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Challenge Part: 2

Walking onto the battle field I heard both Kein and Syne talking amongst themselves. I couldn't hear what they were saying, nor did I want to. I had more pressing matters at hand.

"You're choosing an Absol? To fight Lucario? Surely you can't be serious." Maylene questioned towards Taine. It only made me want to battle more, she doesn't even know what I'm capable of.

"It's my choice to make, and I think I made the right one."

"You do know that Dark types are vulnerable to Fighting moves. And that Steel types are resistant to Dark attacks. There's nothing you can do to harm Lucario, let alone win."

That really pushed me. If I were you, I wouldn't underestimate what I'm capable of.

Maylene changed her composure after I'd talked to her myself. "W- Was that your Absol?"

Yes, I am talking to you. And did you hear about the avalanches at route 211 several months ago? Maylene nodded slightly, she had re-affirmed her position and looked set to command her Lucario to attack. I caused that rock-slide.

"Then maybe I did underestimate you." I had taken my position on my side of the ring. Maylene looked past me towards Taine. "But since you're the challenger, you can make the first move."

"Watch it Luyo. That Lucario is fast. Don't let your guard down." I glanced back towards Taine and watched him for a moment before returning to my original position.

I will fight the battle my way to begin with. But if you have any suggestions along the way, just say them as if I were Rathe or Kurath. Just don't expect an immediate response.

"This battle is up to you Luyo." I heard Taine answer. "Prove her wrong."

With pleasure.

I stood still, taking a defensive stance, keeping my head low to the ground and my hind legs coiled for any immediate action. All I had to do was take my time. Learn how strong this Lucario is, then work up to my full power. Although it might not be a fair battle, I would certainly make it look interesting.

So, you can speak telepathically. I heard what I assumed to be the Lucario speaking to me. Impressive. But do not think for a minute that 'claiming' to be the cause of that rock-slide will phase me. I still have the advantage here. Type rules everything.

I nearly scoffed at the Steel-Fighter. Type, only affects what you believe will happen. And I won't try to sway your beliefs in any way. I only aim to prove you wrong.

And you will fail.

I stood still. It was obvious that the Lucario was trained to be a defender. The way he held himself in his stance, the way his hands moved. There was no hint of aggression coming from him. It was as if he had never planned on being a fighter at all in his early years, but was trained into it whether he liked it or not. I knew he was fast. Probably used his speed as an asset over the lack of power. But unfortunately for him, I, had both.

I widened my forepaws slightly, bracing myself for what was to be the first attack. I focused a very small portion of my energy and created a proportionally sized Shadow Ball, no larger than the size of my head. I flicked my head forward slightly, sending the attack towards the defensive Lucario.

"Lucario, use Aura Sphere to destroy the attack."

I saw Lucario turn side-on, and rest his hands low against his body. Sending an equally large ball of bluish-black energy towards my attack. Once he released the energy, they both collided just on their side of the arena, leaving a thin layer of smoke in the air, obscuring my vision to the other side of the field. But I could see Maylene and Lucario just standing still, both of them were dead still. Good, I'll have to try a more powerful attack to drain his energy. Once I see him wearing out is when I'll strike. Until then, we can go attack, for attack.

"Luyo, again. More powerful. Let's see what you can do."

I glanced back towards Taine with a glare. But turned back towards the Lucario to follow the order. I wanted to test his speed, but I guess another attack can't hurt. Again, I charged up the attack. Slightly larger than last time, not by much, but enough to make it harder to see the arena through the dust. I shot the attack forward towards the Lucario.

"Block it, and send it back to them Lucario."

My attack reached its target, but it stopped dead. The Lucario had managed to stop my attack, but he wouldn't have a chance to reverse it. I rocked onto my back legs and pulled my head back too, eventually flicking my blade around in a wide arc, sending forth a Razor Wind. It wouldn't be enough to do any damage to Lucario directly, but it was enough to detonate the Shadow Ball.

There was an explosion on the other side of the arena, dust obscuring most of my view, but I did see two shadows standing across from me. I had no doubts that Lucario wouldn't be knocked out from that attack either, but if it did some visible damage, this would be over sooner than expected.

"Enough games Lucario. Use Extremespeed."

A moment passed as the dust had begun to settle against the ground again, and not a second later did the Lucario leave his stable position opposite me on the field. His speed truly was an asset.

"Use Detect Luyo! Find Lucario, then strike with a Slash!"

