Terrifying energy clashed in the air. Gengar held on for dear life with Shadow Ball, refusing to let that heavy Ground-type power gain an inch.
In the end it was useless. An ordinary Gardevoir, even at Elite level, might not have overpowered Shadow Ball with this kind of close-combat move, since Gardevoir's attack stat is simply lacking. But Ash's Gardevoir was a different story.
This Gardevoir carried Mew's genes, which let her learn moves an ordinary Gardevoir never could and gave her a real talent for physical attacks. Back when she was a Ralts, she loved settling arguments with her fists, and her Thunder Punch had been frighteningly polished.
After evolving into Gardevoir she leaned on Psychic power and used her fists less, but her martial skill hadn't rusted in the slightest. She just didn't show it off. If you won't listen to reason, well, she knew a thing or two about fighting.
That said, High Horsepower was a move she rarely touched. She merely knew it, yet she could still wring out more than eighty percent of its power, and paired with her monstrous strength, trying to stop it with a single Shadow Ball was a pipe dream.
The pitch-black Shadow Ball shuddered under the crushing weight of the earthy yellow energy, the barrier on its surface fracturing until it shattered like glass under a falling boulder. The glow on Gardevoir's fist blazed brighter as it tore the Shadow Ball straight down the middle. The scattered black energy crumbled into dust and vanished in the aftershock of High Horsepower.
The instant the Shadow Ball broke, her fist drove on without pause and caught Gengar square in the chest with unstoppable force.
"Ginga!" Gengar shrieked, its deep purple body flung like a rag struck by a hammer, balance gone in a heartbeat.
The Ground-type energy poured through the fist into its body, hitting the Poison-type Gengar for double super-effective damage. The violent force churned through it and drove the injuries deeper.
A dull thud cut through the dust. Gengar slammed into the center of the field, the loose sand erupting outward to leave a crater half a meter deep. Gardevoir stood in the crater with one foot planted in the sand, her fist still pressed to Gengar's chest as the energy on it slowly faded. Gengar's limbs hung limp, its body slumped to one side, all its strength spent.
Only then did Gardevoir pull back her fist. Her slender figure rose from the crater to its rim, and she looked down at Gengar with a flicker of unfulfilled longing in her beautiful eyes. Over already? Honestly, a little unsatisfying.
Not far off, Head Trainer Drake's mouth twitched. He wanted to say something and couldn't find the words. The scene defied everything he'd pictured. He'd assumed that even if Shadow Ball couldn't fully block High Horsepower, it would at least bleed off most of the force. Instead, Gengar had been one-shotted by a single High Horsepower.
Yes, Ground was super effective against Gengar. But High Horsepower wasn't a STAB move for Gardevoir, while Shadow Ball was a STAB move for Gengar. On top of that, with Gardevoir's reputedly weak attack, how much High Horsepower could even hit for was an open question. Who would have guessed Shadow Ball wouldn't just fail to block it but barely dent its power? Gengar had been driven into the field like a downed beast, leaving a massive crater.
Across the whole exchange Gengar had taken only two of Gardevoir's moves: one Thunder Punch and one High Horsepower. The Psychic had been knocked aside by Shadow Ball before it could bite, so it had done little. The real damage came from Gengar's own Shadow Ball recoil. All told, two moves from the opponent had finished it, and both were non-STAB physical attacks. Unreal.
"In-incredible! Head Trainer Drake's Gengar has been one-shotted by Ash's Gardevoir! We've never seen anything like it, and Ash's Gardevoir did it with two physical attacks. As everyone knows, Gardevoir is famously weak on the physical side, yet Ash's Gardevoir clearly plays by her own rules."
"And the audience may not realize that the Gardevoir species can't normally learn High Horsepower at all. Ash's Gardevoir not only learned it but unleashed that kind of power with it. It's truly..."
Truly a freak. If announcer had been down on the floor instead of up in the commentator's booth, that's exactly how he'd have put it. Ash's Gardevoir had learned a move she should never have been able to learn and hit like a truck with it, throwing the whole "Gardevoir has weak attack" assumption out the window.
The commentary stirred up the crowd. Setting aside how absurd Gardevoir was, the plain fact remained: their Head Trainer looked cornered. Gengar had been Drake's fifth Pokémon, which left him with only one, while Ash still had six in fighting shape. Apart from Infernape, who'd burned through real stamina, the rest of his team was barely touched. Drake had a single Pokémon left. How was he supposed to win? He might as well concede.
Even so, some still held out hope for him, because his last Pokémon was also his strongest, the pseudo-legendary Dragonite. Its rarity and power stood comparison with legendary Pokémon, and this was Drake's Dragonite at that.
Many in the Orange Islands shared one verdict on Drake's Dragonite: given time, it would surely reach the level of Lance's. There was still a gap between the two for now, but it was a fearsome Pokémon all the same.
