On the field, Infernape stood steady, while behind him the Electivire slumped with half its body scorched black by the flames.
The outcome was already clear. Infernape was the last one standing. His own condition was rough, but there was no comparison; next to Electivire, he was in fine shape.
Drake's clenched fist slowly relaxed, and he let out a heavy sigh. He had half expected this, yet seeing the final result laid out in front of him still pulled the breath from his chest.
Even his main Pokémon couldn't gain an edge against Ash. This battle was different from the ones before it, though. At least this fight had left Infernape with serious injuries.
The match had only tilted into a one-sided rout after Infernape activated Super Blaze. If not for that monstrous Blaze, Drake might have even taken the win.
But even a victory here would have been nothing to celebrate. After all, his Electivire stood a major tier above, and it had still been beaten this badly. If Drake hadn't known that Infernape borrowed Ash's power to reach such heights, he would have wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it. If you can't win with that kind of level gap, what sort of Trainer are you?
"Come back, Electivire." Drake raised a Poké Ball and recalled it, then gave the ball in his hand a wry, helpless smile. "Good work, Electivire. You did well. The bad commands were mine. Don't worry, I'll make you stronger. Leave the rest to your partners."
Having comforted the Electivire, who may or may not have heard him, Drake drew a fresh Poké Ball and threw it onto the field without hesitation. "Go, Gengar!"
"Ginga!"
Drake's fifth Pokémon, Gengar, took the stage.
"Come back, Infernape!" Ash recalled his own Pokémon. Infernape was a terror against higher-level opponents, but his drawback was just as plain. If beating a foe required triggering Super Blaze, then that single battle was all Infernape had in him.
After Super Blaze burned out, nothing was left for a second fight, unless Ash asked him to throw his life into exhausting an opponent and clearing the way for the next Pokémon. With a real chance at winning, Ash would never ask that of him. Infernape wouldn't object, of course. This guy loved nothing more than savoring a battle down to the final moment, fighting until his body gave out and his mind went dark. Still, it was better to spare him the things that wore his body down.
"Thanks, Infernape. Get some rest. I'll leave the rest to your big sister." Ash thanked him and reached for his next Poké Ball, his fifth Pokémon. "I choose you, Gardevoir!"
Light flashed, and Gardevoir appeared on the field with her charming blue hair and white dress.
"Gardevoir." She glanced around the arena first, then turned her eyes on Ash and let out a faintly sulky Growl.
Ash scratched his head, a little sheepish. "Ahem. I didn't keep you out of the fights on purpose. But look, the opponents we ran into around the Orange Islands either didn't need you, or their level was way too high for the matchup. There was just no room for you to step in."
Gardevoir's cry was a complaint, asking why she hadn't been allowed to battle even once in all the time since they'd reached the Orange Islands.
She had stayed by Ash's side this whole time, enjoying his care and warmth, but at heart she was a Pokémon who loved to fight. Beneath that beautiful, delicate appearance beat a battler's heart. And lately she hadn't seen a single fight. She'd been reduced to babysitting duty, handling the daily training for Lapras and the Crystal Onix.
When a psychic-type helps with training, the work goes twice as fast for half the effort. So many things become easier with Psychic powers. One of the Great Three, and she'd become a coach. So a small knot of resentment had settled in her chest. Not much, but it was there. The moment she came out, she let Ash hear about it. Are you finally letting me out to battle?
Ash felt helpless about it too. It wasn't that he hadn't met anyone to fight in the Orange Islands. Apart from Lorelei, though, they were all small fry. Even if he'd wanted Gardevoir to battle, there was no stage for her to perform on. She could crush most opponents through sheer presence the instant she appeared. Where was the fight in that? So since arriving in the Orange Islands, Gardevoir had never seen combat. This match against Drake was finally a breath of fresh air.
"A Shiny Gardevoir? This has to be one of your absolute aces, Ash." The Shiny Gardevoir drew gasps from the whole audience, Drake included.
Gardevoir was a beautiful Pokémon to begin with, and a Shiny one even more so. The blue-haired Gardevoir looked even better than the green-haired version. On top of that, Ash's Shiny Gardevoir could Mega Evolve. Her black-and-blue Mega form carried an even more regal, queenly aura.
She hadn't appeared often at the Indigo Plateau Conference, but anyone who'd watched those matches would never forget her. She could Mega Evolve, and she'd used an unknown move that shattered a Trick Room. Her raw strength had to rank among the very top of Ash's team.
