"Ahem… This battle will use a one-on-one singles format. The moment either side's Pokémon loses the ability to fight, the match ends. You both have no objections, correct?"
Holding a red flag in one hand and a green flag in the other, Goodshow spoke with a trace of excitement in his voice.
"No problem!"
Lucas and Karen answered almost at the same time.
Also at the same time, both of them turned their gazes toward their own Pokémon's opponent for today.
Standing in front of Karen was a Weavile with a distinctly sly and vicious air.
Weavile was only just over a meter tall. Its body was a dark gray, and an eye-catching bright red feathered crest lay over its head. The cold gleam from its hooked claws was enough to make one's back go cold.
Right now, Weavile was staring coolly at Dragonite with its red eyes. It stuck out its slightly long tongue and slowly licked its claws.
Lucas still didn't know Weavile's exact strength, but just from its physique and aura, he could tell this Weavile was absolutely not weak.
However—
With a somewhat helpless look, Lucas asked Karen, "So the reason Elite Karen chose Dragonite as her opponent really was because she has Weavile up her sleeve, huh."
The original dragon-slaying blade Weavile—back in those early generations when Dragon-types dominated the meta, it had stood alongside Lance's Cloyster-like dragon-slayer partners in supporting the alliance against Dragon-type Pokémon.
Even now, with Fairy-type Pokémon—true Dragon-killers—having appeared, Weavile was still an extremely serious threat to a Dragonite that was four-times weak to Ice.
Karen smiled faintly. "In order to topple that so-called Dragon specialist Flying-type Champion, of course I've made the necessary preparations."
Then she pointed at Lucas and Dragonite and threw down harsh words.
"And you two are one of the mountains I must cross if I'm to defeat Lance and become the Johto League Champion!"
Karen was very curious whether, when battling, the Dragonite before Lucas would change that honest, silly gaze of its, and reveal eyes like Lance's Dragonite—sharp and fearsome.
This Dragonite's physique and aura were both outstanding. Even if it hadn't yet reached the realm of Lance's Dragonite, it was probably already steadily approaching.
As long as she and this Weavile—the strongest on her team besides Houndoom, and the one she'd trained most carefully—could defeat Dragonite, she could start preparing to challenge Lance again!
Seeing that both sides were ready, Goodshow narrowed his eyes and swung his flag down. "Battle… begin!"
"Dragon Dance!"
"Fake Out!"
Their commands were almost simultaneous.
Relying on Dragonite's Multiscale, Lucas immediately chose to be greedy and open the match with a boost.
Karen, meanwhile, chose the tried-and-true Fake Out that so many trainers loved to use—and that move could directly break Dragonite's Multiscale as well!
The instant Dragonite spread its wings and was about to leap into a Dragon Dance, Weavile's figure shot out like a gale, rushing to Dragonite's face in the blink of an eye. Both palms slammed forward.
Smack!
A crisp slapping sound rang out.
An invisible wave of energy spread outward. Its power was negligible, but it carried a mysterious force that made the Dragon-type energy Dragonite had just gathered freeze for a moment. Its body stiffened midair, and Dragon Dance failed.
"Ohh! Is that a move you especially honed to deal with Lance's Dragonite?"
Goodshow's eyes widened in delighted surprise.
With this, not only had she slapped away Dragonite's Multiscale, weakening its initially monstrous defensive power, but she'd also created a once-in-a-lifetime opening for Weavile to attack.
Karen's eyes lit up, and she gave a decisive order. "Ice Punch!"
"Wea-vile!"
Weavile's mouth twisted into an evil grin, living up to its Dark typing. Without the slightest hesitation, it leapt up, razor-sharp claws gathering Ice-type energy, emanating a chilling cold.
Targeting the Dragonite hovering stiff and cowering in the air, Weavile's twin claws slashed mercilessly toward its soft, exposed belly!
Its speed and force were so great that even the air howled as the claws cut through it.
Calling it Ice Punch barely fit; this was more like "Ice Claw."
If this four-times Ice-weak Dragonite took such a blow head-on, the resulting damage would massively affect the flow of the battle.
Yet before Karen's smile could surface, an unexpected scene unfolded.
Beneath Dragonite—whose lift had just failed and who was about to fall stiffly—a violent gust of wind suddenly swirled up.
The wind not only made Weavile subconsciously narrow its eyes, it also lifted Dragonite's body in one go, carrying it all the way up to just under the ceiling!
"What!?"
Karen's face showed open astonishment. She couldn't figure out where that sudden wind had come from.
At that moment, Weavile's Ice Punch slashed through empty air. Obeying gravity, its body began to fall from its high leap. At the same time, Dragonite recovered from the stiffness caused by Fake Out.
Dragonite silently gave thanks that ever since its special training with Lugia, it'd gotten used to creating air currents while flying to instantly boost its altitude. Otherwise, Karen and Weavile might really have gotten their way just now.
