Chapter Thirty-Four: The Enchanting Voice at the Final Hour

This time, Ralts showed no trace of her previous hesitation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and when the young girl opened her red eyes a second later, the hair on her forehead was brushed aside as her clear, melodious singing gradually filled the air.

Having overcome her shyness, Ralts sang before others once more. Her voice seemed even more beautiful than yesterday’s, and once she began, there was no stopping her.

“Singing? But you’re not a Jigglypuff,” Lin Tian muttered, frowning, suddenly sensing something was amiss.

The song had already begun to echo throughout the arena. After a brief few seconds of prelude, Ralts was fully immersed in the emotional world of the song. The energy of the Fairy type swiftly spread outward through her voice.

The Poochyena girl, with her wheat-colored skin tanned by long hours in the sun, was clearly someone who trained often—her speed was even greater than Tang Yi had imagined, though he remembered Poochyena’s base speed wasn’t particularly high.

But the Allure Voice was an unfailing move; as long as you could hear it, no amount of speed would let you dodge it.

Most importantly, in this world, the attributes of the spirit maidens also affected each other. Spirit maidens inherently feared those with types that countered their own, and any hit would hurt all the more.

Dark-type Poochyena countered Psychic types, but Fairy types in turn countered Dark types.

Disturbed by the Allure Voice, the Poochyena’s face twisted in pain. She instinctively tried to cover her ears, but it was a futile gesture.

Sound, by its very nature, had a certain penetrating power—covering one’s ears could only reduce the volume, not block it out completely. The Allure Voice continued to relentlessly press upon Poochyena’s eardrums.

“Poochyena, put your hands down. Don’t stop, just charge straight ahead!” Lin Tian didn’t panic and quickly adjusted his strategy.

Tang Yi glanced at the trainer on the other side of the arena.

Though it seemed cold to make the Poochyena girl endure even greater pain, it was the right decision.

“Ralts, keep singing!”

Who would fall first—the Poochyena girl, overwhelmed by the Allure Voice, or would she reach her target before collapsing? Both Tang Yi and Lin Tian were gambling on the outcome.

If Poochyena managed to close the distance, her Dark-type Bite attack would be more than enough to instantly defeat the delicate Ralts, who had hardly any physical strength.

Tang Yi could even see the two small canine teeth at the Poochyena girl’s lips gathering gray Dark-type energy, ready at any moment to deliver a fatal blow.

Within just a few seconds, the pain on Poochyena’s face intensified. Though the Allure Voice wasn’t especially powerful, its relentless pressure—especially given the type advantage—pushed the Poochyena girl to her limits.

Had he overestimated Poochyena’s endurance? Tang Yi wondered.

“Use Sand Shuffle!” Lin Tian suddenly changed tactics.

Tang Yi blinked in surprise—what kind of move was that?

Poochyena’s execution was flawless; she halted her charge almost at once, dug at the ground with her right foot, and pale yellow Ground-type energy quickly coalesced. A flurry of yellow dust rose into the air.

The move’s effect was to stir up sand and reduce the opponent’s accuracy.

But Allure Voice was a sound-based move that never missed; it wasn’t affected by accuracy.

Sand!

Sand!

Sand!

Listening to the growing rustle of sand, Tang Yi suddenly understood. The real aim wasn’t to lower accuracy, but to disrupt the transmission of Ralts’ singing with the continuous noise of shifting sand.

Moreover, with every scrape of her clawed toes against the ground, the Poochyena’s sharp nails—a trait of canine spirit maidens—raked against the floor, producing an ear-piercing screech, like fingernails on a glass pane, enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

With this two-pronged assault, Ralts was clearly affected.

She didn’t stop singing, but now the Allure Voice was broken and intermittent, the volume diminished. In this distressing cacophony, it was difficult for Ralts to maintain a steady song.

“Now! Use Bite—finish this in one move!” Lin Tian shouted, all previous efforts leading to this perfect moment for attack.

The distance between the two was now close enough. Poochyena dropped to all fours, her sharp claws digging into the ground, then pounced fiercely. Her bushy tail cut a graceful arc through the air, but the two now-glinting fangs at the corners of her mouth, charged with Dark energy, were no longer cute—they brimmed with the ferocity of a hunter.

The screech of claws scraping the floor, the press of Dark-type energy—Ralts tried hard to stay calm, but panic broke through.

Tang Yi had no time to think further; he could only shout, “Telepathy!”

He believed Ralts would understand, but whether it would succeed was another matter.

Ralts had already done her utmost. Her earnest singing warmed Tang Yi’s heart—overcoming shyness and timidity wasn’t easy, but Ralts had managed it, for his sake.

In an instant, Ralts’ panicked gaze turned resolute and her song steadied. But the Dark-type fangs fell almost at the same moment onto the arm she’d instinctively raised to shield herself.

A flash of surprise passed through Lin Tian’s eyes, but he relaxed—the interference of noise at such close range would reduce the Allure Voice’s damage to the minimum, within the limits of what Poochyena could endure.

Next would be his victory.

The Bite attack was devastating for a newly awakened spirit maiden, especially a Psychic type lacking defensive means. Lin Tian could not believe Ralts could withstand it.

The next moment, both Ralts and Poochyena collapsed simultaneously. However, while Ralts was weak, she had subconsciously blocked the Bite with her arm and avoided a fatal injury; she was barely conscious.

Poochyena, however, had lost consciousness entirely and was completely knocked out.

The referee’s whistle signaling the end of the match blew almost at once.

“Field Four, match over! Poochyena is injured and unconscious, unable to battle. Ralts is victorious!”

Lin Tian was stunned. The match that should have been a sure win had suddenly been overturned at the last moment. As the final whistle sounded, he hurried across the arena.

“The last Allure Voice from Ralts shouldn’t have had any effect,” Lin Tian said, cradling the unconscious Poochyena girl, looking at Tang Yi with a mix of concern and puzzlement.

Tang Yi supported Ralts as well, meeting Lin Tian’s gaze. “That wasn’t an ordinary Allure Voice.”

“Telepathy?” Lin Tian frowned, beginning to understand.