After watching Arcanine and Poliwrath crash into the enemy line with the full force of their power, I raised my wrist and flicked my band open. The number on the screen began to climb rapidly.
22… 31… 37… 44.
[You lost 2 times! You won 44 times!](Every Pokémon defeated counts as a win)
I swiped the screen, and new data came into view. Both Poliwrath and Arcanine were marked as fainted, their health bars empty. But the rest of the team—Scizor, Victreebel, and Tyranitar—were still on the field, steadily cleaning up the remaining opponents, one by one.
A voice snapped me out of the numbers.
"Alex!!!"
I turned just in time to see Khan sprinting toward me, his Dragonite, Scyther, and Golduck following close behind—probably won their battles–, their movements sharp and focused despite the chaos still crackling in the background.
"Y-you know," Khan said, panting slightly, "I really didn't think mixing moves would actually work! And—what the hell is 'Extreme Flame'?!" He broke into a laugh, the kind that came from awe and leftover adrenaline.
I was about to respond when I saw Steelix get slammed into a cracked wall by Victreebel, its Power Whip glowing with a brutal green light. The impact shook the ground. I felt my face blush a little.
"You know…" I muttered, glancing away, "Extreme Speed plus Flare Blitz equals Extreme Flame...." Then I turned to him out of shock, narrowing my eyes. "Wait—what do you mean you didn't know it would work?!"
Khan shrugged it off with that carefree grin, scratching the back of his head like it was nothing.
"I said it could work,not it will work!—and it did, so no problem, right?"
He laughed again, stepping a little closer. "But Man, the base power of that move was awesome. I wonder what other moves can be mixed? Think about it!" His voice practically buzzed with enthusiasm and curiosity.
After rolling my eyes ı shifted my gaze away from him for a second, eyes locking onto the black-haired girl with the ponytail. She was doing her best to regain control, shouting over the noise, trying to re-organize her team while her allies spiraled into panic. I could see the tension in her shoulders, the clenched jaw, the fury starting to boil over.
Then—
"Hey, watch this!" Khan said, stepping forward just as the last of my team joined me at my side.
"HEY GIRL, ARE YOU HAVING TROUBLE OVER THERE?!" he shouted across the field, a cocky little grin playing at the corner of his lips.
She froze, jaw tightening. Her composure cracked, and for a second, she seemed to lose herself to raw frustration. Her glare zeroed in on Khan like a laser.
"Fuck this team," she muttered under her breath.
Then, louder:
"You'll see the trouble!!"
She thrust a Pokéball forward, rage riding her voice like a battle cry.
"Blastoise—SHELL SMASH!!"
The ball burst open in a flash of red light, and Blastoise emerged with a roar, its twin cannons rotating and locking in place like war machines ready to fire. The thick shell on its back began to crack and contract, glowing with power as the Shell Smash took its effect. The surface of the shell thinned, light pulsing from beneath it—before a shimmer of silver-white bloomed behind the Water-type.
A White Herb.
The item activated instantly, neutralizing the defense drops from Shell Smash but keeping the +2 Attack,+2 Special Attack and +2 Speed.
The energy rolling off Blastoise was overwhelming now—dense, heavy, and poised to explode.
After seeing the Blastoise power up like that, I glanced at Khan. His confident grin faltered, and he instinctively took a step back, a flicker of unease flashing in his eyes.
Good.
My frustration boiled over as I clenched my fists.
"Remind me to never team up with you again!" I snapped as ı shouted.
"Victreebel, Power Whip!!"
Victreebel hissed as its long, coiling vines lashed out, swinging like living whips. They struck the broken ground with a crack, darting in and out of shattered concrete as they tore toward the enemy line. But before they could even reach their target—
"Charizard, use Heat Wave!! Blastoise, HYDRO PUMP!!!" the girl barked, her voice sharp like a blade.
I turned, stunned—Charizard, the same one I thought Khan had dealt with, burst from behind us. It soared over the rubble, wings beating once before flaring outward with a roar. A wave of shimmering heat exploded from its wings, rippling through the air.
Tyranitar and Golduck dove in front of us just in time to shield us, but the wave of flame scorched Victreebel'vines mid-swing, burning them to ash before they could even reach Blastoise.
And then Blastoise dropped to all fours.
Its twin cannons locked on us.
They glowed for only a moment before unleashing a devastating Hydro Pump, the torrent of water shrieking as it cut through the air like a missile.
"DRAGONITE, TANK IT!!" Khan shouted.
His Dragonite launched forward with a fierce cry, wings tucked in, taking the full brunt of the Hydro Pump. The force drove it back through the air, water exploding off its scales in every direction.
The girl bit her lip hard, then snarled. "GET RID OF THAT LIZARD—ICE BEAM!!"
The air turned sharp, cold. Frost danced around us as Blastoise's cannons gleamed with a new blue glow. The tips turned icy white.
