"Come back, Electivire!"
Taro recalled Electivire just before Earthquake reached it, conceding the exchange rather than letting his exhausted ace take one more hit. Electivire had held some strength back during its clash with Poliwrath so it could protect itself from the explosion afterward; Poliwrath, protected by its ice armor, had been free to throw everything into Ice Punch. With two Elite Four-tier Pokémon that close in strength, that difference had decided the exchange.
What bothered Taro more was that he still could not figure out where Reiji kept getting these techniques. First there had been rock armor, now ice armor, and even after experimenting with electricity to stimulate Electivire's muscles, they still had not managed to reproduce Poliwrath's explosive power. The fact that Poliwrath could still use Earthquake afterward only made the result harder to argue with.
Reiji was annoyed to see Electivire escape before Earthquake landed, but Taro had every right to save it.
"Come back, Poliwrath."
Poliwrath was running on fumes too, and there was no reason to leave it exposed when Electivire had already been withdrawn.
"Taro recalls Electivire, and Reiji withdraws Poliwrath as well!" the commentator announced. "Neither Trainer is willing to lose an Elite Four-tier Pokémon this early. What comes next?"
The referee raised his flag. "Both Trainers will send out their next Pokémon together. Since Taro withdrew first, Reiji will have the first command."
The whistle sounded, and both Poké Balls flew.
"Go, Blastoise!"
"Ludicolo, you're up!"
Ludicolo had not battled for several days, and because its poisoning had been treated quickly last time, it had recovered well enough to fight again.
Taro had been hoping Reiji would answer Electivire with one of his Ground types. Blastoise would have been perfect for that, but instead he found himself staring at a Grass type. At least Ludicolo was not Elite Four tier; judging by its presence, it was somewhere around quasi–Elite Four tier, which left Blastoise with a perfectly manageable fight.
"Ludicolo, Leech Seed!"
"Blastoise, withdraw into your shell and knock them away!"
Blastoise pulled into its shell and spun, batting the seeds aside before they could take root. Ludicolo immediately turned to the grass beneath it, using its control over the plants to twist several patches into knotted traps around Blastoise's path.
"Blastoise, Hydro Pump! Get airborne!"
Hydro Pump blasted downward and launched Blastoise above the Grass Knots before they could catch the spinning shell.
"Ludicolo, Leaf Storm!"
Ludicolo spun with its arms spread for balance, ripping leaves and grass from the field and whipping them into a violent whirlwind. Blastoise was caught before it could get clear, its shell rising and falling inside the storm as the leaves battered it from every side.
"Leech Seed!"
Another spray of seeds disappeared into the whirlwind. Ludicolo did not need to aim perfectly while Blastoise was trapped inside; with enough seeds circulating through the storm, one of them was bound to find its mark.
Taro answered before that could happen. "Blastoise, Rapid Spin! Follow the storm and ride it straight toward Ludicolo!"
Instead of fighting the whirlwind, Blastoise began spinning with it. The shell picked up speed, and soon the entire Leaf Storm was moving across the field with Blastoise inside it.
"Blastoise is riding the Leaf Storm with Rapid Spin!" the commentator shouted. "It's turning Ludicolo's own attack against it!"
That was exactly what Reiji had been waiting for.
"Ludicolo, Solar Beam!"
White light gathered beneath the lily pad on Ludicolo's head and fired without delay.
"Blastoise, Hydro Pump! Change direction!"
Blastoise tried, but by then it was moving too fast with the storm to turn cleanly. Solar Beam struck the shell and ripped it out of the whirlwind, carrying Blastoise across the field until it slammed against the protective barrier.
Pink hexagons flashed across the surface while the beam held Blastoise there. When the attack finally faded, it dropped onto the grass, slowly poked its head out of its shell, and collapsed before it could get its balance back.
"Blastoise is unable to battle! Taro, send out your next Pokémon!"
Taro recalled it as its portrait went dark on the stadium screen.
"Go, Gyarados!"
Gyarados roared over the grass field, and Reiji recalled Ludicolo almost immediately. It could fight Gyarados, but he had no reason to force a difficult matchup when another member of the team suited the job much better.
"Go, Lucario!"
"Reiji switches from Ludicolo to Lucario!" the commentator said. "Will Taro keep Gyarados in?"
He would.
Taro had once tried to catch a Lucario himself, back when the species first started drawing attention. Its ability to sense aura had made that difficult. Lucario could read more from a person than most Pokémon ever would, and after growing up in a family where very few people were simply good or bad, Taro had never managed to earn one's trust. Some child eventually had.
The Lucario across from him had already taken damage in earlier rounds, so he saw no reason to retreat from it now.
Lucario was equally willing to fight. It had beaten a Gyarados before.
"Be careful," Reiji warned.
Taro's Gyarados was around the same level as Riku's, somewhere near quasi–Elite Four tier. Lucario was only level fifty-five, but the difference was not large enough to make the matchup hopeless.
[Lucario]
[Type: Fighting/Steel]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 59.99%]
[Level: 55.12%]
[Ability: Inner Focus / 59.89%]
Lucario acknowledged the warning and faced Gyarados. Since Gyarados had entered while Ludicolo was still on the field, Lucario had avoided its Intimidate entirely.
Because Taro had lost the previous Pokémon, the first command was his.
"Gyarados, Earthquake!"
Gyarados slammed its tail into the ground, sending a shockwave rolling toward Lucario.
