannon instead, Sylveon will take a devastating hit the moment it comes in."

"But if I predict Raihan predicting that, I'll just have Garchomp use Earthquake. Tank one measly Flash Cannon, then hit two Pokémon weak to Ground with Earthquake. That's a massive win!"

"But if Raihan predicts that again, again, and again..."

All right, it really wasn't that convoluted. Raihan simply couldn't afford to take a same-type-boosted Earthquake from Garchomp.

He would rather let Archaludon suffer Draco Meteor's drawback of sharply lowering its Special Attack than allow Garchomp to stay in and use Earthquake.

Of course, if Xia Chi stubbornly refused to switch, that would be even better for Raihan.

"Too bad I'm still one step ahead!"

Xia Chi chuckled smugly. "Incineroar, use Parting Shot on Tyranitar! Sylveon, Hyper Voice!"

Although Archaludon and Tyranitar weren't Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon known for their speed, they were still a little faster than the practically mobility-impaired Incineroar and Sylveon.

Before Xia Chi's Pokémon could unleash their moves, Archaludon's Flash Cannon and Tyranitar's Rock Slide had already struck.

Their target was Sylveon, which threatened Raihan's entire team!

Normally, Sylveon, with its rather mediocre physical bulk, would struggle to survive a combined attack from two Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon.

That held true even though every Pokémon in Victory Road had considerably more HP than in the games from his previous life.

But thanks to Incineroar's Intimidate and Archaludon's self-inflicted Special Attack drop from Draco Meteor, Sylveon managed to hang on.

Then it retaliated with Hyper Voice.

The Sylveon Xia Chi had brought had the [Pixilate] Ability, which not only turned Normal-type moves like [Hyper Voice] into Fairy-type moves.

It also boosted their power by 20%!

Unfortunately, both hulking beasts had terrifying bulk, and Archaludon even had its Steel typing to provide additional protection.

So under Hyper Voice's assault, the two Pokémon weak to it lost only a little under half their HP.

Xia Chi shook his head and sighed regretfully.

That was the beauty of raw stats.

Meanwhile, Incineroar also made its move.

Two or three matches earlier, Xia Chi had replaced [U-turn] with the even more diabolical [Parting Shot], and now it was proving remarkably effective.

After a stream of incomprehensible curses, the tiger god left Tyranitar a parting gift of a one-stage drop to both offensive stats, then safely returned to its Poké Ball.

The Pokémon that came in to replace it was none other than the last member of Xia Chi's reserves-

Pachirisu!

Hammerlocke, Galar Region.

Watching Pachirisu hop out of its Poké Ball on the TV screen, Raihan was so shocked that he spat out the cola he'd just sipped.

"She actually brought Pachirisu? Does she think that little of me?"

His raised voice made Archaludon and Flygon, who had been sleeping in the yard, exchange bewildered looks.

They had been with Raihan for over a decade, and neither could recall ever seeing him shout so loudly over a game.

But Raihan soon calmed down in the living room.

This was a matter of pride. After being "humiliated" like this by "Iono" in the first match of today's stream, the fiercely competitive Raihan was determined to win.

With him at a disadvantage, "Iono's" arrogance was actually a perfect opportunity to turn things around.

Raihan rubbed his chin and muttered, "What can Pachirisu do? Pachirisu can't do anything!"

He decided to ignore the Pachirisu whose purpose he couldn't fathom and finish off the already badly weakened Sylveon first.

"Target Sylveon! Archaludon, Flash Cannon! Tyranitar, Rock Slide!"