Centiskorch thrashed and crawled frantically across the stone floor, but under the concussive weight of the Zen Headbutt and the relentless drain of the severe poison status, its remaining stamina was completely emptied. It collapsed onto the turf, its eyes spinning in classic unconscious spirals.
"My Centiskorch was dismantled so easily...?"
Insecta stared blankly at the field, unable to believe her eyes.
Ninetales stepped forward, gracefully placing a single paw atop the fallen centipede's skull, lifting its chin with the haughty demeanor of a conquering sovereign.
Seeing his golden fox adopt such a textbook case of middle-school syndrome, Feng Che slapped a hand over his face.
"A brilliant entry, Challenger," Insecta said, quickly regaining her composure as she recalled her vanguard. "But my next asset operates on an entirely different competitive plane. Come forth, Vikavolt!"
Vikavolt was widely celebrated across the regions as one of the sleekest, most visually stunning Bug-types in existence, its aesthetic popularity routinely rivaling that of Scizor.
The insect predator boasted a pair of gargantuan, hyper-engineered mandibles designed to compress and direct massive outputs of electrical current, each jaw lined with four structural teeth. A vibrant orange mouth-part sat beneath its large, golden compound eyes. Its primary metallic-blue wing-cases were sharply triangular and remained perfectly static during flight, while its translucent, fan-shaped lower wings vibrated at high frequency to sustain lift.
By utilizing a specialized electrical organ embedded within its abdominal cavity, a Vikavolt could generate massive currents, focusing the energy between its massive mandibles to fire concentrated plasma beams. It was an absolute master of acrobatic flight, specializing in high-velocity barrel rolls and razor-sharp spiral dives that allowed it to weave through the dense, tangled canopies of deep forests at maximum speed without dropping velocity.
Furthermore, a Vikavolt would routinely use its rear legs to clutch a Charjabug, utilizing the smaller insect as a supplemental biological battery pack.
Resting within the rear clutches of Insecta's Vikavolt was a shiny Charjabug, its boxy, rectangular frame gleaming with a distinct, custom crimson coloration. The blocky battery-bug was divided into three distinct structural segments, supported by three pairs of short, stubby brown legs.
"My Vikavolt and Charjabug maintain a perfect symbiotic link; for all competitive intents and purposes, they register as a singular entity," Insecta explained quickly, wanting to prevent any rules-based misunderstandings. "Per the constitutional framework of the World League, as long as a symbiotic pair can be successfully housed within a single Poké Ball, they are cleared to compete as a single asset. I am not violating the battle parameters."
"I am well aware of the clause," Feng Che replied smoothly, reaching for his belt. "Let's see how you handle a true knight. Go, Sirfetch'd!"
A brilliant flash of light deployed the Fighting-type wild duck onto the cracked concrete.
"A pure Fighting-type Sirfetch'd... another exceptionally rare pedigree," Insecta mused. Aside from her core obsession with high-order Bug-types, she maintained a massive personal hobby of analyzing rare, region-locked specimens.
"Vikavolt, Electro Ball!"
A crackling arc of pure voltage surged across Vikavolt's massive mandibles, compressing into a rapid succession of plasma spheres that shot across the arena like artillery shells.
"Sirfetch'd, parry and displace."
The white duck unhurriedly drew its massive, razor-sharp leek stalk. With a fluid, incredibly elegant flick of its wrist, it used the tip of the stalk to deflect the oncoming Electro Balls cleanly out of its personal airspace.
The mechanical execution looked flawlessly cool.
BOOM!
The deflected plasma spheres detonated against the concrete perimeter, turning the floor into a chaotic web of stray, dancing golden currents. Unfortunately, one of the stray golden arcs snaked across the ground, catching Sirfetch'd squarely from behind and sending a sharp jolt of electricity straight up its leg.
Sirfetch'd stiffened, its feathers bristling as it let out a sharp, undignified squawk.
"He can't stay cool for more than three seconds," Feng Che muttered, digging his fingers into his temples.
"I've drilled it a thousand times—never let your guard down until the smoke clears, always analyze the secondary environmental variables. But this stupid duck just refuses to listen," Feng Che added, feeling his face burn slightly from the sheer secondary embarrassment of the display.
"Haha, that duck possesses an incredibly charming personality," Chief Sky chuckled warmly from the VIP box, stroking his white goatee as he nodded in approval.
"Insecta's Vikavolt compresses its Electro Balls at an exceptional velocity index; a standard Elite-level asset would have been cleanly incapacitated under that type of rapid bombardment. The fact that Feng Che's Sirfetch'd can manually track and bat those projectiles out of the air proves its baseline kinetic coordination is top-tier."
"My appreciation for his methodology grows by the minute," the old leader noted.
