On the screen, several lines of text appear, introducing a rare competition mode. This time, the problem is exceptionally difficult, and the information provided is entirely too scarce.
First of all, Charizard's current level of strength is not particularly clear. After all, who goes out of their way to pick wild berries and forge wooden beds while camping in the wilderness?
From these clues, the audience can only deduce that Charizard's power hovers somewhere around the Elite Four tier. As for its exact operational metrics, it remains a complete mystery.
Secondly, there is the factor of Brandon's true strength. The most famous aspect of the Pyramid King is his ownership of the Legendary Titans: the Regis! In the current timeline, he only possesses two, but the archival footage shows him with a complete trio of Regis.
However, focusing solely on the legendary trio is nothing more than a misleading trap.
Do viewers truly believe Brandon's capabilities begin and end with the Regis? He is an exceptionally formidable trainer in his own right! While he may not have formally claimed a regional Champion title yet, his personal combat tier is firmly established at the Elite Four level, and his standard party rotation is equally potent!
Therefore, even if Brandon chooses not to deploy the Regis, Charizard might still struggle to secure a sweep.
Moments ago, Lance was merely posturing; even he did not truly believe that Charizard could pull off a continuous three-kill sweep.
But surely, it could manage at least two knockouts, right? The very first historical inventory log explicitly verified that during Ash's final confrontation with Brandon, the two sides traded evenly throughout the set, culminating in a 3v3 draw.
At its absolute worst, Charizard should be able to take down one opponent and leave another heavily crippled! If its performance is extraordinary, taking away two targets is well within reason. That would leave Squirtle and Bulbasaur to handle the remainder of the match—a highly achievable vector!
As for facing the three Regis simultaneously… could Ash still win under those conditions? Nonexistent.
Note: Then again, the structural math isn't entirely impossible. Registeel is inherently vulnerable to Charizard's Fire-type output; Regirock could be systematically worn down by the combined type advantages of Bulbasaur and Squirtle; and Regice's ice attributes could be heavily pressured by Pikachu. The odds of victory are slim, but they are not zero.
[Lance: Guess which one it is?]
[Diantha: In any case, do not pick option D, Lance. First, help us eliminate the wrong answer. Whoever picks D is bound to lose.]
[Lance: ...]
Though Lance remained silent, he was deeply conflicted. Did they truly have to verbalize it so bluntly? He genuinely wanted to believe that Charizard could achieve a three-kill sweep! However, because of this exact dilemma, he decided to reverse his psychological strategy.
Hadn't everyone labeled his commentary as a jinx?
Since he internally believed that Charizard could not pull off a three-kill sweep, he would outwardly declare the exact opposite! By maintaining this contradiction, he would bypass the jinx entirely, regardless of the actual outcome.
if the audience knew what was tracking through Lance's mind, they would surely call him out for trying to exploit a behavioral loophole.
[Volkner: I think… it will be one or two knockouts! Given Charizard's baseline strength, it is guaranteed to take down at least one target!]
[Lance: Well, I agree completely. It is mechanically impossible for it to be defeated without securing a single knockout. That would never happen to Ash's ace Charizard!]
[Lance: Furthermore, if Charizard fails to defeat a single opponent, can the remaining Bulbasaur and Squirtle realistically dismantle three entire assets by themselves? The probability is incredibly low!]
Diantha, standing alongside Lance, observed the dialogue with a sharp gleam of tactical intuition.
Lance had not only highlighted the structural extremes of the question, but he had inadvertently pointed out the hidden truth by trying to analyze it away. Whether this prediction would hold true depended entirely on the raw potency of Lance's legendary jinx!
[Wallace: Then let's lock in Option B! Defeating one target and crippling a second seems to be the most statistically probable outcome.]
[Caitlin: Although Lance usually jinxes the parameters, his baseline analysis is logically sound this time around.]
