-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

Shaking the Rust

"Typhlosion use focus blast!"

"Counter with wild charge!"

The volcano pokemon unleashed the powerful blast of energy. Arcanine cloaked himself in an electrifying light, charging to the center of the field. The two attacks collided, kicking up a dust cloud. For a moment, our vision was obscured, but that wouldn't stop us.

"Follow up with close combat."

As the legendary pokemon initiated his attack, the dust cloud dispersed. Now I could clearly see the two pokemon battling fiercely. Every time Arcanine threw an attack, Typhlosion was equal to to it, blocking or faintly avoiding the damaging blows.

I could see that this wasn't working out for us and so could Arcanine. He backed up from attacking, retreating to our side of the battlefield.

"What's wrong Aaron? You seem out of practice." Dawn's teasing hit my pride right where it mattered. I knew I was rusty, but I didn't need someone pointing that out to me, let alone the person I'm battling.

"Arcanine, use morning sun."

As instructed, the dog pokemon began focusing on using the sun's energy to restore his health. The sun shone brightly over head, amplified by the lofty glass ceiling. "Now flare blitz!"

In the blink of an eye, Arcanine had crossed the field, landing a direct hit on the opposing pokemon. Although the move wasn't very effective, Typhlosion couldn't just shake off such a powerful move. Arcanine quickly backed up as his opponent became covered in a thick cloud of smoke.

However, the volcano pokemon stepped out from the smoke unscathed. Somehow, he was fueled with even more power, letting out a ferocious roar, his body erupting in flames.

"See, like I said. Out of practice."

I mentally slapped myself for making such a rookie error. I should have guessed that a trainer of Dawn's ability would only train with the strongest pokemon. Hidden abilities weren't common but my opponent had manged to obtain such a rarity.

"Thunder punch Typhlosion!"

"Counter with wild charge!"

The two fire pokemon prepared their electric moves, the air becoming tense. Then in one swift motion, they had both collided at the center of the field, becoming engulfed in a bright electrifying aura.

"Now follow with close combat."

Once again, Arcanine followed the electric move with a close range fighting move. Now that our opponent was within arm's reach, the odds of landing a hit were high. In a flurry of moves, Arcanine had landed multiple hits and it was clear that Typhlosion was hurt.

"Typhlosion use earthquake!"

The entire building began to shake as the volcano pokemon hunched his body over the dry mud floor. Arcanine couldn't avoid the super effective move as he fell to the ground in a heap. As the attack stopped, the legendary pokemon slowly stood up to his feet, I could see that he was tired.

"Use morning sun Arcanine."

"Don't let up, use focus blast!"

As Arcanine attempted to regain his energy, he faltered. In that half second, Typhlosion used the opening the land the powerful attack. Fortunately, Arcanine was able to stand again, this time able to regain his energy.

I paused for a moment as the two pokemon stared each other down. I could see that both pokemon were breathing heavily, clearly tired from the battle. If the battle was going to end soon, Arcanine and I needed to capitalise on this.