Down on the field, Feng Che's expression turned thoroughly dark. "Sirfetch'd, focus. Have your recent victories made you lazy, or have you simply grown arrogant?"
"If you want to keep playing the fool, I can easily have Ninetales step back onto the field to transform you into a crisp, beautifully roasted Peking duck."
The threat struck Sirfetch'd like a physical blow. Catching the icy gravity in Feng Che's gaze, the white bird panicked. It gripped its leek stalk with sudden, desperate intensity, its webbed palms breaking into a cold sweat.
Sirfetch'd (Thinking): Crap, crap, crap! I let the crowd get to my head! I completely forgot that this human overlord is constantly calculating new ways to turn me into a gourmet dinner!
Sirfetch'd (Thinking): No more mistakes. If I drop the ball again, I'm genuinely going on the menu!
The duck shook its head violently, its eyes hardening into a fierce, unwavering warrior focus. It snapped its leek stalk forward, unleashing a sharp, pressurized gust of kinetic wind that cleanly detonated an oncoming plasma sphere mid-air, filling the sky with a harmless cloud of smoke.
"Vikavolt, Bug Buzz!" Insecta countered.
Vikavolt flared its wings, generating a high-frequency, grinding acoustic chime that vibrated through the stadium air.
"A synchronized combination of Bug Buzz and Screech frequencies... the proctors here really don't pull their punches," Feng Che analyzed calmly. "Sirfetch'd, set Iron Defense, then begin formatting the Solar Blade matrix!"
Sirfetch'd crossed its heavy leek-leaf shield before its chest, a gleaming, silver-gray metallic alloy coating the green surface to buffer the sonic friction. Concurrently, columns of rich, golden solar energy began cascading from the stadium lights, gathering along the length of its primary leek sword.
"Sirfetch'd, activate Swords Dance!"
"Don't let it complete the setup! Vikavolt, intercept with Slash!"
Vikavolt opened its massive mandibles, a sharp white light coating the edges as it dove out of the sky, swinging its heavy jaws like a pair of high-frequency shears.
Yet, Sirfetch'd maintained its rhythmic, defensive footwork, weaving through the trajectories of the incoming slashes with the fluid grace of a martial dancer. Vikavolt's jaws tore through nothing but air, leaving deep, jagged gouges across the concrete floor as it pursued the agile bird.
"Vikavolt, tap the battery core! Maximum Thunderbolt!"
Seeing the Swords Dance reaching its peak amplification, Insecta issued a high-priority command.
Vikavolt siphoned a massive surge of pure, raw current from the shiny Charjabug clamped in its rear legs. Its mandibles erupted with a colossal, tree-trunk-sized pillar of blinding white electricity that shot across the field, instantly enveloping Sirfetch'd in a roaring sea of voltage.
But the duck didn't attempt to dodge. It slammed the base of its heavy leek stalk deep into the concrete floor.
Harnessing the metallic properties of its active Iron Defense, it used the leek as a manual grounding rod, safely funneling the millions of volts of the Thunderbolt down into the subterranean bedrock of the stadium.
"Sirfetch'd, unleash the Solar Blade!"
Taking precise advantage of the critical millisecond where Vikavolt's internal capacitors were winded from the maximum-output Discharge, Feng Che launched his counter-strike.
A blinding, hyper-compressed blade of pure solar light erupted from the tip of the leek stalk, the energy expanding exponentially until it transformed into a five-meter-long pillar of incandescent plasma.
Harnessing the absolute peak of its muscle memory and amplified physical torque, Sirfetch'd swung the colossal light-saber downward in a devastating vertical arc, targeting the floating bug.
"Vikavolt, Protect!" Insecta shrieked, recognizing the lethal velocity of the strike.
A pearlescent, milky-white barrier manifested around Vikavolt's chassis just as the blade descended.
BOOM!
The sheer kinetic weight of the Solar Blade slammed the protected insect straight out of the sky, driving its frame hard into the stadium floor. The concrete buckled into a massive, spiderwebbed crater, throwing up a colossal cloud of pulverized stone and acrid smoke.
Although the Protect barrier successfully absorbed the baseline cutting edge of the Solar Blade, preventing Vikavolt from being cleanly bisected, Sirfetch'd wasn't finished.
The duck immediately tilted its heavy leek-leaf shield forward, unleashing a pre-charged, point-blank Solar Beam directly into the heart of the dust cloud.
A secondary, blinding lance of golden thermal energy obliterated the crater. A massive concussive shockwave rippled outward across the arena, completely swallowing Vikavolt's silhouette within the radiant column of fire.
As the explosive thermal feedback roared back across the turf, Sirfetch'd calmly braced its heavy leek-leaf shield before its face, its feathers rustling in the fierce wind as it stood completely unmoved amidst the chaos.