Want to read ahead. You know where
-----
"You… you… your Lucario, "
Cynthia's voice caught halfway through the sentence, her golden eyes wide with disbelief.
"When did he learn Mega Evolution?!"
Sam scratched the back of his head, looking casual, almost smug.
"It's been a while~" he admitted nonchalantly.
Cynthia practically groaned.
"Seriously?!"
Her tone was somewhere between frustration and mock betrayal.
"Lucario can Mega Evolve, and you never told me?!"
Sam just smiled, unbothered.
"Well, you never asked~"
He gave a half shrug, brushing it off like it was nothing.
"Besides, Mega Evolution isn't that big of a deal."
Cynthia stared at him.
Wasn't that big of a deal?
Mega Evolution?!
That was evolution beyond evolution!
A phenomenon most trainers only dreamt of mastering, and he spoke like it was some party trick?
But as she thought back, she had to admit… it made sense.
For Sam, maybe it wasn't a big deal.
After all, this was the same trainer who had two other Pokémon on his team, one being an elusive phantom species, and the other practically a legendary Pokémon with staggering potential.
He had even, just a while ago, ridden on the back of Rayquaza.
Rayquaza!
So yeah, maybe for someone like him, Mega Evolution was… nothing special.
Still!
That smug attitude of his was unbearable!
Cynthia folded her arms, feigning a pout.
'He's so full of it…'
If she knew that Lucario had already mastered Z-Moves too… she might've screamed.
In her heart, she gave Sam's smugness a full score of 100 out of 100.
No.
Make that 200.
She was fuming. Fuming.
Sam, meanwhile, glanced over at her deflated expression and offered a calm reminder.
"Garchomp just Mega Evolved, right? She's still getting used to the form. Mega Evolution can't be maintained for long, not yet. You sure you want to keep talking instead of battling?"
That snapped Cynthia back into focus.
Her eyes narrowed, shifting to her Mega Garchomp, who was already baring her fangs and roaring with impatience.
Compared to Sam's Lucario, who had more battle experience in Mega form, her Garchomp's stance was less stable, still a bit wild around the edges.
Mega Evolution was powerful, but volatile.
And hers hadn't been refined yet.
'Right,' she thought, pushing away the distraction.
'No more holding back.'
"Garchomp, use Dual Chop!"
"Roar!!"
Garchomp shot forward, jaws open, a surge of white-hot vapor trailing from her breath.
In both arms, sickle-like blades gleamed with dragon energy, like death scythes ready to strike.
She closed the gap in a flash, charging straight for Lucario.
Sam didn't flinch.
"Luca, dodge with Quick Attack."
"Lu, ka!"
Electric arcs pulsed from Mega Lucario's body, and in a blur of motion, he shot sideways just before Garchomp's scythes came crashing down.
A perfect dodge.
Cynthia clenched her teeth.
Garchomp's speed had increased with Mega Evolution, but not enough.
Not yet.
Her control over her movements in close range was still sloppy, and Lucario had slipped through the cracks.
The strike hit the air.
Sam didn't issue another command right away.
He just stood calmly, hands in his pockets, eyes locked on the battlefield.
He was reading the flow.
Watching. Waiting.
Cynthia recognized that look and understood what he was doing.
Garchomp couldn't stay in Mega form forever.
If she delayed, Lucario would win the long game.
No time to waste.
"Garchomp, Earthquake!"
The ground trembled as Garchomp slammed both arms down.
If she couldn't catch Lucario with a direct hit, then a wide-area attack would do the job: no escape, no tricks, just raw, seismic force.
Lucario stood in the blast zone.
Let's see how he handled that.
"Roar!!"
With a thunderous cry, Mega Garchomp slammed her claws into the ground, hard.
The earth responded at once, trembling under the pressure, cracking open inch by inch.
Tremors rippled outward, carving jagged fault lines in every direction as Ground-type energy surged forward.
The Earthquake attack roared toward Lucario like a tidal wave of stone and force.
Sam stayed calm, voice steady.
"Luca, use Detect."
A shimmer of focus passed over Lucario.
Detect, more than just a defensive technique.
It demanded intense concentration.
It allowed a Pokémon to anticipate and read the flow of battle, to spot the exact moment and path an attack would take.
"Luka!"
Lucario's eyes burned with determination.
He stared straight at the encroaching devastation, jagged cracks rushing toward him like open jaws.
For a moment, it looked like there was no escape.
Then, he moved.
With swift, darting footwork, Lucario shifted, once, twice, three times, flashing through narrow gaps in the fractured terrain.
Light on his feet, agile, he dodged the deadly tremors with precision that bordered on instinct.
Not a scratch.
Cynthia grit her teeth.
"Ugh, I knew it. He's just stalling!"
Her eyes narrowed, sharp with understanding.
"He's waiting for Garchomp's Mega form to run out. Once it does, he'll strike!"
She'd seen enough.
Two full exchanges were all she needed to read Sam's plan.
And of course, he wasn't surprised she figured it out.
After all, Cynthia wasn't just any trainer.
She was the Sinnoh Champion.
Tactically brilliant, always thinking ahead.
And on top of that… well, their connection ran deep.
It wasn't hard to guess each other's intentions anymore.
Still, so what if she saw through it?
Sam wasn't hiding it.
Lucario had better endurance in its Mega form.
Garchomp, despite her strength, was still getting used to it.
So Sam's strategy was simple: buy time.
Again and again, Lucario avoided direct engagement.
He weaved through attacks, reading each move before it came.
And when he couldn't dodge?
He used Protect to shield himself, then retreated to keep his distance.
Cynthia's Garchomp gave it everything.
But Mega Evolution demanded energy.
And with each passing minute, it drained her faster.
Finally,
"Roar…!"
A pulse of light surged around Garchomp's body and faded.
The Mega form broke.
Exhausted, Garchomp reverted to her base state, panting hard.
Sam's eyes lit up.
'Now.'
"Luca, go!"
With renewed strength, Mega Lucario launched forward.
Striking fast and hard, he pressed the advantage.
Blow after blow landed, clean, relentless, precise.
And with a final strike,
Garchomp collapsed.
The battle was over.
Cynthia didn't say a word as she returned Garchomp to her Poké Ball.
Sam casually stepped up beside her and grabbed her hand.
"Alright, let's go!" he said, grinning.
"We still have time before the boutique closes!"
He practically dragged her along, beaming with excitement.
Cynthia, still recovering from the match, gave him a side-eye.
"You planned this, didn't you?"
He didn't answer, just kept walking faster.
"Hmph."
She rolled her eyes but didn't resist.
Fine.
He could have won this.
But she wasn't giving him everything.
"You know," she muttered under her breath, "I can't let you win every time."
"If I lose in battle, I will win somewhere else."
Determination sparked in her gaze as she flipped the situation around, gripping Sam's hand and pulling him forward instead.
He blinked. "Eh?"
Too late.
"You're not the only one with a plan," she said with a smirk.
"When we get back, I've got a few things in mind."
"Yo-hoo~"
Sam chuckled under his breath.
He could already feel her energy shifting.
That fire in her was what made her Cynthia.
And honestly?
The back-and-forth, this tug of war between them?
That's exactly how he liked it.