"Our next battle is between the 97th-ranked Korrina Masters and one of Galar's representatives, Fire-type Gym Leader of the Motostoke Gym, and 23rd-ranked in the Ultra Class, Kabu Kusatsu!"
'So much for unbiased commentary...' Jason sighed internally, unamused by the Commentators' transparent championing of their local talents over foreign WCS participants.
Making her battle strategy fairly clear, Korrina ran onto the battlefield, smiling and waving to the crowd in her Lucario-themed battle attire. Her opponent, on the other hand, entered wearing a predominantly red jersey, red-and-white, Poké Ball-themed shorts, and matching cleats that made him look more like a footballer than a Gym Leader. His hair was peppered, and his image on the big screen revealed pronounced crow's feet around his eyes. But despite his obviously advanced age, he was in great shape, with broad shoulders, muscular biceps, sturdy legs, and a trunk-like waist.
"Fight hard, Korrina! You can do it...!" Ren shouted, forming a cone around her elongated snout and exclaiming at the top of her lungs. Lucky for her, Trainers in the Ultra Class were allocated standing room space for their friends and family to spectate their matches, so she and Jason were right next to the field.
Hearing Ren's very distinctive voice, Korrina looked over, a radiant smile adorning her face as she waved back at the excited Lucario.
"She waved at me! Jason! Did you see...!?" Ren exclaimed excitedly, her red eyes gleaming like gemstones as she looked back at Jason with her paws clenched and held up to her collar.
"I did, indeed," Jason affirmed with a smile, nodding his head before gesturing with his chin to the battlefield and saying, "Now, let's watch closely and learn as much as possible."
"Yes! Ren will watch closely...!" Ren exclaimed, returning her attention to the battlefield. Jason had to wrangle her tail with his legs to keep it from hammering his knees, but it was easier than keeping her under control in the stands.
"Now, in accordance with both Trainers' wishes, this will be a 3v3 battle! Trainers will need to send out their first Pokémon at the same time! But, other than that, they are free to swap in accordance with the usual rules and restrictions...!" announced a bright yellow Rotom Drone, one of many circling the arena to record and get close-ups of the match.
"Thank you for agreeing to my request, Kabu! I really appreciate you giving my Pokémon and me this opportunity~!" Korrina chimed, striking a pose with Laani's custom Poké Ball held out, ready to be thrown with her right hand.
"It's the duty of the older generation to encourage and guide those who come after us," Kabu responded calmly, his actions contradicting his cool tone as he struck a spirited pose of his own—his left hand extended and his right drawn back near his head with a standard, unadorned Poké Ball at the ready.
With the Rotom Drone confirming that both Trainers were ready to begin, the battle between Korrina and Kabu began with the former fielding Laani and the latter fielding one of Jason's all-time favorite Pokémon, the famed Legendary Pokémon, Arcanine. It wasn't an actual Legendary, but it was a distinctly canid Pokémon with orange, black-striped fur, angular eyes that exuded intelligence, wide, diamond-shaped ears, and patches of creamy, flame-like fur along its head, chest, tail, and the backs of its legs, granting it a natural majesty. Kabu's, in particular, appeared to be around two and a half meters tall, making it considerably larger than Laani, both length- and height-wise.
"Gawoooooooo~!"
"Lowaaa..."
With Kabu's Arcanine possessing the Intimidate Ability, Laani's body became veiled in a faint white energy, leaving her muscles feeling weak and sore. Fortunately, unlike in the games, the effect was temporary. It could also be negated with moves that increased her physical attack, so to kick things off, Korrina shouted, "Alright, Laani! Use Quick Attack into Power-Up Punch...!"
Demonstrating her impressive speed, Laani practically exploded from where she had been standing, her body leaving behind a vibrant white trail as she attempted to close the distance to Kabu's Arcanine.
"Blaze! Dodge and use Agility...!" Kabu countered, shouting loudly and making a sweeping gesture with his right hand.
