"Now! Attack while you can!"
Everyone rooting for Larry yelled at once.
Paralysis is the nightmare of any speed-based Pokémon. Once you're paralyzed, you lose your greatest edge and become a sitting duck.
But even faced with a twist that could flip the match, Jason's expression didn't flicker. He didn't even lift an eyelid.
He'd expected this. With nothing else left, inflicting a status ailment was the opponent's only play.
Watching Iron Valiant's frame tremble under the crawling arcs of electricity, he issued a new order.
"Ignore it—Aura Sphere."
The crowd blinked.
What confidence was this? Paralyzed and he wanted his Pokémon to attack as if nothing had happened?
Iron Valiant moved. His arm rose—slower than before. Golden current sparked along his joints, fighting his motion. But he lifted it anyway. Forcing through the stiffness, a blue mote formed in his palm—the charge for Aura Sphere.
"Dudunsparce—Coil!" Larry snapped, trying to harden up before the hit.
Dudunsparce curled its long body; a faint guard shimmered over its skin.
Too late.
Aura Sphere had already coalesced. The blue orb screamed away, tailing its target. As a sure-hit move, it ignored distance and angle and slammed Dudunsparce dead-on.
Boom!
With a cry, the curl broke; the body skidded backward across the tiles.
"Not done!"
Jason's voice cut coldly. Light flared in Iron Valiant's other palm—another Aura Sphere, right on its heels. Dudunsparce, still reeling, couldn't so much as twitch before the second orb hit flush. This time it didn't get back up—blown off its coil and dumped hard to the floor, completely still.
The gym fell into a deathly quiet.
Every tactic, every struggle, looked paper-thin against absolute strength.
Iron Valiant slowly lowered his arm; the last gold sparks crawling over him faded out. He stood there, silent as stone.
The referee's arm, flag raised, had hovered so long it ached. He stared from the fourth fallen Pokémon to the silver figure who hadn't even broken a sweat, and for a moment felt unmoored. In all his years judging, over a hundred matches, he'd never seen a bout this one-sided.
This wasn't a battle. It was a dismantling.
Every one of the challenger's calls had pre-read the leader's plan and crushed it at the root with the most direct, brutal answer.
The arena was silent. The crowd sat dumbstruck, mouths open, eyes hollowed on center field. Drones beamed the scene out faithfully; viewers behind countless screens felt the same suffocating pressure. Chat slowed to a trickle—people had nothing left to say.
"…Is this really a gym match?"
"I think Larry's going to walk away traumatized."
"Iron Valiant doesn't have a single mark on him—not even dust. This is unreal."
On the dais, Larry's shoulders sank; he recalled Dudunsparce without raising his head. He didn't look at Jason or at the source of that crushing force. He stared at the Poké Ball in his hand.
As a gym leader, an officially recognized strong Trainer, he had never imagined a scene like this. His tactics, his experience, his proud partners looked like paper before this foe. It felt like he wasn't battling Pokémon at all, but playing chess with his pieces face-up—every move read cleanly, checkmated with a single, simplest piece.
Can I still win?
The thought flashed—then he strangled it. He couldn't give up. He carried not only himself, but Medali Gym's honor.
"Haaah—"
He drew a long breath. When he looked up again, the daze and helplessness had been replaced by resolve. He met Jason's eyes and took his last, most trusted ball—its shell polished smooth by long use.
"Challenger Jason," he said, voice hoarse but firm. "I admit—you and your Pokémon are the strongest I've faced. But my partner and I won't surrender here."
He hurled the ball.
"My ace—Staraptor!"
Red light burst; an eagle's cry split the rafters. A proud raptor appeared overhead—head feathers cocked in defiance, eyes sharp enough to pierce steel, black-white-gray plumage sleek and aerodynamic. Each wingbeat whipped the air into hard gusts. Where Braviary felt like a trained soldier, this Staraptor felt like a general.
The arena, chilled to silence, sparked back to life.
"Staraptor! Larry's ace!"
"Finally!"
