"Goodra, Dragon Pulse!"
Lian watched as Steven sent out his own Pokémon — there was no way around it now. This fight had to happen.
Goodra opened its small mouth and let loose a bluish-purple Dragon Pulse.
"Lucario, Dragon Pulse!" Steven called, sweeping his hand forward.
A bluish-purple sphere of energy gathered between Lucario's palms. He thrust his hands out, and the sphere twisted into the shape of a dragon's head, dragging a long serpentine body behind it as it surged forward.
Boom!
The two Dragon Pulses met head-on in midair, and the collision tore the ground apart in a burst of shattered rock and billowing smoke.
Whoosh—
Lucario's dragon head burst free of the smoke and lunged straight at Goodra. Goodra took the hit and staggered back several steps. Steven recalled, though — Hisuian Goodra carried a Steel/Dragon typing, and its Special Defense was already remarkable on its own. Weakened as it was by the clash, the Dragon Pulse barely scratched it.
Still, one thing was obvious: Lucario's raw strength outclassed Goodra's by a clear margin.
Steven watched Goodra shake off the hit and reset its footing. "Not a pure Dragon-type, then," he murmured.
"Shelter!" Lian shouted.
Steven blinked — he'd never actually seen this move used before. He recalled it now: Shelter hardened the user's skin like an iron plate, sharply raising its Defense — much like Iron Defense — and, back when it was first introduced, it had carried a Smokescreen-like evasion boost as well, though that extra effect had since been trimmed away in later generations. It was a Hisuian Goodra signature move, one few Trainers ever saw firsthand.
Goodra drew its body back into its shell, glowing orange all over as silvery-gray light flickered across its spiraled shell.
"A defense boost, then," Steven said, rubbing his chin — it did look a lot like Iron Defense.
"Swords Dance!"
"Luca!"
Four blades of light sprang up around Lucario, spinning steadily in place.
You raise your Defense, I'll raise my Attack.
"Heavy Slam!"
Goodra burst from its shell in a spray of mucus and thundered toward Lucario on heavy feet.
Steel-type, then, Steven thought. "Bone Rush!"
Lucario slammed a palm into the ground, and five glowing bone-shaped projectiles rose from the earth. He caught one, hurled the other four at Goodra, then threw the last as well.
"Endure it!" Lian shouted. Goodra shielded itself with its arms and body, absorbing every bone strike, then charged.
"Extreme Speed!"
Lucario vanished from where he stood in a flash.
Boom—
Goodra's momentum carried it straight into the ground, gouging out a crater.
"Muddy Water!"
Goodra stamped down hard, and a wave of muddy water surged outward. Steven and Metagross shot into the air, narrowly avoiding it, but Lucario — having just landed from Extreme Speed — took the brunt of it, tumbling through the current before it finally receded. He climbed back up, shaking the water from his fur, looking somewhat worse for wear.
"Low Kick!" Steven called from above.
Lucario surged forward toward Goodra.
"Earthquake!"
Goodra leapt and slammed back down, and the ground shuddered violently as the shockwave spread underground.
"Extreme Speed!"
Lucario's speed spiked again, and he sprang from rock to rock, vaulting into the air. Earthquake was powerful, sure, but it wasn't unavoidable — jump high enough and it might as well not exist. Still, against heavier opponents or in the right circumstances, it could hit devastatingly hard.
Boom!
The ground split apart below, but Lucario was already well out of range.
"Hydro Pump!"
Goodra fired a thick jet of water up at him. Lucario crossed his arms to brace for it.
Bang!
The blast sent him spinning down to the ground. Dodging Earthquake from the air had come at a cost — nothing to dodge with up there meant taking the next hit clean. A fair trade, in its own way.
"Luca!" Without pausing, Lucario surged forward the instant he landed, closing the gap with another burst of Extreme Speed. He drove a kick into Goodra's lower body, knocking it down hard.
Boom!
Goodra crashed into the dirt, its shell wedging into the crater it made, leaving it struggling to rise.
"Muddy Water!" Lian called, refusing to give it a chance to recover. Goodra, still on the ground, spread its arms and unleashed the attack from where it lay.
"Jump and use Aura Sphere!"
Lucario planted a foot on Goodra's body and vaulted clear of the water, a blue sphere already forming between his palms. He hurled it down.
Bang!
With its underside exposed, Goodra took the Aura Sphere directly. The Muddy Water sputtered out moments later.
Lucario landed and raised an arm high, waiting for the command.
"Brick Break!"
His hand came down like an axe onto Goodra's body.
Bang—
Goodra was sent rolling across the ground — which, as it turned out, was exactly what freed it from its crater.
"Roar..." Goodra rose slowly, breathing hard, eyes locked on Lucario.
"Flamethrower!" Lian snapped, frowning. At this rate, there was no hiding how the fight would end.
"Aura Sphere!"
The blue sphere met the pillar of flame head-on.
Boom!
Both attacks detonated together, the shockwave rolling outward in every direction.
"Drain Punch!"
Lucario tore through the smoke, fist raised, closing in on a startled Goodra.
"Blizzard!" a bright voice called out.
"Stop!" Steven shouted at once.
Lucario skidded to a halt as a fierce Blizzard tore through the space between the two Pokémon — though its force was clearly restrained, meant only to break up the fight rather than do real damage. Not that it changed much; the outcome had already been settled. Had that Drain Punch landed, Goodra would have gone down for good.
Steven glanced sideways. A tall girl stood not far off — short yellow hair, a red off-the-shoulder top baring her midriff, white shorts, and two red scarves trailing in the wind behind her. Beside her stood a fox-like Pokémon with pale blue fur and what looked like a double-layered woven cap: a Glaceon, the one behind that Blizzard.
"Captain Pearl!" Lian said, straightening with visible respect.
"Lian, you've already lost," Pearl said, a faint smile on her lips as she walked closer. She stood tall — nearly one meter seventy — making Lian look almost like a small boy beside her.
"We honor the Sinnoh Grandeur, and the Kings with it. Kleavor's grown stronger now, but that only makes him more of a handful." She turned to Steven, who had climbed down from Metagross by then, before looking back to Lian. "If that lightning is what did this to him, shouldn't the false Sinnoh Grandeur be the one at fault?"
"False Sinnoh Grandeur?" Steven asked, caught off guard.
Pearl nodded. "The impostor the Diamond Clan worships."
Something clicked into place for Steven at once.
Dialga. So you've earned yourself some enemies too.