"Teleport. Track Gallade with Aura."
Lucario's Bone Rush came down, but Gallade vanished before it landed. Lucario immediately spread its Aura, searching carefully for Gallade's position.
"Brick Break."
Lucario spun around at once and raised the bone club over its head. Gallade's hand came chopping down like a blade, only to slam into the bone club and stop there.
The moment Brick Break was blocked, Gallade retreated. Yellow light flared over both of its arms, and it brought them up to meet Lucario's next swing.
"Ga!" Gallade caught the bone club with one arm and chopped toward Lucario with the other.
Lucario sprang back, avoiding the slash, then rushed in again and clashed with Gallade at close range.
"Close Combat," Reiji said when he saw the yellow glow around Gallade's arms. It was the same kind of move effect as Lucario's energy bone club.
At this distance, neither Trainer could do much. The two Pokémon were trading blows too fast for spoken commands to keep up. Even if Reiji or Itsuki saw an opening, by the time they called it out, the moment would already be gone. They could only let the two Pokémon decide it themselves.
Bang!
The exchange ended with Gallade taking a Bone Rush hit and getting knocked all the way back. It hit the ground in front of Itsuki.
Reiji was not surprised. Lucario had used Agility earlier, and in close combat, Gallade was bound to suffer once it fell behind in speed. On top of that, Gallade had used Close Combat, which weakened its defenses.
"Gallade!" Itsuki called out.
Gallade dropped to one knee and answered him with a low cry. "Ga…"
Not bad, Reiji thought.
Lucario had only spent a few days training in the gravity field. It had barely stepped into Advanced tier, so its level was almost certainly lower than Gallade's. Holding its own like this was already a strong result.
Gallade could sense with psychic power, while Lucario could sense with Aura. In terms of awareness, neither side had much of an advantage.
"Gallade, Psycho Cut!"
"Lucario, Bulk Up!"
Lucario dismissed the bone club and punched both fists forward. A dull yellow light rose around its body as Bulk Up took effect.
Gallade did not give it time to settle in. Purple energy wrapped around the blade-like ridges of its elbows, and it slashed, sending a crescent-shaped cut of psychic energy toward Lucario.
"Lucario, Quick Attack!"
Lucario finished Bulk Up and darted aside, slipping past the attack in a zigzag. It charged straight at Gallade and punched the spot where Gallade had been standing.
"Lucario, Aura Sphere!"
Gallade vanished again. Lucario had already figured out the pattern by now. Teleport. The moment its Aura caught Gallade's position, the energy sphere in its hand was already ready, and it threw it without hesitation.
Boom, boom, boom!
Against a Pokémon that could teleport, Lucario's Aura Sphere came together just as fast. Gallade had barely reappeared before the attack was already on it, leaving it no room to breathe.
At last, Gallade stopped trying to dodge. It teleported behind Lucario and slashed again, only for Lucario to summon another bone club and block.
Crack!
This time, the block failed. The pale blue blade cut straight through the bone club, splitting it in two.
"Sacred Sword. Use Protect!"
With the bone club broken and the blue blade coming down, Lucario had no choice but to cross its arms and use Protect.
Boom!
Gallade's heavy chop slammed into the barrier. Lucario's legs buckled under the force, but Protect held.
"Metal Sound!"
A harsh metallic screech burst from Lucario's crossed arms. While maintaining Protect, it pressed the spikes on its paws together, sending a white wave of sound straight into Gallade's face, with its own howl layered into the noise.
"Gal!" Gallade could not stand the piercing sound at such close range. It pulled its arm back, retreated, and covered its ears.
Being hit by that kind of metallic shriek up close was already bad enough. The fact that Gallade was still standing was impressive.
Lucario did not give it time to recover. It closed the distance again with Quick Attack, pulled a fresh bone club into its hands, and brought it down on Gallade's head.
Boom!
"Gal…" Gallade stared blankly up at the bone club. The screeching had stopped. Its head no longer hurt either, because its eyes had spiraled, and it had passed out.
"Gallade!" Itsuki ran over to check on it. Once he saw that Gallade had only fainted, he let out a breath and recalled it. Then he glanced at Lucario as it dismissed its bone club.
