Boom!
The blazing wheel ford by Ponyta ca in with a fierce montum, spinning wildly, leaving a scorched black trail in its wake.
Even while using the move, Ponyta still maintained excellent agility.
But after dodging the first two rocks that Blaziken had thrown from a distance, the gap between them began to close. Its reaction ti grew shorter, leaving no chance to avoid. Instead, it charged through the last rock, shattering it with its flas.
It was plain to see — the Fla Wheel stalled for just a mont, and the red flas on its surface dimd noticeably.
"Superpower, stop it!" Silas seized on that montary hesitation and shouted his next command.
At the sa ti, he couldn't help but feel a pang of surprise — this Ponyta was really strong. When Fla Wheel was rolling forward, it couldn't see what was in front of it, and yet it had still managed to dodge earlier attacks.
But now was not the ti to think about how it did it.
"Blaziken!"
With a passionate cry, Blaziken's muscles tensed, its legs bracing forward and back, its claws thrust out. From its wrists erupted an intense burst of fla.
Thud!
The Fla Wheel's ferocious montum was halted in its tracks by Blaziken's raw strength and claws.
Although Blaziken's stamina was already low and it couldn't bring out its full strength, Ponyta's Fla Wheel had already lost power due to the Rock Slide earlier.
Not to ntion, Blaziken still had the boosts from Swords Dance and Focus Energy. Superpower itself was a move that unleashed trendous force at the cost of temporarily lowering its offensive and defensive stats — leading to the current scene.
Otherwise, stopping a high-speed Fla Wheel head-on wouldn't have been so easy.
Even so, Blaziken still took significant damage from the attack.
The two Pokémon locked in a stalemate, the spinning wheel of fire grinding against Blaziken's hold, draining its energy.
"Slam Ponyta into the ground!"
Right now, the montum was still in Blaziken's favor. Following Silas's command, Blaziken pushed harder with its arms, giving a sideways shove that slamd the hidden Ponyta in the wheel down onto the ground.
Neigh! Ponyta cried out in pain.
Blaziken couldn't imdiately follow up — it stood in place, panting heavily, adjusting its stiff muscles from the sudden exertion.
One chicken and one horse — one lying on the ground, one standing — locked eyes, their gazes full of fighting spirit.
"Get up, Ponyta!" Celeb shouted anxiously. Being taken down two-on-one like this was sothing he couldn't easily accept.
Just monts ago, their strength had been fairly even.
"Neigh…"
Ponyta whinnied, its hind legs kneeling on the ground while its forelegs trembled, trying to push itself up.
Suddenly, its right foreleg buckled, as if it had lost all strength, folding back onto the ground.
Ponyta's stamina had reached its limit.
Fortunately for it, since birth, it had grown accustod to chasing after its parents even after falling — this kind of situation was nothing new.
But then Blaziken caught both trainers' attention. Silas's eyes glinted — this was the first ti he'd seen it happen.
Blaziken was standing still, its entire body suddenly shrouded in a roaring cloak of red flas — Blaze.
Pokémon with the Blaze Ability could sotis enter this state when their HP dropped to at least one-third.
Research suggested that this had sothing to do with a Pokémon's willpower and innate talent — the more desperate the situation, the greater the chance of triggering it.
Once activated, the power boost to moves of the corresponding type depended on these sa factors, not a fixed value — though it did have an upper limit.
Unfortunately for Blaziken, Ponyta's Ability was Flash Fire, which could nullify certain Fire-type attacks and boost its own power in return. That ant Blaze's activation here wasn't actually all that necessary.
Still, I can feel your fighting spirit and desire to win, Silas thought, his own chest burning with the sa fire.
"Swift, finish it off!"
"Flathrower, don't let yourself be beaten so easily, Ponyta!"
The two trainers issued their final commands at the sa ti.
"Blaziken!"
"Neigh!"
At close range, Swift and Flathrower collided in a violent explosion. Smoke and dust filled the air, completely obscuring the field.
Silas and Celeb stared tensely into the haze.
Soon, faint silhouettes of the two Pokémon could be seen. Silas's expression lit up, while Celeb could only give a helpless smile.
When the smoke cleared, Blaziken stood, draped in a thin cloak of fire and panting heavily. Ponyta lay collapsed on the ground, eyes swirling in defeat.
"Good work, Blaziken/Ponyta!"
Both trainers quickly recalled their Pokémon.
It was only then that Blaine, still as unhurried as ever, announced the result:
"Ponyta is unable to battle. Blaziken wins.
Both of Celeb's Pokémon have been defeated, so the winner of this Gym Battle is Silas Alaric."