"That was Larry's starter—he lit up the Paldea Conference with it back in the day!"
"Yeah—and with Reckless plus Brave Bird, it's terrifying!"
Iron Valiant lifted his head; his gaze locked on the bird. Pure, powerful fighting spirit rolled off it.
A worthy opponent.
Larry didn't leave a breath to waste. Against a foe like this, prodding and hesitation were just wasted turns. He fished out a bead that gleamed with seven colors—the Tera Orb—and raised it high, eyes rapt.
"Let's take this work to the next phase."
Half to himself, half a highest order to his ace. He flung the Tera Orb; it traced a rainbow arc and burst above Staraptor's head.
Light flooded the arena. Hexagonal crystals poured like liquid over the bird; Staraptor cried skyward as its form shifted. A clear crystal shell flowed over its body; above, a headpiece like a diamond crown—Normal Tera—rose and glittered. Power surged visibly from it, rolling outward in heat-haze waves.
"Terastallized!"
"Normal Tera!"
"I see it—he's pushing same-type move power to the max!"
"Normal Tera plus Reckless plus STAB—this hit's going to be insane!"
Chat went feral. Everyone saw it—Larry was betting everything on one strike to decide the match.
Staraptor's aura peaked, eyes burning. Larry chopped his arm down.
"Staraptor—Giga Impact!"
The command landed. Staraptor became a streak—Normal-type Tera force condensed at its beak, spiraling into a massive drilling point. The arena shook under the pressure; a long white contrail ripped behind it as it lanced straight at Iron Valiant.
A blow to crack the world—an entire gym leader's honor and hope wrapped into one strike.
For the first time, the corner of Jason's mouth lifted in the faintest smile.
"Protect."
The order hit on time. A breath before the white lance struck, Iron Valiant crossed his arms; a jade-green barrier flowered before him.
BOOOOM!!!
The blast thundered through Medali. The white drill smashed the green shield; time hung still.
The deadlock lasted less than half a heartbeat.
Crack!
A sharp fracture chirped; a line split the shield and webbed instantly—
Bang!
The barrier shattered into glitter. The shock slammed Iron Valiant, boots plowing deep furrows as he slid back meters before bracing, holding firm. The pressure wave rolled outward, making the front rows squint against it.
Stopped.
He actually—stopped it.
The crowd stared, breathless, at the silver figure—shoved back, but unhurt. A Normal Tera, Reckless-boosted, ultimate strike—and a single Protect took it on the nose.
A flicker of shock crossed Larry's face; then a sliver of hope. Even blocked, Giga Impact's drawback can't be avoided. Staraptor was locked in recoil lag—frozen for a moment.
If he could just weather the next beat—
Jason had no intention of allowing it.
"Now."
The cold call snapped Larry's last illusion.
"Spirit Break."
He hit the tiny gap after Giga Impact's freeze—barely even a sliver. Iron Valiant moved—the last static of paralysis blown off by sheer will. He vanished and reappeared at the gasping Staraptor's flank. Fairy energy flooded his right arm—then fell.
Thud!
The fairy-charged fist smashed home. Crack—crack! The ornate crystal crown shattered; the clear shell crazed and sloughed away. Terastallization broke—forced off.
"Skreeee!!!"
Staraptor screamed, lost the sky, and dropped like a cut kite—slamming to the floor.
The battle was over.
The ref stared at the dramatic scene a long beat before his flag lifted, trembling, and he forced the call out from his lungs:
"Staraptor is unable to battle! The winner of this match is—Challenger Jason!"
Silence held. Iron Valiant drifted down to center and let the fairy glow fade from his arm. He glanced at his palm, then at the fallen bird now back in its base state. In his eyes there was no gloat, no fatigue—only a hint of unfinished business.
The verdict echoed through the rafters; the ref lowered his aching arm and exhaled as if he'd just run a marathon.
The Medali Gym was pin-drop quiet. Thousands—here and on stream—were collectively speechless. The brilliant Tera crown had shattered; the ace had dropped. One versus five. From start to finish—one Pokémon.
~~~
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