"Excellent! As expected of a Gym Leader famous for the versatility of her Fighting Types...!" exclaimed Kabu, nodding approvingly in a cross-armed posture. Luca's Stone Edge had definitely been effective, but as he wasn't a Rock-type, it wasn't as devastating as it could have been.
Rising to a height of nearly thirty meters, Cross-Fire, empowered by its use of G-Max Centiferno and its Flash Fire Ability, glared menacingly at the much smaller Luca before lunging forward and skittering across the ground like a runaway train. Its colossal size made even a simple charge devastating, so Luca had no choice but to flip over it and run across its back to avoid being trampled.
"Cross-Fire! Use Smokescreen...!" Kabu shouted, prompting Korrina to counter with a crisp, high-energy, "Luca, we just need to hold out a little longer! Keep evading and looking for opportunities to boost your attack!"
'Understood...!' Luca responded telepathically, leaping high into the air from Cross-Fire's undulating body and materializing a pair of glistening white swords midway through a long, acrobatic flip. The arc he traveled was close to fifty meters, but while he landed heavily and slid backward across the battlefield, his expression remained resolute.
BOOM
Preventing Luca, Korrina, and even Kabu from getting a proper view of it, Cross-Fire filled nearly the entire battlefield with an obfuscating cloud of black smoke. Its movements produced a considerable draft, causing the cloud to shift and swirl as if it were alive. And when its head peered from the top, the X-shaped flames across its face flared like the whiskers of a demonic serpent.
Understanding that he just needed to hold out for another attack or two, Luca absorbed the two energy-formed swords into his body, effectively doubling the power of his next physical attack. The energy would scatter if he took a heavy blow, but with his crimson eyes blazing ghostly blue, he steeled himself for whatever Cross-Fire might throw his way.
"Cross-Fire! Max Flare...!"
Reacting to Kabu's shout, Cross-Fire's and Kabu's eyes flashed, followed by the stove-top pattern across the former's chest illuming from its tail to its head.
Seeing the barrier safeguarding him, Ren, and the rest of the crowd from collateral damage materialize like a crystalline sheet formed of countless tiny hexagons, Jason gently squeezed the former's shoulders and braced himself. Even with the barrier before them, he could feel the temperature within the arena skyrocketing, causing the air to distort. At the same time, the early morning sunlight suddenly felt like midday in a desert as Cross-Fire unleashed a spinning vortex of flame that seemed as though it would encompass the entire field.
'This is utterly irresponsible...' Jason thought, his nervous gaze shifting to Korrina. Fortunately, she was being protected by what appeared to be a pyramid of rainbow-hued light, as Cross-Fire's attack did, in fact, spread across the battlefield. The only place it didn't reach was high in the sky, where Luca had fled to using Agility.
"Aaaaaaaaah...!"
Noticing Luca descending toward it with a pair of sand-colored bone clubs in hand, Cross-Fire took advantage of its smokescreen and its opponent's inability to easily change direction mid-air to flick its inordinately long tail like a whip. It was a disturbingly casual-looking motion, but because of the tremendous difference in their sizes, Luca was spiked toward the ground so quickly that it was nearly impossible to trace his flight path.
"Luca! No...!" Ren exclaimed, lunging forward as if she were about to leap onto the battlefield herself. That was precisely why Jason had his hands squeezing her shoulders. Without a constant reminder that she wasn't to interfere, he could easily imagine her taking to the field and attempting to aid Korrina and Luca.
Fortunately for Jason, as there was no way he could keep Ren at bay if she seriously attempted to escape him, Luca burst forth from the sea of flames with his body veiled in Water-type energy. As a Steel/Fighting-type with low special defense, he was especially susceptible to Fire-type moves. However, as he was accustomed to battling multiple world-class Pokémon back to back, he had the means to cover for his weakness and recover his stamina using moves like Water Pulse.
"Skrrrrrrrr..." Cross-Fire hissed, its eyes narrowing and mandibles clicking in frustration as its body began to contract in several stages, returning to its original size. The oppressive sunlight and sweltering heat from its Max Flare persisted, but the strain from Gigantamaxing was even greater than Mega Evolution, leaving it visibly drained.
"Cross-Fire! Return! Let's show them what we can do, Smoker...!" Kabu shouted, taking advantage of the momentary lull in the fight to return Cross-Fire to its Poké Ball and give it a chance to recuperate. What he sent out in its place was an especially large Torkoal, which aggressively discharged plumes of highly pressurized smoke from its nostrils and the vents along its steel-like shell.
"You rest up as well, Luca! Come on out, Scrafty...!" Korrina chimed, following Kabu's example by returning the still transformed Luca to his Poké Ball.
"Scraggle..."
Frowning deeply at the oppressive heat it had been sent into, Scrafty glanced back at Korrina as if to ask if she had something against him. Korrina, feeling somewhat guilty, rubbed the back of her head, but she ultimately didn't need to apologize as Scrafty looked forward, pulled up its pants-like shedding, and preemptively used Scary Face.
"Koal..." Smoker groaned, its already limited speed being reduced by Scrafty's attack, resembling the face of a Gengar, projected across the field with extreme speed. As the energy soaked into Smoker's body, its feet noticeably sank into the ground, as, until the energy dissipated, its already impressive weight was doubled.
