-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

Undying Flame

"Arcanine, extreme speed to keep them back!"

The fire type disappeared in the blink of an eye, confusing his two opponents for a moment. An invisible force struck Heatran over the head before crashing into Volcanion, sending him flying into the cave wall. The volcano pokemon was quick to retaliate, launching a powerful stone edge attack.

Arcanine evaded at the last second, but was taken by surprise when Volcanion returned to the field. The steam pokemon charged into the pure fire type, sending him to the floor. Arcanine recovered quickly but it was clear to see he was at a disadvantage because he was outnumbered. Due to the extreme environment, my options were limited.

Both Sceptile and Aegislash were particularly susceptible to the intense heat and the deep underground cave was a terrible battlefield for the two dragon pokemon. Even with her ability to change type, Ninetails was still primarily an ice type and it would be risky to hedge my bets on an ability I didn't fully understand.

"Arcanine, we have to retreat, this isn't good for us."

As I turned to the fire type, his intentions were clear. He kept his gaze fixed on the two legendary pokemon, letting out a proud bark. Ever since we had met in Kalos, I could see the bravery written all over Arcanine's heart. He was never one to turn tail and this was no exception, even with the battle looking this unfavourable.

He must have sensed my uncertainty, barking again, this time with more conviction. I knew there was no convincing him otherwise but Arcanine gave me the confidence I needed to focus on the battle. If we were to pull through here, we would need to be at our absolute battling peaks. Anything less wouldn't be enough.

I focused my attention on the two legendary pokemon. They had been eerily quiet, watching Arcanine and I. Their explosive tempers were misleading because on the battlefield, they were apex predators studying their prey.

"Extreme speed again Arcanine."

Once more, the fire type disappeared into the air. This time, Volcanion was hit first, Heatran receiving the most attention of the pair. Both pokemon shook off the attacks making it clear that we needed to hit them with something much stronger.

Volcanion returned to his feet, stood at the edge of the cave. He readied his cannons, firing two torrential water streams at Arcanine who was quick to dodge. As the fire type evaded the move, Volcanion's attack crashed into the roof of the cave. I had to jump to the side to avoid the falling debris, the cave becoming increasingly unstable as the battle raged on.

Arcanine turned to me for a second, checking if I was alright. That tiny opening was enough for Heatran to land a powerful crunch attack. The fire type clamped by the volcano pokemon's gaping mouth.

"Close combat to escape then wild charge!"

The fire type spun his body rapidly, landing successive direct hits onto his opponent. He manged to escape the vice grip, cloaking himself in an electrifying light. Heatran had no time to recover from the first attack before Arcanine crashed into it, sending the volcano pokemon flying into the cave wall.

Arcanine let out a proud roar, showing that he was more than capable of battling head to head with these legendary pokemon. The recoil from the previous attack took its toll but I could see that the fire type wouldn't go down so easily.

Volcanion turned to fire his cannons once again, piping hot steam covering the room quickly. Arcanine followed my lead, countering the attack with an equally powerful fire blast. The two attacks cancelled each other out, the entire room now filled with residual steam.

Heatran returned to his feet and before I could call out to Arcanine, he was struck directly by the volcano pokemon's magma storm attack. The fire type was wrapped in bright orange flames but after a moment, they had dissipated. Arcanine had absorbed the fire attack, his strength bolstered from Heatran's scorching flames.