"THEY'RE HERE, THEY'RE HERE! The final showdown is about to begin~"
Mark leaned over the railing of the audience stands, half his body hanging out as if afraid to miss a single exciting moment.
Joseph calmly held onto Mark's waistband with one hand while discussing the match with Will without changing expression.
"Dragonite's in trouble. After taking Gardevoir's Memento, its Attack and Special Attack were greatly reduced. Now with Zoroark's Taunt, it can only use offensive moves."
Will frowned slightly, clearly worried for his friend Lance.
"…But Zoroark's level is lower than Dragonite's. One's a High Elite Four level, the other's just short of Champion. That's a big gap."
Joseph was also concerned for Sato. Even though Dragonite took some effort to defeat Gardevoir, its pseudo-legendary physique definitely meant it still had fight left in it.
Mark glanced at Will… then at Joseph… shrugged speechlessly, and resumed shouting…
"GOOOOOO, BOSS! GO, ZOROARK, CRUSH HIM!"
---◓---
On the battlefield, Zoroark had already successfully used Taunt, cutting off Dragonite's chance to recover from Memento's stat drops with Mist.
Now, it could only go on the offensive!
"…Brick Break."
With few choices, Lance had Dragonite launch a close-range attack; and Brick Break dealt double damage to Zoroark.
"Night Daze!"
On the other side, Sato also issued his command at the same time, opening with Zoroark's most familiar move.
Dragonite flapped its small wings and rushed at Zoroark at incredible speed, its fists clenched and glowing with a faint orange light.
Zoroark stood its ground without moving. Its front claws suddenly plunged into the earth, as a wave of destructive Dark-type energy surged from underground, engulfing the entire battlefield in an instant.
It had been far too long since Zoroark had last taken the stage… so long that some had even forgotten it was Sato's Starter Pokémon.
The one who had spent the most time with Sato, witnessing both lifetimes of hardship and glory, step by step.
Maybe it was Zoroark's sheer presence… or perhaps the destructive aura of Night Daze that unsettled it…
But Dragonite's charge actually came to a halt, and it even took two steps back.
{"DRAGONITE, DRAGON RUSH!"}
Lance's command, infused with Dragon Force, came through immediately. He had instantly noticed Dragonite's hesitation.
With the Inner Focus ability, Dragonite had high resistance to negative emotions. Being intimidated by Zoroark now was almost unthinkable.
But precisely at times like this… one must not back down.
Sometimes, if you retreat once, you'll retreat forever!
"DRAAAAAAAG!"
A mighty dragon's roar rang out. Dragonite shed its usual goofy demeanor and soared into the sky with a face full of fury.
Dragon Rush activated. Dragonite turned into a purple-red meteor and dove down from above, its momentum crashing toward Zoroark like a tidal wave.
"Nighto… Daze Blast."
"Zoro…!"
Zoroark lowered its body slightly, placing both hands at its waist in a motion like forming an energy orb.
Dark-type energy surged wildly, rapidly condensing between its paws until it formed a small pitch-black sphere the size of a fist.
[Night Daze, Second-Gen Variant… Night Blast…]
LAUNCH!
Zoroark hurled the [Night Daze: Night Blast] forward with force. A burst of white air pressure exploded from behind it: the visual embodiment of recoil!
The [Night Blast] turned into a spindle-shaped projectile under the friction of the air, rocketing straight at Dragonite's Dragon Rush.
CLAAAAAAAANG!!!
A bell-like crash echoed across the field. The two moves didn't cancel each other out, instead, they clashed and held for two whole seconds.
Then, [Night Blast] began to overpower Dragon Rush, slowly forcing it back into the sky.
But it didn't last long…
The compressed energy within the projectile began to destabilize under the impact and clash.
And then…
...…BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!!
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-
After the explosion came a vacuum of sound. Even the protected spectators were no exception this time, all covering their ears.
The sky seemed to darken, and the entire battlefield was covered in the aftermath of the blast.
And right then, a silhouette burst through the thick smoke, shooting straight into the air.
It was flying!
Dragonite?
No!
Zoroark was the one who leapt out of the smoke with incredible jumping power. No one could tell what ability or move it used, but it managed to drastically slow its fall, almost as if it was hovering midair.
Moments later, Dragonite stumbled out of the smoke at less than half Zoroark's speed.
It looked utterly battered. The horn on its head was charred black, and its rosy red face showed obvious burn marks from the explosion.
A clear tear on its right wing had slowed its flight to a crawl.
By contrast, Zoroark, aside from some dust and minor scratches, was in excellent physical and mental shape.
"DR-DRAAAAAAG!"
Dragonite let out another roar. Even with torn wings, its eyes were still full of fighting spirit.
The explosion's dust cloud quickly cleared. Zoroark stopped hovering and dropped straight back to the ground.
Seeing this, Dragonite also gave up flying and crashed to the ground.
Both sides understood well… what followed would be a pure close-quarters brawl.
Sure, Sato could drag the fight out with hit-and-run tactics and eventually wear Dragonite down.
But at such a critical moment, defeating the opponent with overwhelming force would better showcase true power.
That was why neither Sato nor Lance had switched Pokémon midway through, nor relied much on tactics.
It was their unspoken understanding, and the expectation shared by the entire League toward Elite Four and even Champions.
Win it fair and square. Win it openly and decisively!
"…ZOROARK!"
"ZOROOOOOOOOAR~!"
"DRAGONITE!"
"DRAGOOOOON!"
'…'
'…'
"NIGHT SLASH!" -⚔️- "DRAGON CLAW!"
Zoroark and Dragonite clashed in the center of the battlefield, unleashing their most direct attacks without reservation.
Zoroark's blood-red claws glowed black, striking Dragonite's weak points at blinding speed.
Dragonite's glowing green claws weren't as fast, but each hit carried immense force, overpowering precision with brute strength.
"AERIAL ACE!" -⚔️- "FIRE PUNCH!"
"…PAYBACK!" -⚔️- "IRON TAIL!"
---
Sato and Lance shouted out commands nonstop, guiding their Pokémon to make the best counterattacks possible.
Without realizing it, both Trainers began instinctively channeling Dragon Force and Dark Energy¹[1] to boost their respective Pokémon.
Every blow dealt massive damage. Even the recoil from a stray attack cracked the ground and blasted shockwaves through the air.
Dragonite had the sturdier build and higher damage tolerance, but its Attack power had undeniably been reduced.
Zoroark was more agile and mentally sharper, and every strike inflicted deeper pain.
When Zoroark landed another Night Slash on Dragonite's relatively fragile lower back, Dragonite's movement clearly stalled.
A critical hit!
"LOW SWEEP!"
At the crucial moment, Sato's command rang out again. Zoroark didn't hesitate in the slightest; even though Fighting-type moves didn't do much to Dragonite.
The next instant, Low Sweep landed, and Dragonite, despite its steady footing, was forcibly knocked to the ground…
Zoroark immediately understood Sato's plan. It followed up without mercy, refusing to give Dragonite a chance to recover!
Grass Knot!
Tough grass ropes sprouted wildly from the ground, seemingly with eyes, binding Dragonite's forelimbs tightly.
The harder Dragonite pushed with its hind legs, the harder it was to get up. Its body shape worked against it.
Finally, Zoroark seized the opening. Its claws plunged into the ground again, and it unleashed its signature finishing move without hesitation…
NIGHT…DAZE!
◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓------◓
¹.That's why the "bold" in the syllables of those moves... sorry!
[1] That's why the "bold" in the syllables of those moves... sorry…