"Impressive," Silas said sincerely as he approached Celeb, putting away his Poké Ball. After all, he was, in his own words, "a bit of a cheat."
He reminded himself not to underestimate people — Blaziken had only barely managed to win a two-on-one.
Celeb, still sour about the loss, rolled his eyes at Silas.
If they hadn't known each other for a while, and if Celeb didn't know this was just how Silas spoke, he might have given him a taste of the "fist of love"… not that he was sure he could win that fight.
"Not bad, not bad," Blaine said with a smile. From his pocket, he produced a badge. "It's been a long ti since I've seen such a lively battle between two young n. The Crimson Badge of Cinnabar Island! It's yours now."
"Thank you, Gym Leader Blaine." Silas accepted the Cinnabar Badge with both hands, placing it into his badge case.
As for any showboating — Celeb was still here. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of that guy. No way he was letting that get around.
"Well then, I'll head to the Pokémon Center first, Gym Leader Blaine.
And Celeb — next ti we et, let's have another battle at the Pokémon League!" Silas said with a wide grin.
Watching his departing back, Blaine clicked his tongue twice, murmuring sothing under his breath before turning to his student.
"Well? How do you feel?"
Celeb gave a helpless smile. "Too strong… way too strong."
Even though he had ntally prepared himself, before the battle's outco was decided he'd still felt confident.
Even if he couldn't win, at the very least he thought he could defeat one of Silas's Pokémon, maybe even badly injure another. That had been his plan from the start.
Otherwise, compared to his earlier matches, his record would have actually looked worse.
But what he hadn't expected was that even with both a type advantage and the advantage of familiarity from training against a similar species, he still got beaten so badly — without knocking out a single Pokémon.
"He's definitely a very gifted kid," Blaine said with a sigh. "Honestly, among Trainers born to ordinary families, I've only ever seen one other with talent on par with that Silas.
"Even if you take into account those who've had the guidance of experienced elders, in the 150-plus years since the League was founded, only soone like Lance has risen to that level.
"Young people these days… they're just getting more and more incredible."
"But you shouldn't be too hard on yourself," he added, turning to his own disciple — also born without a wealthy or famous family — his eyes full of approval. "Your talent is also absolutely among the best of the best. Even I wasn't as strong as you are now back when I was your age."
"But, Teacher… you weren't considered strong among your peers back then, right?" Celeb said suddenly, still looking down.
The remark hit Blaine right where it hurt.
"What do you know?! So what if I wasn't strong back then? Look around now — how many from my generation are even still alive?
"One by one, they just had to keep running off on dangerous adventures, even when they were already getting old. What's the point of that?
"I'm telling you — as long as you live long enough, you'll end up as one of the strongest in your generation!"
Blaine's mustache bristled as he spoke, his sunglasses reflecting a hint of light.
Celeb just chuckled softly. His teacher really was like an old child at heart.
Looking toward the direction Silas had gone, he silently vowed, See you at the League… I won't go down so easily next ti.
Blaine's thick mustache twitched again as his sunglasses caught another gleam.
"Have you decided on your sixth Pokémon?"
"Mm. I'll go with that one."
"You're sure? I won't interfere with your decision, but it's not a perfect fit for you. If you want to truly step into the Elite Four's ranks soday, this will make it harder. You'll have to be ready for that."
"I've already made up my mind, Teacher."
"Well, that's fine too. Once you make it to the Elite Four, I'll take you to a certain place."
"Oh? Teacher, even at your age you still like to play at surprises?"
"You brat…"
The two of them continued talking as they closed the Gym's doors and walked toward the depths inside.
By this ti, Silas had already left the Pokémon Center, with Blaziken fully recovered and back in peak condition.
"Ah~" He stretched lazily. "Good thing it was just a two-on-two. Otherwise, I'd probably need a nap this afternoon."
Thinking back, that Ponyta's talent was clearly far greater than that of Celeb's Poliwarth. Probably the descendant of Gym Leader Blaine's own ace Rapidash, Silas mused to himself, wandering aimlessly through the streets.
"That Celeb guy… he's actually pretty good," he murmured with a note of appreciation.
Ring~
At that mont, the speakers of Cinnabar Town's public broadcast system ca to life, a smooth female announcer's voice echoing through the streets:
"Attention residents of Cinnabar Town and all visiting travelers and Trainers.
According to Pokémon sensory readings and instrunt detection, the volcano on Cinnabar Island has recently shown renewed signs of activity.
"For the next month, Cinnabar Volcano will be closed to the public. We sincerely apologize to all Trainers who were planning to search the volcano for their future partners."
The broadcast repeated five or six tis before finally stopping. Even Silas's watch chid, displaying the sa official notice from Cinnabar Town.
....
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