Taine continued to amaze me. He actually knew one of my attacks, let alone giving me an order that would actually suffice as a move in a battle that meant something to me. Although this battle, to me, was nothing more than to prove a gym leader wrong and easily defeat what is meant to be a strong breed of pokémon. But for once, it was nice to be able to use my powers and not be worried over destroying something or harming something. That's what I was here to do. Defeat my opponent. Just because it was for Taine so he could win a gym bad-

I felt a sharp pain come from my right side, the Lucario had used his Extremespeed and struck with a kick into my ribs. I slid across the arena to the edge-line, feeling Lucario bound away back to his side of the arena. I cursed myself for not thinking about the battle and following what would've been the right thing to do.

"Not so tough now, are you?"

"Luyo! What happened? I know you're better than that."

Don't worry about me. I pulled myself to my feet, stretching out my hind legs. I felt a little tight on my right side, where Lucario had struck me, but otherwise I felt fine. I was only seeing what he could do. And if that's the worst, I should have no problems.

"If that was a full power attack, you wouldn't be in the arena Luyo. I know what this Lucario is capable of. Just pay attention, and be careful." I didn't need him to tell me what to do. I moved myself back to the centre of the arena.

"Are you still sure that this is the right choice? Your Absol seems to be a little slow."

"Don't worry, we're just getting started. Luyo, Swords Dance."

Again, I was given an order that would be a viable option for the battle if I were on my own. Maybe I had taken the wrong idea towards this. Taine actually knew what he was talking about. Maybe being a trained pokémon with a master wouldn't be as bad as I first imagined. Still, I had plenty of time to think about it, after the match. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twi-

I felt another strong kick into my side which sent me flying to the left side of the arena. And, once again, the moment I re-opened my eyes I saw Lucario standing on the opposite side of the arena with Maylene failing to hide her over-zealous smirk.

"Come on Luyo. You need to trust me if you want to win this."

Luyo, you can't just ignore Taine. He knows what he's tal-

I know Syne. I figured that out for myself.

Then start listening to him! I know you can do this, no matter what they say.

"Like I said before, your Absol seems a little slow to pick up on the fact that it can't win." I picked myself up from the ground and placed myself back in the centre of my half of the arena. The slight sting on my right side had now started to become a slight hindrance. I couldn't feel it while walking, but I knew that it would hurt if I was to do anything strenuous. "But I must admire it's courage."

I'll give you something to admire me for. I'm not going to stop until that Lucario is in that back wall. "Luyo, Night Slash." I walked forward slowly, reaching the centre divider of the arena, stopping just on my half of the line. I stood tall, waiting for Lucario to show any sign of a counterattack. But instead, I saw Maylene just standing still, waiting for me to strike. And I wasn't about to disappoint.

I walked casually over towards Lucario, planning how I was going to strike at him, I knew that it had to be done quickly. Even his speed was impressive, but my choice was to either strike hard, damaging as much as possible with a chance of missing. Or, to just get an attack on him and start to wear it down.

"Use Me First."

The Lucario instantly sprang to life and shot towards me, holding its arms forward in an attempt to strike me with my own attack. I leapt into the air and came down just as Lucario shot past me. I turned around immediately and waited for it to try and strike again. Then, I would make my first contact.

"Luyo, same as last time. Detect then counter with Slash!"

I wasted no time, sensing the arena for any sign of movement. It helped me greatly that Taine and Maylene were dead still. Although I could clearly hear Zica's wings-flap repeatedly, it was enough to bring me back to reality, and hear Lucario's breathing coming up on my right side again.

I launched myself backwards, dodging the kick that was meant to strike the same place as before. I shot my left foreleg forward to try and catch the Lucario's trailing leg or tail. Anything that could prove useful to me later in the battle. Baring my claws I caught some part of my adversary. I dug in and gripped onto it tighter, propelled forward back onto my side of the arena by the speed of the Lucario. I spun around and landed with a slight skid, glancing at my claw finding a small tuft of reddish-black fur. I had caught him.

Lucario returned to his side of the arena, nursing its left leg, trying to keep its weight off it and keep its body between me, and the injury. "So, it seems that your Absol can, in fact, fight. This just got interesting." I saw parts of Lucario's injury, and my first suspicion was correct, I had drawn blood, and a seeping wound in the wild would eventually lead to your demise, unless you were the strongest thing out there. "Are you alright Lucario?"

It turned back to face it's master and nodded, not saying a word. I figured that it had the control of telepathy. I would ask Syne about it later considering Maylene said it was type Steel and type Fighting. Maybe he was just lying to me to begin with. But I doubted that.

