"Unleash your burning passion and turn the tide, Show 'em true heat and overwhelm 'em all!"
"Torkoal, it's all up to you now!"
Flannery swept away her earlier slump, the roaring surge of excitent rekindling her fighting spirit in an instant.
"Sharpedo, return."
Sieg's decision to recall Sharpedo caught Flannery off guard, but for Sieg, this battle was already in his grasp, so he might as well let more of his Pokémon get real combat training.
"Crawdaunt, you're up for the final stretch."
The two Pokémon faced each other down in the arena, eyes locked in a silent clash of will.
Flannery's ace was her Torkoal, a pure Fire-type with an impressive base Defense of 140 but a Speed of only 20, making it an extre mix of impenetrable defense and utter slowness.
Sieg could feel the temperature around him rise, and the sun overhead seed to burn even hotter. He thought to himself, As expected, it has Drought.
Torkoal's other two possible Abilities were White Smoke and Shell Armor.
White Smoke prevents stat drops, but it's basically a filler ability with almost no use in real battles.
Shell Armor blocks critical hits, which makes it a solid Ability for defense-focused Pokémon.
But compared to those, Drought was the true trump card!
Sieg had already looked up all the strategies before coming here and knew Torkoal's Ability was Drought.
"Torkoal, Sunny Day!"
"Crawdaunt, Rain Dance!"
The commands clashed in the air, both Trainers fighting for the weather!
Weather and terrain are like the battlefield's domain in the gas, you might not always hold the upper hand, but you must never let your opponent seize control uncontested.
And the only way to fight weather was to change it with your own move.
With Drought already boosting the sunlight, if Sunny Day landed too, Sieg's elental edge would be flipped on its head.
The sun grew fiercer as the Sunny Day boosted the Drought, drying the air even more, but Crawdaunt's Rain Dance countered, dark clouds gathering at the center of the field, and fine rain began to fall.
The two Pokémon poured every bit of their strength into this unseen struggle. Though they stood motionless in the arena, the battle raging overhead showed who was winning.
Right now, it looked like Torkoal held the upper hand.
Crawdaunt could only secure a small pocket of rain around itself, unable to expand the rainfall outward.
Just as I thought, its Sunny Day mastery is higher than Crawdaunt's Rain Dance, Sieg thought, his expression calm though his heart was tense. And it has Drought backing it up too.
As expected of a Gym Leader. She might look carefree and laid-back, but no Gym Leader was ever simple underneath.
"In that case, Crawdaunt, Scald!"
Sieg instantly shifted tactics. If he couldn't win the weather battle, then he'd stop playing that ga altogether, straight offense it was!
If I can't have the weather, then neither can you. If I can't use it, you won't get to either.
A torrent of boiling water surged toward Torkoal.
"Torkoal, use that move!"
Flannery's mysterious command snapped through the air.
Torkoal pulled its head and limbs into its shell, spinning rapidly like a living top.
Withdraw plus Rapid Spin!
The high-speed spinning smashed the Scald away. Sieg didn't flinch, imdiately ordering, "Crawdaunt, Dragon Dance!"
With Torkoal's turtle speed, it had no hope of stopping Crawdaunt from boosting up.
Crawdaunt perford its fierce, mysterious dance, each beat of its odd movents pumped raw power through its body. Its presence grew heavier, sharper.
"If Scald won't do it, let's try Rock Slide!"
At Sieg's command, Crawdaunt's massive claws slamd into the ground, hurling a barrage of jagged stones at Torkoal.
"Torkoal, Fla Wheel!"
The falling rocks buried Torkoal, but with a burst of swirling flas, it smashed through the rubble and charged straight at Crawdaunt.
But Crawdaunt was well-prepared for close combat. It resisted Fire, and with its brutal training in the wild, it had no fear of brawling up close. Sieg ordered calmly, "Crawdaunt, Razor Shell!"
Crawdaunt's claws sliced through the air, clashing with the spinning, fla-cloaked Torkoal. The two collided again and again, Crawdaunt's blows never losing montum.
Flannery clearly didn't want Torkoal to get locked into a head-on clash either. A Crawdaunt that had stacked a Dragon Dance was no joke, its power and speed both soared. Flannery's plan was simple, to stall and wait for Crawdaunt's buff to wear off on its own.
But did she really think Sieg couldn't see through that?
"Crawdaunt, Aqua Jet, blast it away!"
Torkoal, still spinning in its Fla Wheel, couldn't sense where Crawdaunt's next attack would co from.
It was smashed backward by Crawdaunt's full-body Aqua Jet.
"Crawdaunt, Razor Shell again!"
Sieg wasted no ti. He had to end this fight while Crawdaunt's Dragon Dance boost still held.
Flannery, as the seasoned Gym Leader she is, read the flow instantly. "Torkoal, Flathrower, keep it at bay!"
A pillar of searing fire swept across the field, scorching the ground black.
The sheer force was terrifying, the once dusty earth was now charred and cracked like burned wood.
As expected. Even without Sunny Day, Drought alone is giving her the upper hand, Sieg thought, licking his dry lips as sweat dripped down his back.
Drought's passive alone could shift the entire battlefield's temperature.
But Crawdaunt, hardened by countless wild battles, had endured worse. Heat alone wouldn't stop it now.
"Crawdaunt, Aqua Jet in close, then Razor Shell!"
Torkoal's Flathrower couldn't halt Crawdaunt's charge, the surging water slamd into it head-on.
Torkoal's massive Defense stat absorbed the most of it. Even with Crawdaunt's double type advantage, Dragon Dance boost, STAB bonus and Mystic Water, Aqua Jet's base power was only 40, not enough to break Torkoal's iron defense at once.
Torkoal was simply too tanky.
But in close combat, Crawdaunt feared nothing.
"Crawdaunt, Razor Shell!"
"Torkoal, Iron Tail!"
"Crawdaunt, Razor Shell!"
"Torkoal, Fla Wheel!"
"Crawdaunt, Razor Shell!"
"Torkoal, Gyro Ball!"
They clashed again and again, neither side backing down.
Crawdaunt's type advantage and boosted power pressed Torkoal back each ti.
But Torkoal, with the weather on its side and its monstrous Defense, held the line stubbornly.
In that fiery, rain-soaked battlefield, the deadlock raged on with no sign of ending.
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