Gallade was not weaker than Lucario. In raw strength, it might even have been stronger. It had cut through Bone Rush, after all. The match had turned on command decisions. Itsuki had not realized Gallade was that sensitive to sound, and one careless opening cost him the battle.
"Come back, Lucario. You did great." Reiji recalled Lucario and praised it through the Poké Ball.
For a Pokémon that had never fought a real battle before, this was an excellent first match. Lucario had some foundation after all. It had probably been trained by that rotten kid before, then trained on its own afterward, and recently it had sparred with Reiji's other Pokémon for a few days.
If it kept developing like this and learned a burst move like Extreme Speed, it would be good enough for professional matches.
"You're not keeping Lucario in?" Itsuki had just taken out another Poké Ball when he saw Reiji recall Lucario.
"It's a friendly match. I want the younger ones to all get a turn." Reiji smiled and took out another Poké Ball for the second round.
"Fair enough." Itsuki sighed lightly. Reiji really was easygoing. He accepted the arrangement and threw his next Poké Ball at the same time.
"Go, Feraligatr!"
"Go, Magmar!"
Reiji clicked his tongue inwardly. Magmar into Feraligatr. This was going to be rough. The type matchup was bad from every angle.
"Rai-nii's Pokémon is Magmar. How is it supposed to fight that?" Amber's heart clenched as she watched. She tightened her little fists, afraid Reiji might lose.
"You want Rai to win?" Tania asked with a smile. She could tell Amber adored Reiji the way a little sister adored an older brother.
"Of course," Amber said innocently, looking up at Tania.
Then she saw Tania's teasing smile and immediately lowered her head, embarrassed, her heart thumping hard.
"Feraligatr, Hydro Pump barrage!"
"Magmar, Thunder Punch!" Reiji did not have many good options. Thunder Punch was the only move here that could reliably hurt Feraligatr.
Magmar activated Flame Body. A wave of terrible heat spread outward, and Eevee immediately used Protect to shield Reiji from it.
Amber and Tania were caught in the heat as well, but Arcanine stepped in front of them and blocked it.
As Magmar's body burned hotter, blasts of water crashed into it and burst into hissing steam. White vapor flooded the field, hiding both Pokémon from sight.
Neither Reiji nor Itsuki could see what was happening inside, so neither of them dared to command blindly. All they could hear were the two Pokémon roaring, the crackle of electricity, and the hiss of water turning into steam.
When the noise died down and the vapor finally thinned, Reiji saw Feraligatr and Magmar both covered in damage. Feraligatr had electrical burns across its body, while Magmar was scorched black in several places. Both Pokémon had dropped to one knee.
What the hell happened in there? Reiji had not expected the exchange to turn out like this. If not for Flame Body, Magmar would probably have gone down already under a Water-type disadvantage.
"Gatr… Gatr…" Feraligatr suddenly cried out in pain, clutching its chest as if something were burning through it.
Burn, Reiji realized. Feraligatr had fought Magmar up close and gotten burned. And then—
"Gatr!" Feraligatr's body seized as paralysis kicked in too. That had to be from Thunder Punch.
"Feraligatr!" Itsuki had not expected Feraligatr, with its type advantage over Magmar, to end up like this.
At this rate, Feraligatr was clearly in worse shape. Burned and paralyzed, it might not be able to keep fighting at all.
"How about we call this one a draw?" Reiji did not want Magmar to keep going either. It had only just reached Advanced tier. For it to push Feraligatr this far under a bad matchup, it had probably been fighting on pure stubbornness. Taking hits under a type disadvantage was miserable for any Pokémon.
"Sure." Itsuki accepted. It was only a friendly match. There was no need to let it turn ugly. He recalled Feraligatr.
Reiji recalled Magmar as well. He could leave it at Blaine's lab for treatment later and pick it up before leaving tomorrow.
There was one match left. Reiji and Itsuki looked at each other, took out their Poké Balls, and threw them at the same time.
Two cries rang out together.
"Pidge! Pidgeot!"
"Two Pidgeot?" Reiji murmured. So Itsuki had one too.
