Pokemon: The Gameboy Effect

Brilliant flames erupted as Mega Blaziken took the stage, ribbons of fire wrapping around its wrists like scarves. The sheer intensity of its presence sent waves of heat washing over the entire arena, and Mega Absol's intimidating aura was immediately pushed back and overwhelmed.

The appearance of two MEGA Pokemon had elevated the battle to its absolute peak before a single move was even thrown.

"Mega Blaziken..." Sidney murmured, his eyes widening with realization. "So Blaziken is your trump card."

Using a starter Pokemon as your ace was an unconventional strategy, but it made sense. This was now a clash between true champions, trump card versus trump card.

Blaziken has fought four consecutive battles, Sidney reasoned. Its stamina should be running low. I have the advantage here!

"Swords Dance!" Sidney commanded.

Mega Absol didn't move a muscle, but a subtle white light flickered across its body for just an instant before fading away.

John's eyebrows shot up in surprise. To activate Swords Dance without any visible motion required an incredible level of mastery. This Absol's technique was far beyond anything he'd expected from an Elite Four member.

"Spiral Aura Sphere!" John countered without hesitation. When in doubt, hit first and ask questions later.

Mega Blaziken raised its hands, waveguide energy coalescing rapidly between its palms. The resulting attack was noticeably larger and faster than its pre-MEGA evolution version.

"Slash!" Sidney's command came like a whipcrack.

Mega Absol vanished in a blur of white, activating Quick Attack with breathtaking speed. Its wings barely twitched as it became a streak of silver light racing across the battlefield.

The movement was so fast that John barely registered it, just a flash of deadly sharpness cutting through the air.

The next moment, the spiral Aura Sphere was cleaved perfectly in half, its two pieces spinning off in opposite directions before exploding harmlessly against the arena walls.

"Now that's a sharp blade," John muttered appreciatively.

He'd heard that Sidney's fighting style was pure aggression, like a berserker who threw everything into devastating attacks. As his ace Pokemon, Absol was the sharpest weapon in his arsenal.

Through the rising smoke, Mega Absol burst forward like a white lightning bolt, closing the distance to Mega Blaziken in the span of a single heartbeat.

John didn't have time to issue a command, and Mega Blaziken made no move to defend itself, allowing Mega Absol to strike directly.

But the moment of impact revealed the truth, Mega Absol shattered like smoke upon contact.

"Double Team!" John realized.

"Didn't fall for it, huh?" Sidney wasn't surprised. "No matter. Let's try a different approach."

Five identical Mega Absols suddenly emerged from the dissipating smoke, each one moving with predatory grace.

The first shadow clone had been bait, designed to trick Mega Blaziken into attacking and leave it open for a devastating Sucker Punch. Since that hadn't worked, Sidney was going for an overwhelming multi-directional assault.

However, John found Sidney's Double Team tactics rather primitive.

All of John's close-combat Pokemon had learned Mind's Eye and kept it active during battle without needing commands. The technique allowed them to see through all deceptions, making Double Team completely ineffective against Mega Blaziken's perception. Even through the smoke, every one of Mega Absol's movements was crystal clear.

"Speaking of Double Team tactics," John chuckled, "I'm much better at this game than you are."

"Blaziken, Double Kick!"

Mega Blaziken immediately crouched forward, completely ignoring the three Mega Absols in front of it, and launched a powerful kick at the Mega Absol on the far left.

BANG!

The solid impact confirmed a hit, but the struck Mega Absol exploded into smoke just like the others.

A Substitute mixed in with the Double Team, John noted. It was the same tactic he'd developed for Greninja, not particularly complex, but effective if your opponent wasn't prepared for it.

However, Mega Blaziken's Double Kick was a two-stage attack. One kick destroyed the Substitute, and the second kick was already tracking toward the real Mega Absol.

"Night Slash!" Sidney snarled.

Mega Absol's eyes flashed with pale purple psychic energy as darkness began to swallow its form. It met Mega Blaziken's second kick head-on, but at the moment of impact, something extraordinary happened.

As if possessed by supernatural foresight, Mega Absol twisted sideways at the last possible instant, avoiding the kick entirely. It then accelerated forward with explosive speed, aiming directly for Mega Blaziken's chest.

Night Slash was designed to target an opponent's vital points, and Mega Absol's timing was perfect.

But if it thought this would be enough to defeat John's Mega Blaziken, it was severely underestimating its opponent.

With Mind's Eye active, Mega Blaziken had complete awareness of Mega Absol's movements. Even as the Dark-type evaded and counterattacked, Mega Blaziken raised one hand and launched a point-blank spiral Aura Sphere.

Impossibly, Mega Absol avoided this attack as well.

The forward lunge was a feint, the Night Slash cancelled mid-motion, and Mega Absol leaped backward while unleashing a blast of Dark Pulse from its mouth.

Mega Blaziken sidestepped the attack with casual ease, and both Pokemon returned to their starting positions, facing each other across the battlefield.

The scene was surreal. In the span of just a few seconds, both Pokemon had exchanged multiple attacks, yet neither had managed to land a single hit on their opponent.

Both trainers fell silent, lost in thought.

What just happened?

"Blaziken saw through Absol's movements with Mind's Eye," John murmured to himself, "but then how did Absol avoid Blaziken's attacks?"

The answer came to him like a lightning bolt. "Future Sight."

The scene reminded him of training battles between his team members, specifically, Blaziken versus Gardevoir. Gardevoir didn't have Mind's Eye, but it could predict Blaziken's actions in advance, maintaining perfect defense. Meanwhile, Blaziken and Greninja could dodge and counter Gardevoir's attacks using Mind's Eye, even breaking through Confusion attacks.

This situation was exactly the same. Mega Absol was using Future Sight.

Even as a Dark-type, Absol was born with the ability to sense disasters, a natural precognitive talent that made mastering Future Sight almost inevitable for a specimen of this caliber.

However, precognition wasn't absolutely invincible. As long as Mega Absol couldn't physically dodge an attack, even Future Sight wouldn't save it.

John raised his hand with renewed confidence. "Blaziken, Agility! Then Blaze Kick!"