The battle began.
The two sides sent out Kilowattrel and Mimikyu as their leads.
"Oh? Is that Mimikyu, the Alola-region specialty Pokémon?"
As the Gym Leader of Levincia City, Iono was naturally extremely familiar with Pokémon.
"This Pokémon has a very strong Ability—it can completely block one instance of damage. So we won't rush into trading blows with it. Kilowattrel, Tailwind!"
Her small hand waved lightly from beneath her punk-style oversized sleeves, and she gave the camera a sweet wink.
"Iono's little tip~ Kilowattrel's Ability, Wind Power, lets it enter a Charge state after using Tailwind!"
The sweet wink from the delicate, cute girl instantly dealt massive damage to her livestream audience.
Even some of the trolls who'd come over from Xia Chi's stream started spamming "awsl" in the chat.
And right after Kilowattrel finished using Tailwind, Mimikyu's Trick Room followed immediately.
"Huh? Trick Room?"
Iono frowned in surprise. "That's a pretty rare move… and it actually counters our Tailwind setup."
Because Pokémon: Champion's Path used real-time command-based combat, Iono didn't have much time to think.
"Whatever—we play it straight!"
She continued commanding, "Kilowattrel, Air Slash!"
"We need to account for Mimikyu's Disguise Ability, so use Air Slash first to break it."
With Trick Room active, the speed order was reversed.
Before Kilowattrel, its wings glowing white, could close in, a jet-black energy sphere shot out first.
"Shadow Ball?"
Iono snorted. "He's finally using some normal moves."
The Shadow Ball hit, shaving off a small chunk of Kilowattrel's HP.
Iono didn't take it seriously at all—at that damage level, Kilowattrel could hold on for quite a while.
Air Slash successfully broke Mimikyu's Disguise.
And then came Iono's real offensive.
"Kilowattrel, Thunderbolt!"
On screen, dazzling arcs of electricity burst forth.
Kilowattrel's speed was heavily reduced, but under the Charge state, a terrifyingly powerful lightning strike was clearly brewing.
"Shui Ye, take this—Thunderbolt!"
With Iono's sharp cry, the electric light flared to its peak and exploded in an instant.
"Hehe, my Kilowattrel is fully invested in Special Attack. A little Mimikyu absolutely can't take this!"
Iono's smug smile vanished in sync with the dispersing lightning.
Replaced in the center of the screen was a stout, brown, big-headed ant.
"W–What is this… Trapinch?!"
Iono's wide-open mouth perfectly conveyed her shock.
"That guy actually sent out this first-stage Pokémon?!"
It wasn't that she hadn't noticed Trapinch in Xia Chi's selection screen—but she'd simply assumed it was there to make up the numbers.
After all, who would seriously use Trapinch as a main battler?
So she hadn't even considered that a Ground-type Trapinch would be completely immune to a Charge-boosted Thunderbolt.
At that moment, Iono's livestream chat exploded.
"I'm dying—this is exactly why Lao Leaf never disappoints me."
"Really loving one of Iono's quotes: 'What can Trapinch even do?'"
"Go on, antenna-less big ant!"
Iono forced herself to calm down. "It's fine. Even if it tanks that Thunderbolt, it's still just a Trapinch—a Pokémon that's worse than Charmander. It poses no threat to my Kilowattrel."
What the flustered Iono failed to realize was that a Pokémon slower than even Torkoal—
Under Trick Room—
Could unleash just how terrifying a level of power.
At the same time, in a dorm room at Shanghai University.
"Stone Edge!"
With the setup complete, Xia Chi immediately launched a fierce offensive.
A massive, jagged rock erupted violently from the ground, stabbing straight toward the Kilowattrel in midair.
As mentioned before, Pokémon: Champion's Path was not a simple turn-based game.
It closely simulated real Pokémon battles.
Whether it was command timing, positioning, or even classic moves like "Dodge!"—players were given ample room to perform.
And it was precisely because of this system that the combined effects of Trick Room and Tailwind caused the two Pokémon's speed relationship to be completely reversed.
The audience watched as a brown, big-headed ant raced across the battlefield at breakneck speed, weaving effortlessly through Air Slashes.
Meanwhile, the normally nimble Kilowattrel hung in the air like a stationary target, getting mercilessly skewered by Stone Edge after Stone Edge.
With every spike of rock that burst upward, the temperature in front of Iono's screen rose another notch.
It wasn't that she didn't want to switch Kilowattrel out—but whether it was Mismagius or Luxray in the backline, neither of those high-speed Pokémon could escape this deadly Trick Room.
At this point, all Iono could do was try to stall out her opponent's Trick Room—along with her own Tailwind.
"He's definitely going to switch once Trick Room ends. And the moment Trapinch leaves the field—that'll be my chance!"
Grinding her sharp shark-like teeth, Iono snarled, "Once I deal with that Mimikyu, I'll make it suffer!"
Trash talk couldn't change the situation on the field.
Kilowattrel's bulk wasn't particularly high to begin with, and after being hit repeatedly by doubly super-effective Stone Edge—
No matter how well Iono had trained it, it still couldn't last through the duration of Trick Room.
With an unwilling cry, Kilowattrel crashed down.
Left with no choice, Iono was forced to send out her second Pokémon—Luxray.
She muttered to herself, "Don't panic, don't panic… there's still a chance. Our Luxray has Intimidate—it'll lower that Trapinch's Attack by one stage…"
Before she could finish speaking, the Trapinch on screen unleashed an Earthquake.
Iono's vision went dark. "Straight to Earthquake?! Is he not afraid I switched into Mismagius?!"
Mismagius's Ability was Levitate, granting complete immunity to Ground-type moves.
But whether Xia Chi was guessing blindly or reading ahead, this preemptive Earthquake slammed the freshly switched-in Luxray head-on.
The bad news was that Trapinch's Ability was Hyper Cutter, which prevented its Attack from being lowered—and this STAB, doubly super-effective Earthquake nearly one-shot Luxray.
The good news was that Trick Room also ended right after that Earthquake.
"Counterattack—starting now!"
Seizing the moment, Iono shouted, "Luxray, charge in—Ice Fang!"
Without Trick Room's support, a pure damage dealer like Trapinch was basically a living target.
A single Ice Fang would be enough to instantly knock out the frail Trapinch.
However, a flash of light erupted—
And Trapinch vanished from the screen.
In its place appeared a slender blue-and-pink figure—Hatterene.
"So you switched into another Pokémon that can use Trick Room?"
The sudden switch didn't surprise Iono. She'd already grasped the tactical core of Xia Chi's team—
Using Trick Room to create an output environment for slow Pokémon.
"Then I'll just knock you out before you can set it up again—problem solved!"
Iono chuckled. "Luxray, Volt Switch!"
Electric light surged as Luxray lunged straight at Hatterene.
The earlier Ice Fang had already dealt some damage to Hatterene. As long as this Volt Switch connected, and Mismagius followed up with a doubly super-effective Shadow Ball—
Iono was confident she could knock Hatterene out before it ever got Trick Room up!
But the light of switching flared once more.
That brown, big-headed ant reappeared on the battlefield.
And so, in the livestream titled [Electric-Type Streamer], there remained only a single shrill, ear-splitting scream—on par with an Exploud's Hyper Voice.
"I'M NOT PLAYING ANYMORE!"