"A Pidgeot?" Itsuki smiled when he saw Reiji's Pokémon. What a coincidence.
"Pidgeot, one move to decide it. Sky Attack!"
"Pidgeot, same here! Sky Attack!" Itsuki glanced at Reiji and shouted back without backing down.
The two Pidgeot turned into streaks of light in the sky. They crossed, collided, broke apart, and clashed again. There was no point in commanding this kind of aerial fight now. The outcome was up to the two Pidgeot.
Their momentum kept rising until both unleashed their strongest strike at once. They crashed together in midair, and the explosion sent a shock wave rolling across the yard. Reiji had Poliwrath step forward to block it.
When the dust settled, both Pidgeot had fainted side by side. Two beams of red light recalled them at the same time.
Reiji and Itsuki looked at each other and laughed. The friendly match ended there.
"You're strong," Reiji said, shaking Itsuki's hand. "If you enter the Indigo Plateau Conference, you should place well."
"You're the strong one," Itsuki said with a helpless smile. "That wasn't even your main team, was it? If you'd used your Indigo Conference lineup, I wouldn't have lasted."
Itsuki was not just being modest. He knew exactly how wide the gap was. He had only managed a draw against Reiji's backup team. If Reiji had used the Pokémon from the Indigo Plateau Conference, the match would have ended in a clean sweep.
"Haha, they're still growing. They have a long way to go." Reiji laughed it off and kept the awkward post-match compliments going.
"All right, dinner is almost ready. You two should clean up and get your Pokémon treated before we eat." Tania cut in before they could keep praising each other forever.
"Haha, right. I'll head down the mountain and find Blaine first." Reiji said goodbye, released Pelipper, and flew down the mountain to check on Zapdos while he was at it.
Itsuki released his Pokémon and began treating their injuries himself. After giving them basic care, he said he would also head down the mountain to the Pokémon Center.
Only Tania and Amber were left in the yard. The other two had vanished in an instant. Tania took Amber back inside to change. They had worked up a sweat during training, and by the time they finished bathing, dinner should be ready.
Down the mountain, Reiji arrived at the entrance to Cinnabar Lab. He mentioned Blaine to the guard, and the guard let him in.
After asking the researchers inside, he found Blaine in the middle of checking Zapdos.
"You're here. Worried about this bird?" Blaine picked up the Poké Ball, recalled Zapdos from the glass chamber, and handed it back to Reiji.
"Is it all right?" Reiji took the Poké Ball, then added, "Also, can the lab treat a few Pokémon that got hurt in a battle just now?"
"Yes. Come pick them up tomorrow." Blaine took the three Poké Balls and tossed them to a researcher, telling them to bring the Pokémon for treatment. Then he left the lab and called to Reiji, "Walk with me. We'll talk on the way. Your bird has a pretty serious problem."
"Don't scare me like that." Reiji hated hearing that tone. It felt exactly like being at a hospital and seeing the doctor sigh before giving the diagnosis.
"Relax. It's not life-threatening." Blaine had only said it to mess with him. Reiji was always so composed that Blaine could not resist trying to shake him a little.
"So you found out?" Reiji looked embarrassed. Then he realized Blaine was enjoying this far too much. This old man really was rotten.
"Of course I found out. What ordinary bird has electricity running through its body? It's a Zapdos chick, isn't it? No, a hybrid between Zapdos and Fearow." Blaine's eyes sharpened. "That Zapdos probably wasn't very strong. Otherwise, the chick wouldn't be in this state."
"Most Pokémon inherit more obvious traits from the stronger parent," Blaine said. "The Fearow that laid the egg was probably stronger than the Zapdos. My guess is the Zapdos had only just matured, so the chick didn't inherit much from it. Then it hatched early too…"
Blaine paused and looked at Reiji seriously. "It hatched early, didn't it?"
"Yes. It only took 2 months to hatch." Reiji had not expected Blaine to figure out that much from one examination.
"That explains it," Blaine said. "It hatched too early, and the Zapdos traits it inherited were too faint. Its body almost couldn't handle the legendary power inside it."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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