Pelipper had barely appeared when Drizzle took effect. Dark clouds rolled over the stadium, lightning flickered overhead, and rain began tapping against the rock field.
The weather immediately worked against Charizard, cutting the power of its Fire-type moves.
"Charizard against Pelipper! This is a rough matchup for Taro. Will he keep Charizard in?"
Taro's smile answered the question before he did anything else.
Just as he expected.
Reiji had taken the bait.
"Come back, Charizard! Electivire, you're back in!"
The crowd erupted as Electivire returned to the field.
"Taro withdraws Charizard and brings Electivire back! After that brutal clash with Poliwrath, can Electivire really keep fighting?"
Electivire answered for itself by pounding its chest and roaring. The force of the cry scattered the rain around its body and sent another cheer through the stands.
Reiji was not nearly as excited to see it.
Keeping Pelipper in against an Elite Four-tier Electric type would be asking to lose it.
"Come back, Pelipper. Lucario, one more time."
Lucario appeared and immediately found Electivire staring it down. The difference in pressure was obvious enough that even Lucario stiffened for a moment.
It had already fought Gyarados and Magnezone, and now Reiji was putting it in front of an Elite Four-tier Pokémon.
"Just do what you can," Reiji told it. "We only need to wear Electivire down. Earthquake!"
The commentator could hardly believe it. "Lucario again! Is Reiji really trying to beat an Elite Four-tier Electivire with a Pokémon below that level?"
"Electivire, Thunder!"
Lucario used what little strength it had left to drive one foot into the ground. Earthquake spread toward Electivire at the same moment a brilliant bolt of lightning crashed down on Lucario.
The Thunder hit cleanly.
Lucario collapsed with smoke rising from its scorched body, but Earthquake was already on its way. Electivire had no room to simply endure a Ground-type attack in its current condition, so it stamped down and sent out an Earthquake of its own.
The two shockwaves collided across the field and canceled each other out.
That was the difference between them. Lucario had spent everything it had left on one final Earthquake, while the battered Electivire could still answer it with a single heavy stomp.
Reiji had known it was a bad trade before he gave the command, but he wanted Electivire to spend something before the next matchup.
"Lucario is unable to battle! Reiji's gamble doesn't pay off, and the miracle comeback never comes. Please recall Lucario and send out your next Pokémon!"
Reiji returned Lucario to its Poké Ball. After everything it had done against Gyarados and Magnezone, there was nothing more he could have asked from it.
"Go, Rhydon!"
Rhydon landed on the rock field and took one look at Electivire.
The Electric type was covered in injuries and breathing hard. Its Elite Four-tier pressure was still there, but nowhere near as imposing as it had been at the start of the match.
Rhydon liked those odds.
It was not particularly bothered by the pressure either. Its own father was an Elite Four-tier Rhydon, so it had grown up around that presence. Being intimidated by one now would have been embarrassing.
The commentator sounded far less confident. "Rhydon! There were rumors that Reiji had withdrawn Rhydon from the tournament because of serious injuries, but apparently those reports were wrong! Still, Rhydon hasn't reached Elite Four tier. Is Reiji really going to challenge Electivire with another lower-tier Pokémon?"
Taro was asking a very different question.
He looked toward Ejiro on the sideline. Ejiro had been the one who told him Rhydon was badly injured.
"I don't know," Ejiro said. "That's what Reiji told me."
Reiji heard them from across the field and laughed.
"You sent him to scout me. I gave him something to find."
That killed Taro's anger immediately.
He had been fooled, but Ejiro was not the one to blame. Taro had ordered him to gather information, and Reiji had anticipated exactly that.
"So you started playing me before the match even began." Taro gave a reluctant laugh. "Fine. Nicely done."
There was nothing left to complain about. They could settle the rest on the field.
"Electivire, Thunder!"
"Rhydon, Rock Armor! Then High Horsepower!"
Heat poured from Rhydon as rock began forming over its body. The rain slowed the process, cooling the armor almost as quickly as Rhydon created it and filling the field around it with thick white steam.
Thunder crashed into the cloud.
The electricity itself could do nothing to a Ground type, and when the steam shifted, Rhydon was still moving.
Heavy black armor covered most of its body. Dark yellow Ground-type energy gathered around it as it lowered its head and charged.
The rock field began shaking under every step.
"Electivire, stop it! Hyper Beam!"
Electivire planted itself and fired.
Hyper Beam tore through the steam and struck Rhydon head-on. Rhydon did not use Protect; it simply raised its armored arms in front of its face and kept pushing through the blast.
When the light finally faded, smoke rolled from the black armor.
Rhydon was still coming.
Taro stared at it in disbelief. Electivire had weakened badly, but he had not expected Rhydon to take Hyper Beam that cleanly.
The damaged armor began shifting under its own heat, softened rock filling the cracks as Rhydon charged. By the time it closed the remaining distance, the worst gaps had already sealed and its speed was still climbing.
Taro tried to order another attack, only to remember the price of Hyper Beam. Electivire was stuck recovering and could barely move.
Its tails were another matter.
"Electivire, Iron Tail! Stop the charge!"
Electivire swung its tails into Rhydon as High Horsepower hit.
The collision exploded through the field.
Smoke swallowed both Pokémon, and a large body came flying out of it.
"Electivire! Electivire was thrown clear!"
Heavy footsteps followed from inside the haze.
Rhydon emerged with most of its Rock Armor smashed apart around its chest and arms, but it was still standing. The armor had done its job, and Rhydon no longer needed what remained of it. Pieces broke loose and fell away with every step as it walked toward Electivire.
