Aaron drew a Poké Ball and sent it spinning into the arena with a smooth flick of his wrist.
"Don't worry. I won't disappoint you."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"Let's go, Charizard!"
Brilliant light erupted above the battlefield.
An enormous crimson Charizard emerged in midair and spread its blazing red wings. Hard scales covered its massive body, giving it the imposing appearance of a dragon wreathed in flame.
"GRAAAAAH!"
Charizard threw back its head and unleashed a thunderous roar.
The sheer pressure rolling from its body descended upon the arena like a physical weight.
Frost's expression stiffened as he stared up at it.
What the hell?
Did this Charizard grow up on steroids?
How did it get that huge?
"Nine..."
Ninetales stared up at the towering figure and gave an uneasy whine.
Something told her this battle was going to end badly.
Call it a fox's intuition.
The surrounding spectators erupted the moment they saw Charizard.
"Look at the size of Aaron's Charizard!"
"Is that thing really a Charizard?"
"Come on, Aaron!"
"Show him why you're number one!"
...
The battle was about to begin.
Hail continued to fall across the field, pelting Charizard's hardened scales. The chunks of ice shattered against its body without drawing so much as a reaction.
Frost forced himself to stop staring and focused on the match.
"Ninetales, Baby-Doll Eyes!"
Baby-Doll Eyes was a priority Fairy-type move capable of lowering the target's Attack.
Frost understood that Ninetales had a poor matchup against Charizard, so he decided to weaken its physical strength before attempting anything riskier.
What he could not possibly know was that Aaron's Charizard was not Fire/Flying.
It was Fire/Dragon.
Its Fire typing gave it the advantage against Ninetales, but its Dragon typing also made it vulnerable to her Fairy-type moves.
"Nine!"
Ninetales gave a soft cry as pink energy gathered around her body.
The light formed a pair of enormous, innocent-looking eyes that fixed themselves on Charizard.
For a moment, the oppressive force radiating from the crimson dragon weakened.
Aaron remained completely unbothered.
"Charizard, give her a taste of your power."
His smile deepened slightly.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A deep growl rolled from Charizard's throat.
"GRAAAAH!"
It opened its jaws and expelled a concentrated mass of fire. The flames swelled into a blazing sphere as they plunged toward Ninetales.
The intense heat melted the surrounding hail before it could even reach the ground.
Frost's eyes widened.
"Holy—"
What kind of attack was that?
"Ninetales, move!"
"N-Nine!"
Every strand of fur on Ninetales's body stood on end.
She sprang aside in a panic just as the enormous fireball struck the arena.
BOOOOM!
The explosion shook the entire battlefield.
Flames surged outward, and a pillar of smoke rose from the impact point as though a missile had struck the arena.
"Niiine..."
A miserable whine came from inside the smoke.
Ninetales stumbled out, covered from head to tail in soot. Much of her once-pristine white fur had been scorched black, leaving her looking thoroughly battered.
She had managed to avoid the center of the attack, but even the explosion's aftermath had been enough to injure her.
The power behind that move was absurd.
Had someone claimed it came from a Pokémon approaching Champion level, Frost would have believed them.
"Ninetales, are you okay?"
Frost could not hide the concern in his voice.
"Nine..."
Ninetales gave him a weak nod, accompanied by a desperate look that clearly meant:
No. I am absolutely not okay. Please get me out of here.
Frost completely misunderstood her.
Seeing the nod, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Good. Then use Baby-Doll Eyes again!"
Ninetales froze.
Frost pointed toward Charizard.
"Keep lowering its Attack!"
Even if defeating Charizard proved impossible, he could at least weaken it for the Pokémon that came afterward.
"Nine..."
Ninetales gave a deeply reluctant whine as pink energy began gathering around her once more.
Aaron's eyebrow twitched.
Frost was really committed to this annoying little strategy.
Enough was enough.
"Charizard, Flamethrower."
The command came calmly, almost casually.
But the move Charizard unleashed was anything but ordinary.
Its Flamethrower had already reached the Apotheosis level. The attack formed with astonishing speed—fast enough to overtake even Ninetales's priority move.
Golden fire flared within Charizard's eyes.
A furious growl rose from its chest.
"GRAAAAAH!"
Charizard opened its jaws.
A torrent of golden-red flames erupted downward, blazing with an intensity that resembled fire torn from the surface of the sun.
Every remaining piece of hail across the battlefield vanished instantly.
The inferno reached Ninetales before she could complete Baby-Doll Eyes.
Still preparing to stare Charizard down, she went rigid.
"Nine...?"
There was no time to run.
The golden flames swallowed her whole.
BOOOOM!
A second explosion tore through the arena.
Fire surged across the ground, chunks of stone flew through the air, and thick black smoke rolled over the battlefield.
"Ninetales!"
Frost's face went pale as he shouted into the flames.
Aaron remained composed.
"Clear the smoke, Charizard."
Charizard gave a low rumble of acknowledgment.
It spread its enormous wings and beat them once.
WHOOSH!
The powerful gust scattered the smoke and extinguished the remaining flames.
When the battlefield came back into view, Ninetales lay sprawled inside a scorched crater.
Her fur was almost entirely black, thin wisps of smoke rising from her body. Swirls had replaced her eyes.
She was unable to battle.
Frost's Ninetales had fallen after taking only two attacks from Charizard.
...