Riolu's power flared. A white flash wrapped its body as it vanished on the spot—speed pushed to the limit!
Whoosh!
Ninetales caught only a streak of white; Riolu's figure was gone without a trace.
The fire pillar roared over the floor, all noise and fury—hitting nothing.
Blaine didn't call out an order right away; his expression turned grave as he scanned the field.
Quick Attack doesn't hit hard, but its edge is that burst of speed in a blink.
Even a speedster like Ninetales can't track a same-level Riolu under that burst.
Bang!
The white light bloomed again—
Riolu slammed into Ninetales' chest and drove it back several steps.
"Will-O-Wisp!"
Blaine reacted in time.
"Niiine!"
Ninetales swept its tails; a ghostly flame blossomed at each tip.
Those baleful wisps flew in crooked arcs and closed in to ring Riolu.
If they landed, Riolu would be in deep trouble.
"Blow them out with Vacuum Wave—then Force Palm Ninetales!"
Sss-sss-sss!
Riolu slipped through the gaps while its palms pulsed; nine compact air blasts hammered out in a row, snuffing every wisp mid-flight.
Then it drove off its back foot and sprinted in!
Tap-tap-tap!
Hearing the footfalls, Ninetales kept yielding ground, staying at a safe distance—no interest in letting the jackal grapple.
Grey's brow pinched. Light was coalescing with a strange sheen at the tips of those tails.
That alone killed any urge to force a close-in exchange.
"Fall back, then Work Up."
At even strength, neither side could settle it quickly. Stretch the clock, though, and Drought Ninetales would start to tilt the field its way.
Best to cash in now while Blaine wasn't calling setup moves.
Blaine countered on sight: he wouldn't let Grey cash in. "Extrasensory—lock it down."
"Niiine!"
Ninetales' tails fanned; blue overtook the ruby in its eyes. A surge of psychic force rolled out in waves.
"Rio?!"
Just as Riolu entered its rhythm, danger spiked through every nerve. It killed the charge-up and flipped backward in a chain, the psychic pulse chasing under its feet.
Air churned. Grey's coat hem flicked.
Riolu delivered—it didn't let Ninetales pin it.
"That speed…"
Blaine clicked his tongue, impressed despite himself by Riolu's agility.
On raw speed, Riolu wasn't losing a thing to Ninetales.
In fact, the trendline said it might outstrip it.
Seeing that, Blaine refused to offer a clinch. "Fire Spin!"
WHOOOM—
A spiral inferno burst up; rings of flame rolled across the ground like red-hot hoops, barreling in.
Countless blazing circles flew like tossed rings at a booth—tag it once, and Blaine's sequence would bite.
Riolu didn't want to give an inch.
Grey read its intent and smiled. "In that case—Detect!"
Similar in text to Protect, but the effect's very different.
Protect cages you in a barrier on the spot; Detect rewires your reads so you slip the opponent's lines of attack.
How many moves you can thread depends on your own quality.
That's why Detect sings on Fighting types.
And it's a ticket to steal distance.
Right now, with Fire Spin carpeting the lane, Detect was the optimal answer.
"Rio!"
As Riolu barked its fighting spirit, ripples shimmered through its eyes.
In a heartbeat, every incoming line looked ten times slower—riddled with gaps.
Swish—swish—swish!
Riolu flowed between the rings, ghosting through the spiral without effort.
At the same time, the gap closed fast.
Blaine's gaze sharpened. "Flamethrower!"
At this range, the jet was practically point-blank.
BOOM!
A clawing red pillar roared out like a dragon, jaws open to swallow the blue jackal whole.
Heat rolled, licking the air, stinging Riolu's skin.
But that heat alone wasn't enough to rattle it. A slip of the shoulders—and the jet shaved past its cheek.
And now—Riolu only had to reach out to touch Ninetales.
Easy as picking something from a pocket.
"Now—Force Palm!"
"Rio!"
Riolu thrust both palms onto Ninetales' plush fur.
Fighting power detonated from its core; crackling arcs burst from its hands!
BANG!!
The shockwave punched through Ninetales' body and popped again inside.
Ninetales tumbled and rolled, arcs dancing over its fur.
Paralyzed!
Speed gutted, it staggered upright—pride in its eyes carved through by a hard line of caution.
That blue jackal was too slippery: Detect to close in, then link straight into Force Palm.
Scary…
One smooth mini-string, and Ninetales already wasn't in a good state.
Chat couldn't help but be won over by both sides.
[Blaine's Ninetales looks amazing. If that Fire Spin were aimed at me, I'd have no shot dodging clean.]
[Riolu's the beast here. I asked my Hariyama—he says he'd eat that combo full to the face.]
[Riolu's too micro-intensive. Damage looks meh. Got a simpler, easier pick?]
[Catch a Pikachu.]
[Pikachu? In Kanto it's more common than Poochyena in Hoenn.]
The chat drifted off, then snapped back to the fight.
"In that case…"
Blaine slid his sunglasses down, half an eye showing.
There were a lot of emotions in that look—
But above all, the swell of battle-lust.
Since fighting Red, it had been a long time since he'd felt this.
He raised his arm, as if to clutch the blazing sun in his fist. "Solar Beam!"
Any other move would slow under paralysis.
But under harsh sunlight, Solar Beam might still snap off near instantly—even if a bit delayed.
A sphere of light shot for the clouds.
At the same time, brilliant gold poured down from above, flooding into that orb.
Almost the instant it filled—
The orb lanced into a broad column of energy that crashed down from the sky!
Watching that, everyone held their breath for Riolu.
If it hit, Riolu would be in dire straits.
"Quick Attack."
Grey's voice stayed level, untouched.
Even facing a monstrous Solar Beam, he didn't flinch.
But a line in the chat, off to the side, made his pupils tighten.
[Gym Leader Grey—so young and promising. Would you be open to a chat later? (Star Guardian activated)]
[ID: Giovanni of the Earth]
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