In that brief second of hesitation, Rappa scrambled to decide which move best fit the situation.
Just as Guinaifen suspected, while Rappa was a veteran of real-world skirmishes and understood the theory behind Pokémon moves, translating her reflexes through a battle partner required deliberate calculation. She was far from second nature with them.
After all, Pokémon were living partners, not extensions of her own physical body. Relying purely on personal combat instincts was bound to cause friction.
"Shiftry, Hurricane!"
"Blaziken, Bounce!"
Shiftry whipped up a wide-area gale to stall Guinaifen's Blaziken, while Rappa's Blaziken sprang high into the air to evade the incoming strikes.
She really doesn't know move mechanics that well, Guinaifen thought with an inward chuckle.
Dazzling Gleam covered the entire field with a burst of radiant light; jumping blindly into the air offered zero cover against a wide-area Fairy move.
As for Shiftry's Hurricane, Guinaifen's Blaziken had already built up speed through Quick Attack. With a sharp pivot, it slipped clean out of the gale's path.
Taking advantage of the startup lag on Shiftry's technique, Guinaifen's Blaziken punished the opening instantly with a point-blank Flamethrower, scoring a direct hit.
Up in the air, Rappa's Blaziken was engulfed by Gardevoir's Dazzling Gleam. Without ground beneath its feet to adjust its trajectory, it took the full force of the radiant blast and plummeted straight down.
Heavily battered by the impact, it had barely touched the floor before Gardevoir followed up with a focused Psychic, knocking it out on the spot.
Shiftry fared no better. Severely wounded by the super-effective Flamethrower, it managed to dodge a follow-up strike using Substitute, but cornered against two formidable opponents with a typing disadvantage, its defeat was sealed.
Under Guinaifen's relentless pressure, Shiftry was swept off its feet by Blaziken's blazing kick, tumbling to the canvas unable to battle.
Rappa took the loss without excuses; the fault was entirely her own.
During the regional qualifiers, her raw instincts had been enough to overpower less experienced players, so she hadn't bothered drilling deep tactical combinations.
To her, entering the tournament had simply been a casual diversion during her travels across the stars. Had she not learned about the galaxy-wide reach of the broadcast—a prime opportunity to spread word of the Galaxy Rangers and expose the misdeeds of Dr. Primitive—she might never have signed up at all.
Her lack of dedicated practice made this outcome completely natural.
She had tried to pilot her team as if they were her own body. Dodging mid-air attacks was second nature to an agile ninja like herself, but an airborne Blaziken lacked that kind of mid-air maneuverability.
Furthermore, knowing a move existed was very different from mastering its timing.
The pile-up of tactical errors proved fatal against a seasoned competitor like Guinaifen, who had punished every single opening. At one point, Guinaifen had even wondered if Rappa was intentionally laying traps because the blunders seemed too obvious to be real.
Seeing the referee signal the knockout, Guinaifen let out a long breath of relief.
Thank goodness... she was just genuinely inexperienced, not baiting me, Guinaifen thought, though she felt a tiny bit guilty for thinking so candidly.
On a world-class stage like this, she hadn't expected to cruise through the first round so cleanly.
The live chat buzzed with analysis:
"Did Guinaifen just level up like crazy, or was Rappa completely lost out there?"
"Rappa isn't weak, she's just clearly not used to Pokémon battle mechanics yet. Until she spends time grinding matchups, any tournament veteran is going to read her like an open book."
"Honestly, even a solid Elite-rank player would give her trouble right now."
"I didn't realize the skill gap would be this glaring on the Contest stage."
"Little Guinaifen is just too versatile!"
"Incredible! That was a lightning-fast conclusion to our opening match! Let us congratulate Guinaifen!" Owlbert announced from center stage.
With a decisive double knockout, there was no need to tally the remaining Charm points; Guinaifen advanced straight to the semifinals.
Backstage in the tunnel, Rappa approached Guinaifen with a respectful bow.
"My thanks for the lesson, Acrobat Ninja. Crossing blades with you has revealed my own hubris and tactical blind spots."
"I look forward to testing our mettle against one another again when the time comes."
Caught off guard by the formal greeting, Guinaifen could only blink and nod politely. "Ah, sure! Any time!"
As Rappa bounded down the corridor, Guinaifen scratched her head in confusion.
"...Wait, did she just call me 'Acrobat Ninja'?"
First Argenti's dramatic poetry, and now this. People from other worlds are so eccentric... Guinaifen thought with a quiet giggle.
"And now, let us welcome our competitors for the second match: Angel Fetter from Pier Point, facing off against March 7th of the Astral Express!"
As Fetter emerged from his tunnel, a flurry of cheers rose from sections of the audience.
Thanks to his qualifier run and clean stage magic aesthetic, his charming looks had earned him a sizeable following among casual fans.
March 7th stepped onto the platform to an equally deafening roar. As a prominent Trailblazer with an adorable, lively personality, the crowd cheered her name enthusiastically, with male fans shouting at the top of their lungs to match the noise from Fetter's supporters.
Fetter sent out Xatu and Jolteon.
March deployed Beautifly and Articuno.
Though Regice possessed immense defense, its heavy frame made it an easy target in dynamic Contest battles, leading March to prioritize agility and air superiority.
The outcome was decided before the match even began.
Fetter had joined the Grand Celebration purely for commercial visibility, having barely scraped through the qualifiers on luck.
Pitted against March 7th—who had survived Welt's rigorous boot camp and brought a Legendary bird to the field—Fetter's team crumbled in under five turns.
The only reason he lasted that long was Xatu's Psychic interference; had it not been for that initial barrier, March's opening combination of Stun Spore and Articuno's Blizzard would have swept his lineup on turn one.
March watched the referee raise the flag with a mix of relief and slight anticlimax.
She had spent weeks putting herself through Welt's grueling drills, and winning this easily felt almost underwhelming.
Still, she knew the real hurdles were waiting deeper in the bracket: Guinaifen, Asta, Sushang, and Argenti.
Letting out a soft breath, she recalled her partners and walked off the stage.
Across the field, Fetter wasn't bothered by the swift loss in the slightest. His mind was already drifting toward the lucrative commercial deals, agency contracts, and sponsor checks waiting for him once the broadcast wrapped up.
Wearing a smug, delighted grin, he waved cheerfully to the cameras as he exited the arena.
The live stream chat stared in disbelief:
"Wait... why is this guy looking so smug when he just got completely stomped?!"
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