[Caitlin: Bulbasaur and Squirtle systematically defeating three high-tier assets by themselves… no matter how you look at it, that defies standard battle logic. Therefore, the answer must be either B or C! I will place my bet on Option C!]
Caitlin firmly stated her belief in Charizard's offensive ceiling. Back in the real-world timeline, Ash was equally eager to participate. If he could navigate the interface fast enough, he was fully prepared to select Option C.
It wasn't a lack of faith in Charizard; it was a matter of trusting his entire roster. If he chose Option D, wouldn't that imply Bulbasaur and Squirtle did absolutely nothing during the match? He refused to accept such a narrative.
Since Charizard was indisputably the high-output anchor of the trio, securing a clean double-knockout via Option C was highly rational.
Soon, the countdown concluded, and the selection phase locked in.
[The Designated Answerer for this Phase: Diantha]
[Selected Answer: A]
[System Verification: Correct. The divine reward has been successfully distributed.]
A brilliant pillar of light descended directly upon Diantha. As the illumination gradually faded, a pristine, pink gemstone materialized in her hand.
However, the collective focus of the global audience instantly bypassed the reward entirely, shifting toward the absolute absurdity of the scoreboard.
"How could you possibly select Option A?!"
"And how is that the correct answer?!"
"This completely defies logic! How could it be zero? Ash's ace Charizard failed to secure a single knockout?!"
"Did Brandon choose not to field Regirock against Charizard, completely throwing off the expected type counters?"
In an instant, the backyard of the Oak Research Institute erupted into a chaotic den of shouting trainers.
No one could fathom the underlying reason for Option A being correct. That was Ash's premier heavyweight champion!
To drop a set without taking down a single opposing Pokémon was completely mind-boggling. Was the Pyramid King truly that terrifyingly oppressive? If his opening line was that dominant, how did Pikachu manage to secure a win later in the match?
Only Lance remained completely silent, not daring to utter a single word. The primary reason Diantha had confidently selected Option A was that she had decoded Lance's dialogue.
The exact moment Lance spoke on the public feed and completely dismissed Option A as a mathematical impossibility, she immediately inverted his logic. She bypassed the standard analytical path, locked in Option A, and secured the divine prize.
Could it be that Lance's legendary jinx had truly evolved into a definitive, causal law of the universe? Questioned by the surrounding observers, Diantha simply offered a knowing smile, shifting her gaze directly toward the silent Lance.
The implication was undeniable. The reason Option A was correct was standing right next to them—the God of Jinxes had performed his magic once more.
The surrounding trainers followed Diantha's line of sight. The moment their eyes landed on Lance, a wave of profound realization washed over the group.
It all made sense now. With the ultimate jinx actively influencing the match parameters, choosing anything other than Option A would have been a tactical blunder!
"Lance… is your commentary a literal weapon of mass destruction? Alternatively, if the future world ever faces a crisis, please vocalize a prediction that we will never find peace, just so the universe forces a golden age upon us!"
Lance could only grimace in frustration. Was that how civilized people spoke to an Elite Four Champion? As a law enforcement officer of the Pokémon G-Men, how could he possibly wish eternal chaos upon the regions?
It was precisely because criminals were constantly causing disruptions across Kanto and Johto that Lance constantly worked to enforce order, genuinely wishing for a peaceful world!
Wait a minute… if his internal desires actively inverted reality via the jinx, was his desire for peace the reason the world remained chaotic? Lance quickly shook his head to banish the existential dread from his mind, instantly shifting the conversation away from himself.
"Ahem, let's not dwell on superstitious nonsense. Diantha, what are the specific properties of the reward you just pulled from the system?"
The tactic proved highly effective. The surrounding trainers immediately redirected their attention to the pink gemstone resting in Diantha's hand. The object carried a familiar luster, though its exact grade remained to be verified.
"Many of you should recognize its baseline structure. This is a Psychic-type Augmentation Gemstone."