"Flamethrower!"
Lucas's command came at the perfect time.
Dragonite, its expression turning angry, opened its mouth. Scorching flames poured out like roaring clouds of fire, sweeping down toward Weavile!
"Tch, so that failed." Karen's expression immediately turned serious as she snapped, "Protect!"
Weavile's endurance was far inferior to Dragonite's. Before it managed to land an effective hit, there was no way she could let its HP drop.
A pale green barrier completely wrapped around Weavile's body. Under the searing assault of flames, the translucent shield, which looked so fragile, somehow held up and let Weavile endure Dragonite's flame attack, which was full of rage.
As soon as the Flamethrower ended, paying no mind to the scorchingly hot floor, Weavile crouched low and blurred into a streak of black, darting across the battlefield.
Weavile's speed was tremendous, and its agility was even more terrifying. Even though Lucas ordered Dragonite to fire off several more Flamethrowers and Dragon Pulses, Weavile narrowly dodged them all, not even taking a graze.
Now, Weavile was like an assassin at the absolute peak of mobility. Having been taught a painful lesson earlier, it no longer chose risky leaps. Instead, it took advantage of the room's natural terrain—the walls and ceiling that restricted Dragonite's flight height and acceleration—to close in frequently on Dragonite!
The walls on all sides seemed to become Weavile's stepping boards. Its figure flashed about them constantly, and its cunning attacks always struck at the instant Dragonite's focus slackened, yielding impressive results.
The crisscrossing scratch marks on Dragonite's scales were all badges of honor for Weavile.
Watching Weavile's afterimages, which were almost too fast to track with the naked eye, two solutions flashed simultaneously through Lucas's mind.
One: let loose a Hurricane that covered the entire room, using an immense area-of-effect to leave Weavile nowhere to run.
Two: use that new move they'd just mastered, the one that'd never been tested in a real battle yet.
"Option one would clear this fight quickly, but chances like this don't come often. I choose two."
Under Karen's confused gaze, Lucas suddenly muttered something that seemed to make no sense.
Yet the very next second, she instantly understood his intention.
Lucas looked up and shouted to the Dragonite in midair, "It's a bit cramped to fly properly in here—land and take it to close combat!"
"Bwoo!"
Dragonite didn't look back. It responded with a cry, crossed its dragon claws to block Weavile's vicious blow from behind, then twisted its body and whipped its tail around, swatting Weavile—who had no time to adjust its posture—flying. Abandoning air superiority, it dropped straight down to the ground.
Goodshow's white brows furrowed as he held his flags. In his eyes, Dragonite giving up its aerial advantage to fight on the ground against a speed-oriented Weavile was far from a good idea.
Or was Lucas planning to rely on Dragonite's bulk to seize an opening and heavily injure Weavile in one go?
After all, compared to Dragonite, Weavile's build really was quite frail.
Seeing Lucas actually give up his own advantage, Karen's smile broadened. "Icicle Crash!"
Weavile didn't slow at all, once again slipping into a tricky position behind Dragonite. It raked its claws across the air, and cold energy converged in front of it. In just moments, several crystal-clear, cone-shaped icicles took form, their tips shining with a chilling glow that left no doubt about their power.
A cruel look flashed in Weavile's eyes. It twisted its body and kicked out, sending the icicles lined up in front of it flying. Their target: Dragonite's back.
As danger closed in, neither Lucas nor Dragonite panicked.
Taking a deep breath, Lucas said in a low voice, "Extreme Speed!"
"Bwoo!"
Brilliant light burst in Dragonite's eyes, and a dense white aura enveloped its body.
A booming roar rang in its ears as Dragonite vanished from where it'd stood, its body like a streak of white lightning. The icicles shattered into sparkling shards of ice that rained down.
Weavile, meanwhile, stared blankly as Dragonite appeared in front of it in an instant. Caught off-guard, it was blasted away by a heavy punch!
Karen & Goodshow: "!!!"
"Extreme Speed!?"
Karen ground her teeth inwardly. She hadn't expected Dragonite to learn Extreme Speed. That meant Weavile would have to spend even more effort and focus than she'd planned to win.
But things were far from as simple as Karen imagined.
Weavile dug its claws deep into the floor as it skidded, gouging out a deep groove to barely arrest its momentum. Refusing to admit defeat, it charged at Dragonite again, Ice Punch gathering in its claws, planning to get close and keep to its specialty—using agility to play its opponent in the palm of its hand.
Dragonite moved again.
This time, it was nothing like the usual Extreme Speed, where most Pokémon could only launch straight forward, unable to move their bodies flexibly and forced to attack purely by ramming or body slamming.
Now, it was as if Dragonite had turned on an acceleration cheat. Its right claw blocked Weavile's sneaky strike, then its left claw hammered straight toward Weavile's face!
