Chapter 42 42: Metronome!
By the afternoon, the Top 8 list was finalized. Lorze's opponent was indeed that Chansey.
To deal with this pink tank, he had to rely on Huge Power and Thunder Punch. To prepare, Lorze had to take a trip to his Auntie's company. The Huge Power Ability he had traced from Big Sis Azumarill this morning had already expired; he needed to re-trace it.
While he was at it, he could indulge in some heavy groping and cuddling with his mother and Auntie. When they pressed him tightly between them, their bodies grinding against his, he was sandwiched between two sets of massive, soft "white rabbits." The intense pressure and friction made him feel like he had ascended to heaven, completely melting away his mental fatigue.
It turned out his mother and Auntie had a "superpower" for mental recovery after all. He'd have to bury his face in those breasts more often.
Not for any perverted reason, of course—purely to recharge his batteries!
Lorze happily kneaded and squeezed their soft flesh. Once his "mental energy" was fully topped up with all that filth... ahem, with that inspiration... he returned to the arena under the warm blessings of his mother and Auntie. They'd be watching his handsome performance on the livestream~.
...
As expected, Lorze was scheduled for the opening match of the afternoon.
The viewers were already used to this, flooding the livestream early. It seemed the pure white Ralts's popularity hadn't waned a single bit.
However, for this specific match, the vast majority of people didn't believe Lorze could win.
It wasn't that Lorze was bad, but Ralts's Special Attack was simply too low. Against a Special Defense specialist like Chansey, they couldn't see any possible way for Ralts to break through.
What about attacking Chansey's Physical Defense?
Please. Look at Ralts's tiny little arms and legs. Do you really think she has any physical power?
People were more interested in seeing if Ralts had any "dirty" cheese strategies.
Even the Xue family and Anna Lee were watching closely, wondering how Lorze would solve this puzzle.
Honestly, they didn't want Lorze to lose. As the investors, the Xue family were technically part of the official staff—everyone wanted the pure white Ralts to go as far as possible to keep the hype alive for the tournament.
But there were no weaklings left in the Top 8. They couldn't find anyone easier for Lorze to fight; he was on his own.
Only Lorze's mother and Roxanne held absolute faith in their man, eagerly waiting for the moment Ralts's Thunder Punch would leave everyone in a state of shock.
"Goddess Xue Tong, what's your take on this match?" The commentator couldn't openly side with Lorze this time, because the opponent's background was just as impressive. She was the daughter of the Guicheng Pokémon Center Director—the Chansey alone made that obvious.
"It will be incredibly difficult for Ralts to win a head-on clash with Chansey. Even I can't think of many solutions. It all depends on Ralts's move-set," Xue Tong shook her head. She couldn't call the winner yet.
She knew her own Gardevoir had a massive movepool; there was no way Ralts only knew Psychic.
If Ralts had the Trace Ability, she had a chance. If not, she was in massive trouble.
Soon, Lorze and his opponent stepped onto the field, curiously appraising each other.
"Should I be calling you Doctor Qiao?" Lorze asked with a smile.
"Just call me Yue Qiao," she nodded.
"Good. At least your name isn't Joy."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Just talking to myself. Don't worry about it."
"Alright then. Mr. Lorze, care to make a bet with me?"
"What kind of bet?"
"If I win, you have to date me. How about it?"
Lorze: ???
Mother: ???
Anna Lee: ???
Live Chat: ???
Holy shit, what is happening?!
Confessing her love right on the battlefield? Is she really that thirsty?
Lorze was stunned. What kind of plot twist was this?
I'm actually getting confessed to?
Is Yue Qiao just saying this to make me hesitate and hold back my attacks?
Lorze gave Yue Qiao a long, strange look. She was definitely beautiful, but the problem was they didn't even know each other. Why the hell would she be into him?
Could she just be trying to leech off my Ralts's viral fame too?!
As they say, "When someone is too kind for no reason, they're either plotting a scam or a robbery." Lorze accepted immediately: "No problem. I'll take that bet. It's not like I'm going to lose anyway."
The audience gave him a collective thumbs-up, calling him a role model for men everywhere.
"Then it's a deal! Come out, Chansey~!"
"Lucky~!"
Yue Qiao summoned her Chansey, her eyes filled with anticipation for victory.
Lorze followed up by summoning Ralts, and the match began under the referee's bewildered gaze.