It was exactly as they suspected. An Augmentation Gemstone functions as an evolutionary item designed to provide a massive, immediate boost to a Pokémon's typing output.
However, unlike standard held items like a Twisted Spoon, standard versions are typically single-use expendables that provide a temporary surge.
Given their immense production costs, even elite trainers and Frontier Brains refrain from deploying them carelessly in standard matches.
Yet, if a divine quiz system only rewarded a standard, single-use consumable, it would be exceptionally stingy.
"However, this is not a standard, commercial-grade gemstone," Diantha explained with a light chuckle. "This is a Permanent Attunement Psychic Gemstone!"
"Once absorbed by a Pokémon, it permanently enhances the total destructive yield of their Psychic-type move distributions by approximately five to eight percent."
"The exact optimization variance depends entirely on the target's internal compatibility, but a pure Psychic-type should easily maximize the absorption efficiency."
The global interface fell into a stunned silence.
A permanent, unrestricted power increase of five to eight percent? That parameter was utterly terrifying.
To an amateur or standard route trainer, a five percent variance was negligible.
But when applied to a fully optimized, Champion-level party anchor, a permanent five percent multiplier was a game-changing asset that could completely rewrite the outcome of a regional championship set!
The efficiency of this quiz phase left everyone thoroughly impressed. It became clear that in future rounds, as long as Lance provided his baseline analysis, the audience could simply eliminate his choices to find a guaranteed path to victory.
Simultaneously, the broader world remained deeply shaken by the historical reality. Option A meant Charizard had been decisively shut out. Beyond the shock, a massive wave of ridicule immediately flooded the public chat interface, targeting Lance.
[Wallace: Your talent remains unmatched, Lance! To jinx a match to this precise degree is a masterclass.]
[Volkner: I traditionally operated under the assumption that metaphysical anomalies did not exist in logical combat, right up until I observed Lance's commentary.]
[Flint: Lance, the absolute Sovereign of the Jinx!]
[Cynthia: Hehe, the footage likely shows Charizard flying through the air, only to be suddenly struck down by an invisible, cosmic force. A truly unavoidable defeat.]
[Lance: ...]
Even Cynthia had joined in on the mockery. Lance stared at the interface, wondering if he would ever be able to scrub this reputation from his career.
With the quiz phase officially concluded, the archival footage resumed. The global audience watched intently, eager to discover exactly what kind of strategy Brandon had deployed to completely neutralize Ash's premier vanguard.
In the Footage—
As the leader of the Battle Frontier, Brandon took the tactical initiative, deploying his first selection. His starting choice was a floating, cloaked entity: Dusclops! Conversely, Ash led with his absolute heaviest hitter: Charizard!
The opening matchup pitted Charizard directly against a Ghost-type wall. According to the quiz results, Charizard was destined to fall before this exact opponent. The global audience watched closely to see how Brandon would orchestrate this outcome.
"Charizard, take the initiative! Use Flamethrower!"
"Interposed with Shadow Punch."
A torrent of blazing fire erupted from Charizard's maw, charting a direct line across the field. In response, Dusclops calmly raised a heavy shroud of spectral energy, driving its fist forward to detonate the incoming Flamethrower midway across the arena!
A standard physical-contact move had cleanly intercepted and neutralized a high-output elemental projectile. The sheer level of this Dusclops was exceptionally high!
Furthermore, the defining characteristic of the Dusclops line is their immense baseline defensive and special defensive thresholds.
Given that this Dusclops had not been evolved into Dusknoir, experienced observers immediately deduced Brandon's mechanical layout: it was highly probable that this entity was equipped with an Eviolite!
A fully conditioned Dusclops backed by the fifty percent defensive multipliers of an Eviolite represents one of the most agonizing defensive walls a trainer can encounter. Without an explicit type-advantage exploit, chewing through its health pool is a grueling war of attrition.
"Charizard, take to the sky! Execute Air Slash!"
"Minimize damage with Protect."
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