The moment David finished speaking—
"Bang!"
Not far from the freshly dug hole, an explosion of dirt erupted. The small fox burst from the ground in a graceful arc, leaping into the air. Surrounding it, a ring of eerie purplish-black flames materialized, which—under Zorua's control—surged directly toward Sneasel.
"Sneasel!" Layla shouted anxiously from the sidelines, her voice laced with concern.
"Snea~sel..."
At that precise moment, Sneasel's Ice Punch had just crashed into the ground with tremendous force. Unfortunately, aside from causing a slight tremor across the battle arena and scattering some dirt and snow, it had no effect whatsoever on Zorua as Layla had hoped.
Instead, due to its own forward momentum from Quick Attack, Sneasel couldn't evade the Will-O-Wisp released by the suddenly appearing Zorua. It could only watch helplessly as the ghostly flames struck its body one after another.
In truth, Sneasel's fate had been sealed from the very beginning. Through the telepathic connection granted by Aura, David and Zorua had already coordinated their strategy in advance. The Dig maneuver had been a deliberate trap. Zorua hadn't burrowed deep underground like a typical Dig attack would require. Instead, it had created a shallow, angled tunnel a short distance away, quietly waiting there for its opponent to fall for the bait.
It was important to understand that although Zorua's Hisuian form wasn't an Ice-type Pokémon, the Hisui region—the ancient name for what would become the Sinnoh region—where these Zorua originated was still a land covered in ice and snow year-round.
Living in such frigid, snowy environments for generations had caused their genes to adapt to these harsh conditions. The slippery snow-covered battlefield had far less impact on Zorua than Layla had assumed. The reason it chose to use Dig rather than simply dodging was to lure its opponent into a vulnerable position.
Watching the purple flames flickering on Sneasel's body, David thought to himself that the victory of this match would once again belong to him and his partner.
"This isn't over yet!"
"We're not giving up! Sneasel, use Facade right now!"
Seeing the confident smile on David's face, Layla was visibly frustrated and shouted her command with fierce determination.
"Oh no! Zorua, dodge quickly!"
Realizing what was about to happen, David rapidly commanded Zorua to evade Sneasel's desperate counterattack, but his warning came just a moment too late.
"Snea~sel!"
Sneasel, which had been knocked to the ground, pushed through the searing pain of its burn and forced itself back to its feet. In an instant, brilliant golden light began radiating from its entire body.
The distance between the two Pokémon was simply too close. Although the trap had successfully baited Sneasel, it had also positioned Zorua and Sneasel closer together than at any other point in the battle.
Looking at Zorua, who was now within arm's reach, Sneasel endured the burning agony. A strained, determined smile appeared on its face before its entire body—enveloped in dazzling golden light—launched itself at Zorua.
"Zorua, counter with Shadow Claw!"
Seeing Sneasel's figure so close that evasion was impossible, David had no choice but to command Zorua to meet the attack head-on.
"Sneasel..."
Layla, watching this scene unfold, displayed a worried expression. She was genuinely concerned about Sneasel's condition. However, at the same time, a spark of hope couldn't help but kindle within her.
She stared intently at the center of the arena, hardly daring to breathe.
Although the Burn status reduced Sneasel's Attack stat by half, Facade's special effect doubled the move's power when the user suffered from a status condition. She refused to believe that Zorua on the other side had escaped completely unscathed. Zorua was notorious for being a glass cannon—all its training invested in Special Attack and Speed. With such low physical bulk, could it be that this match might still...?
Watching the scene play out before him, David let out a quiet sigh. However, Layla's attention was completely absorbed by the action at the center of the arena, preventing her from noticing the helpless expression on David's face.
Golden light and purple shadows intertwined violently.
Sneasel's full-powered Facade and Zorua's Shadow Claw collided with explosive force. The intense impact kicked up clouds of dirt and snow that obscured the battlefield. Not only the competitors but even the spectators in the stands fell silent, holding their collective breath in anticipation.
This was undoubtedly the highest-level match they'd witnessed since the Novice Cup tournament began. No one had expected such an electrifying battle—comparable to or even surpassing the finals from previous years—to occur in what should have been a routine Top 16 match. Both competitors had clearly demonstrated skill levels far exceeding what typical rookie Trainers possessed, and the intense, thrilling battle had completely captivated the audience.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a surprised cry shattered the silence that had fallen over the entire venue.
As the dust settled on the battlefield, Sneasel lay completely motionless, having fainted on the arena floor. Seeing this, the Rotom Referee immediately made its announcement: "Sneasel is unable to battle! The winner is Contestant D136, David!"
However, Sneasel's collapse and the referee's official announcement didn't attract much attention. Everyone present—including Layla herself—had their eyes locked on the center of the field.
Standing opposite where Sneasel had fallen, the victorious Zorua that should have been there had vanished completely. In its place stood a Pokémon that none of them had ever seen before.
The small fox with pink and white fur was opening its pair of clear, bright orange eyes and looking around with an innocent, almost bewildered expression.
Listening to the wave of confused discussions erupting from the stands, David sighed deeply while rubbing his forehead. He had anticipated this outcome earlier. If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have been so aggressive at the start of the match.
Zorua's signature ability to disguise itself relied on its power to create incredibly convincing illusions. Its disguise was essentially a false illusionary layer cast over its true appearance. However, at this stage of its development, Zorua's illusionary techniques had significant limitations and were nowhere near reaching their full potential.
For low-power, long-range, area-of-effect moves like the Earth Power it had faced when battling his older sister's Deino, or Sneasel's Icy Wind just moments ago, Zorua's illusion could be maintained without issue. But if someone observed carefully, they would notice that Zorua rarely engaged in close-quarters, high-impact collisions with opponents.
This was the fundamental limitation of its illusion at its current stage of mastery. Once an intense physical collision occurred, the illusionary disguise became extremely difficult to maintain. Sneasel's Facade attack hadn't actually dealt any damage—Normal-type moves were completely ineffective against Ghost-type Pokémon like Hisuian Zorua.
However, even though Zorua was immune to the damage itself, the violent physical impact from the collision had still caused its illusion to fail completely, resulting in the scene now unfolding before everyone's eyes.
"Wait, what kind of Pokémon is that? I've never seen one like it before."
"Me neither! Where did Zorua go?"
"Don't you think this Pokémon looks really similar to Zorua, though?"
"Could it be a regional variant?"
"Hey! Haven't you come back to your senses yet? Go check on your Sneasel!"
Seeing the discussions in the surrounding stands growing increasingly animated and loud, David quickly called out to Layla, trying to redirect her attention.
"Sneasel!"
At David's reminder, Layla finally snapped out of her daze. She rushed forward to recall Sneasel into its Poké Ball, then hurried toward the temporary medical station the tournament organizers had set up without so much as a backward glance.
This left David—full of unanswered questions—and his bewildered Zorua standing there, looking at each other uncertainly.
Still, it was probably better that she'd left so quickly. He'd genuinely been worried about making her cry, and then he wouldn't have known how to handle that situation at all.
As the surrounding discussions intensified further, feeling the burning, curious gazes from countless spectators, David didn't want to remain there for another second. He scooped up Zorua and quickly made his escape from the arena.