"How does it look?"
Outside the battlefield, Sadie kept her eyes fixed on the smoke-covered area.
Everyone waited for the outcome, but no one noticed that when Talonflame had swooped down, David's expression showed no concern whatsoever. Instead, a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Following the classic battle principle of 'where there's smoke, there's no damage,' Talonflame's attack clearly hadn't connected.
After missing its target, Talonflame immediately beat its wings hard, dispersing the surrounding smoke.
Only then did Sadie realize that Riolu had completely disappeared from the field.
"Oh no! Talonflame, gain altitude quickly!"
Sensing danger, Sadie felt her stomach drop and immediately commanded Talonflame to return to the sky.
Just as Talonflame flapped its wings to ascend, David's smile widened slightly.
"Trying to escape now? Don't you think it's a bit late?"
"Lash Out!"
After speaking, David suddenly called out a move that left everyone present looking confused.
At that moment, everyone in attendance—including his opponent Sadie—felt puzzled by David's command.
Most spectators likely weren't familiar with this obscure move.
However, as a Trainer who specialized in Fire-type Pokémon, Sadie naturally knew what Lash Out was.
Lash Out: The user lashes out to vent its frustration toward the target. If the user's stats were lowered during this turn, the power of this move is doubled.
But it was precisely because she understood the move that her expression became so bewildered.
What did this have to do with Riolu? After all, even among Fire-type Pokémon, only a handful could learn this move. How could Riolu possibly know it?
Furthermore, as a Fire-type Pokémon itself, how could Talonflame even be burned?
Just as David's command rang out, the ground trembled slightly. A figure burst from beneath the earth and shot straight toward Talonflame.
While the previous attack had indeed been devastatingly powerful, the drawback was that Talonflame's position had dropped dangerously close to the ground.
If the attack had landed, things would have been fine. But after missing, it was now Talonflame's turn to suffer the consequences.
Because it hadn't gained enough altitude yet, and the spot where "Riolu" erupted from underground was far too close to Talonflame, there was no time to dodge.
Deep purple flames violently struck Talonflame mid-flight. The searing pain immediately registered, causing even the Fire-type Pokémon to cry out in agony.
After landing the hit, "Riolu" touched down gracefully at its original position.
At this moment, Riolu wore an expression completely unlike its usual demeanor—a cunning grin of someone whose scheme had perfectly succeeded.
"That's impossible! Wait—Riolu can't possibly know Lash Out! And it actually burned Talonflame!"
Compared to David's composure, Sadie appeared somewhat flustered.
How could there be a Riolu that knew Lash Out? Whether considering type compatibility, move pools, or species characteristics, this shouldn't be a move Riolu could learn!
Unless...
"You're absolutely right. Riolu certainly can't learn Lash Out. But who said the Pokémon before you is definitely Riolu?"
"Show them your true form, Zorua."
As David's words fell, pink light immediately radiated from the Riolu on the field.
The next second, the Riolu that had been battling moments ago vanished, replaced by a small, pinkish-white fox.
[Name: Zorua (Hisuian Form)]
[Type: Normal/Ghost]
[Gender: ♀]
[Level: 36 (Superior)]
[Potential: Crimson]
[Ability: Illusion]
[Held Item: Spell Tag]
[Moves: Extrasensory, Shadow Sneak, Will-O-Wisp, Snarl, Icy Wind, Agility, Shadow Claw, Calm Mind, Swift, Aerial Ace, Hidden Power (Psychic), Grudge, Protect, Confuse Ray, Hypnosis, Payback, Night Daze, Nasty Plot, Lash Out, Hyper Beam, Rest...]
That's right—the Riolu on the field had actually been Zorua in disguise all along.
During the latter half of last semester, thanks to an unlimited supply of negative emotional energy from the Light Stone, the little fox had not only reached Level 36 but had also finally taken that crucial step in potential, achieving Crimson rank and catching up with her younger sister, Kirlia.
Seeing that his opponent had already begun to piece things together, David decided not to hide anything further.
After all, Talonflame and Zorua had no type disadvantage against each other, and he'd already seized the initiative. Given that, it was better to reveal everything openly.
As for why a burn could affect a Fire-type Pokémon, one would have to ask David why he used Lash Out instead of Will-O-Wisp.
It had been mentioned before that ever since the little fox absorbed negative emotional energy from the Light Stone, all emotion-based moves had received a significant boost in effectiveness.
Therefore, Lash Out being able to burn a Fire-type Pokémon wasn't particularly surprising.
"What just happened?"
"What's going on?"
"That Pokémon's appearance... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
"Oh, I remember now! This is that special form of Zorua that the Imperial Capital announced a while back!"
Watching events unfold on the battlefield, the audience in the stands began whispering among themselves.
The moment Zorua revealed its true form, Sadie finally understood—the Pokémon she'd been battling hadn't been the real Riolu from the very start.
Looking at the special Zorua, now showing its true face with that mischievous grin, realization dawned on her.
"A regional variant of Zorua. In that case, you must be this year's Novice Cup Champion from Imperial Capital!"
Sadie called out to David across the field.
After seeing the little fox, she'd also recalled David's identity. As a Gym Trainer, even though Fire-types were her specialty, she would definitely have studied newly discovered Pokémon like this one.
It had to be said that as the only known Hisuian Zorua in the world currently, the little fox's fame throughout the country—and even globally—far exceeded David's own.
Many times, when opponents saw the little fox, only then would they think of David. His most notable "claim to fame" at present was being the Trainer of this unique special Zorua.
Ultimately, David was still just a rookie Trainer. In this Pokémon-centered world, he naturally couldn't command the same level of attention as the little fox herself.
As one of the few newly discovered Pokémon in recent years, the little fox enjoyed considerable recognition among both Trainers and ordinary people alike.
When David had browsed foreign websites earlier, he'd even discovered there was already a fan site dedicated to the little fox, with quite a substantial membership!
It was filled with clips from their public battles from some time ago, and he didn't even know who had uploaded them.
"Your strategy succeeded, but don't think winning this round will be that easy."
Sadie acknowledged that her opponent's tactic of having Zorua disguise itself as Riolu had been brilliant.
It had caught her completely off guard. However, even though Talonflame was now burned, that didn't mean she would simply hand victory to David.
Besides, this was a 3-on-3 match.
"Talonflame, how are you holding up? Can you continue?"
"Talonflame!"
Talonflame, now back in the air, responded loudly to its Trainer. Despite enduring the pain from the burn, it still wanted to keep fighting...