The Oblivious nature of that duck was on full display.
Aresdra had clearly called for Confusion.
What Psyduck heard, apparently, was something else entirely. Its eyes took on a look of intense focus, and it lowered its head and charged straight into the Reflect barrier in front of Meganium.
Aresdra opened her mouth. Then closed it.
Fine. It was using a move. It was attacking the opponent. That was more than she had honestly expected.
Zen Headbutt was a physical move, which meant Reflect absorbed most of the impact. Even so, the sudden, senseless headbutt into a barrier had caught Meganium completely off guard. The Reflect held, but for just a moment, Meganium was too busy being baffled to do anything else.
The move had not done what it was supposed to. But it had created a brief opening, and that was something.
Unfortunately, Sceptile used that same opening to go after Riolu.
This time, it did not hold back. It drew back and came forward with Leaf Blade, the move it was built for, flashing past Riolu's side like a drawn sword.
The blade caught Riolu clean.
Detect had been pushed to its limit through the entire match, and this time it failed to activate. Riolu hit the ground.
It had fought far beyond what its level should have allowed. But the gap in strength was simply too wide to close. Aresdra had been training her Pokemon for less than a month. Thelma had grown up beside a Gym Leader, surrounded by strong Pokemon her entire life. That was not a gap that could be bridged in a single match.
Even having a Pokemon as gifted as JoJo was only possible because Nova had the resources to find an exceptionally talented individual out of hundreds. Given another year or two, maybe Riolu and Torchic could stand on even ground with Thelma's team. But not today.
JoJo's fall, however, barely drew any attention from the crowd.
Because Psyduck was still happening.
The recoil from slamming into the Reflect wall had sent the duck spinning back through the air. It tumbled and hit the ground rolling, scrambled, and finally came to a stop. Before it had even properly stood up, a large lump had already risen on its head.
It looked, from a distance, like a horn.
The audience erupted again.
Aresdra's face had passed pink entirely and gone straight to red. She was so flushed with embarrassment she looked ready to burst.
But standing closest to the field, she was also the first to notice something odd.
The headbutt into the wall had cleared Psyduck's eyes.
Not completely, not by any stretch. But where before its gaze had been drifting in two separate directions, now both eyes were actually pointed the same way.
Aresdra remembered what Nova had told her. Psyduck was dangerous when its head hurt.
But looking at it now, the more it hurt, the more focused it seemed to get.
She filed that away and moved on.
"Psyduck! Zen Headbutt again!"
A Big Idiot is a Big Idiot.
Psyduck tilted its head back. Then a thin stream of water arced lazily through the air, looping over the Reflect barrier in a gentle curve before landing directly on top of Meganium's head.
Aresdra went completely still.
Then she lost it.
"Are you watering plants out there?!"
Meganium stood dripping, looking deeply confused.
Technically, a small splash of water was not the worst thing for a Grass-type. Most Grass-type Pokemon found being watered quite pleasant. Physically, Meganium felt fine. Psychologically, being splashed by something that clueless made it feel faintly embarrassed on the duck's behalf.
Was this an insult? It genuinely could not tell.
It gave up trying to follow the logic.
Thelma had also had enough. With Riolu down and Sceptile already in position, she gave the order without hesitation.
"Sceptile, use Assurance!"
Assurance is a Dark-type move. If the target has already taken damage in the same turn, the move's power doubles. Sceptile had just finished off Riolu, and now it was Psyduck's turn. However thick Psyduck's HP might be, taking a doubled Assurance head-on was going to be the end of it.
Sceptile spun through the air, its broad tail blade charged with Dark-type energy, and brought it down squarely on Psyduck's head. The duck was still mid-cooldown from Water Gun, clutching its head and wobbling in place, which made it about the easiest target on the field.
To be fair to Sceptile, the head was simply the most obvious part of Psyduck. Half its body was head. Any move aimed at center mass was going to end up there.
It landed cleanly.
Sceptile turned away, smooth and unhurried. It struck a pose in front of Thelma, then cracked one eye open sideways, waiting for the praise.
It did not come.
Thelma's expression was not the look of victory. It was confusion.
The referee had not made any announcement.
Sceptile turned back.
Psyduck was still standing.
That made no sense. Sceptile had seen it with its own eyes on the way down. Psyduck's eyes had rolled back. It had been out cold. There was no way it should still be upright.
What Sceptile did not know was that for a Pokemon like this one, losing consciousness might have been exactly the moment something else woke up.
Sceptile pushed the thought aside. It was a seasoned battler. It turned back to finish the job.
Then something stopped it that it had never felt before.
Its body would not move.
Not slow. Not heavy. Completely still.
It could not move at all.