"Haunter! Now—break its Sunny Day!"
Jason's voice rang clear to the Haunter hiding behind the massive stone pillar.
[Rain Dance]!
At the command, Haunter's vapor-body shuddered. Truth be told, it was terrified. The aura pouring off that thing called Roaring Moon made it quiver from the soul outward. Just looking at it felt like being pressed out of existence.
But this was Jason's order.
To actually help him in a fight this important—that was what Haunter wanted.
With that thought, the fear inside it sank out of sight.
No more hesitation.
Haunter drifted out from behind the pillar, hovering in midair. Its big ghostly hands pressed together over its chest as it focused, gathering the thin threads of Water-type energy in the air.
A damp breath spread from its small body, rolling rapidly across the entire field.
High overhead, the blazing "false sun" Roaring Moon had conjured stuttered, flickering wildly—unstable.
Then, in blatant defiance of natural law, great sheets of cloud bloomed against the crystal vault. They rolled and knotted, and in seconds blanketed the false sun's glare.
The battlefield's temperature dropped in an instant.
A heartbeat later, fat raindrops poured down.
Shhhhhh!
The scalding stone, roasted by Harsh Sunlight, hissed as the rain struck, great breaths of white steam billowing up to blur the field.
Sunny Day's advantage was erased in a blink.
Cut off from constant solar feed, the boiling ancient pulse around Roaring Moon died like a bucket of ice water dumped on a forge.
Protosynthesis's boost winked out.
Its speed fell back to normal.
"Rooar?" Roaring Moon rumbled in puzzlement. It could clearly feel that the endless wellspring of power had just… stopped. It lowered its head; through the gauzy rain it pinned, with needlepoint accuracy, the small purple figure that had caused this—the Haunter, ghostly in the downpour.
Its tactic—its proud power source—undone by a target so low it could swat to mist with a casual rake?
For a paradox beast's pride, that was an unspeakable insult.
Confusion ignited into towering fury. A killing intent so thick it seemed tangible leapt the distance and locked Haunter in its sights.
In that moment, it ignored Jason and Valiant entirely. Those two stronger foes could wait. The meddling gnat outside the exchange had to be erased now.
"ROOOAR!"
With an ear-splitting bellow, the dragon's wings snapped once. Its bulk became a black-and-crimson blur ripping the rain, crossing half the field in a heartbeat to appear before the Haunter that hadn't even begun to react.
No fancy ranged move—just one great talon, feathers scaled into armor, flaring with Dragon energy—
[Dragon Claw]!
It would rip the insolent speck into a spray of purple shreds. One blow, and the fragile Ghost would vanish.
Pinned under that suffocating aura, Haunter froze. It wanted to bolt, to duck—but its body would not obey. In its vision, the talon swelled to fill the world, riding a howl of air.
The shadow of death was never clearer.
Haunter forgot to scream. It merely shut its eyes, despairing.
At that razor's edge—
"Over my dead body!"
A voice cracked across the rain.
A figure appeared between Haunter and doom, faster than Roaring Moon itself, slipping in as if by teleport at the last possible instant.
Iron Valiant.
At the critical moment, it detonated its speed, reading the dragon's line and arriving in time—helped, too, by Haunter's rain stealing away the sun's speed buff.
Facing a mountain-splitting claw, Valiant didn't dodge. It crossed its forearms across its chest and met the thunderbolt head-on with armored bracers.
CLANG!
Sparks leapt, screeching metal in the rain.
The stone under Valiant's feet crazed like a spiderweb, a shallow crater punching down. Its legs sank into the mud under the sheer force.
"Gh—!"
Valiant grunted, absorbing nearly the whole impact. Three deep, bone-showing gouges scored its armguards, energy bleeding from the wounds.
But it held.
Once its stance steadied, it even spared a glance back at the Haunter, frozen stiff behind it, and barked, exasperated:
"Get off the line! What are you staring at—MOVE!"
The act—the voice—froze Haunter anew. A rush of warmth surged up, burning away the cold that had nearly killed it. It stared at that tall, solid back. Moments ago it had seethed at the android for looking down on it, ready to charge in blind. And now—
At the worst instant, it had stepped in front and taken the blow.
Fine, Iron Valiant. I admit it—you're the best Pokémon in the world… besides Jason! …And besides Big Sis!
Roaring Moon's rage spiked. It poured in more force, trying to crush the metal nuisance.
In that lock, another figure read the heartbeat-opening and moved.
Jason.
He roared, pounded forward—the rain sluicing off the iron head of his hammer in cold gleams. No time for a long wind-up Gigaton Hammer—he needed a fast shock of force.
[Heavy Slam]!
The massive head slammed into Roaring Moon's flank at the rib—softest of hard targets.
THUD!
Power discharged; the dragon staggered, skidding sideways, torn off Valiant in a spray of mud and rain, stumbling a dozen meters before it held.
Jason didn't chase. He stepped in front of Valiant and Haunter, set the great hammer like a wall, and braced—an immovable bulwark.
"Haunter—while we're here, nothing touches you."
The steady voice was a dose of calm. Haunter, stunned and moved, bobbed a hard nod and obeyed—sliding back, opening space.