"Yes, Mr. Drake. Gardevoir is one of my original six, and one of the top three on my team. You'd better be careful." Ash gave up the information freely, though calling it information was generous, since he'd hardly said anything of substance. It let Drake make a rough guess at Gardevoir's strength. In truth, her real strength far outstripped anything Drake could imagine.
"Top three? What a coincidence. My Gengar is also one of my top three. Let's see whose top three comes out on top." Drake's words brimmed with confidence in his Pokémon. Gengar was more than just top three on his team. It was his second strongest, behind only his ace, Dragonite.
Electivire was the third-ranked of his main Pokémon. Today he was bringing out his full strength. Even with everything on the field he might not beat this opponent, but a battle like that only made his blood run hotter.
"Gengar, use Shadow Ball!"
"Gardevoir, use Psychic!"
The pleasantries done, both Trainers gave their orders at the same instant. Just as Gengar's Shadow Ball gathered in front of it, Gardevoir's eyes already flared with deep blue light, and her pale arm rose to point at Gengar.
Gengar and its Shadow Ball froze where they were. An invisible force coiled around the ghost and left it unable to move.
"That fast?! Gengar, detonate the Shadow Ball!" Drake shouted, his expression grim.
Gengar squeezed the Shadow Ball in its hand, and it burst apart in a violent rush of pitch-black energy. The shockwave blasted away the Psychic hold around it. The recoil caught Gengar too, throwing its whole body backward until it skidded to a stop at the very edge of the field.
Gengar had broken free with the explosion, but Gardevoir's level gave Drake nothing to feel good about.
Ash's way of boosting his Pokémon was something else. Once his Pokémon's stats rose, the suppression didn't seem to touch them at all.
"Gardevoir, Teleport Thunder Punch."
Drake blinked. Teleport Thunder Punch? Since when did your Gardevoir trade blows up close?
Before he could finish the thought, Gardevoir had vanished from her spot and reappeared behind Gengar. Her pale fist crackled with brilliant golden sparks as it slammed into Gengar's back.
Lightning split the air with a sharp hiss. Gengar went flying, a charred fist mark seared into its deep purple back. It tumbled through the air a dozen times before it steadied itself, woozy, shaking whatever counted as its head. Its brain buzzed and numb on one side, the whole world spinning on the other.
The punch had blindsided it completely, since both it and Drake had braced for a long-range attack. As a Gengar with deep combat experience, it knew exactly how a normal Gardevoir fought.
But Ash's Gardevoir threw the rulebook out. Teleport plus Thunder Punch? What kind of Gardevoir picked a brawl? Was that fearsome Psychic from a moment ago just a feint?
"Gardevoir, Teleport Fire Punch!"
"Again? Gengar, use Protect!" Drake's mouth twitched as he barked the command.
"Ginga!" A dark barrier snapped up around Gengar, sealing it inside. Yet when Gardevoir appeared above its head the next second, the Fire Punch never landed. The fist of raging flame simply hung above Gengar, frozen less than a centimeter from the Protect barrier.
"What? She stopped?!" Drake's pupils shrank as he shouted in disbelief.
Gardevoir had clearly thrown the punch, and at full power, yet she'd reined the fist in and held it just shy of the barrier. That way the recoil from Protect couldn't touch her. That kind of control was almost frightening.
"My Gardevoir's best quality is her control. Gardevoir, use High Horsepower!" Ash grinned and spun his hat, calling out to her.
High Horsepower, a ground-type close-combat move, and super effective against Gengar on top of that. With Protect already spent, Gengar's only options were to gamble on a second Protect or meet Gardevoir head-on. As Ash's words landed, the flames around her fist faded into an earthy yellow glow, dense with heavy energy. That small fist seemed to carry the weight of a thousand pounds as it crashed down.
"Gengar, Shadow Ball!" Drake made the call in an instant. At this range dodging was off the table, so all he could do was gamble on a Shadow Ball.
"Ginga!" A Shadow Ball larger than the last gathered in front of Gengar, pitch-black energy churning with fine threads of deep purple light around its edges. Gengar poured everything it had into the orb and staked its full power on the single strike. If even this couldn't hold, the rest of the battle wasn't worth fighting.
In the next instant Gardevoir's fist came down with the weight of a mountain, the earthy yellow ground-type energy slamming into the Shadow Ball.
A piercing blast of energy rolled through the stadium. The shockwave from the two extreme forces spread out from the point of impact, ripping sheets of gravel off the field and filling the air with dust.