A faint red light flickered.
A Pokémon appeared on a floating wooden platform.
It had a strawberry resting on its head, red eyes, and a body made entirely of red cream. It had tiny arms and a blank, confused expression.
It was very small, only 0.3 meters tall, looking almost childlike and delicate.
But the moment this Pokémon appeared on the battlefield, the entire audience, including those watching on television, froze in shock.
An eerie silence swept through the arena.
It was only when Alcremie softly made a sound, "Alcremie?" transmitted through the speakers, that everyone finally snapped back to reality.
"Alcremie?" someone muttered in confusion.
"They sent out a cream-filled dessert Pokémon? Isn't that just a pastry chef's best assistant in a bakery?"
"Are you kidding me? Even if Lin Feng's Alcremie can bake amazing cakes, this is a battlefield, and this is the Zenith Championship…"
"Al… Alcremie? Wait, did Lin Feng send out the wrong Poké Ball? He actually summoned Alcremie?" Even the usually calm commentator Li Bing couldn't help but shout in disbelief.
"Let's look at Lin Feng. Oh my god, he didn't recall Alcremie, and he looks completely calm. That means this is intentional. Alcremie is his chosen Pokémon for this match!"
The scene left even Feng Yang, Ji Yan, and the others in the upper stands completely stunned.
"What is that kid doing?" Ji Yan frowned. "Sending Alcremie into a match like this? What moves does it even have?"
Feng Yang remained silent, his brows slightly furrowed, unable to decipher Lin Feng's intention.
"Is he trying to showcase all his Pokémon?" Luo Bingxue guessed from the side.
"That's unlikely," Ji Yan shook his head. "If that were the case, he should have far more than this. We've seen his nursery. There are the Indeedee siblings, twenty Pidgeot, Butterfree, Primarina…"
"Let's wait and see," Feng Yang said quietly.
Down below, Sally was also stunned when she saw Alcremie. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and only after confirming it was real did her composed expression from countless livestreams finally crack.
What kind of joke is this? Is he serious? He actually sent Alcremie into battle?
The match had already started, yet neither side moved.
Togekiss hovered in place, just as confused as its trainer, staring down at Alcremie, unsure what to do.
As for Alcremie, it looked around curiously. The dense floating platforms blocked its view. It turned its small body, searching in all directions, and only realized it could not see its opponent at all.
Only when it activated its aura sense did it finally locate Togekiss in the sky.
"Good girl, just fight on your own, alright? Use that move."
Lin Feng gave no detailed instructions. Even he wasn't sure why Togekiss wasn't attacking yet.
(•̀. ̫ •́) "Alcremie!" (Mm!)
Alcremie raised its hand with a serious expression.
A strange ripple spread across its body.
Then, under everyone's gaze, a pair of translucent crystal wings slowly formed on its back.
With those wings, Alcremie began to rise into the sky.
"???"
The entire arena fell into confusion.
It can fly?
Is that… Illusion? But Illusion shouldn't manifest like that.
"Wings? Alcremie grew wings?" even commentator Li Bing was stunned.
For the first time in his career, he felt genuinely speechless.
No, not just speechless. He realized something else immediately.
"No, no, that's not Illusion. That's Aura Wings, specifically from Metronome! Alcremie just used Metronome!"
"It shaped the result into wings using psychic-like energy. That must be Aura Wings!"
The replay appeared on the main screen, showing Alcremie's small hand movement just before the wings appeared.
The crowd finally relaxed.
"Oh… Metronome…"
"You scared me. I thought it really used Aura Wings."
Compared to Aura Wings, Metronome was far more believable. After all, Alcremie could learn it.
"But why? Is Lin Feng planning to rely on Metronome to win?"
"That's impossible. Metronome randomly selects a move from all possible moves. The chance of getting a strong one is practically zero. Getting Illusion already counts as lucky."
The audience buzzed with discussion.
On the field, Alcremie finally spotted its opponent.
A much larger Pokémon hovering in the air.
Sally hesitated.
Lin Feng gave no instructions, and she did not dare act recklessly either. But staying still solved nothing.
"Is he going easy on me because I'm a girl?" she wondered suddenly.
It wasn't the first time she had encountered this feeling. As a popular streamer, challengers often held back against her or even threw matches.
But Lin Feng didn't seem like that type of person.
Still uncertain, she finally gave an order.
"Togekiss, use Echo Voice… probably."
She intended to test a low-power attack.
"Alcremie, this isn't turn-based. You can act directly. Just use Metronome."
Lin Feng's voice echoed calmly.
Alcremie nodded seriously.
It raised its tiny hand.
In that instant, the world changed.
Dark thunderclouds gathered overhead, roaring violently. Lightning and flames twisted together like giant serpents, tearing through the sky.
Thunder?
No.
This wasn't normal thunder at all.
This was… something else entirely.
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