"Whoa, it's a Lucario!"
Yellow's big eyes sparkled. She was very interested in Lucario—because she thought Lucario looked cool.
In other words, pure aesthetics!
"Lucario has the Steel typing—Bruno's clearly aiming to counter here."
Leaf watched the cool and composed Lucario. Steelix was one thing, but Lucario was a full-on offensive Pokémon.
'Beep~ Lucario, Fighting/Steel-type, Aura PokémonAbility: Inner FocusMoves: Close Combat, Extreme Speed, Dragon Pulse, Aura Sphere, Meteor Mash, Swords Dance, Bone Rush…Description: It channels a mysterious force known as aura, strong enough to shatter massive boulders.'
This Lucario was strong.
Looking at its data, Asha glanced at Hatterene. With Trick Room and Psychic Terrain both gone, she wasn't sure how Hatterene could hold up.
On the field—
"Lucario, huh."
Dylan chuckled at the sight. Lucario was one of the most popular Pokémon in the entire franchise.
The reason? The movie laid a solid foundation, and with a striking design and Mega Evolution, Lucario checked every box—for power players, style lovers, and story fans alike.
Compared to another movie mon like Zoroark, Lucario's fame was in a whole different league.
Of course, Dylan liked Lucario too—handsome and strong, what wasn't to love?
"Lucario, Extreme Speed!" Bruno launched the first strike without hesitation.
With no Psychic Terrain to block priority moves, now was the time to attack.
"Trick Room."
Dylan didn't tell Hatterene to Baton Pass just yet.
A flash of white light erupted behind Lucario as it dashed at Hatterene with blinding speed.
Hatterene raised her claw, beginning to form a translucent white cube in the air.
Boom!
Extreme Speed connected hard—Lucario smashed into Hatterene, who groaned in pain.
But the Trick Room cube had already been cast into the air.
"Meteor Mash!"
Bruno followed up instantly.
Lucario's right fist gleamed with metallic light and slammed toward Hatterene.
The combo of Extreme Speed and Meteor Mash came too fast—Hatterene couldn't dodge and instead activated Psychic.
Blue light engulfed Lucario, briefly halting its movement as her psychic power restrained it.
But Lucario broke through in the next instant—his glowing fist carved a meteor trail through the air as it crashed into Hatterene.
Hatterene let out a sharp cry, flung backward by the hit.
Being Steel-type, Meteor Mash was super effective. Hatterene's HP took a sharp dip.
Her physical defense was decent, but Fairy-types in general had pretty low HP.
Still, Trick Room expanded once more, twisting the battlefield around them.
"Again with Trick Room."
The tall girl frowned at the spatial distortion.
"Hatterene's so slow—it's a perfect Trick Room user, but still..."
The birdkeeper stared at her.
"Even with Trick Room, priority moves like Extreme Speed ignore the inversion. Lucario still gets to move first."
Exactly—priority moves bypass Trick Room's speed reversal.
"If only Psychic Terrain were still up," the tall girl muttered. "Trick Room + Psychic Terrain would make this Hatterene nearly unstoppable."
She clicked her tongue in frustration, then realized someone was unusually quiet.
Where was the psychic specialist?
She turned to see him glaring at Lucario with clenched fists.
"Bruno is so shameless! A Fighting-type elite using Extreme Speed and Meteor Mash!?"
His voice dripped with outrage. That mutt of a Lucario—how dare it hit Hatterene so hard!
Tall Girl & Birdkeeper: "?"
Back on the field—
"Lucario, Extreme Speed!"
Despite Trick Room, Bruno wasn't worried.
Lucario's Speed was average at best, but it had great agility and access to tons of priority moves.
Vacuum Wave, Quick Attack, Extreme Speed—even Bullet Punch via breeding.
What really scared him wasn't Trick Room—but Psychic Terrain.
That would've disabled all priority moves.
Lucario burst toward Hatterene again, but this time... it was clearly slower.
Priority or not, the actual movement speed still depended on base stats—and Trick Room hit Lucario hard.
