Tyranitar's head snapped back from the blow just as its bite was broken, and Scizor's follow-up strike slammed into its body. Its massive frame toppled over with a crash.
Bang!!
Tyranitar hit the ground and couldn't get back up.
"Tyranitar is unable to battle. Scizor wins."
Thorton had now lost three Pokémon in a row, while Gary had yet to lose a single one.
This Scizor is on another level too, Thorton thought.
Tyranitar's defenses were exceptionally high on both fronts—especially under Sandstorm weather, where its physical and special defense were strong enough to be called impenetrable. And even so, Scizor had broken through.
What Thorton didn't know was that every move Scizor used carried the Technician boost behind it. The fact that Tyranitar had held on this long was already impressive. If anything was to blame, it was that Thorton's Tyranitar simply didn't have a wide enough move pool.
Thorton still had three Pokémon left. The battle wasn't over.
"Infernape, I'm counting on you!" Thorton sent out Infernape once again.
Flash!
Infernape returned to the field. With its dual Fire and Fighting typing, it resisted both Steel- and Bug-type moves.
Bang…!
"Chaa!"
Stealth Rock struck Infernape on entry again, drawing a pained cry.
"Return."
Gary didn't stay in the bad matchup. He recalled Scizor and sent Arcanine back out.
"Arcanine, you're up."
Flash!
"Awooo!"
Arcanine took the field with a howl, its Intimidate Ability activating and lowering Infernape's attack and defense.
"Mach Punch!"
"Extreme Speed!"
Thorton and Gary gave their orders one after the other.
Both Pokémon attacked at the same moment.
Infernape shot forward on the acceleration of Mach Punch, its fist wrapped in incandescent light.
Arcanine, streams of air trailing around its body, looked like a loosed arrow.
Bang!!
The two collided.
There were no surprises. With its stats lowered, Infernape was no match for Arcanine at all and was knocked back a full ten meters.
"Flare Blitz!" Gary ordered.
"Awooo!"
Flames engulfed Arcanine's entire body. As the fire built in intensity, it turned cyan, the temperature instantly soaring past two thousand degrees Celsius.
"We'll use Flare Blitz too!" Thorton ordered.
"Chaa!"
The flame on Infernape's head swelled outward until it wrapped around its whole body, then turned blue as Infernape charged in.
Gary smiled coldly. He already knew how this would end.
"Awooo!"
"Chaa!"
The two Fire-types crashed into each other, their flames intertwining, each trying to swallow the other—but in the next instant, the fire clinging to Infernape was drawn away, absorbed into Arcanine's body. Arcanine's own flames flared even hotter, and Infernape was blasted away on the spot.
"What! Flash Fire?!"
"Wasn't its Ability Intimidate?!"
Thorton was stunned. Arcanine's Ability was clearly Intimidate—so how had it absorbed the flames? His analysis was never wrong.
"Grr…"
Even after knocking Infernape away, Arcanine took recoil damage from Flare Blitz—though with the absorbed fire bolstering it, the recoil wasn't severe. It was acceptable.
"Extreme Speed!" Gary pressed the attack.
Arcanine charged out at once, sweeping across the field at blinding speed and giving Infernape no chance to counter. The hit launched Infernape clean out of the arena and into the outer wall.
Bang!!
Infernape had already taken damage fighting Aggron earlier. Struck by Extreme Speed from an Arcanine boosted by Flash Fire, it went down for good.
"Infernape is unable to battle. Arcanine wins."
Thorton stood there, dazed. He could clearly feel that the power behind that Extreme Speed had increased—but even if Flash Fire had triggered, it should only boost Fire-type moves.
Recalling his defeated Infernape, Thorton asked immediately, "Gary, is your Arcanine's Ability Intimidate or Flash Fire?"
Strictly speaking, that wasn't the kind of question to ask mid-battle. But since Thorton was asking sincerely, Gary decided to let him understand.
"My Arcanine is a bit special. It has two Abilities—both Intimidate and Flash Fire," Gary said.
Thorton: "…!"
He had heard of it before—a very small number of Pokémon were born with two Abilities, and some Pokémon possessed Abilities stronger than others of their kind.
Thorton had been raising Pokémon for over a decade, but this was the first time he'd ever encountered a Pokémon whose Ability surpassed the ordinary.
"Thank you for telling me."
"The battle continues. Ursaring, it's your turn."
With Arcanine's Ability now clear to him, Thorton sent out his fifth Pokémon.
Flash!
[LV60 Ursaring — Elite]
Seeing Ursaring, Gary didn't swap Arcanine out this time. He attacked immediately.
"Arcanine, use Flamethrower!"
Flash Fire had already been triggered—recalling Arcanine now would waste the boost.
Besides, Ursaring excelled at close combat, so the plan was to kite it first and wear the bear down from range.
"Awooo!"
With its Fire-type moves boosted, Arcanine spat out a veritable sea of fire at Ursaring.
Faced with flames that vast, Ursaring had nowhere to hide.
"High Horsepower—charge through!"
Golden Ground-type energy coated Ursaring's body as it charged bravely into the sea of fire. The moment it plunged into the flames, the searing heat began burning away the energy covering it.
Ursaring had barely pushed forward a few meters before the coating burned away completely. The scorching flames seared its body directly, and it couldn't advance any further.
Thorton knew he'd given the wrong order and corrected it at once. "Ursaring, use Earthquake!"
"Urrsa!"
Ursaring endured the burning flames and slammed a palm into the ground. The shockwave of the Earthquake spread outward, shaking the entire field violently.
Arcanine broke off its flames and tried to leap clear, but it was too late—the Earthquake caught it and dealt heavy damage.
"Arcanine, use Flame Wheel," Gary ordered.
With a physical attack keeping Arcanine in motion, Ursaring wouldn't find it so easy to land another Earthquake.
"High Horsepower!" Thorton didn't back down. With both Pokémon committed, all that was left was to clash head-on.
"Awooo!"
"Urrsa!"
Arcanine's body was wreathed in raging fire.
Ursaring was wrapped in golden Ground-type energy.
Boom!!
The two collided ferociously, setting off an explosion.
But Ursaring was clearly the worse off. The Flash Fire boost gave Arcanine the strength to stand toe to toe with an Elite-level Pokémon—and even overpower it.
"URRSA!!"
Ursaring suddenly roared, its pupils dilating, eyes shot through with red. A crimson aura began pouring off its body.
"That's… Guts!"
Even Gary was caught off guard. The burn from the flames had triggered Ursaring's Guts Ability.