As Exeggutor was knocked out on the rocky field, Sabrina recalled her fainted Pokemon into its pokeball. She sent out her next Pokemon right away.
A Medicham appeared on the field. The fighting and psychic type stood in a calm fighting stance with its arms crossed. It looked focused and ready for battle.
Gladion observed the new opponent carefully. 'Not her Hypno. So she had decided to bring some type variety in this match instead of going with pure psychic types.' He understood Sabrina's strategy.
Using only psychic types would make her team easier to counter. Adding a fighting type like Medicham brought balance and surprise to her lineup.
"Stone Edge," Gladion ordered.
Rhyperior responded immediately. Sharp rocks erupted from the ground in a straight line and rushed toward Medicham.
The stones moved fast and with great power. Medicham reacted with quick reflexes. It used Bullet Punch to smash through the incoming rocks one by one. Its fists glowed with steel-like energy as it punched the stones into pieces.
More rocks erupted from the ground, but Medicham continued to punch through them without stopping. Small rock fragments flew everywhere as the fast punches destroyed the rocks.
"Confusion," Sabrina ordered.
A strong beam of psychic energy shot from Medicham and hit Rhyperior directly. The powerful confusion effect took hold of the big Pokemon.
It was not Rhyperior turn to break apart rocks around him in a dazed state. Its heavy fists slammed into the ground and smashed boulders without control.
"Work Up," Sabrina ordered next.
Medicham focused its energy and increased its attack strength. Its body glowed slightly as the move raised its power. Sabrina did not stop there. "And then Acupressure. Use them back to back," she commanded.
Medicham quickly hit special points on its own body with its palms. Acupressure was a move that raised a random stat twice. It could boost attack, defense, speed, special attack, special defense, accuracy, or evasion.
Since Medicham used the move twice, it had received four random boosts in total. Gladion watched closely but could not tell exactly which stats had been improved. 'That would make Medicham painful to deal with along with the bulk up effect if we take into that amount,' he thought.
The combination of Work Up and multiple Acupressure made the smaller Pokemon much more dangerous than it first appeared.
Rhyperior finally shook off the confusion effect and regained full control. It roared loudly and stood ready once more.
"Ice Punch," Sabrina said.
Gladion analyzed the choice quickly. 'So she has figured out that Rhyperior is a dual ground and rock type and thus used ice type, a weakness of ground types. But she is underestimating Rocky.' He trusted his Pokemon's strength and experience.
Medicham moved with impressive speed. It appeared right in front of Rhyperior in a flash and swung its fist glowing with ice type energy. The punch landed solidly on Rhyperior's stony chest.
The impact made the giant Pokemon step back just a little. Cold energy spread across the rocky armor for a moment. Rhyperior grinned confidently. The hit had not done as much damage as Sabrina probably hoped.
"Hammer Arm," Gladion ordered.
Rhyperior's arm and fist glowed with dark fighting energy. It swung a powerful hammer-like punch at Medicham. The smaller Pokemon dodged with very quick reflexes at the last second.
Rhyperior's fist slammed into the ground instead, creating a large crater. The force of the missed attack shook the entire rocky field and sent small stones flying.
Gladion studied Medicham's movements. 'So its attack, speed and evasion stat have been increased. The evasion stat twice since it dodged the attack at such a close range.' He now had a better idea of which stats had been boosted. This made Medicham much harder to hit.
"Tail Whip," Gladion ordered.
Rhyperior swung its heavy tail in a wide arc, trying to knock Medicham off balance. The fighting type evaded that attack as well with its improved speed and evasion. "Ice Punch on its tail," Sabrina ordered quickly.
Medicham landed a solid ice-covered punch on Rhyperior's tail. This time the hit hurt. Rocky grunted in pain as cold energy stung the less armored part of his body.
"Keep on attacking him with Ice and Bullet Punches," Sabrina ordered.
Medicham launched a series of fast attacks. It jumped around Rhyperior and landed Ice Punches and Bullet Punches one after another.
The smaller Pokemon moved like a blur. Rhyperior did not take much visible damage because of its tough rocky armor. However, the constant hits started to annoy him. He grew irritated by the repeated strikes and the speedy opponent who kept landing blows and then jumping away safely.
Gladion waited for the right moment. "Earthquake," he commanded.
Rhyperior raised one massive foot and slammed it hard into the earth. The whole arena began to tear up and shake violently. Large cracks spread across the rocky field. Medicham lost its balance and stumbled while trying to continue its attack. This gave Rocky the perfect opening.
"Hammer Arm," Gladion said.
Rhyperior swung another powerful Hammer Arm. Medicham had no time to dodge because it was still trying to regain its footing on the shaking ground. Sabrina reacted fast. "Counter with Bullet Punch," she ordered.
The two fists collided in the middle. One was huge and heavy while the other was smaller but fast. Medicham buckled under the immense weight and strength of Rhyperior.
Gladion was sure he heard the sound of bones cracking. Medicham shouted in pain as the bone in its hand broke from the powerful clash. The smaller Pokemon fell to one knee, holding its injured arm.
Gladion gave his next command carefully. "Stomp and be gentle about it."
He had to remind Rhyperior to hold back because the big Pokemon had been trained differently in the past. During the Infinite Pokemon War, Rhyperior had fought alongside Gladion's grandfather Maren. In those terrible battles, it was normal to fight with full deadly force to survive.
Rhyperior or previously Rhydon had been used to defeating opponents completely, often with no restraint. Those old habits had run deep.
Over the past year, Gladion had worked hard with Rocky to control that power. They practiced holding back strikes so the Pokemon could battle safely in normal matches and ace challenges.
This careful training was why Rhyperior's debut in public battles had taken so long. Gladion did not want unnecessary serious injuries, even in a tough fight like this.
Rhyperior lifted one heavy foot and brought it down on the back of the downed Medicham with controlled force.
Even though it was being gentle, the weight was still enormous. Medicham cried out in pain as the foot pressed down. The ground around it turned into a deep crater from the impact. After a few seconds, Rhyperior lifted its foot and stepped back. Medicham lay completely still, knocked out and unable to continue.
There was blood pouring out from the unconscious Medicham. Its body showed clear signs of serious damage. Most of its ribs were likely broken from the powerful stomp.
Sabrina quickly recalled her Pokemon to its pokeball to get it medical help.
-----Author Notes------
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