"Agility! Get in close, then Double Team!"
Lucario sprinted straight toward the attack. It jumped over the worst of the shockwave at the last moment, accelerated again as soon as it landed, and split into eight identical figures around Gyarados.
"Flamethrower! Sweep them all!"
Gyarados dragged a stream of fire across the copies, but Lucario was already moving.
"Extreme Speed!"
Lucario shot through the gap before the flames reached the real body. Thunder crackled around its fist as it leaped, and the punch crashed into Gyarados's jaw hard enough to knock the huge Pokémon onto its side.
Gyarados rolled back upright and fired Ice Beam as soon as it found Lucario again.
"Protect, then Metal Sound!"
Lucario raised Protect before the beam could hit. As the ice broke against the barrier, a piercing metallic screech ripped across the field. Gyarados lost control of Ice Beam almost immediately, thrashing its head as the sound tore at its concentration.
"Extreme Speed!"
Lucario launched forward again with Thunder Punch forming around one hand.
"Gyarados, Crunch!"
Gyarados recovered just in time, dark energy covering its fangs as it snapped at the incoming Lucario.
"Bone Rush!"
Lucario dropped Thunder Punch before the two could collide and formed a long bone of energy between its hands. Gyarados clamped its jaws around the weapon instead, giving Lucario exactly enough room to plant both feet on it and kick itself backward.
The energy bone snapped between Gyarados's teeth.
"Rock Tomb!"
Stone pillars burst from the ground around Gyarados and closed in from every side.
"Iron Tail! Smash through!"
Gyarados hardened its tail and swung. The pillars broke apart under the blow, throwing stone and dust across the field, but Lucario was already moving through the opening. As the tail completed its swing, Lucario met it with Drain Punch and pulled back some of the strength it had spent earlier.
That exchange made Taro's problem obvious. Gyarados had the advantage in size and level, but Agility had made Lucario too fast to pin down. Every time Gyarados lined up an attack, Lucario was already moving somewhere else. If Taro wanted to turn the fight around, he had to take that speed away.
He never got the chance to give the next command.
"Double Team! Thunder Punch!"
Eight Lucario surrounded Gyarados again, all rushing in with electricity flashing around their fists.
"Don't worry about the real one! Thrash!"
Gyarados gave up trying to identify the original and started swinging at everything around it. Its tail tore through one copy, then another, forcing the real Lucario to abandon Thunder Punch and retreat before it got caught in the rampage.
Lucario returned to Reiji's side while Gyarados continued lashing out across the field. Thrash only became more violent with every second, and once the move tipped into confusion, Gyarados stopped caring where its attacks went. Flamethrower swept across the barrier, Ice Beam carved through another section, and every missed attack drove it deeper into its own rage.
Reiji watched for a moment, then recalled Lucario.
Taro had saved Electivire before Earthquake could finish it; Reiji was happy to return the favor. Pulling Lucario away also left the confused Gyarados with nothing to chase, making it even harder for Taro to bring the Pokémon back under control.
"Gyarados, calm down! Listen to me!"
Gyarados no longer seemed to hear him. With Lucario gone, its attention snapped toward Reiji instead, and Hyper Beam tore across the field toward the Trainer platform.
Umbreon tensed on Reiji's shoulder, but he reached up and scratched behind its ears.
"Easy. The barrier's there."
The beam struck the protective wall and exploded harmlessly against the glowing hexagons.
Missing only made Gyarados angrier. It turned and attacked again, then swung toward Taro's side as well, firing at anything that caught its attention until even the referee had seen enough.
"Taro, regain control of Gyarados. If you cannot bring it under control within thirty seconds, it will be disqualified."
Taro shouted command after command, but Gyarados was too deep in confusion to respond. Thirty seconds disappeared quickly, and when the Pokémon was still attacking at the end of the count, electricity surged through the protective system and struck it down.
Gyarados crashed onto the grass.
"Taro's Gyarados has been disqualified for losing control during confusion. Please send out your next Pokémon!"
Taro recalled it and immediately threw another Poké Ball.
"Go, Magnezone!"
Magnezone floated above the battlefield while Reiji sent Lucario back out. At first, the choice seemed strange. Magnezone had a brutal weakness to Ground, and Fighting hit it hard as well, so Lucario had more than one way to threaten it.
That meant Taro probably wanted something other than a straightforward matchup.
"Magnezone, Gyro Ball!"
"Lucario, Bone Rush!"
Magnezone spun forward as Lucario formed another energy bone, but Lucario's movement changed the moment it tried to brace. Every step toward Magnezone became harder, as though something were physically dragging against its Steel-type body.
Gyro Ball slammed into Bone Rush with a harsh metallic grind.
"Lucario, get clear!"
Lucario tilted the bone instead of trying to stop Magnezone head-on and managed to slip aside, though the effort was far more difficult than it should have been. Magnezone swept past and immediately began circling for another attack.
Reiji reached for Lucario's Poké Ball. If Magnezone was interfering with its movement, there was no reason to keep Lucario trapped in the matchup.
The recall beam struck Lucario.
Nothing happened.
That answered the question.
Magnet Pull.
Taro had not sent Magnezone out because he thought it could overpower Lucario in a normal fight. He had chosen it because Lucario was a Steel type, and Magnet Pull would not let it escape.
Now Lucario had to finish the matchup itself.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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