"Ufff..."
Upon seeing the score on the testing device, Patrick Mills let out a sigh of relief, clearly quite satisfied with the result.
At that moment, Arcanine also saw its own score and showed an expression of pride. Compared to its trainer, the Pokémon was far more honest with its emotions.
Now, Arcanine's gaze was fixed directly on Ethan. Having been defeated by that guy time and time again, it had harbored resentment toward him for a long time. At last, the moment of revenge had arrived!
What an incredibly pleasant feeling it was!
Ethan, who was standing below the stage, also met Arcanine's arrogant gaze and could not help but find it amusing.
To be provoked by a mere "dog"...
Ah, how interesting.
After Patrick stepped down from the stage, the test continued. However, after the exceptionally high score Patrick had achieved, the atmosphere became noticeably tense.
Then, one after another, trainers went up onto the stage to take the test, but the final results all hovered around the 100-point mark.
Finally, the examiner announced Ethan's name.
"Finally, it's my turn."
Ethan smiled faintly and walked slowly onto the stage.
Below the platform, Patrick's gaze immediately locked onto him as he tightly gripped Arcanine's Poké Ball in his hand.
"Go, Litwick."
Ethan inhaled softly, opened the Poké Ball, and Litwick's figure appeared.
"What? Litwick?"
"He actually sent out a Pokémon in its initial form?!"
Seeing that Ethan had sent out Litwick, all the spectators revealed expressions of astonishment.
Obviously, no one believed that Litwick's offensive power could amount to much.
"Did this Ethan make a mistake?"
"A Ghost- and Fire-type Pokémon like Litwick is really troublesome in real combat. But this is a test of move power! The concealment and sneak-attack abilities of the Ghost type are useless here."
A trainer shook his head slightly and voiced his opinion, also concluding inwardly that this Ethan had only come to make up the numbers.
"Litwick...?"
Patrick's hand holding Arcanine's Poké Ball relaxed a little.
Although Ethan's training level was high, if it was only a Litwick...
As for the reactions of the crowd, Ethan took them all in. The corner of his lips curved slightly.
"Litwick, begin!"
At Ethan's command, Litwick was seen using the move Substitute.
Immediately, more than a dozen Litwick substitutes separated from its body and floated silently in the air.
"Double Team?"
Seeing more than ten Litwick on the field, everyone was stunned for a moment.
Then confusion swept over them. Although Double Team is a very useful move in real combat, this was a test of move power!
What was the point of using Double Team at a time like this?
Of course, it never even crossed their minds that this could be the move Substitute.
After all, under normal circumstances, the move Substitute could only create two or three entities at most. Splitting into more than ten at once was completely impossible!
"Huff, huff..."
After creating more than ten substitutes, Litwick suddenly puffed up its small body and spat out a burst of fire.
The flames roared past, instantly engulfing the more than ten Litwick figures on the field.
This scene once again left the spectators completely dumbfounded.
Was this some kind of acrobatic performance?
But in the very next instant, those flames were suddenly drawn in and absorbed by the more than ten Litwick through the Flash Fire ability, flowing directly into their bodies.
Psh, psh, psh.
A series of sounds like candles being lit rang out, and the more than ten Litwick were wrapped in flames, transforming into more than ten balls of fire floating in the air.
"Are they... real?"
At that moment, the spectators finally reacted and erupted into an uproar.
What Litwick had used was not the move Double Team, but the move Substitute!
Creating more than ten substitutes at once—how on earth had that Litwick done it?
Even if Litwick's physical stamina were sufficient to create that many substitutes, the move Substitute does not only consume physical energy; it also involves the soul, and even advanced mental multitasking techniques.
At the same time, in the Obsidian City Gym, Gym Leader Caleb Turner and the staff of the Pokémon Trainers' Guild, who were watching the live broadcast, looked at each other, suddenly recalling those ghostly flames that had unexpectedly appeared when Litwick had used the move Haze in the past.
It was evident that on that occasion, Litwick had first used the move Substitute, then taken advantage of the nature of Ghost-type Pokémon to hide the substitutes in the air, and finally appeared suddenly next to the opponent to launch a fatal attack.
As Caleb Turner recalled that previous battle, he suddenly saw the more than ten Litwick substitutes, after turning into balls of fire, float back toward Litwick.
Then, before everyone's stunned gaze, those balls of fire merged back into Litwick's body.
In an instant, Litwick's body was completely engulfed in flames. However, thanks to its Flash Fire ability, it showed not the slightest fear and devoured the flames with all its might, causing the purple fire burning atop its head to expand without end.
"This is... Flash Fire!"
Almost instantly, Patrick sensed what was happening and widened his eyes.
That Litwick was using the Flash Fire ability to strengthen its power, exactly the same way his Arcanine did!
Moreover, after burning dozens of substitutes, devouring all those flames, and boosting its strength through the Flash Fire ability, the aura Litwick was emitting at that moment faintly surpassed that of Arcanine.
"Hey, hey, hey! This has to be a joke!"
"Even so, it's still just a Litwick!"
Patrick once again clenched Arcanine's Poké Ball, the veins on his hand bulging prominently.
"Litwick, are you ready?"
"Then... use the move Inferno!"
Looking at Litwick completely wrapped in flames, Ethan smiled faintly.
"Huff, huff..."
Litwick took a few heavy breaths, and its gaze grew sharp.
In the next instant, Litwick opened its mouth. The purple fire atop its head surged and transformed into a terrifying flame dragon that shot forward, crashing directly into the testing device.
Boom!
With a deafening roar, the device was completely engulfed in fire, and the numbers began to jump wildly.
Units, tens, hundreds... the digits kept climbing, rapidly chasing down the score Arcanine had achieved.
Finally, before everyone's incredulous eyes, the third digit jumped to 5, and only then did it begin to slow down, eventually stopping at 526 points.
In that instant, the entire venue fell into absolute silence.
No one had imagined that a Pokémon in its initial form could achieve a score that countless Pokémon in their final forms would never reach.
This Litwick... was completely defying the heavens!
(End of chapter)