Even with six Pokémon left, Ash's first three stood no chance against Dragonite, and Infernape was all but spent. That left only Gardevoir and one unknown Pokémon. If Drake could take those two down and still hold some stamina, the win would be his. A lovely idea, though whether he could pull it off came down to his maneuvering and whether Ash gave him the opening.
On the field, Drake drew a deep breath and recalled Gengar. After a few quiet words of comfort, he lifted the Poké Ball from around his neck.
"Old friend, we're fighting side by side again. It's been a while, hasn't it? This opponent will give you a real thrill." As his words faded, the Poké Ball in his hand gave a slight shake, as if agreeing.
"Ash, this is the final round. My first and strongest Pokémon. Let me show you my ace, Dragonite!" Drake hurled the ball, and in a flash of light a tall, faintly goofy-looking orange Pokémon took the field.
Kanto's pseudo-legendary, Dragonite.
Pseudo-legendaries are notoriously hard to raise, but once they reach their final evolution they generally command the strength of a Peak or Elite Level. They earn the name because their stats are superb within any given level, so in an even matchup a pseudo-legendary holds the advantage.
Drake's Dragonite was both his ace and his starter, and its strength left the rest of his team far behind.
"There it is! Head Trainer Drake's ace, Dragonite! Since Drake took the seat of Head Trainer, plenty of challengers have downed five of his Pokémon, but no matter how many they had left, not one ever cleared the final peak in his hand!"
"Dragonite has carried him through countless battles. No matter the adversity, no matter how hopeless the spot, Drake breaks through the moment Dragonite steps out. Will today end the same way?"
The whole crowd, the announcer included, boiled over at the sight of it. The spectators on Pummelo Island hadn't seen Dragonite appear in who knew how long. Today a challenger had finally forced it onto the field, and not by some narrow margin either. Drake had been backed into a corner with one Pokémon against Ash's six.
In the past, others had drawn out his Dragonite, but never with that many of the opponent's team still standing. Even Drake's Dragonite would find sweeping six brutally hard. Still, it was Drake's Dragonite. Maybe it really could work a miracle. Their Head Trainer was no weaker than any Trainer alive. The outcome was still anyone's guess.
"Dragonite, is it? Now that you've brought out your ace, Mr. Drake, it would be rude of me not to answer with mine. Come back, Gardevoir." Ash recalled her, and the ball gave a small shake.
His Aura read the meaning radiating from inside it. She hadn't had her fill. She'd finally found a worthy opponent, and he was pulling her out just like that. Outrageous.
Ash managed an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Gardevoir. Next time I'll let you cut loose, I promise. This one's for your big brother. He hasn't seen the field in a long while either."
A few seconds later the ball shook once more, gently, as if to say that if it was for her big brother, she supposed she could allow it. She'd hand him the deciding round.
"Pika pika." At Ash's feet, Pikachu threw a thumbs up at the Poké Ball, thanking his little sister for stepping aside.
"Yosh. The final one is yours. I choose you, Pikachu!" Ash pocketed the ball and threw out an excited wave.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu sprang onto the battlefield on nimble legs. Ace against ace, Pikachu against Dragonite.
"Against Head Trainer Drake's Dragonite, Ash sends out his last Pokémon, Pikachu!"
"Some of you may be puzzled, but anyone who knows Ash knows this Pikachu is no ordinary mouse. It holds the same place in Ash's team that Dragonite holds in Drake's, the absolute ace."
Just as the announcer said, much of the crowd unfamiliar with Ash sat baffled when he sent out Pikachu. Against a pseudo-legendary Dragonite, he'd picked a common Pikachu. Was he looking down on Drake? As it turned out, this plain little thing that seemed built only for looking cute was Ash's ace. So what set this Pikachu apart?
"Pikachu, just as I'd heard. People have been telling me for months that your Pikachu is something special, Ash. Now I get to see it myself." Drake wasn't surprised in the least. If he led with his ace, Ash should answer in kind.
"I won't disappoint you, Mr. Drake. Pikachu, let's give it everything from the first move." Ash pulled the hat from his head and tossed it onto the field. Pikachu leapt up and let it settle neatly onto his own head.
Partner form, right from the start.
This was Ash's gesture of respect. Against Drake's ace he wouldn't take a single risk. Without any Aura boost, this was Pikachu's strongest shape.
"He put a hat on it? Is the hat some kind of held item?" Drake stared, having never heard of an item shaped like a hat.
"More or less. This state is something only my Pikachu can reach. Think of it as his exclusive item, Mr. Drake. We won't stand on ceremony, so we'll take the first move. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
"Pika-chu!" The battle erupted without warning, golden light flooding the whole field.