To be honest, the name had caught him off guard. He knew of the "Battle-type" Red and the "Breeder-type" Green, so he couldn't help but wonder: who exactly was this "Quality-type" individual?
While Lance sat in a daze, the battle began.
In high-level play triggered by win streaks, the rules mirrored top-tier competitive play: neither side could see the opponent's team composition beforehand. After a brief selection phase, both sides deployed their leads.
Lance's side featured Kommo-o and Garchomp, while his opponent sent out Glimmora and Pidgeot.
As the Pokémon hit the field, the comments in Cliff's livestream began to fly. "Classic whale player, leads with two top-tier Pseudo-Legendaries right out of the gate." "Compare that to the streamer: one Blue-tier, one Purple-tier... how is he supposed to even play?"
On paper, Cliff's team was completely outclassed, yet he didn't show a hint of panic. Through his first ten battles, he had mastered the game's command system and gave his orders through the mic with crisp precision.
"Pidgeot, use Tailwind! Glimmora, charge Meteor Beam!"
At his command, the Glimmora on the field immediately furled its petals, and a blinding radiance began to coalesce around its core. In this game, when a trainer issues a "Charge" command, the indicator is displayed immediately. This simulated the visible buildup of power in reality, giving the opponent a chance to react. After all, moves that require a charging turn are usually devastatingly powerful.
Lance stared at the screen, lost in thought. He was familiar with Glimmora; if he wasn't mistaken, the opponent was charging Meteor Beam. It was a potent move. While the Ground-type Garchomp could resist it, his Kommo-o would struggle to tank the hit. Furthermore, a successful Meteor Beam would boost Glimmora's Special Attack, making it an absolute nightmare to remove.
The best solution was to focus fire while it was charging. He didn't need to knock it out instantly, but he had to disrupt that charge.
"Garchomp, rush in with Stomping Tantrum! Kommo-o, use Clanging Scales to interrupt!"
Lance's commands were locked in. After the system processed the logic, all four Pokémon blurred into motion.
Pidgeot spread its wings and let out a sharp cry. As it flapped, a violent gale began to circle the field, creating a massive current of air that surged toward Lance's dragons. This was Tailwind. Once active, it doubled the speed of the user's team. In a 2v2 Doubles match, this was an incredibly advantageous support move, and using it at the start was standard procedure.
However, after seeing the Pidgeot's action, Lance immediately formed an opinion of the "Talented Individual." Just a lucky rookie, he thought. He probably rode a win streak through some easy matches but doesn't actually understand the flow of battle.
Normally, for a move like Meteor Beam, you would either have another Pokémon buy time for the charge or look for an opening mid-battle. Charging Glimmora on the opening turn without having Pidgeot provide cover or disruption was simply naive. In Doubles, mutual protection and synergy are everything. Fighting solo only leads to defeat.
By this time, Tailwind was active, but Garchomp had already lunged toward the charging Glimmora. Kommo-o let out a thunderous roar, and a visible shockwave of sonic energy slammed into the rock-like Pokémon first. Although Rock-types resist Normal and Sound-based moves, Glimmora's health dropped by nearly a quarter, and more importantly, the sonic vibration shattered its focus, interrupting the light gathering.
Next came Garchomp. Raising its claws, it slammed down with a massive stomp. Glimmora's HP bar plummeted instantly to zero. Although Stomping Tantrum isn't the most powerful move, it carried a STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) from Garchomp and dealt 4x super-effective damage to the Rock/Poison-type Glimmora.
In a single turn, Cliff had suffered a direct casualty.
The livestream chat was in an uproar. "Now that's a whale for you, pure power and effort!" "What effort? This is just the streamer being terrible. Charging in front of those two without help? That's just a free kill." "Seriously, even I wouldn't play this poorly. One charges, one uses Tailwind... I have no idea what he's thinking."
After the first turn, no one believed Cliff could win. Glimmora was his only high-rarity unit, and it had vanished without doing a single thing. What weapons did he have left?
What they didn't see was Cliff sitting in front of his monitor, watching the purple mist silently billow out from the fainted Glimmora. It quickly coated Lance's side of the field. A faint, razor-sharp smile touched Cliff's lips.
The strongest attacker is ready. Tailwind is set. The time is near.
Lance, meanwhile, noticed the change on the battlefield. His side of the arena was now shrouded in a layer of purple light. Kommo-o and Garchomp shuddered slightly as the word POISONED appeared over their heads.
He wasn't surprised. Glimmora's ability was Toxic Debris; if hit by a physical move, it scatters poison across the opponent's field. Any Pokémon currently out, or switched in later, would be poisoned and lose health every turn.
But Lance wasn't worried. The ability had only triggered once. This level of poison would take less than a tenth of their health each turn. With his numerical advantage, he just needed to press the offensive and end this quickly.
As Lance plotted his next move, Cliff, as the player who lost a Pokémon, earned the right to switch. He recalled his Pidgeot along with the fainted Glimmora.
A white light flashed, and the two Pokémon that appeared before Lance made him freeze in genuine confusion.
"Huh?" Lance blinked. "No... you two are...?"