"Tsareena? (What is this?)" Tsareena appeared, thinking Li Yuan wanted to sleep with her, feeling a tiny bit of joy.
But looking around, it looked like a battlefield. She was confused.
Wasn't he just sleeping with women?
Why are we fighting? Can you ease up on the plot jumps?
And I'm not your Pokémon; can you even register me for a match?
"Sister Tsareena, sorry to trouble you. It's not an official match, but we must win," Li Yuan's voice came from behind.
"Tsareena. (Fine. But hand over the 'stock' when we get back.)" Tsareena glanced back. The man was hugging a Pokémon she didn't recognize, touching and kissing it. The Pokémon looked slightly disgusted.
Is that Gardevoir?
Why does she look like that?
"Easy. Finish early, enter the room early~," Li Yuan hinted.
"Tsareena. (Won't take long.)" Tsareena looked at Arbok.
Aura-wise, they were both Elite Four level.
Type-wise, Poison countered Grass. She was at a disadvantage.
But as a Pokémon with... intimate relations with Li Yuan (wait, she was Erika's starter!), she had cheats too. She never feared type disadvantages.
"Sha~! (Stop bragging! Take this!)" Arbok had a bad temper. It hated show-offs.
Arbok opened its mouth, gathering purple energy. A stream of toxic liquid shot toward Tsareena like a high-pressure water gun.
Gunk Shot.
With Li Yuan's Aura support, his Pokémon knew the battlefield perfectly. Sneak attacks didn't work.
Tsareena prepared to dodge elegantly. But just as she moved, she froze.
She couldn't move!
Arbok's hood pattern glowed with eerie purple light, and its slit pupils stared at her, emitting a strange wave that locked her in place.
"Disable + Glare combo. Nice," Li Yuan praised.
As expected of an Elite Four trainer.
The poison shot wasn't simple; it was a mix of Sludge Bomb and Gunk Shot, cultivated with toxins daily.
Combined with Disable and Glare, the opponent couldn't dodge. Once hit, they were Poisoned and Paralyzed (halved speed). The "Substitute + Protect + Toxic" stall tactic would then finish them off.
A high-success-rate combo.
Ariana didn't dare be careless against a cheater. She doubted if the combo would work.
But seeing Tsareena frozen and hit by the poison, drenched in foul liquid, Ariana rejoiced!
Her combo worked! Next: Poison Tail + Wrap to bind the enemy, Coil to boost stats, and Poison Fang to corrode.
Once wrapped by a snake, escape was impossible.
Arbok lunged, wrapping its thick body around Tsareena and biting down with toxic fangs.
"Young Master Li, you were careless," Ariana smiled victoriously. No one had ever escaped this combo.
"Don't open the champagne at halftime," Li Yuan replied calmly.
"Impossible. No one escapes Arbok's wrap," Ariana frowned.
"Just watch."
Ariana watched nervously. Arbok tightened its grip, fangs sinking in. Everything seemed perfect.
Until she met Tsareena's gaze—still arrogant and cold.
Ariana sensed danger. "Arbok! Get away from her!"
Arbok paused, confused. Why give up the advantage?
But obeying its master, it flung the beauty away.
As it did, Arbok's pupils shrank. Tsareena's fist was covered in silvery energy. That wave... was Steel-type energy!
If it had been a second late, that fist would have smashed its chest.
But how? You're a Grass type! Where did you get a Steel move?
"Wait, you aren't poisoned?" Ariana noticed the poison on Tsareena had been shaken off completely. Her skin was rosy, showing no signs of poisoning.
"Just that little toxin?" Li Yuan rolled his eyes. "Tsareena, finish it quickly."
Tsareena sprinted toward Arbok.
Her speed was insane—faster than Quick Attack.
"You... aren't paralyzed either?" Ariana was shocked.
Poisoning was probabilistic, but Glare was 100% paralysis!
"Did you forget Tsareena's Ability?" Li Yuan reminded her.
"Leaf Guard? But it's not sunny!" Ariana looked up. It was cloudy.
Leaf Guard prevented status conditions in sunny weather.
"Hehe. Did my Meowscarada care about the sun when using Solar Blade?" Li Yuan retorted.
Ariana was speechless. Right. Cheaters don't care about weather.
Without status conditions, her stall tactic failed. She had to use Disable and brute force.
But Li Yuan didn't play that game.
Tsareena tapped her own acupoints rapidly.
Acupressure: Randomly raises a stat by 2 stages.
In others' hands, it was random. In Li Yuan's hands, with Aura guiding the tapping, it was Targeted Acupressure.
Tsareena boosted her Speed. She became a blur, too fast for Disable to lock onto.
Helpless, Arbok met her head-on with Poison Tail and Poison Fang. As a Poison type, it should win a trade against Grass.
But despair followed.
After exchanging blows, Arbok was beaten back, bruised and battered. Tsareena remained unscathed, advancing like a grim reaper.
Ariana realized a terrifying fact: Tsareena was immune to Poison moves.
Not resistant. Immune.
Only Steel types were immune to Poison.
"Is she... Tera Type: Steel???"
(Note: "Awakening: Steel" refers to the Awakening Berry Li Yuan got from Caitlin, which permanently adds a type or changes the type properties, similar to Terastallization but permanent.)