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Having cleared the Sleep Powder, Lucario pressed forward without breaking stride, the flame at its heel burning bright as it closed in on Roserade.
"Roserade — Attract!"
Roserade stepped gracefully into a spin, locking eyes with Lucario and releasing a wave of charm directly toward it.
Attract — captivates an opponent of the opposite gender, making it difficult for them to act.
"Luca!"
But to Gianna's surprise — and Roserade's — Lucario didn't so much as slow down. It shook its head briefly, brushed off the effect entirely, and drove a flaming Blaze Kick straight into Roserade's side.
The impact launched Roserade backward. Its body clipped one of the arena's decorative trees and splintered it before sliding to a stop.
At equal levels, that single kick might have ended the battle right there. As it stood, Roserade was in serious trouble.
"Roserade!"
Gianna called out sharply. Roserade didn't have Torterra's bulk — this hit had genuinely hurt. She hadn't anticipated that Attract would fail so completely.
They had misjudged. Lucario, it turned out, had an iron will that Attract simply could not penetrate.
It wasn't something that had come naturally. Long ago, during one of his earliest battles, Lucario had nearly been stopped cold by a young Eevee's charm. That experience had stayed with it. Since then, Lucario had worked steadily at strengthening its focus and mental discipline — to the point where a move like Attract registered as little more than background noise. Short of something truly exceptional — a Gardevoir or a Milotic pulling out all the stops — it was unlikely to find much purchase.
Roserade's charm, however graceful, hadn't come close.
"Roserade — Ingrain!"
"Rose~"
Still winded from the blow, Roserade pushed itself upright. Thick roots extended from its feet, anchoring it firmly to the ground. With Ingrain steadily restoring its HP and Grassy Terrain still active across the field, Roserade finally caught its breath.
"Ingrain? Then we'll go over it. Lucario — Dragon Pulse."
Deep purple energy coalesced in Lucario's palms, taking the shape of a roaring dragon before launching directly toward the now-rooted Roserade.
"Magical Leaf — intercept it!"
Glowing emerald leaves launched from Roserade's bouquet arms, streaming toward the incoming Dragon Pulse like guided projectiles. They struck the attack one after another, chipping away at it, until the last of the leaves finally exhausted the Dragon Pulse just short of Roserade.
"We're not done."
Lucario had already closed the distance while Roserade was focused on the intercept, stopping just a short charge away.
"Aura Sphere!"
With barely any windup, Aura energy wrapped around Lucario's fist and it drove a punch directly at Roserade.
"Protect!"
A jade-green barrier shimmered into place, catching the blow and holding.
"Let's see how long that lasts. Lucario — Bullet Punch, keep going!"
Blocked by Protect, Lucario used the rebound to push off and reset, then launched straight back in with Bullet Punch — Steel-type priority, and fast enough that Roserade, having just spent Protect, had no way to raise another shield.
"Substitute!"
There was no clean way out. Gianna made the call without hesitation — a costly move, but it bought Roserade one more window.
Substitute — expends 1/4 of the user's maximum HP to create a decoy that absorbs damage and effects in the user's place. Fails if the user's remaining HP is at or below 1/4 of its maximum.
The decoy materialized just in time to take Lucario's Bullet Punch. The Substitute shattered, but Roserade had survived again.
"Hoo… hoo…"
It was catching up with Roserade now. Between the Blaze Kick, the sustained exchanges, and the HP spent on Substitute, its stamina was running low despite Ingrain and Grassy Terrain working in its favor. Its breathing came in audible, labored bursts.
Gianna was quietly reassessing as she watched. Shelgon had been a shock in its own right — but this Lucario was something else entirely. Move variety, speed, physical and special attack, staying power — she hadn't spotted a weakness yet.
And those technique modifiers — the speed bursts and power surges Lucario kept weaving into its attacks. Are those ancient Hisuian techniques? I've never seen the Moore family use anything like that.
She had noticed them during the exchange. Lucario was already a well-rounded fighter by nature, but with those techniques layered on top, it became something that was genuinely difficult to get a foothold against — short of an outright power difference.
Roserade was struggling precisely because of the type disadvantage cutting into its options. A Grass- and Poison-type facing a Steel-type meant its Poison moves were all but useless, and it was fighting with a fraction of its real capability. At equal levels, this battle might have ended several exchanges ago.
What Gianna couldn't account for was just how polished Lucario had become in such a short time — barely six months under David's care. She had no way of knowing about the resources behind it, or the relentless self-driven training that Lucario had poured into mastering those Hisuian techniques. Among all of David's partners, Lucario had taken to those two moves most deeply — more so even than the Hisuian native on the team.
"Alright, Lucario — let's finish it. Full-power Aura Sphere!"
"Luca!"
Full power meant everything Lucario had. Aura poured into its palms and spread outward across its body, wrapping it in a steady blue glow as the Aura Sphere began to take shape — dense and concentrated, visibly building in intensity.
Gianna felt it immediately.
We can't let that land.
"Roserade — Petal Blizzard, then go straight into Petal Dance, full charge!"
With no better option, she committed everything to a final counter. Both sides began loading their last attacks at the same moment.