"Growf...!"
Though Laani was marginally faster than it, Blaze's quadrupedal build allowed it to dodge quickly in just about any direction. Laani's Power-Up Punch grazed its left shoulder, but after its body became veiled in bright magenta energy, Blaze's speed increased demonstrably.
Transitioning from her punch to a swift, tucking flip into a deep crouch, Laani was able to change direction to pursue Blaze in the middle of his using Agility. The Psychi-type energy enveloping his body allowed him to move backward without making contact with the ground, but Laani, as if her previously passive fighting style were a distant memory, opened her mouth to blast him with a close-range Hyper Beam.
BOOM
Though Lopunny didn't specialize in non-physical attacks, Laani was able to send Blaze flying from a sizeable plume of pale orange energy that left its fur singed.
"Blaze! Counter with Flame Wheel...!" Kabu shouted, causing Blaze to brace itself as tufts of bright orange flame manifested around its body, particularly the sides of its mouth and legs.
"Laani! Dodge and use Baby Doll Eyes...!" Korrina cut in, prompting Laani to take evasive action and send out heart-shaped projectiles of Fairy-type energy from her eyes. At the same time, Blaze leaped into the air, tucked in its limbs, and began spinning rapidly forward with flames enveloping its entire body.
Though she was able to lower Blaze's attack successfully, Laani took a heavy blow as the former was able to abruptly change direction thanks to the Psychic-type energy enveloping its body. The rapid spinning caused Laani to slam hard into the ground and be launched out from under it, but she managed to right herself quickly and come to a stop utilizing a three-point, backward slide.
Looking visibly angered, Laani flapped her inordinately long and fluffy ears like a pair of wings, smacking them against the ground before her entire body became veiled in fiery-orange, Fighting-type energy. Blaze had doubled back to strike her a second time with Flame Wheel, but she stood her ground and charged forward like a college wrestler preparing for a takedown.
'What move is that...?' Jason wondered, unaware that Laani possessed a move related to grappling or throwing her opponent. Her most powerful Fighting-type move was Close Combat, but that involved a series of high-speed punches and kicks with careful spacing.
Contrasting everything Jason thought he knew about the usually demure, defense-focused Lopunny, Laani resolutely grappled Blaze out of its rapid spinning, producing a violent shockwave as her tiny but powerful arms did their best to close around her opponent's neck. The Fighting-type energy she had veiled herself with had evidently been used as a protective aura, allowing her to avoid taking too much damage as she stopped Blaze dead in its tracks and gave it an aggressive nuzzle.
"Great job, Laani! Way to show them who's boss...!" Korrina chimed loudly, pumping her right fist and beaming proudly. Jason was confused about why she was praising Laani's recklessness, but the reason became clear when Blaze, as if its sense of balance had been destroyed, began to lose its footing like a drunkard.
'Ah...so that's what she was aiming for...' Jason realized, taking note of the pink hue surrounding Blaze's previously black eyes. Laani, similar to Runa, possessed two Abilities: Limber and Cute Charm. The former, as the name suggested, blessed her extreme flexibility and resistance to Paralysis. The latter, at least in the games, granted a 30% chance to afflict the opposing Pokémon with Infatuation on contact.
Unable to offer any meaningful resistance, and with Kabu unable to recall it due to prohibitions against the swapping of Pokémon actively engaged in a clash or struggle, Blaze was essentially defenseless as Laani cupped its snout and used Draining Kiss to kiss its cheek. This veiled both of their bodies in a pink aura, Blaze's draining his stamina and Laani's replenishing hers until her fur has a prominent, perfectly restored sheen.
Seeing Blaze slump and stop resisting, the lead Rotom Drone shouted, "Gym Leader Kabu's Arcanine is unable to battle! The first match point goes to Gym Leader Korrina and her Lopunny...!"
"I should have anticipated that a Pokémon trained by such a talented Trainer wouldn't be an easy opponent," Kabu remarked, returning Blaze to its Poké Ball with a calm, completely unbothered expression.
