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"The moment I made a mistake, he immediately delivered a devastating combination and defeated my Ninetales incredibly fast."
"You timed it perfectly. Or perhaps you intentionally created that opening and had Eevee charge in. I never expected to fall for such a trick."
Blaine recalled his Ninetales. Although he had lost the first match, he was clearly quite satisfied with the battle.
"I underestimated you. When facing an opponent of your caliber, I should have treated you as an equal from the start."
Blaine adjusted the sunglasses on his nose, and a sharp gleam seemed to flash behind the lenses.
"Alright then, let's continue! Arcanine, go!"
Blaine sent out his second Pokémon—a magnificent-looking Arcanine stepped onto the battlefield.
Name: Arcanine
Type: Fire
Ability: Flash Fire (Immune to Fire-type moves; absorbing them instead increases the power of the user's own Fire-type moves)
Level: 65 (Gym Leader)
"Arcanine? That's quite a formidable Pokémon."
Eddie raised his eyebrows. He could tell that Eevee wouldn't be able to match the opponent's speed.
Setting aside its level advantage, Arcanine possessed impressive base stats—excellent Attack and Special Attack, combined with naturally high Speed.
In other words, Arcanine was a Pokémon with overwhelming offensive capabilities. While its defenses weren't exceptional, its speed more than compensated for that weakness. After all, even the strongest attack means nothing if it can't land a hit.
"Eevee, return. You won't be able to keep pace with it—it's too fast."
"Buey~~~"
Eevee made a slightly reluctant sound, but it understood that Eddie's judgment was correct. It obediently retreated from the field and leaped back onto Eddie's head.
"Pika!"
The moment Eevee returned, Pikachu shot it a smug look. Then Pikachu jumped off Eddie's shoulder and dashed onto the battlefield.
This was a familiar scene indeed. What goes around comes around, as they say. Just moments ago, Eevee had been the one giving Pikachu that proud look, and now Pikachu was eagerly returning the favor.
"Hey, wait... Actually, never mind. A regular Pikachu wouldn't be faster than Arcanine, but my Partner Pikachu is significantly faster than any Arcanine."
Eddie had actually been contemplating which Pokémon to send out next, but before he could decide, Pikachu had "volunteered" itself in order to settle the score with Eevee.
Eddie almost called it back, but then he remembered that his Partner Pikachu's speed far exceeded that of Arcanine. Perhaps letting Pikachu battle wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Pikachu? Is there something unusual about yours?"
Blaine couldn't help but wonder when he saw Eddie actually choosing Pikachu for this match.
"No matter. Whatever makes it special will reveal itself during battle anyway, so there's no point overthinking it now."
"I'll take the initiative! Arcanine, use Extreme Speed!"
Blaine opened strong, immediately commanding the incredibly fast move Extreme Speed to launch his assault.
The move Extreme Speed could be considered an upgraded version of Quick Attack—both functioned similarly, but Extreme Speed surpassed its predecessor in both power and velocity.
Upon receiving the command, Arcanine roared and shot forward with speed that exceeded even Quick Attack, closing the distance to Pikachu in an instant before ramming toward it with tremendous force.
However, this seemingly perfect opening attack completely missed its target, as Arcanine passed straight through Pikachu's form.
"What! That's Double Team! When did it use that?!"
"Right at the very beginning. I already knew Arcanine's speed capabilities. How could I not prepare for it?"
Blaine couldn't help but wonder how this trainer could communicate with his Pikachu without uttering a single word. How was that even possible?
"I can accomplish this through Viridian Power, Aura, or Psychic abilities. Care to guess which one I'm using?"
Eddie could naturally guess what was running through Blaine's mind at that moment, and he couldn't help but respond mentally—yes, respond in his thoughts alone.
But setting that aside, Arcanine's attack had struck only an afterimage from Double Team. Unable to halt its momentum, it continued hurtling forward due to inertia, leaving itself extremely vulnerable.
Eddie would never waste such a golden opportunity to strike while his opponent was exposed. In fact, one could argue he had deliberately created this opening!
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
At that moment, Pikachu appeared on Arcanine's left flank. It flashed a disarming smile at the Fire-type, then rapidly gathered electrical energy within its body before unleashing a powerful Thunderbolt that struck Arcanine directly.
"Arooooo~~~"
Arcanine howled in pain from the electric shock. Although Electric-type moves weren't super effective against it, the attack's raw power was nothing to scoff at. It would be strange if the attack didn't hurt.
After all, the damage from Pikachu's Thunderbolt, boosted by the Light Ball it carried, was far from negligible.
Furthermore, this wasn't just any ordinary Pikachu—this was a Partner Pikachu, which possessed significantly greater strength than a typical member of its species.
"Arcanine! Stay calm! Use Roar to drive Pikachu back!"
Blaine watched his Pokémon crying out from the electrical assault and immediately issued his command.
Although Arcanine couldn't execute any attacking moves while being electrocuted, a sound-based move should still be usable. Blaine made this assessment based on his many years of battle experience.
His judgment proved correct. While Arcanine's entire body remained immobilized during the electrocution, it could still vocalize, meaning its mouth retained functionality.
Therefore, it turned its head with considerable effort to look at the Pikachu administering this electric therapy, then unleashed a tremendous roar filled with concentrated energy.
Roar—in the games, this move's effect forces the opponent to switch out their active Pokémon, and when used against wild Pokémon, it ends the encounter entirely.
In reality, however, this move utilized an energy-infused roar to directly repel or intimidate opposing Pokémon, causing them to retreat involuntarily.
Consequently, while Pikachu was in the middle of executing Thunderbolt, it was struck by these sound waves. The attack immediately interrupted the Electric-type move, and Pikachu's body was forced backward several meters against its will.
After a few seconds, Pikachu finally recovered, shook off the lingering effects of the move, and stopped its backward momentum.
"Buey~~~Buey~~~~" (Look at you! You actually got scared off! Hahahaha!)
"Pika Pika!!!" (That was because of the move's effect! You'd react the same way if you were in my position!)
Witnessing this, Eevee immediately began teasing Pikachu, and naturally, Pikachu became irritated upon hearing the mockery.
However, this frustration wasn't directed at Eevee, but rather at the Arcanine who had used that move. After all, it was Arcanine's Roar that had caused Pikachu to become the target of Eevee's ridicule.
"You two need to settle down. Eevee, stop laughing. Pikachu is still in the middle of a battle."
Eddie naturally understood that these two weren't genuinely antagonistic toward each other. After all, they were teammates who fought side by side on the battlefield, so their bond was actually quite strong.
It was just that normally, these two behaved like bickering friends, constantly ribbing each other. Eddie found their dynamic quite entertaining and had no intention of stopping them from interacting this way.
The playful rivalry between his Pokémon brought life and personality to their team, and as long as it didn't interfere with actual battles, he was more than happy to let them maintain their unique friendship.