Sinnoh.
The Poké Ball opened to the pulsating stadium.
Stinging soreness. Barely able to lift his arms.
Infernape wearily pushed his eyelids open. Yet another bout against his former Trainer. This time, he finally stood alone as Ash's last hope in this match. He tried to shake fatigue from his muscles, to roar it away, but it was impossible to ignore the nagging voice of his worn-out body. Would he be able to continue?
Then, he heard the call of its opponent. It was Electivire.
In an instant, Infernape sharpened its gaze, raising his head and bellowing to the sky above. Time to begin to battle.
"Mach Punch!" "Thunder Punch."
But Infernape was already moving, his limbs forming automatically to unleash the opening salvo. Simple power, devoid of strategy. His opponent had the same idea. Fist hit fist, releasing a shockwave that blasted them both backwards. Electivire slid through the dirt, the ground breaking behind its heels; Infernape deftly leapt, seeing the sky spin as he did flip after flip to absorb the impact.
Infernape looked into Electivire's blood red eyes. Their pupils locked with electric intensity. They took a moment to acknowledge that this wasn't Lake Acuity anymore; they were equally matched, now.
"Electivire, use Thunder," commanded his former Trainer's steady voice, still painful to hear. Something welled up within Infernape: a dark tangle, ugly and writhing, but he pushed the emotion aside.
Bolts shot up into the sky, raining down upon the battlefield. They slowly encroached on Infernape's position, crackling as they skimmed his knees. It wasn't safe above ground.
Plunging headfirst into the soil of the arena, already torn up by previous attacks, Infernape waited underground. Thunderbolts impacted harmlessly inches overhead. Insulated by the subterranean shelter, it felt like nothing more than a gentle breeze.
Then the counterattack.
The breeze turned into a hurricane-gust that swept Infernape up, through the layers of earth, carrying its punch with invisible speed. Ground, field, sky. His fist elongated with momentum, knuckles viciously slamming the opponent. A sickening sound. Electivire was thrown back so rapidly that its body seemed to strobe, each moment flashing as if a camera frame.
Smoke rose from the arena as stray debris fell like hail. An ostensibly lethal hit.
Had Electivire been knocked out?
As if to answer the question, glowing eyes blinked into existence in the fog. A split second later, antennae broke through the smoke, leaving streaks with their speed as they reached out for him. Infernape dodged barely in time, bending backwards to avoid a strike. Another came from a different angle. Infernape ducked and took a fleet-step right as lightning crashed where his foot had been a moment ago.
Infernape had fought his former Trainer before, but never like this. He circled around Electivire, searching for an opening as both threw punch after punch, blocking, darting forwards, attacks whistling overhead. They were locked in a head-to-head contest. Their motions sped up until they were colored blurs, lightning-quick and indistinguishable, without enough room to fit a mirror in between them. Infernape knew that he had to prove his own path right, to rebuke his former Trainer's harsh, stinging methods. He struck. An elbow struck back. Ensnared in a battle of ideals, Infernape traded blow for blow, repaying his once-Trainer for every callous slight, as the stadium revolved around them.
"Let's finish this up with Mach Punch!" came the order.
Feeling the heat, Infernape stepped back. Without another thought, he pushed all its anger into a fist, throwing it forward at Electivire and its Trainer. The world seemed to streak by as Electivire's stomach widened, swallowing up the entire field of view. Ash and him were so close to showing that Paul who was right…
An antenna seized his arm and held it fast. Infernape tried to shake loose, but the grip on his wrist was ten tons of earth. His eyes widened. Electivire could unleash any attack now, while he was prone and helpless. He placed all his faith was in Ash, to come up with another crazy idea to rescue him.
Anticipating a final, grim command, Infernape could sense the end. "Electivire, Thunder!"
For a moment, Infernape stumbled as it nearly mistook the voice for Ash, speaking some last gambit to save the battle. Then it recognized the sound of its former Trainer, uncharacteristically yelling now.