Weavile's pupils shrank. Relying on its flexibility, it bent backward at the waist, dodging Dragonite's swipe by a hair's breadth.
Weavile thought Dragonite managing to react to its earlier attack had been just a coincidence. After all, it had overwhelmed Dragonite with its attacks multiple times earlier and left it flustered.
This time, Weavile's foot gathered Dark-type energy as it moved in for Foul Play, intending to borrow Dragonite's strength and turn it against Dragonite, inflicting massive damage.
Dragonite still reacted in time. It raised its head, avoiding Weavile's Foul Play. Then fiery energy wrapped around its right fist, and it slammed that Fire Punch into Weavile's side!
Boom!
Violent flames exploded outward. As Weavile let out a wretched shriek, its body flew away again like a rag doll, a clear burn mark blooming around its waist.
If before this Karen could still write it off as coincidence, now she couldn't make that excuse no matter how she tried.
"The Dragon Clan's… Extreme Speed?"
Shocked disbelief was plain on Karen's face.
She had never expected to see that technique—the very one Lance's Dragonite had used to effortlessly defeat her—in Lucas's Dragonite.
She and the other Elite Four members all remembered vividly how terrifyingly strong Lance's Dragonite was, particularly with that Extreme Speed that largely made up for its shortfall in agility.
Karen bit her lip and decisively changed her battle plan.
"Icy Wind!"
A single Fire Punch wasn't enough to make Weavile throw in the towel!
"Wea-vile!"
Weavile let out a hoarse, chilling cry, glaring hatefully at Dragonite, who had inflicted so much pain upon it. It opened its mouth and exhaled a gust of cold wind filled with ice shards.
Just as Lucas had thought earlier, wide-area moves like this were generally hard to dodge.
Dragonite folded its arms in front of it. Thin ice crystals formed on its body where the cold wind passed, and the chill slowed its movements, making them stiff and sluggish.
It was obvious Karen's understanding of Ice-type training was no joke. Only with such expertise could she have raised Weavile to this level. She probably communicated often with that Ice-type Elite Four back in Kanto as well.
For an ordinary close-combat specialist Pokémon, suddenly being hit with such a shameless, debuff-focused tactic from Karen and Weavile would be incredibly frustrating.
But Dragonite was different. Among Lucas's main team, it had learned the most moves and had the most balanced six base stats.
Whether close-range or long-range, it had absolute confidence it was no worse than any other Pokémon!
"Return the favor—Heat Wave!"
Lucas snapped his fingers.
"Bwoo!"
The air around Dragonite began to heat up at a terrifying pace. The frost clinging to its body melted completely, and the entire area around it took on a fiery hue.
Whoosh!
In an instant—
Dragonite's wings flared. A scorching gale, packed with glittering motes of flame, swept outward in a devastating wave, surging toward Weavile.
Karen shouted back, refusing to be outdone, "Blizzard, all out!"
Among the Dark-type moves Weavile had learned, there was nothing it could use to counter a Heat Wave that attacked from all directions. Its options were either Protect, or a head-on clash with Blizzard.
Karen had her pride as an Elite Four—she refused to back down in terms of sheer presence. She chose to fight it out without hesitation!
Countless white ice particles, mixed into the raging wind, surged outward like a tidal wave from Weavile's position, expanding in all directions.
The instant Blizzard collided with Heat Wave, blinding light forced all three people present to shut their eyes. The air filled with a constant hissing sound, and a hot steam rapidly spread through the room. Heat hammered against their faces, as if they'd been shoved into a steam chamber.
The clash between Blizzard and Heat Wave lasted for a full three minutes. Even with eyes closed, all three could feel the flames and wind surging ever fiercer, while the power of the snow and ice steadily weakened.
When they opened their eyes again, what they saw was steam filling the entire room—and, on the battlefield, Weavile lying motionless, burns covering its body, clearly having lost the ability to fight.
Dragonite, on the other hand, aside from the scratches caused earlier by Weavile's speed, had sustained almost no serious injuries.
Karen fell silent.
Not only had Dragonite mastered the Dragon Clan's secret Extreme Speed, its control over the wind faintly surpassed even Lance's Dragonite, and its base power was just as top-tier.
No wonder it had managed to defeat the Fire God.
Karen could see that, compared to Lance's Dragonite, Lucas's Dragonite's Extreme Speed was still lacking in refinement. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been suppressed so badly by Weavile at the start.
But given time, once Dragonite further polished and integrated these abilities, it might truly surpass Lance's Dragonite.
Thinking of this, Karen walked forward, picked up Weavile, and gave Lucas and Dragonite a wry smile. "This time, I lost."
Goodshow swung down the red flag representing Lucas's side and announced, "Weavile has lost the ability to battle. Victory goes to Dragonite and Lucas!"
...