Electivire was still struggling to get up when Rhydon reached it.
Rhydon grabbed it by one leg.
Then it started slamming.
Electivire hit the ground on one side, went over Rhydon's head, and crashed down on the other. Rhydon repeated the motion several times, paused as if wondering why Electivire was still so durable, then gave it a few more for good measure.
By that point, Electivire had already stopped moving.
"Stop! Stop the attack!"
The referee's whistle cut through the stadium as he waved his flag frantically.
"Rhydon, that's enough!"
Reiji's command finally got through. Rhydon lowered the unconscious Electivire and walked back toward him while Taro called desperately to his ace.
For a brief moment, the entire stadium went silent.
Then the crowd exploded.
"Rhydon! Rhydon! Rhydon!"
The roar was loud enough to make Rhydon flinch.
This was its moment.
A Pokémon below Elite Four tier had just finished off an Elite Four-tier opponent in front of an entire stadium. Electivire had already been worn down by Poliwrath and Lucario, but that did not make Rhydon's part any less impressive.
Reiji had known for a while that Rhydon had the potential to fight above its tier. It had already taken an Iron Tail from an Elite Four-tier Steelix before. If Rhydon had been this strong during that earlier disaster, Poliwrath could have done the heavy damage and Rhydon might have finished the job before everyone ended up half dead.
More importantly, Rhydon had never hesitated because of the difference in tier. It had spent enough time around its father to know exactly what Elite Four-tier pressure felt like.
The only Pokémon that had ever taught Rhydon a healthy sense of fear was Poliwrath.
Rhydon looked around as the crowd kept chanting its name, then raised an arm and started waving back. The attention went straight to its head.
Reiji laughed and applauded with everyone else.
"Enjoy it. They're cheering for you."
Rhydon puffed itself up even more.
At this rate, Reiji did not think its own breakthrough was very far away.
Across the field, Taro barely seemed part of the celebration. He stared at Electivire before recalling it, knowing exactly what people would remember from this match.
His Elite Four-tier ace had lost to a Rhydon that had not reached that level.
Losing to Poliwrath at the beginning would almost have been easier to swallow.
"Taro, please send out your next Pokémon!"
The referee's reminder dragged him back into the match.
"Go, Charizard!"
Taro knew his chances of turning the battle around were almost gone, but he had no intention of quitting halfway through. Losing after fighting to the end was one thing. Walking away now would follow him much longer.
Reiji recalled Rhydon and brought Pelipper back out.
Drizzle activated again, and rain quickly returned to the stadium.
This time, Taro did not switch.
"Charizard, Fire Spin! Aim for the sky!"
Charizard understood immediately. Instead of attacking Pelipper, it fired a twisting column of flame straight into the clouds, trying to burn through the rain and clear the weather.
Reiji had no reason to let it work in peace.
"Pelipper, Hydro Pump! Keep hitting it!"
Pelipper opened its beak and hammered Charizard with repeated blasts of water while it struggled to maintain Fire Spin. Water met the heat around Charizard in clouds of hissing steam until the entire section of the field disappeared behind white vapor.
Reiji could no longer see the target clearly, but that did not matter.
"Keep firing!"
Hydro Pump continued pounding into the steam.
Charizard endured the barrage behind Protect, refusing to stop feeding Fire Spin into the sky. By the time the clouds finally broke and the rain faded, the flame on the end of its tail had shrunk noticeably.
It had cleared the weather, but the effort had cost it.
"Charizard, Dragon Claw!"
Charizard launched into the air, green energy extending over both claws as it drove straight toward Pelipper.
"Pelipper, Hyper Beam!"
Pelipper fired before Charizard could close the distance.
With nothing solid to brace against in the air, Charizard crossed its Dragon Claws in front of itself and tried to take the beam head-on. Hyper Beam overwhelmed it and blasted it backward into the protective barrier, holding it there until the attack finally faded.
Pelipper dropped lower as the recoil left it unable to act for a moment.
Taro shouted for Charizard to get back up.
It had already taken several Hydro Pumps and a full Hyper Beam, but the sound of its Trainer's voice finally pulled a response from it. Charizard forced itself upright, its eyes burning with anger as the tiny flame on its tail suddenly surged.
Fire exploded outward.
The commentator immediately recognized what had happened. "Blaze! Charizard's Blaze has activated! Look at those flames—the entire battlefield can feel that heat! Are we about to see the final clash?"
Reiji had been expecting this.
The rain had given Pelipper control of the fight, but Charizard still had one way to turn things around once its HP dropped far enough. Blaze was exactly why Reiji had avoided letting Pelipper trade at close range earlier. Against Dragon Claw, risking damage to Pelipper's wings for no reason would have been stupid. A Flying type that could no longer fly was effectively out of the tournament.
Now, however, there was no room left to keep the fight comfortable.
"That's it, Charizard!" Taro shouted. "Everything you have! Blast Burn!"
Charizard erupted in flames.
The fire around it deepened in color as Blaze pushed the attack even further, and the heat became intense enough to make the barrier overhead light up. With a powerful beat of its wings, Charizard climbed before diving toward Pelipper, its entire body buried inside the raging Blast Burn.
Pelipper was still recovering from Hyper Beam.
Reiji had already missed the chance to interrupt the attack.
"Pelipper, the moment you can move, use Protect! Full power!"
There was nothing else to do now.
Pelipper resisted Fire, but this was a Blaze-boosted Blast Burn from a Charizard throwing everything it had left into one attack.
Whether Protect could hold was another question entirely.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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