"Smoker! Use Smokescreen...!" Kabu ordered, causing Smoker to send out even more smoke, filling the area and obfuscating its form.
"Be on your guard, Scrafty! It's able to use Dig to surprise and attack its opponents from below...!" Korrina warned, demonstrating that she hadn't gone into the match unprepared.
"Skraga..."
Though he kept his gaze focused on the plume of smoke blocking his view of Smoker, Scrafty paid close attention to any vibrations he could feel through his feet. It was a little difficult due to them throbbing from the superheated terrain, but he toughed through the pain with a defiant click of his tongue.
Interrupting the brief lull, a fast-moving tidal wave of purple smoke burst forth from the smokescreen and rushed toward Scrafty's position. It was clearly poisonous, but it never had the chance to reach Scrafty as Korrina shouted, "Scrafty, use Sand Attack!"
Reacting quickly, Scrafty turned his back toward the approaching wave, bent forward, and began kicking his legs with surprising speed to produce an impressive amount of sand. Ground-type energy counteracted Poison-type energy, so as the faintly glowing sand interacted with the poisonous fog, it scattered and extinguished it.
"Smoker! Heat Wave...!"
Forcing Scrafty to shield his face and eyes, a searing wave of luminous orange energy rippled across the battlefield, dispersing the smokescreen and pushing him back slightly. The amount of damage Scrafty sustained was minimal, but his shedding-formed clothing dried up, and his skin lost much of its natural sheen.
"Alright, Scrafty! Time for some Payback...!" Korrina shouted, striking a pose and performing a swift spin kick as Scrafty charged forward, veiled in murky black energy. Smoker was practically immobile with its famously low speed reduced even further, so it had no choice but to withdraw into its shell to avoid tanking Scrafty's attack directly.
Waiting for Scrafty to press his attack, Kabu bellowed, "Smoker! Let's go with Rapid Spin into Flamethrower...!"
Hearing Kabu's shout, Scrafty ceased its forward momentum and leaped back as quickly as it could. His species wasn't known for its speed, but he was currently several times faster than Smoker, allowing him to avoid and leap over the streams of flame that erupted from the latter's open mouth as it spun several times per second...
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"Jason. Ren needs to pee..." Ren revealed, looking guilty with her ears angled backward as she glanced back at Jason. The latter was a little taken aback by her timing, but without needing to consider his response, he offered an understanding nod and responded, "Alright. For now, return to your Poké Ball. We'll drop by the restroom and grab something to snack on on our way back."
Producing Ren's Poké Ball from the interior of his shirt, Jason booped her snoot and took one last look at the ongoing battle before heading for the nearest exit. He would have liked to stick around for Korrina's seemingly inevitable victory, but his responsibility as Ren's Trainer and Partner came first.
With such thoughts in mind, Jason searched for the nearest Pokémon-accessible bathroom. Fortunately, the line to use it was short. And pretty much everywhere he looked, flat screen displays allowed him to witness the conclusion of Korrina's match against Kabu.
Though her Scrafty was unable to overcome Smoker's defenses, Luca's ability to retain its transformation between switching out gave Korrina an advantage that Kabu couldn't recover from. This tentatively increased her WCS Rank from 97 to 45, but they wouldn't know for sure where she was positioned until the remaining matches for the day were settled.
'That's a relief...' Jason thought, exhaling from his nose and adopting a faint smile.
shnk
"Hmmm...?"
Feeling a sudden and intense heat radiating from his left side, Jason looked down to find what looked like a wooden handle sticking out of his side. For a second or two, his brain struggled to process what his eyes were seeing. It was only when a dark patch began spreading through his shirt that the reality of what he was witnessing hit him.
"Nothing personnel kid..."
Drawn to the distinctly meme-like remark, Jason looked to his left, where a short, inordinately skinny man attired in a well-worn Pikachu hoodie and a black facemask was backing away from him. There was a crazed look in the figure's eyes, but the more peculiar thing about him was that only the upper half of his body and face were visible. His silhouette was wispy and broken along the edges, and as he took several steps back and turned to flee, Jason lost sight of him completely.
"You fucking asshole...!" Jason shouted, drawing considerable attention as he lurched forward and threw a blind haymaker at where the figure had vanished. His hand thankfully made contact with something solid, causing the figure to flicker into view and slide across the floor from the force of his punch.
Pointing with his left index finger, Jason, with dark bags rapidly forming under his eyes, bellowed, "That man stabbed me...!" before collapsing to his knees. Pain radiated through them as they made contact with the hard stone of the floor, but he had more important matters to attend to.
"Hold on, Jason! Help is on the way...!" Dex exclaimed, having awoken due to the commotion.
"Dex, you need to listen closely..." Jason groaned, surprising the phone-shaped Pokémon by grabbing him with a bloodied hand and stating, "You need to inform Lusamine that the person who stabbed me is like me...we can't let him escape. Track him yourself if you have to..."
Having used up what remained of his strength, Jason lowered himself onto the side he hadn't been stabbed and placed himself in the recovery position. He was relieved when several people rushed to his side, but as the knife had penetrated deep into his liver, no amount of willpower could keep him awake. He didn't feel cold like when he had last faced death, so with the belief that he would be saved, Jason closed his eyes, controlled his breathing to the best of his ability, and permitted himself to slip into a shallow unconsciousness where he could still make out blurred sights and muffled sounds...
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