There was no hesitation from his opponent.
With a roar, Electivire sent a million volts coursing through its antennae, through Infernape's arm, and deep into his heart. The arena was filled from edge to edge with the blinding glow of lightning, radiating into every corner. Infernape could feel his chest palpitate under the force. A kaleidoscope of rainbow colors swirled before his eyes. Muscles went limp. His head drooped. With a concluding surge, Electivire broke off.
Silence.
The sizzling sound of steam rising from his body.
How could this happen? How could Ash let something like this happen?
Infernape hit his head on the floor with a thud. The arena quivered and begged in waves of sound that rolled softly over his consciousness.
A roar. His eyes opened a sliver, barely enough to see the source of the sound.
"Electi, Electivire!" his opponent goaded. Infernape blinked as the opponent across slowly came into focus, yellow blobs of light and shadow melding together as crisp lines grew defined. Two red eyes glowing with power. He had seen those eyes wake him up before, during training sessions long ago that went deep into the night and never ended.
Infernape's attention shifted to the boy with the purple hair. His former Trainer opened his mouth slowly, like a dream. "You're pathetic, just like always."
The memories came flooding back, breaking the dam of his battle-concentration and invading his thoughts. A young Chimchar. He was never enough for his former Trainer. Grueling training sessions that would end with him collapsing before any results were deemed satisfactory. Battling an entire team of five alone. Always being pushed to the limit to unlock his blazing power. More hope, more power, more pain. Abandoned for being weak. He would show Paul that he was strong. With Ash, Infernape would never be pathetic.
His eyes snapped open.
He felt heat consume his body, angry and singing, overflowing from every pore, screaming from every muscle and bursting out in red and yellow and orange, dwarfing the arena.
Basking in newfound power, Infernape realized why Ash had allowed him to be hurt. It was a strategy, to intentionally fire him up and draw on reserves of strength he didn't even know he had. And it had worked, for the most part. But it felt disturbing, seeing Ash use a tactic straight out of his former Trainer's arsenal…
"Flamethrower!" "Thunder!"
Fire met electricity in the center of the battlefield. A ball of voltage and temperature swelled up, shining brilliantly. Both Trainers shielded their eyes, but Infernape did not wait. He dove directly into the flaming thunder, feeling smoke part around his body as he dove at Electivire, impacting the ground inches from the opposing Pokémon's feet.
Electivire flipped to dissipate the force, copying Infernape's earlier tactic.
The Pokémon locked their gaze. So did their Trainers. And with a bellow, Infernape charged, flames surrounding his arms, heating up past red into blue, encasing him completely as he slammed his body downwards to meet Electivire's charged-up fists. The stadium filled with blue and yellow, swirling in a vortex reaching miles into the sky. Gusts of wind emanated from the collision, pushing their Trainers backwards as both Pokémon refused to yield. Pent-up rage and mistreatment spilled from Infernape's attack, overpowering the lightning and enveloping the arena in pervasive, singing flames.
The world faded into white-hot static.
Ash and Infernape turned to face Electivire and Paul.
Heartbeats in his skull.
Electivire keeled over, and it was over.
Ash ran out to give Infernape a warm embrace, something he had never experienced during his time training with Paul. Encouraging words were whispered in his ears. Thank you. Wow. You fought well. He relaxed in the warm glow of Ash's friendship and kindness, which had been so instrumental to helping him thrive.
Infernape had proven his former Trainer wrong at last. He had collected his debt, accumulated from months of thankless, brutal training. But this battle had established that insults and jaded barbs could improve his strength, after all, hadn't it? Ash had shown the error of Paul's harsh ways… but had he partly adopted them in the process?
In a delicious last twist of irony, his former Trainer reached out and thanked Electivire, echoing Ash's words, almost to the letter.
And Infernape realized that there was more than one changed Trainer today.