Flames licked at every surface of the pony, its charcoal black eyes staring it down. The hooves gripped the ground in a challenge while its whinnies grew in pitch.
"Let the Battle begin!"
"Start with a growl and a stomp!"
Loud yells hit Squirtle, lowering it's defense.
"Water gun!"
As the Ponyta races towards it, a jet stream of water sends waves of steam upwards. It lands on top of the turtle and begins stomping down on its shell.
"Get out of there, Squirtle!"
"Too late, boy! It's flinching."
Squirtle flinched as Ponyta continued stomping.
"Your pokemon can't take any more of this. Heck, I bet you can't take this either. Shall I call off the match?"
Ray looked back at Squirtle, then to Blaine… He looked like he cared for Squirtle, almost like I wasn't a good trainer. Yet… And yet… He knew there was some fight left.
"It's okay, boy. We all know you can't do this all by yourself…"
"Enough! Shut up! Squirtle, water tackle!"
It looked like that was all Squirtle needed to hear. It looked up at Ponyta, withdrew into its shell, and used water gun in all directions to not only escape the horse's grip but hit it square in the face with a tackle and water gun combined!
It was all that was needed to take the challenger down. Squirtle's shell began to glow as Blaine called his champion back.
"You ready for the next one, buddy?!"
The little pokemon cheered in agreement as white light engulfed its little body. Flames were drained of heat and light as the turtle grew ears, a harder shell, fangs and a soft tail reaching its head.
Wartortle wasn't just ready for battle, it was ready for a challenge. Ray stood by and watched with pride.
"It's not over boy! Rapidash, go!"
An even bigger horse graced the arena, with flames emanating from every pore of its body. Its roar was even louder than Ponyta's, but neither human nor pokemon was fazed.
"Let's end this, Rapidash! Growl and Fire Spin!"
The growl lowers Wartortle's defenses again before it blew out a massive tornado of fire.
"Dodge it with the water gun, like we practiced!"
Immediately it retreated into its shell and used streams of water to navigate away from the fire spin.
"Impressive! Why didn't you use that before, boy?"
"Because!" Ray got so heated he forgot how hot it was in the room. When he turned his cap backward, his hand returned sweatier.
Meanwhile, the fire spin moved towards Wartortle's position, so it instinctively hid in its shell.
"Hmm," Blaine began. "It seems to be using withdraw now. Hasn't your pokemon used four moves already?"
"That's not a withdraw attack. That's just hiding."
"No it isn't. That's clearly a withdraw. Judge?"
The Judge came forward and paused the match.
"According to the rules, each pokemon is allowed to only use four moves. Which move would you like Wartortle to forget so it can use Withdraw?"
So it learned withdraw without realizing it? Cool.
"Wartortle will forget… umm… Tail whip. So since we didn't use tail whip at all this match, we'll forget that. Yeah."
"Are you sure, boy?"
"YES I'M SURE, SIR!"
"Sounds about right. The battle may continue."
"Fire Spin!"
"Wartortle! Get out of there!"
While withdrawn, Wartortle couldn't move. It learned to sneak in, but not to sneak out. Its legs were stuck!
Yet the flames still licked it its shell, the hot air vaporizing water quickly. It had to act fast.
"Go in for the final stomp!"
"Water tackle!"
If it couldn't move, then it had to get out somehow. As the hooves came down again, it blasted itself out of the way. To its delight, the violent shaking of movement set its limbs back into place and it popped out of its own shell!
Trying for another stomp, Wartortle hopped away with another water gun blast, turning it around the arena.
"Let's finish this! Seafoam!"
Blaine laughed.
"My dear boy that's not a-"
"CALL ME 'BOY' ONE MORE TIME!"
In a move never seen before, Wartortle took a deep breath and, using the jetstream of Water Gun and the coverage of Bubble, sprayed a wall of foam onto the unsuspecting Fire Horse. Massive amounts of steam enveloped the room as the horse struggled to escape the barrage of bubbles and water.
It barely crawled out of the waves before it collapsed in a fiery heap.
The audience clapped for him. Blaine congratulated him, and as he left to join Delia somewhere in the forest, he remembered the one thing Blaine told him afterward:
"Never doubt yourself, boy. You'll go far."