"Good work Luyo. Try another Shadow Ball and follow behind it with a Night Slash!"

And so I would. I widened my forepaws once more and channelled some energy into a black and purple sphere, I charged it larger than the first two combined, totalling into an attack larger than I was in size, and I wasted no time in sending it towards my opponent. The moment I released the attack I bounded forward after it, following the attack with my blade at the ready. I charged my blade with the same amount of energy as the Shadow Ball, causing it to glow a deep blue which flashed into my vision as I ran forwards. I couldn't hear Maylene say anything, she worded something, but it didn't matter to me. There were no orders made, so I didn't know what to look for. What to counter. It was just like a wild battle.

The Shadow Ball stopped before me, but I wouldn't be the one to detonate it, I launched myself over the top, behind Lucario who was fighting to hold the attack in place. I swung my scythe towards Lucario, releasing the stored energy to attack, striking Lucario's back right in the centre. The moment was almost too perfect. I watched Lucario's arms shoot behind himself to reach the new cut I had just created, only to realise that it left my first attack to strike in full force. I had little time to think. I dodged off to my right, only to watch Lucario being carried past me and out of the arena. My attack drove Lucario past where Maylene was standing, who was shouting out Lucario's name, but it was useless. I watched the energy shoot the blue and black pokémon into the back wall, only then to detonate and cause the thick layer of dust to re-emerge around the arena.

Luyo! Syne's voice found its way into my mind. Are you alright?

I panted slightly, feeling the drain on my power the two combined attacks had taken. I am fine. I looked onto the ground, seeing nothing but the same brown as the dust that surrounded me. Sight was useless. I closed my eyes and tried to sense what was around me. Maylene was gone, she was over behind me knelt over, Taine hadn't moved, and Zica had started to try and blow some of the dust away. I moved towards the sounds of my friends. Syne was telling the group that I was alright, but I couldn't hear anything from behind me.

The moment the dust cleared, it was obvious what had happened. "Lucario is defeated. Absol is the winner! Victory goes to the challenger!" The announcer shout throughout the arena as I slowly padded my way back onto my side of the arena.

"Someone call the Pokémon centre! Tell nurse Joy that it's an emergency!" Maylene cried out behind me. Several other people relayed the message and shuffled behind me. But that was it. They were behind me, and what was meant to be a tough battle wasn't anything more than an easy victory. Then again, I hadn't met anyone who could take both my Night Slash and Shadow Ball one at a time, let alone both at once.

"I knew you could do it Luyo!" I watched Taine who turned around questioningly as he saw Syne bound forward towards me. I nuzzled into his side once we were within reach. "And all you had to do was listen."

"I wouldn't have had to listen if it wasn't so quick on its feet." I tried to keep my weight off my right side, feeling the after-effects of the two attacks the Lucario had managed to land on me. But you surprised me when you actually knew what my attacks were. I told Taine.

"I had to do some research first. But it was a strategy to make use of your power. I knew they wouldn't believe that you were the reason that avalanche happe-"

"You!" I turned around to see Maylene stomp her way across the battlefield. "Who do you think you are bringing something that powerful into my gym! We could've been killed! Don't you understand that?"

"I knew what I was doing Maylene. Luyo wouldn't intentionally harm anything that she wasn't battling." I lowered my head slightly. At least he was lying for the old me. "Besides. It was you who said tha-"

Your Lucario told me that type ruled everything when it came to battles. I merely wanted to prove it wrong.

The gym leader then turned around to face Syne and myself. "Lucario is never that short-sighted. You only came here to destroy my gym!"

"But in the end, we won the battle. Fair, and square."

Maylene pouted and turned back to face Taine. "That may be true, but you are to be denied entry if that thing comes along." I felt like knocking her down and doing to her what I just did to her pokémon, but that was the old me. I even felt Syne's tail reach back and hold one of my hind legs. Maylene groaned and reached into one of her pockets. "Take this." She tossed out a small piece of what looked like jewellery towards Taine. "And may we never speak of this battle again."

I then watched as she turned away and headed to the front door, obviously worried about her Lucario. I watched Syne's head follow. Don't worry Syne, nothing is wrong with it. I didn't use anywhere near enough power to do any real damage. I only hurt its spirit.

I trust you. But it looked like it was a very powerful attack.

That was just under the power I used to cause the avalanche. But I can go even stronger than that. We walked forward to re-join the group in what I assumed was to be a full frontal assault of praise or congratulations.

Don't worry Luyo. I don't care if I never see another attack from you again.

* * *