Jason and Valiant traded a look—mutual fire in their eyes. With the dragon fully enraged, there would be no more holding back. End it fast.
They surged Fairy-force together—twin flares of pink light blazing along Valiant's blades and Jason's hammer.
Valiant struck first. It levitated, palms coming together; a compact star swelled between them.
[Moonblast]!
The miniature moon tore the rain and screamed for the dragon.
Jason charged from below, hammer bathed in a denser Play Rough shimmer, body low—targeting the legs.
A high and a low, far and near—perfect synchro.
Roaring Moon, mid-snarl, tried to swat the moon aside with a wing.
Dragon/Dark—four times weak to Fairy.
It was beyond something to be "toughed out."
BOOM!
The Fairy star detonated across its chest; scorched black spread across the scales.
"ROOOAR!"
It howled in true pain for the first time today—and in that stiffening blink, Jason arrived. The hammer smashed the knee joint.
THUNK!
The white-pink force blew the joint; the titan's leg buckled, kneeling into the mud with a gout of water.
Under the twin Fairy blows, the tyrant was forced down, roaring in pain and humiliation.
Pain and humiliation cracked the last sliver of sense. With a savage wingbeat, it blasted the field, throwing Jason back two steps, then launched—climbing to the crystal roof. From there, it would cover the entire zone, blow away the rain and the gnats both.
High above, its feather-scales all stood on end, a thousand knives. With a sky-splitting cry, a purple Dragon glow raced along them—then the storm fell, a monsoon of cutting scales blanketing the field—
[Scale Shot]!
"It's Scale Shot—defend!"
One glance and Jason knew. He barked the call and moved. He widened his stance, sank his weight, raised the hammer and presented the head like a shield.
In the same heartbeat the violet sleet crashed down.
DINGDINGDANGDANG!
A rain of strikes rang off the iron face, sparks spitting, each plate slamming and skipping away. Force ran up the handle; Jason's arms went numb, boots biting deeper into softening stone.
Valiant chose another guard—its arm-blades spun to a blur, weaving a tight round shield. Scales screamed against the disc and shredded or ricocheted.
Five seconds; the first wave ended. The ground around them was carpeted in shimmering violet.
Jason's lungs burned; that defense had cost him. But as they looked up, both caught it—the dragon's tempo was faster. A white speed halo lined it.
Far off, Cynthia's eyes narrowed. "Scale Shot's rider effect," she warned, just in case. "It drops defense to raise speed—trading armor for tempo."
"What—there's a move like that?" Liko blurted, going pale.
"So it just gets faster and faster?" Iono's cheer slipped to a worried line.
As if on cue, the dragon gave them no breath. The last shard hadn't hit before the wings flashed—second wave—third—
"Haunter! Now—break that Sunny Day!"
Jason's shout cut the deluge of scales—reality catching up to the narrative above—and Haunter did not falter. It had feared Roaring Moon to its core, but Jason had spoken, and it answered.
It slipped from shelter, gathered water from air, and called the storm. The fake sun guttered; clouds filled the crystal vault; rain poured; temperature fell. Sun was gone; Protosynthesis collapsed; speed fell.
"Rooar—?" the tyrant growled, then locked scarlet sights on the gnat that had spoiled its plan. Fury surged; it lunged like a thunderbolt, Dragon Claw upraised—
And Valiant was there. Arms crossed, bracers screaming, legs punching craters into stone—but it held. "MOVE!" it snarled back at the quivering Ghost.
That voice, that back—Haunter's heart flooded warm. Moments ago it had bared fangs at this "tin can"—now it saved Haunter's life.
Roaring Moon heaved harder; Jason arrived from the flank, hammer slamming its ribs with [Heavy Slam], knocking it loose. He planted between Valiant and Haunter, hammer braced.
"While we're here, nothing touches you."
"Mm!" Haunter nodded hard and obeyed, slipping back.
Jason and Valiant shared a glance. No more holding back—finish it. Moonblast and Play Rough landed; the tyrant knelt; the air boiled with humiliation. It blasted space, climbed high, and unleashed [Scale Shot]—and they guarded, iron and light dividing the rain of blades.
But with each volley, the dragon grew faster. White speed aura flared. "It's trading defense for speed," Cynthia warned. "It's leveraging tempo."
Then came the call that would flip the board back—"Haunter!" Jason shouted through heat and steam. "Now—Rain Dance! Wipe out the sun!"
Rain fell; sun died; speed fell. The dragon's eyes went redder still, and it chose to erase the meddler first. It tore across the field—Dragon Claw flashing—and Valiant met it, carved and driven into the mud but unbroken.
"MOVE!"
Jason's hammer punished the flank, and the triangle closed again—Valiant's Moonblast; Jason's Play Rough—Fairy double-tap dropping a knee.
The beast howled, then vaulted skyward, feather-knives flaring—Scale Shot again. Iron and light held.
But each wave made it faster. The white aura brightened. Far off, Cynthia's voice stayed level: "It's burning defense to push speed to the limit."
"Then it'll just keep getting faster?" Iono breathed.
And overhead, wings flashed—second wave—third, no breath in between.
~~~
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