Then—
A beam of pure frost screamed out, headed straight for Dragonite.
But I had enough of standing still.
"Scizor, Bullet Punch that Ice Beam! Victreebel, Power Whip—hit that Blastoise while it's still attacking! Tyranitar, Stone Edge—stop that Charizard! GO!!"
They responded immediately.
Scizor was first—red armor gleaming as he dashed across the battlefield. The Ice Beam streaked toward Dragonite, but Scizor leapt in front of it, slamming his fists against the beam with rapid, metallic strikes. The freezing energy shattered under his relentless Bullet Punches, sparkling like broken glass in midair before he launched himself toward Blastoise.
Meanwhile, Victreebel's vines burst from the ground again, slithering toward Blastoise with perfect timing, slipping past the fading ice as it reeled from the redirected assault.
Charizard tried to counter, wings flaring again—
But this time, Tyranitar was ready.
With a snarl, she raised both fists and slammed them into the ground using Stone Edge.
A jagged wall of rocks erupted from the cracked floor, slamming into Charizard mid-air. It shrieked as it was smashed backward, pinned between the stones and the wall behind it. The force of the impact sent shockwaves across the battlefield—and this time, Charizard didn't get back up.
It was out.
"Scizor, Bug Bite!" I shouted.
Victreebel's vines had already reached Blastoise, coiling around the bulky Water-type like serpents. They pulled tight, trapping it in place as Scizor closed the distance, blades drawn and gleaming.
It was perfect—too perfect.
But the girl didn't flinch.
She wasn't panicking.
A faint smile tugged at her lips, and her gaze wasn't even on the battlefield in front of her—it was locked just past me.
Something was wrong.
I turned.
Behind me, where Tyranitar's Stone Edge had pinned Charizard, a thick pink ooze was seeping through the cracks—dripping between stone and wall like melted candy. My stomach dropped as the slime shifted, twisted, and took shape.
Charizard.
Again.
Its wings unfurled with a hiss of heat, body rising as if born from the flames. A low growl rumbled in its throat before it swung one blazing wing forward.
Before we could even register what was happening, a searing wave of fire exploded toward us.
It struck like a comet.
Victreebel's vines turned to ash. Scizor never even made contact.
The inferno swallowed them both.
By the time the flames cleared, the battlefield was silent except for the crackle of smoke. Both of them were down—fainted.
I stood frozen, the heat still lingering in the air, my fists clenched at my sides.
Just one left now.
Tyranitar.
I bit down on my finger, hard. My thoughts were spiraling.
I knew that Khan already beat that Charizard! How could I forget she might have a Ditto? And how the hell did it manage to transform into Charizard without even seeing it? Could Tyranitar even do something here?
No. She'd be demolished. That Blastoise was still on the field, its cannons gleaming, and the Ditto could copy it too—with all those boosted stats from Shell Smash…
Fuck! I'm going mad.
Frustrated, I dragged both hands through my hair, trying to clear my head. Across from me, the girl casually tossed her final Pokéball. The capsule cracked open with a flash, revealing a sludgy, pulsating Muk oozing onto the battlefield. The air turned sour instantly, thick with the stench of poison.
I exhaled deeply—long, controlled—forcing myself to focus. Focus.
Then Khan's voice rang out beside me, as he finally snapped back into the fight.
"Golduck, use Surf—don't leave Ditto any room to run! Dragonite, Extreme Speed and follow up with Thunder Punch on Blastoise! Scyther, use Baton Pass—give your boost to Tyranitar!"
His energy was sharp again, precise. His Golduck raised its hands, gathering a massive wave before hurling it down the battlefield. Ditto-Charizard tried to escape, wings flaring—but the Stone Edge that Tyranitar had left behind earlier blocked its path. The wave crashed down, soaking the flames off its tail and slamming it against the wall.
It didn't even roar—just collapsed.
Ditto was done.
Meanwhile, Dragonite blurred out of sight, becoming a golden streak as it lunged at Blastoise before a thunder got stored into its hands but the Blastoise's +2 speed let it narrowly sidestep the attack, countering with an Ice Beam that hissed through the air only for Dragonite to flicker away again, dodging it by a hair's breadth thanks to the Extreme Speed.
On the other side, a shimmering baton of energy appeared in front of Scyther. He caught it with a serious face, then hurled it through the air like a javelin.
Tyranitar caught it.
A surge of energy exploded through her—+2 Attack on top of the two boosts she already had from Dragon Dance. Her body tensed, her eyes gleamed with raw power.
I looked towards the Khan,he was watching the fight with all of the intencity before he looked at me and holded his hand as he smiled forgetting about the battle for a second. "Remind me to never team up with you as well,Okey?" He said jokingly as ı holded his hand and looked at the girl who was lost in the Battle.