"The battle begins!"
The moment Hawes finished speaking, both Trainers called out at the same time.
"Sing!"
"Taunt!"
"Cinno!"
Cinccino was about to Sing, but Bisharp's Taunt cut it off before it could get a single note out.
Gary knew Cinccino well. Back when he'd played Black and White, he'd found it appealing enough in the early game to consider raising one himself, and he knew it could learn Sing.
"Now, Night Slash!" Gary ordered.
"Bisharp!"
Bisharp rushed at Cinccino, the blade on the back of its forearm coated in dark energy that extended into a wider, sharper edge.
"Hyper Voice!" Lenora ordered.
"Cinno—!"
Cinccino unleashed a powerful sound wave, attacking through the vibration.
With no room to dodge, Bisharp took Hyper Voice on the body, forced its way in close, and slashed Cinccino with one clean strike.
"Stay on it—keep attacking with Metal Claw!" Gary said.
Bisharp pursued, giving Cinccino no chance to use Hyper Voice again.
"Use Tail Slap!" Lenora countered.
"Cinno!"
Cinccino lashed at Bisharp with its tail. With every hit, tufts of white fluff scattered into the air—Cinccino's own fur.
Cinccino cherished its coat, and seeing all that fur come off left it panicked.
"Fall back and put some distance between you with Double Team!" Lenora ordered.
Bang!
After another exchange, Cinccino deliberately allowed itself to be knocked back and used Double Team to slip away, splitting into copies.
"Taunt!" Gary ordered.
"Bisharp! (You brat!)"
Cinccino: "Cinno?!"
Rattled by Taunt, Cinccino let its Double Team drop—only one Cinccino remained on the field, naturally the real one.
"Iron Head!" Gary ordered.
Bisharp charged straight at Cinccino.
"You're too much of a pain. Thunderbolt!" Lenora ordered.
"Cinno!"
Cinccino fired a bolt of lightning.
"Send the current into the ground."
Bisharp stopped its charge and drove its arms into the ground. When the lightning came down, all of it was funneled straight into the earth.
"What?!"
Lenora was stunned. She hadn't expected Bisharp to have a way of dodging Electric-type moves.
"Iron Head!"
Once the current had been fully bled out of its body, Bisharp rushed forward, its silver-glowing head crashing into Cinccino's soft body.
Bang!!
"Cinno—!"
Cinccino was light and soft, and the impact sent it flying clear across the field before it crashed to the ground.
"Cinno…"
Cinccino hadn't fainted. It struggled back to its feet.
"Now's our chance—use Focus Blast!" Lenora ordered.
She'd wanted Cinccino to use Focus Blast for a while now, but Bisharp had kept it pinned down the whole time. Focus Blast took time to gather, and there simply hadn't been an opening.
"Steel Beam!" Gary ordered.
"Bisharp!"
Bisharp poured steel energy into its chest, sacrificing half its own strength to fire off a fierce silver beam.
Cinccino was still gathering Focus Blast when Steel Beam struck first.
Boom!!
A cloud of smoke rose from the blast.
When it cleared, Cinccino had already collapsed and couldn't get back up.
"Cinccino is unable to battle. Bisharp wins," Hawes announced.
Even as he called it, he glanced toward Lenora. Bisharp was really that strong—it had actually taken Cinccino down head-on.
"I didn't expect you to be this powerful," Lenora said, surprised.
Seeing the Eevee around Gary, she'd assumed he was just some rich young Trainer without much combat ability. She'd misjudged him.
"You're no pushover yourself, Ms. Lenora. I thought Nacrene Gym was meant for rookie Trainers, but the Pokémon you're using don't seem suited to a beginner's challenge," Gary said.
"Ha! Well, with a challenger as strong as you, it'd be boring if I didn't bring out something to match," Lenora said with a smile.
"Then please send out your next Pokémon," Gary said.
"Alright! My second Pokémon is this one—come out, Sawsbuck!" Lenora took out a Poké Ball and threw it.
Go!!!
[LV54 Sawsbuck♂ / Quasi-Elite]
Sawsbuck resembled an ordinary sika deer, though it lacked the usual spot patterns. Instead, Lenora's Sawsbuck had pink flowers blooming on its antlers—it was spring, and this was Sawsbuck's spring form.
"Bisharp, come back and rest." Gary took out the Poké Ball and recalled Bisharp.
That last Steel Beam had drained half of Bisharp's strength, and combined with the damage it had taken fighting Cinccino, it wasn't in shape to keep going.
"Chandelure, finish this." Gary threw his Poké Ball.
Go!!!
[LV50 Chandelure♂ / Gym]
Lenora frowned slightly.
Sawsbuck was a Normal- and Grass-type dual, weak to Fire moves, and the attacks Sawsbuck was good at wouldn't do much damage to Chandelure. This was going to be a rough matchup.
"Sawsbuck, Megahorn!" Lenora ordered.
Bug-type energy wrapped around Sawsbuck's antlers as it charged straight ahead.
Watching Sawsbuck barrel in like that, it may as well have been running to its own death.
"Fire Blast!" Gary ordered.
"Chan!"
The flames on Chandelure's body split apart and shot outward, forming the shape of the character for fire as they descended toward Sawsbuck.
Boom!!
Sawsbuck plunged straight into the flames and set off the Fire Blast. The blazing explosion sent it flying, its body coated in a layer of scorched black—but it didn't collapse.
Not going down from that alone was already impressive.
"Now—Inferno!" Gary ordered.
The flames on Chandelure stretched into long ribbons and drifted forward, encircling Sawsbuck in a ring before starting to close in, tightening around it.
"Use Protect!" Lenora ordered.
Inferno cost a lot of energy—firing off a wide-area attack like that took a considerable toll. Chandelure's Fire-type moves would hit weaker afterward.
That's a terrifying Inferno.
Lenora watched the flames close completely around Sawsbuck.
Boom!
A pillar of fire shot into the sky. The force of the explosion was shocking, but Lenora didn't panic in the slightest. That move wasn't going to do a thing.
That was the whole point of Protect. As long as you blocked the opponent's strongest move, you burned through their energy for free.