Pokémon: Above the Top

In Pokémon battles, size advantage couldn't be ignored, but for Umbreon, its small size actually helped it dodge moves and stay close to opponents.

After all, Umbreon rarely fought with brute force; disrupting and wearing down the opponent over time was its true path.

Seeing that Charizard had no intention of landing, Umbreon capitalized on the nature of Sucker Punch as a first-strike move, quickly locked onto Charizard's flight pattern, and went in straight for the hit.

"CHARIZARD, FLY HIGHER!" Clair shouted, and Charizard jolted, flapping its wings to ascend quickly.

Umbreon leapt upward, but only reached the spot where Charizard had just been… Sucker Punch failed.

"Still good enough, use Toxic."

"Umb!"

Umbreon "hovered" briefly in the air, body slightly arched, and the black fur on its back stood completely on end. In the next second, countless needle-fine streams of poison sprayed from the pores on its back and splashed all over Charizard.

"Charizard, use Seismic Toss!" Clair knew it was too late to avoid Toxic, so she committed to the attack, a classic all-or-nothing move.

"CHAAAARIZARD!"

Charizard roared in fury, both from pain and the poison spreading through its body. It lunged at the airborne Umbreon, grabbed it, and began spinning rapidly.

BOOOM

Charizard dove straight down with Umbreon, slamming it hard into the ground at the last second. Relying on its powerful physique, Charizard twisted mid-air and landed on the other side of the battlefield.

"Charizard, clear the dust with Heat Wave!" Sweat beaded on Clair's forehead as she stared into the cloud of dust, silently hoping… 'Maybe it was over?'

But her hope was short-lived. Just as Heat Wave blew the dust away, tiny specks of light shimmered into view. It wasn't hard to tell, Umbreon was using the move Wish.

"No more waiting! Charizard, Blast Burn!" Seeing Charizard's condition worsening, Clair ordered it to unleash its ultimate move.

Blast Burn: an exclusive Fire-type signature move for starters. Its power rivaled Hyper Beam, and while it left the user temporarily immobile, it was designed to end battles in one shot.

Charizard's whole body now glowed red, the flame on its tail flaring more than ten times its usual size. With a furious roar, it formed a fireball the size of its entire body right in front of it.

The fireball was deep crimson, with hints of blue glowing at its core. Its heat rivaled that of Houndoom's, and thanks to move enhancements, might have even surpassed it.

"Take this, Sato!" Clair declared confidently. While Sato's Houndoom had a Flame Orb for boost, her Charizard always carried top-grade Charcoal, its power boost was no less.

"Umbreon, hold on with Substitute." Sato didn't say much, just gave Umbreon a double-layer of insurance.

Blast Burn crashed down with a thunderous roar. Facing such overwhelming power, Umbreon's tiny form seemed especially small and helpless. Even Mark and the others couldn't help but close their eyes.

RUMMMMBLE~

---

Locals passing by the Gym suddenly heard a massive explosion from inside and instinctively stepped farther away.

"That's gotta be the Gym Leader himself. I wonder which Trainer made him go all out today," one passerby said.

"That heatwave… it must be the Gym Leader's Houndoom, nothing else could be this intense!" another guessed quickly, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

---

Back to the battle.

Charizard panted heavily, half-kneeling as it stared into the burning crater where Umbreon had landed. It was still suffering from the effects of Toxic. Though nearly out of stamina, it stubbornly wanted to see its opponent fall first.

"UUUMBRE~"

Suddenly, a crisp and powerful cry rang out. Umbreon leapt out from the crater, looking a little roughed up, but clearly in much better shape than Charizard.

Charizard watched as its opponent emerged unscathed from its strongest move, and with one final jolt of fury… it collapsed.

"Charizard has lost the ability to battle. Umbreon is the winner, and thus the victor of this battle is the Gym Leader, Sato!"

With the referee's announcement, the battle officially ended. Sato had taken the match with a 2-to-3 lead, relatively easily.

Clair silently recalled Charizard, momentarily unsure of what to say.

Clap clap clap…

Applause broke out, led by Sato, followed by Joseph and Mark, and soon everyone watching the match joined in.

"You've improved a lot. Seems like you haven't been slacking off," Sato commented in his usual old-soul tone.

"Hmph, y-you're the one who's been slacking!" Their applause clearly lifted Clair's spirits, though she remained "stubborn" as ever on the outside.

"Want a few pointers?" Sato smiled, still fulfilling his duty as Gym Leader.

"Go ahead, go ahead, you won anyway." Clair acted annoyed, but her tilted ears were already perked.

"Kingdra's pretty solid. But you focused too much on covering its mobility weakness, and ended up not using its cannon-like firepower to full advantage, that's the first thing.

Second, Rhydon's got slow reflexes and poor agility. I'm guessing you only recently catch it?

Third, you saw me send out Umbreon, and still went with a high-burst but low-stamina Charizard. You really…"

Sato paused mid-sentence, seeing Clair's completely defeated expression. He decided not to go too hard on her.

"You really… used your brain, at least. Charizard's burst potential is scary. It can unleash a bunch of Fire-type moves without hesitation. That final Blast Burn wasn't bad at all…"

"But I still lost," Clair interjected, cutting Sato off mid-comment.

"Yeah, so you were being impulsive. If you'd stayed calm, this battle could've gone differently," Sato added one last piece of feedback, still going easy on her.

"…What can I say… seeing your annoying face just gets me too fired up," Clair mumbled, clearly upset, though still sharp-tongued.

"…Heh." Sato gave a deadpan chuckle and silently swore that the next time he tried giving advice, he'd deserve to eat instant noodles with no flavor packet, run out of toilet paper in the restroom, and only get the chicken butt in a battle royale.

"Alright, a loss is a loss. But I won't let you pull too far ahead. Of course, if you insist on giving me a Badge, I guess I wouldn't say no," Clair kept pushing her luck.

"I've never left you behind… because we were never in the same league to begin with. And don't worry, I won't make you leave empty-handed," Sato snapped back, feeling very satisfied.

"Ah, there it is~ Your real personality. Make sure you always stay this honest, okay?" Clair suddenly smiled, beaming with joy, which made Sato's skin crawl.

"What do you mean?"

"Take a guess, Sato~ You're so smart, aren't you? Anyway, I'm in a hurry this time, didn't get a Badge from you, so I gotta get going. Bye-bye~" Clair turned and walked away without hesitation.

Sato stood there, confused as he watched Clair's retreating figure… yet another girl he just couldn't understand.