"Luxray, hit him hard! Giga impact!"
"Krookodile, put a stone edge in his way!"
Both Pokemon obeyed immediately. The Luxray charged its opponent, orange bolts of light streaking in front of him to form a ram.
The Krookodile countered by summoning rings of stone around itself, and braced for the attack. Despite the protection, it didn't stop Luxray. Smashing through the rings the lion hit Krookodile, knocking the target back and almost off his feet. The red intimidation Pokemon straightened up with effort. Luxray was drained and barely able to stay on his feet.
"Finish it off with crunch!"
Krookodile flashed a toothy grin, and charged the Luxray back. "Krooko…DILE!" With this cry, he bit into Luxray's shoulder. The lion fainted, taken out of play.
Aaron recalled Luxray. "Very well done," He called across his gym's arena. "Looks like you did your research on me before coming!"
His challenger was grinning. The three-on-three battle was in his favor. His Machoke had taken care of Aaron's Glaceon, and when Machoke was defeated by Luxray, Aaron's flagship Pokemon, he was ready with Krookodile. Luxray was strong, but not strong enough. The challenger had indeed done his research. He knew Aaron's backup with Luxray for ground types was the dark-move crunch, but that wouldn't have much of an effect on his Krookodile. The challenger called back to Aaron, "Thanks. I notice you're down to one Pokemon?"
Aaron responded, "Correct. And I notice Krookodile isn't looking so cruel anymore." It was true, Aaron's opponent's Pokemon was still standing, but there was a distinct exhaustion to his stance.
"He'll be fine for what I need him for." Was the confident retaliation.
"Well then, let's finish this. Time to meet my last Pokemon." Aaron took out an Ultra ball and threw it up over his head. It opened midair, and Aaron caught the empty ball as a Meloetta formed above his head.
"Melo!" she cried, flying onto the battlefield. She smiled at her opponent like they were friends. The look was not mutual.
The challenger didn't break his grin at the Legendray's appearance. "Krook, crunch. Let's see this psychic take a dark-type move."
His Pokemon nodded, and ran toward his target at full speed. Meloetta hovered in place two feet off the ground. She didn't move, didn't brace for an attack, just waited with a little smile, as did Aaron. Only when the Krookodile reached Meloetta did Aaron yell, "Dodge and use Hyper Voice!"
Krookodile leaped in the air, jaws wide to crunch, but they met nothing as Meloetta flitted out of the way. The crocodile didn't even land before he was knocked down by a sonic shriek. He couldn't move with Meloetta's hyper voice directed full power at him. A second later, he fainted.
Taking his hands off his ears, now it was Aaron's turn to grin. "Your Krookodile's fast, I'll give it that. But I'm afraid he's not as fast as Meloetta."
"You want fast? I think you'll like my last Pokemon. My starter and best, Infernape!" The challenger threw a final Pokeball out. An Infernape landed on the field, hunched over in a fighting stance and the flame atop his head burning bright.
This threw Aaron for a loop. An opponent this skilled had to know Meloetta's psychic could do real damage to the fighting-type. What was he planning? Best be cautious.
"Meloetta, let's go for a confuse ray."
"Infernape, punishment."
Before Meloetta could move, the Infernape was in midair in front of her, his right fist glowing purple. He socked the melody Pokemon, knocking her to the ground. Stepping back a few paces, the side of Infernape's mouth raised a little in a smug half-smile.
Meloetta forced herself up, turning to the opponent. She rubbed her bruised cheek, frowning at the Infernape with a slight glare.
"Oh dang. That dark-type attack was ridiculously fast. Smart." Aaron thought to himself. He called aloud "Alright, let's change this up. Meloetta, Relic Song!"
Meloetta smiled. She began to sing and spin. The challenger and his Infernape watched motionless, transfixed by the display. As they looked on Meloetta's green hair changed to red, her dress morphed, and her very eyes were tinted a deep, bright orange. As the song ended Meloetta's Pirouette form landed on the field. Instead of the delicate, kind-looking Pokemon from before, Meloetta now looked aggressive and ready for a fight, glaring at the Infernape.
A second later the challenger called, "Close combat! Now!"
"Meloetta, let's respond in kind. Close combat!"
"Mel."
The two Pokemon rushed toward each other. As soon as they were in arms reach an impossibly fast-paced brawl started. Meloetta may have been a foot shorter, but the opponents were nearly matched in skill and strength. Each punch was caught, every kick deflected. The trainers tracked them as best they could, looking for any sign of their Pokemon gaining an edge.
It was really something to behold. Only rarely would an attack translate into damage. As the fight progressed, professional battling turned into rivalry. Aaron could see the Infernape snarling with each punch he threw. Meloetta glared back, crying angrily at every blow she landed. At one point both tried to score a hit at the same moment. They caught each other's blows, and suddenly Infernape's blue eyes were inches away from Meloetta's orange ones. Growling at each other, they stayed like that for a few seconds before Meloetta managed to force Infernape back. Neither of the trainers gave a command to try to turn the battle. These Pokemon knew what they were doing better than anyone else. They would make the decisions for the moment. And right now, Aaron got the feeling his friend wasn't in a listening mood.
Finally, Infernape managed to pin Meloetta by the stomach. His blue-gloved hand held her down, and he ignited his other with flames. He swung the fiery punch at Meloetta – at her face.
"CRAP." Aaron thought to himself, eyes wide. Then he noticed Meloetta's eyes were glowing blue. A second later the fiery monkey was launched backwards by a psychic blast. The super-effective attack had hit hard, without warning, and at close range. The only reason Infernape wasn't fainted was Meloetta's Pirouette form dampened her psychic attacks in favor of fighting.
Aaron thought to himself, "No way will they try close combat again. They'll probably stick to ranged attacks now. Which means–"
Suddenly Infernape's mouth opened. At the same moment electric bolts coursed over Meloetta's body. A split-second later, Infernape launched a huge flamethrower, countered directly with a charged thunderbolt from Meloetta.
Have you ever seemed a blast of electricity-infused fire? Very bright, very forceful. Both Pokemon were pounded to the ground from the attacks, and the mix of power and flame exploded into smoke. Aaron and the challenger shielded their eyes from the heat and light.
When the smoke cleared, both Pokemon were lying on the arena floor, seemingly knocked out. Right before Aaron called a tie, Meloetta stirred. She sat up with great effort, shook her head, and stood. She walked over to Infernape. The opponent was out cold, the flame extinguished. She smiled and laughed, twirling on one foot. Meloetta had won the duel, which meant Aaron had won the battle.
For a minute, neither challenger nor gym leader spoke. Both were still in awe at the intensity of the fight that just took place. Finally, Aaron said, "Well. That was something new."
The challenger nodded. "And impressive. But how does she know thunderbolt?"
"Let me put it this way: One TM and about a month of trial and error. Including three power outages."
"I see."
"…Why don't you go heal your Pokemon and come back in a moment? I think you earned this badge."
"Thanks."
The challenger gave a half smile at Aaron, returned his Infernape, and walked out. Both he and Aaron were still a little blank at what just went down. Finally, Aaron shook himself out of it and responded to the Meloetta floating in front of him.
"Well Meloetta, proud of yourself?" He hugged the Pokemon.
Meloetta responded with a happy "Eh-ta!"
"That was looking pretty personal. Do you have something against Infernape?" Meloetta shook her head. "Melo."
"Well next time how about giving me a little warning before going dynamo on a challenger!"
Meloetta laughed, "Meloetta, eh-ta!"
That. Was a HECK of a lot of fun to write.