Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Open Confrontation and the Underhanded Plot

Under the referee’s interference, Tang Yi and Lingwu focused on the match again.

In a contest like this, trash-talking was by no means uncommon. The referee was used to it as well; as long as no one went too far, a warning was enough and no real penalty would follow.

On the field, the expressions of the two Pokémon girls were a little strange. The Magnemite girl was well aware of her trainer’s habit of hurling insults, and she was not surprised. At most, every now and then, in the gaps between Thunder Shock and Electro Ball, she stole a glance at Ralts’s ears.

Mm, quite a lot.

Ralts, however, was getting a little snappish.

“Snickering, so what if your chest is small? You’re not eating up your own family’s grain—why must you shout it so loudly?”

“I’m angry!”

The frequency of her telekinetic release began to rise. This time, the Magnemite had a hard time keeping up.

As Tang Yi had expected, what looked like an even exchange was only a surface truce: the Magnemite relied on her alternate personality for support, while Ralts relied on her skill with telekinetic force.

In terms of exhaustion, Magnemite could not match Ralts, whose calm nature gave her a naturally stronger mental reserve.

Little by little, the Magnemite’s breathing grew uneven as she retreated step by step, trying to gain distance for more reaction time.

It was obvious she was struggling.

“Good! Exactly like that—keep pressing her!” Tang Yi encouraged her. Though he had other preparations in mind, the situation was currently more favorable for Ralts, so he had no rush to change tactics.

The two twisted locks of hair on the Magnemite girl’s head trembled slightly; they were the source of her electric energy. Yet the cadence of her output was slowing down.

Tang Yi calculated carefully.

At the start of the battle, the Magnemite girl could release an Electro Ball every four or five seconds. Now it had slipped to seven or eight seconds.

At this pace, the match could soon be decided.

For both Pokémon girls who had not yet evolved, their expendable energy was never that plentiful to begin with.

Still, was it really that simple?

Tang Yi felt something was off. The opponent had reached the finals, after all. Surely this could not be simply a case of winning only because of a few sharp words.

After all, this chapter itself was not yet finished. Anyone who could not survive two whole chapters could hardly be a true finalist.

Suddenly Tang Yi realized something and shouted, “Ralts!”

“Hm?” Ralts paused, for she had missed his next instruction.

After a brief pause, Tang Yi blinked and said quietly, “Come on.”

Ralts stopped for a moment, then continued releasing telekinetic force.

But the blue light around her was slowly dimming, the frequency of her power suddenly dropping, and the Magnemite, who had been constantly retreating under pressure, began to steady herself, then even edge back forward little by little.

Both knew this tug-of-war had reached the point of no retreat. If either side let go even for an instant, a rush of incoming attacks could send them crashing, and with both sides already having spent nearly half their stamina and power, one more strike could mean they would never get up.

“Ha, looks like your Ralts is worn out too!” Lingwu did not miss a chance for more mockery.

“So is Magnemite,” Tang Yi said.

“Then we’ll see who can endure to the end. It’s like a tug-of-war: whoever holds out last is the winner!” Lingwu called out, brimming with confidence.

“Right! Come on—let’s see who wins this direct duel by endurance!” Tang Yi eagerly echoed him.

The two trainers’ intense shouts sent a surge of excitement through the referee as well. If he were a few decades younger, he would have wanted to join such a fierce bout himself.

A few seconds later, the arena fell silent.

Only moments before, the collisions of telekinetic force and electric attacks had been interspersed with bursting blasts; now, almost as if by unspoken accord, both Ralts and Magnemite ceased their assaults at the same time.

The once-stirred referee was now a little unsettled—too dull, too suddenly ending—but as a referee he still dutifully checked their conditions, gauging whether either had been drained of all energy.

Such a situation was common: both run out of power, neither falls, yet neither can use another skill.

In that case, the only way left was the oldest and most direct—a close-quarters brawl.

Had both exhausted their energy?

No!

No!

Ralts looked blank and dazed. Instinctively she tried again to raise both arms to release telekinetic force, but her body twitched lightly and she could not lift her arms at all.

“Hahaha! You’re definitely going to lose!” Lingwu finally got to laugh freely.

“Did you deliberately lower the attack frequency so that Magnemite would release ultrasound and electromagnetic waves together?”

Tang Yi cut through immediately.

The drop in the frequency of Thunder Shock and Electro Ball was partly because Magnemite had fewer reserves to spend, but that was also Lingwu’s plan.

Thunder Shock and Electro Ball were mere bait. Mixed among the electrical attacks were ultrasonic and electromagnetic waves emitted from Magnemite’s braided locks.

For the girl with a secondary personality, releasing those two wave-based control skills at once was no great difficulty.

“You noticed, did you? Yet waking up to it now is already too late.”

Lingwu laughed for a while, then suddenly felt something amiss. Tang Yi’s face was unnervingly calm—so calm. Not the slightest trace of anxiety or anger.

Could that be the face of a trainer on the verge of losing?

Clearly not.

“My Ralts truly cannot move,” he said. “Then why don’t you let Magnemite keep attacking?”

Tang Yi tried his best not to look at Ralts. Looking at her made him ache, and as long as the battle was still underway and the referee had not blown the whistle, trainers were absolutely forbidden to enter the field.

Entering would mean an immediate loss.

Ralts, hold on a bit longer—the match is about to end!

At the same time, Ralts had been struck by both ultrasound and electromagnetic waves and now suffered both confusion and paralysis.

Confusion made the Pokémon girl’s mind reel, causing her to lose track of friend and foe, even to the point of seeing herself as an enemy and attacking herself.

Paralysis lowered her speed, and in severe cases could freeze the whole body so she could not move.

Ralts’s condition was strange. In her dizzy state, she repeatedly lifted her hands intending to hit herself, but severe paralysis made even that impossible.

Yet in any case, Ralts eventually fell into total immobility.

By the rules, the match should have ended right there.

But the referee still had not blown the whistle.

Because the Magnemite girl’s condition, too, was deeply abnormal.

Heh.