Chapter 87: Psychic Clash

The scorching sun hung overhead.

The quarterfinals slowly drew open their curtain.

When All Baimu set out, nearly every Quicksand team member who saw him shouted encouragement, and by the time he reached the Iron Arena the voices yelling that he had to win were countless.

He understood very well that a large portion of these fellows treated him as a money tree that could make one rich overnight.

He'd heard that many underground bookmakers, to stir up the atmosphere and draw bets, had deliberately adjusted his odds to be extremely lopsided, attracting a flood of buyers.

And behind these underground bookmakers happened to be those very contestants now among the top eight.

Every one of them was raring to harvest the leeks today; every year fools got tricked into betting until they were nearly bankrupt, yet every year new fools kept on betting.

Everyone was staring at those one or two lucky winners who'd struck it rich, hoping to replicate that in their own lives.

Survivorship bias — they hadn't the faintest clue.

All Baimu felt neither sympathy nor pity for these people; he fought only for himself, and win or lose, as long as he was true to himself and true to his Kodora, that was enough.

Even if he lost in the ugliest fashion, as long as he fought to the very last moment without giving up, that was victory!

"Hiss—"

He drew a slow, deep breath, passed through the rust-stained corridor, burst through the exit's white light that seemed to symbolize the road ahead, and charged into the arena where the roar of the crowd shook the heavens.

Today's opponent, Shanren, was already in position, dressed in a tracksuit, a serene smile on his face, his bearing outstanding.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our dark horse under the spotlight, the rising star of Quicksand, the master of upset victories — Trainer All Baimu!

The host's shout echoed clearly above the arena, drawing a wave of cheers.

What a load of nonsense.

All Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth, feeling only that the host, to whip up the audience's enthusiasm, was simply telling bald-faced lies with eyes wide open — what spotlight, what rising star.

Though he did have that Japanese-like knack for wild exaggeration.

Forget it.

None of that matters.

All Baimu gripped the Poké Ball, struck a posture of stern readiness, and waited for the red light.

Shanren, by contrast, seemed a touch hesitant, pulling out several Poké Balls in a row before settling on his final pick. Judging by the pitch-black color, every ball in his hand appeared to be a Luxury Ball.

"The match is about to begin; Trainer All Baimu and Trainer Shanren are both ready. Speaking of Trainer Shanren, we must once again mention his glorious record — the same age as Trainer All Baimu, he has already challenged the League conferences of three regions, each time achieving outstanding results."

The host, who a moment ago had been warming up with enthusiasm, suddenly switched his tone, as if introducing some great personage: "Now he has returned from other regions, deliberately taking part in our Iron Arena battle tournament, precisely to test the strength of Iron Town's trainers.

"I hope every trainer, in front of Trainer Shanren, can play to their level! Show their style! Now let me introduce the specially invited guest delegation that has come all the way from Silicon Beryllium City…"

After that came a long string of names.

The audience had long grown used to it — every time Shanren battled, the host would deliberately deliver this little speech, like chanting an incantation before the match.

And according to the investigations of some observant folk, this gentleman seemed to have very close ties with the mayor; rumor had it the mayor had hosted Shanren lavishly upon his arrival in Iron Town, with extraordinary ceremony, much like the scene every year when the Silicon Beryllium City tax inspector came to audit.

From this angle, Shanren was indeed someone ordinary folk couldn't afford to offend, so for now no one dared to target him.

Even the bookmakers' odds had been adjusted to match his actual strength.

All Baimu naturally understood all this.

But compared to his opponent's background, he cared more about his actual strength.

Beep—

The red-light signal finally arrived.

All Baimu drew a deep breath; the instant the green light came on he surged forward and hurled the Poké Ball ahead.

Bang!

The white light hit the ground and took the shape of a small, pale-pink egg-shaped body.

"Lucky!"

Chansey ran forward, its expression slightly nervous.

Though this was its first time entering as the lead, it understood perfectly how much a poor opening could affect the whole situation.

It couldn't drag its teammates down.

It thought, its gaze cast toward the distance — but the Pokémon released by its opponent made it freeze: it wasn't any of the Pokémon All Baimu had shown it before.

What's going on? Is the strategy going to fail?

"Stay calm, stick to the plan — set up Stealth Rock!"

All Baimu's voice reached Chansey's ears, and the latter's originally restless heart immediately settled considerably.

It raised its two small hands, drawing countless grains of sand and dust to coalesce into rocks shrouded in white light; they scattered across the field like raindrops, then silently vanished from sight.

During this time, All Baimu looked at his opponent's Pokémon—

A humanoid, cute cat with interwoven blue-and-white fur and folded ears.

The Suppression Pokémon, the Psychic-type Espurr.

This Pokémon was being used by Shanren for the first time and wasn't on the intel file Flobo had given All Baimu, so he had no choice but to modify his planned strategy on the fly.

"Reflect."

Shanren watched the Stealth Rock vanishing around him, seemingly unbothered, and issued his command with perfect calm.

The running Espurr's eyes suddenly lit up with blue radiance; a pink barrier abruptly unfurled before it, then, like the Stealth Rock, quietly disappeared.

All Baimu's heart sank slightly at the sight.

Both of his Pokémon excelled at physical attacks; special attacks were only a supplementary means. Although he didn't know how much this Reflect could lower physical attack, he figured it wouldn't be by much.

It really was a shame not having Brick Break!

Both sides closed the distance at speed; in the blink of an eye only ten meters remained between them.

And that distance was just right for any ranged Pokémon to accept and believe its move could land.

All Baimu and Shanren undoubtedly shared the same thought.

"Telekinesis!"

"Psybeam!"

The two commands were issued at the same instant, and the two Pokémon also made their moves at the same instant.

A blue light covered their eyes, and faint ripples stirred the air, spreading forward.

Among them, the ripple from Chansey was formless and shapeless, while the ripple from Espeon materialized into clusters of pink-purple, glittering light orbs that shot madly toward Chansey.

The two forces collided violently at a certain central point!

Boom!

Blinding light flared like a flashbang, and dust rose with it, swallowing up a large stretch of the field in a single breath.

All Baimu was stunned.

The clash just now was a contest of psychic power between the two Pokémon; Telekinesis did not possess the terrifying destructive force of Psychic.

Even though Chansey's willpower was unusual, by all rights it shouldn't have been so easy to trade blows evenly with Psybeam used as an attacking move.

Moreover, in the script Shanren had always followed, such move-versus-move exchanges usually crushed the opponent's Pokémon outright…

Why?

Feigning weakness? Or had Chansey broken through its limits?

All Baimu couldn't help but look at Chansey diagonally ahead of him; as its trainer he knew its condition. Chansey was indeed a bit lively right now, but it was still far from breaking through its limits.

He looked again at Shanren across from him and found the latter showing a rather surprised expression.

Only then did the look on that face turn out to be not the annoyance of failing to take down the opponent in one strike, but an excitement of meeting one's equal.

"One more Telekinesis!"

As his thoughts raced, he decided to test Shanren once.

To figure out exactly what was going on with this guy.