"Levitate. Life Dew."
Dylan smiled calmly.
Hatterene shimmered with blue light and floated up. She began conjuring a stream of water droplets that rained down upon her body.
"Lucario, stop it!" Bruno's face turned serious.
Life Dew was a healing move—he couldn't let her recover!
Lucario lunged beneath her and leapt up like a bullet.
Boom!
Extreme Speed struck again, Hatterene cried out as she was knocked back.
"You fell for it, Mr. Bruno."
Dylan's smile deepened.
"Pain Split."
"What?!"
Bruno's pupils shrank. What did Dylan just say!?
Still panting, Hatterene locked eyes with Lucario. White light glowed around both of them.
Two glowing orbs rose from their bodies, merged in the air, then split and returned to each Pokémon.
Normal-type move: Pain Split. It adds both HP totals, then evenly redistributes.
But Hatterene was already hurt, and Lucario was at full HP—this was robbery, not sharing!
In an instant, Hatterene looked good as new while Lucario visibly weakened.
"Brilliant! That flipped the whole fight!"
The psychic-type trainer pumped his fists. Pain Split was a godsend—recovered Hatterene, weakened Lucario.
"Bruno got careless. Clearly hasn't watched Dylan's gym matches."
The birdkeeper shrugged. He'd seen this Pain Split plenty of times—hell, he'd felt it himself.
Bruno's expression soured—so much effort, erased in one move!
"Psychic Terrain." Dylan smiled faintly.
Hatterene touched down, and waves of purple energy spread outward.
"Extreme Speed!"
Bruno's face tightened.
Trick Room was already tough. If Psychic Terrain came out too—how would Lucario even fight?
Lucario darted forward again—Extreme Speed hit clean.
But it wasn't enough to interrupt the casting.
Psychic Terrain's glow spread across the field.
"Meteor Mash!"
Lucario's metallic fist swung down once more.
Boom!
It smashed into Hatterene, who screamed as she was flung away.
But at the same time—purple energy blanketed the battlefield.
Psychic Terrain was now active.
"Meteor Mash again!"
Bruno clenched his fists.
This wasn't looking good.
Lucario launched forward once more—but without Extreme Speed's boost, and under Trick Room?
He moved like he was underwater.
"Too slow, Hatterene."
Dylan's lips curled up.
Hatterene's dark eyes locked on, her body slipped past Lucario, then whipped around behind him.
"Lucario!" Bruno shouted a warning.
But Lucario sensed it too—he tried to turn.
"Mystical Fire!"
Hatterene traced a ring in the air with her claw, then launched a flaming projectile straight through it.
Boom!
The fireball exploded on Lucario's back, sending him flying.
He hit the ground hard, clenching his jaw in pain. His defenses were nothing special—and Fairy-types typically weren't tanky either.
That Fire-type move, paired with the earlier Pain Split, left Lucario in a rough spot.
"Mystical Fire!"
Hatterene closed in again, drawing another ring of fire with her claw.
"Lucario, Detect!"
Bruno knew Lucario couldn't dodge it normally—she was too fast under Trick Room.
But Lucario's perceptive ability was excellent. With aura as a sixth sense, it could see the attack.
Whether it could avoid it was another matter.
Lucario's eyes gleamed, and with Detect active, he twisted his body mid-roll to narrowly dodge the blast.
Mystical Fire exploded where he had just stood.
"Return, Lucario." Bruno withdrew him immediately.
With both Psychic Terrain and Trick Room up—keeping Lucario in was pointless.
Bruno looked at Hatterene, a grimace overtaking his rugged face.
How the hell do you fight a demon like that?
"..."
Yeah, Hitmonchan, Steelix, Lucario—Bruno had already sent out three Pokémon.
And he'd only been fighting Hatterene this whole time.
Leaf's face twitched as she tried not to laugh. Watching Bruno claw his hair in frustration finally made her chuckle.
Well, at least he seemed to be enjoying himself.