Lorze struck first, having Ralts unleash a maximum-output Psychic attack, clearly showing he had zero intention of letting her win.
Chansey wasn't agile at all. There was no worry about it dodging like the Pikachu did.
Yue Qiao knew her Pokémon's speed was trash anyway. Since Special attacks were virtually useless against Chansey, she just let it tank the hit head-on.
The Psychic attack slammed into Chansey perfectly, but Ralts didn't look happy at all.
To her, the Chansey felt like a giant piece of chewing gum. No matter how much she crushed and kneaded it with her mind, the effect was negligible. It was no better than the Charmeleon's performance.
Chansey's massive Special Defense gave it insane resilience. Even if it just stood there and let Ralts wail on it, Ralts would struggle to take it down.
And of course, it wasn't just going to stand there.
Yue Qiao's Chansey had three specific traits:
Massive Special Defense and HP: Making it nearly impossible to break through from the Special side.
Anti-Melee Shockwaves: Although its physical defense was low, it had Hyper Voice to repel any physical attackers.
The Joker Card: This was the most annoying and chaotic trait... Metronome.
Anyone who has ever used this move knows it only has two outcomes: it either ruins your enemy's life or ruins your own.
In the games, the description was simple: "The user waggles a finger and stimulates its brain to use any move at random."
"Any move" didn't mean moves Chansey already knew; it meant literally almost any move in the entire Pokémon universe.
Except for specific legendary signature moves, anything was on the table.
Sure enough, the moment Chansey broke free from Ralts's Psychic hold, it started vigorously waggling its finger.
The entire audience held their breath, everyone wanting to see what kind of absurd skill it would pull out of its ass.
Under millions of eyes, Dark-type energy began rapidly swirling around Chansey's fingertip. Then, a massive Dark Pulse was unleashed as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
"HOLY FUCK!"
The audience stared in absolute disbelief.
Are you actually using hacks?!
A Psychic-type Ralts is completely helpless against Dark-type moves, and you literally just pulled out a high-tier Dark nuke right out of the gate?!
Why didn't you just pull out a black hole and end the universe while you were at it?!
This is bullshit. I'm out.
Ralts had to frantically Teleport away to avoid the strike, while continuing to chip away with Psychic.
The progress was abysmal, but she managed to scrape off a tiny sliver of health.
Lorze and Ralts were waiting. Waiting for the exact moment Chansey's health bar dropped low enough for a one-shot Thunder Punch.
This was destined to be a torturous process. Chansey was simply too tanky; it felt like the laws of the universe were eroding, yet it still stood there, immovable and eternal!
Meanwhile, Chansey kept using Metronome as if it were playing a game, randomly tossing out all sorts of moves.
Lorze suspected this Chansey had the Serene Grace Ability, or maybe just a hidden "Super Luck" trait.
Otherwise, how the hell did it keep pulling out such high-value moves? It pulled out Thunder, Fire Blast, and even a Psychic of its own. It turned a pure tank into a literal mobile artillery battery.
There were even some moves that were nearly impossible to dodge, forcing Ralts to burn extra mental energy to counter-attack.
For a while, the match was completely one-sided. Ralts looked like she was struggling just to survive. The audience shook their heads, already predicting that the pure white Ralts's journey was coming to an end.
But then they remembered: If Lorze loses, doesn't that mean he scores a beautiful girlfriend for free?
That's even harder to accept! Lorze, you better fucking win...
Lorze hadn't expected to get the audience's support for such a reason.
Anna Lee's brow furrowed as she watched Ralts getting pushed back. What is that man doing?
Why won't he let Ralts show something more?
Or is he really reaching his limit?
She refused to believe it. This was the man who had beaten her fairly; he had said himself that he had a winning chance.
Or... does he actually just want to lose?
I swear to god, if you lose this match on purpose—!!!
Fortunately, Lorze wasn't affected by the outside noise. He was incredibly calm. Although Ralts looked like she was struggling, her actual energy consumption wasn't as high as it seemed.
In fact, she only looked like she was struggling because she was trying to minimize her mental energy waste by not Teleporting excessively.
It wasn't time yet. Chansey's health bar still looked too healthy. He couldn't expose Thunder Punch yet; he had to keep up the painful, slow chipping.
But nobody could have predicted that the turning point for Ralts's legendary performance would arrive in such a bizarre fashion...