"There's more where that came from...!" Korrina chimed, holding up her gloved and banded right fist as if to remind Kabu that she and Laani still had Mega Evolution and a Z-Move in their repertoire.
"It's good to be spirited while you're young," Kabu responded flatly, a faint smile adorning his lips as he prepared his second Poké Ball, raised his left knee to his chest, and flung it full force, shouting, "But my fire hasn't gone out just yet...!"
Following Kabu's shout, a Pokémon that resembled a colossal centipede with a maroon carapace and a fiery-red underbelly appeared on the field. Both the front of its face and the tip of its tail were marked with X-shaped flames, and based on how the ground beneath it began to heat up and melt rapidly, the stove-top-like circles lining its underbelly were extremely hot.
Understanding that Laani was a bad matchup for the flaming centipede, Centiskorch, Korrina didn't hesitate to exclaim, "Alright, Laani! Come back and take a break...!" Then, as Centiskorch was famously Kabu's Ace, she produced Luca's Poké Ball and shouted, "We're just one step away from a sweep! Come on out, Luca...!"
Though Luca's Fighting and Steel Typing placed him at a disadvantage against the Fire and Bug-type Centiskorch, Korrina had absolute faith in his ability to secure victory. There were few Pokémon who could defeat him in a one-on-one, and since Centiskorch wasn't particularly known for its speed, they simply needed to dodge its attacks and counter from afar with ranged, Aura-based abilities.
"Oh? Going all-in, are we? Then, allow me to oblige...!" Kabu shouted, his personality appearing to change with the flip of a switch as he went from a cool-headed old man to sporting a broad, sharp-eyed, battle-hungry grin. Jason was briefly confused when he recalled Centiskorch to its Poké Ball, but the reason became clear when the band on his wrist sent bands of magenta energy into it, causing the ball to glow magenta and grow far beyond its original size.
"Let's heat things up...!" Kabu bellowed, flinging the oversized Poké Ball with both hands. What emerged was a Centiskorch so enormous that it appeared to encompass the entire battlefield. Jason didn't know its exact dimensions, but as a standard WCS battlefield was approximately 256m in length, it had to be at least a hundred meters, thirty of which allowed it to tower over Luca like a titan before a human.
Undaunted by Centiskorch's size, Luca struck a gutsy pose and accepted the rainbow-hued energy arcing toward him from Korrina's Keystone. For a brief moment, his body was veiled in an obfuscating cocoon of energy, which, rather than dissipating naturally, shattered like a glass as he used Extreme Speed to span tens of meters in a split second, producing a total of three sonic booms.
Though Luca ran along the interior of its body and landed an explosively sharp kick to what could be considered its chin, Kabu's Centiskorch was barely phased. It recoiled defensively, but its dramatically increased size vested it with tremendous durability.
"Alright, Cross-Fire! Let's melt this Steel-type with G-Max Centiferno!" Kabu shouted, prompting his Centiskorch, Cross-Fire, to surge forward and attempt to coil around Luca like a snake. He managed to escape to the sky, but the column of flame that erupted from the center of Cross-Fire's body like an erupting volcano briefly enveloped him.
Landing softly despite his body's significant density, Luca took advantage of the time Cross-Fire needed to uncoil its massive body, his usually red eyes blazing with a sandy hue as he flexed every muscle in his body and released a shockwave-producing battle cry. Cross-Fire attempted to take evasive action, but its size was too large to evade the massive and sharp pillars of stone that erupted from the ground, slamming into the underside of its body.
'Nice...!' Jason exclaimed internally, reactively pumping his right fist as he knew the Fire/Bug-type Centiskorch was especially weak to Rock-type moves. In the game, this translated to a 4x weakness. Real life was a little more ambiguous, but it was obvious from the way it roiled and collapsed onto its side that Cross-Fire had sustained significant damage...
...
..
.