The Greatest Trainer in Sinnoh, part 3

Lucario dodged the stream of flames with grace before landing, poised for battle. This was not the first Flamethrower that Lucario had dodged, and it was unfazed by the display of power. However, Lucario did not repeat the mistake of overconfidence that Garchomp and Milotic did. He had watched them fall from the confines of his Pokéball, felled by a mixture of unexpected power and easy mistakes that Lucario did not make. Cynthia's Lucario was one of the most powerful in the world, constantly honing its power, but even it knew when there was a worthy opponent.

"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Lucario prepared its signature attack, only to have it neutralized by a second stream of flames. Cynthia tensed once more, before commanding yet another attack. "Close Combat!"

Lucario's mixture of fluid grace and brutal strikes was a sight to behold, but its attacks were in vain as Arcanine's elegant footwork sidestepped and dodged every attack.

"Extremespeed, Arcanine!" Arcanine rammed Lucario with blinding speed, taking advantage of the reckless and tiring nature of a Close Combat attack.

"Two can play at that game. Extremespeed, Lucario!"

"You too, Arcanine!"

The combatants sprinted with fluid rushes of speed, colliding evenly and flying backwards into the walls of the Dome. Lucario sprang to its feet nimbly, while Arcanine began to tremble as it regained its footing on the rocky ground.

"Lucario, Dragon Pulse! Let's finish him off!" Cynthia called out. A green orb crackling with energy grew in size, becoming a full-blown shockwave as it was launched.

"Arcanine, likewise!" Arcanine fired its own shockwave, as the two pulses rocketed towards each other. Neither attack gave an inch, as the resulting collision caused the pulses to rocket skywards, blowing a hole in the roof of the dome. The debris rained down on Lucario and Arcanine both, as the two trainers shielded their faces from the plastic hail that rained on them. The crowd began to cheer as the dust cleared, revealing the two combatants struggling to their feet after the perfect collision of draconic energy. "Now, let's show them an onslaught! Flamethrower after Flamethrower, let's GO!"

The regal beast began streaming fire out of its maw, causing the air to shimmer as the rocks began to redden from the intense heat. Lucario continued to dodge adeptly, firing off Aura Spheres to repel the gauntlet of flames that threatened to consume the rocky terrain. An Aura Sphere eventually broke through, knocking Arcanine into Darius and sending them both flying into the wall. Darius moaned with pain as his Arcanine rose up from the impact, leaving the boy gasping for air. Lucario leapt over Arcanine, helping the boy to his feet in a noble gesture. Darius stood with his hands on his knees, panting, from both exhaustion and the damage he sustained. Arcanine began to pant with ragged breaths as he tired from the repeated attacks, bleeding from a gash in its left side but ignoring the pain for the sake of its Trainer. An Arcanine will defend its Trainer with its life, and will not stop attacking until it is completely drained of all strength.

"Arcanine, let's fire off a Flamethrower, make it count!" Arcanine let loose a stream of flames that dwarfed his other attacks as it hit Lucario, the smell of smoldering steel filling the air as the force of the flames lifted Lucario off its feet, screaming with pain all the while. A super-effective direct hit is a hard one to recover from, as Lucario realized when he fell to one knee in pain. He had been careless. Not again.

"Lucario, Close Combat!"

"Arcanine, Heat Wave!"

Arcanine's hot breath became a wind that burned Lucario as he ran ever closer to Arcanine, jumping up to avoid further damage to its seared body. Lucario gave the attack all it had; pummelling the fiery beast with no letup as it howled with pain and its wounds began to discolour underneath its bloodstained fur. Just as Lucario readied his final tail-strike, jumping up into the air, the burn kicked in, and he fell to the ground once more. He convulsed with pain as the flames from his burn engulfed him and his eyes rolled back into its head. Lucario lay still, his fallen, burnt form finally having given way as Arcanine howled a shrill howl. A howl of victory. A howl daring any challenger to step to him. A howl that chilled Cynthia to the bone...