Trapinch Can't Do Anything!

The account was currently stuck in the promotion match for Great Ball rank, putting it in the upper-middle tiers of the ranked ladder.

At this rank, it took less than two seconds to find an evenly matched opponent.

As the preparation phase began, Xia Chi started reading the opponent's lineup.

"Charizard, Venusaur, Ninetales, Infernape, Magmar. Huh, they're actually running the one true king, Flareon. Guess I'll go easy on them."

"We're facing a sun team, a very common sight on the ladder," Xia Chi said. "This is well within our firing range."

"They'll definitely be baffled when they first see our lineup, but they won't have a clue what it does. So what can they do? Send out their three most trusted heavy hitters: Charizard, Venusaur, and Ninetales."

The Single Battle mode in Pokémon: Victory Road also used a bring-six, pick-three format.

As Xia Chi spoke, he selected his three Pokémon without hesitation.

Hatterene, Mimikyu, and the core of the team, Trapinch.

The battle began.

As expected, the player named "Crushing You Is Like Breathing" led with Ninetales.

Xia Chi, meanwhile, chose Mimikyu as his lead.

The debate in chat was still raging.

"I don't get this team. Six completely unrelated Pokémon with zero synergy. What's the point?"

"Even a longtime fan of Jailbird Shui can't make sense of this lineup, but I believe in him!"

"He's not bringing Rhyperior when it counters Charizard? Just watch my Professor Charizard sweep all three!"

With its stunning looks and impressive fighting power, Charizard still had plenty of devoted fans in this world, who respectfully called it Professor Charizard.

Xia Chi said nothing and casually changed the stream title to [Taking Trapinch to Great Ball with a 100% win rate. If I lose once, you're free to unleash your verbal talents].

Then he calmly returned to the game and began directing the battle.

As expected, the opposing Ninetales changed the weather to harsh sunlight upon entering the field, thanks to its Ability, [Drought].

Ninetales was faster than Mimikyu in the game, so Xia Chi had barely issued the command to use [Trick Room] when a Heat Wave swept in.

There was a reason this game had taken the world by storm. Both its visuals and its battle mechanics blew GF out of the water.

A scorching gale swept across the screen, and Mimikyu's head slumped to one side.

Mimikyu's Ability, [Disguise], activated-blocking one instance of damage from any source.

Then Trick Room went up!

Mimikyu really was something of an obscure Pokémon in this world. The opponent didn't even know about [Disguise], an Ability unique to it across the entire Pokédex.

Seeing that Heat Wave absorbed without damage prompted [Crushing You Is Like Breathing] to type a short message into public chat.

"Hacking?"

Xia Chi chuckled. "Just because I haven't turned them off means I've got hacks on? Then how are you going to handle my Light Screen next?"

Under Trick Room, their speed order was reversed.

Mimikyu, which had previously moved second, attacked first.

Light Screen rose, instantly forming a transparent barrier that halved the damage from the opponent's special moves.

It drastically reduced the damage from Ninetales's second Heat Wave.

Even with the boost to Fire-type moves from [Sunny Day], the attack failed to deal enough damage to Mimikyu.

After being toyed with like this, the opponent's composure had begun to shift.

With [Light Screen] providing protection, a special attacker like Ninetales should have had no room to work.

Yet the opponent stubbornly kept Ninetales on the field, clearly determined to fight to the bitter end.

Xia Chi wasn't about to indulge that stubbornness. Taking advantage of his speed and Light Screen, he went for a run-and-gun strategy with Shadow Ball-

Incidentally, battles in Pokémon: Victory Road weren't entirely turn-based.

Under the player's voice commands, Pokémon could move freely around the field. They weren't particularly intelligent, but they obeyed their Trainers' instructions completely.

This real-time command system gave players more entertaining gameplay and greater room for skillful execution, bringing it closer to real Pokémon battles.

With its tactics completely outclassed, the opponent's sun team couldn't bring any of its strengths into play.

By the time Trick Room ended, Ninetales and the Professor Charizard the viewers had pinned their hopes on were already down.

The last Pokémon, Venusaur, thought its chance to shine and sweep all three had finally arrived.

But Hatterene's second Trick Room instantly shattered the dreams of Venusaur, which had set up [Sunny Day].

With its [Chlorophyll] Ability, Venusaur should have enjoyed doubled speed in sunlight. Instead, it moved as sluggishly as if one of its legs had been broken.

Before Trapinch, the team's true Trick Room attacker, even took the field, the now-fuming opponent surrendered.

"Got 'em!"

After easily winning the first match, Xia Chi stretched, then glanced at chat.

"Holy crap, so that's how you use Trick Room?"

"Got it. I'm going to challenge the Viridian Gym right now!"

"You know, this strategy really does seem useful against all kinds of fast Pokémon."

Like many other tactics, the move Trick Room hadn't received enough attention in this world.

The reason was that few Trainers in real life specialized in the Psychic type.

And most Psychic-type Pokémon could use Teleport.

Those Trainers preferred using a more flexible, convenient move like Teleport to create a speed advantage.

That habit carried over into the game, so players naturally hadn't explored Trick Room much.

Amid the laughter and chatter, Xia Chi rode a winning streak all the way to his promotion match for Great Ball rank.

This rank was still some distance from the top of the ladder, but for ordinary players, it was already the ceiling.

With a little luck, they might occasionally get matched against a famous Trainer.

Clearly, Xia Chi was having quite a lucky day.

"I'm wrapping up after this match. Let's see who our last lucky contestant is."

As he spoke, the nickname of his matched opponent made Xia Chi pause.

[Iono's Iono-Log]

"Iono again? Is it really her?"

The game didn't require unique usernames, so it was perfectly normal for fans to copy the name of a major streamer like Iono.

Chat offered a timely reminder.

"It's really her. I've got Iono's stream open!"

"Here from Iono's stream. Come on, everyone, let's crush this streamer!"

"Jailbird Shui, Iono's talking tough. She said she's going to make you cry!"

Xia Chi rubbed his chin and smiled brightly. "Make me cry? Sounds interesting."

Meanwhile.

In a luxury apartment in Levincia, in the Paldea region.

A cute girl with pink-and-blue twin tails gritted her sharklike teeth and glared angrily at the computer screen in front of her.

The enormous Magnemite-like hair ornaments on her head blinked their eyes, reflecting her irritation.

"This guy again!"

After confirming the situation in Xia Chi's stream, Iono returned to the game, still talking tough.

"Just watch. I've already figured out how to beat his cursed strategy. This time, I'm getting revenge!"

As she spoke, she glanced at the six Pokémon in her opponent's selection area and widened her eyes. "Huh? He's not using those Pokémon?"

During their last encounter, Xia Chi's Substitute-Protect-Toxic strategy had tormented Iono to death, and she had immediately marked him as her number-one internet nemesis.

Now that they had met again, she hadn't expected Xia Chi to have "turned over a new leaf."

"Did he grow a conscience? No, wait. What's with the Trapinch?!"

At the sight of the brown, big-headed ant in the preparation area, question marks appeared above Iono's Magnemite hair ornaments.

But she soon waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever. What's Trapinch good for? Trapinch can't do anything!"

As she spoke, she quickly locked in Kilowattrel, Luxray, and Mismagius.