Chapter 18. Clarissa

Meanwhile, on the girl's side of the battlefield, Clarissa was having a tough time with her opponent.

Upon seeing Raticate sporting a Focus Sash, she immediately determined she might be the victim of a brainless strategy like F.E.A.R., which was why she had opened with an aerial bombardment strategy—the height coupled with gravity was just enough to invalidate the reach of melee priority +1 moves.

What she hadn't counted on was facing such an agile Raticate, one that could perfectly dodge every Flamethrower with well-timed Quick Attacks.

She considered other options, like opening with an Aerial Ace to remove the F.E.A.R. strategy entirely, but that would leave Charizard open to a Thunder Wave counter, which would cripple its speed. If that happened, Charizard would lose to a powerful move like Blizzard, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, or Giga Impact—any of which could finish it off.

Fly, on the other hand, would have executed first and put Charizard out of range before Thunder Wave could hit, given their speed advantage.

If only she had known her opponent wouldn't open with Thunder Wave, she would have gladly started with Aerial Ace and finished things with a melee-ranged Blast Burn. Even priority +1 moves wouldn't have been fast enough to outrun that.

Now it was too late. If Charizard went for Aerial Ace now, it would either get hit by a killing move or be paralyzed by Thunder Wave. If it survived the first exchange, it would still lose to the follow up due to its crippled speed. Any other move would just be dodged like Flamethrower or be exchanged for a battle ending Thunder Wave. 

Now, it was a stamina game.

As long as Charizard maintained its altitude and continued using Flamethrower, it couldn't be taken down.

As long as Raticate kept dodging while trying to land a Thunder Wave, he couldn't be taken down either.

Whoever lasted longer would win.

While Clarissa settled into the time-consuming stamina game, her opponents, Alex and Raticate, were still hoping to find a different path to victory. They never gave up on finding a way and simply settling for the obvious.

The battle continued for another ten minutes before small changes started appearing. It started with Charizard's Flamethrower losing power or width due to her waning stamina. It was a slight and erratic change, but the ever-observant Raticate didn't miss it.

To test this slightly widened opening he had been waiting for, Raticate started channeling as much lightning energy as it could while being quick to cancel if the charge time was too slow.

It was a dangerous balancing act because his Quick Attack might be too late to allow him to dodge a full-blast Flamethrower.

Raticate kept pushing for more and more time to channel Thunder Wave before canceling it to dodge with a Quick Attack until Charizard noticed his schemes and put a stop to it by correcting her own Flamethrower. Unfortunately, even Charizard was starting to notice the drop in her own stamina.

She couldn't keep this up forever, and yet the fat rat was starting to get closer and closer to releasing the Thunder Wave. He was cautious. Too cautious, which sent a shiver down her spine.

She felt like a wingless bird on a boat in the middle of the ocean while sharks circled around her. She felt helpless, which enraged her—rage that fueled her Flamethrower to be stronger than it ever was. She wanted her opponent to feel what it was like to be cornered like the rat it was as all safe areas were consumed by her raging flames. She wanted her flames to spread, to be bigger, wider, and reach further.

This change did not escape Raticate, who responded in kind by giving up on testing the activation of Thunder Wave. Instead, he focused on utilizing his Quick Attack to be more efficient, to be faster, to reach farther from just a single burst. Even the smallest bit of improvement that would allow him to last longer against his opponent mattered.

Raticate's demeanor kept getting colder and colder—sharper, more precise, more efficient, more accurate, faster. As he focused more and more, his reach increased along with the precision of his bursts. They landed where he wanted, where he should be, where it was safe.

A minute passed as the Flamethrower from Charizard kept covering more and more ground, just as Raticate's Quick Attacks kept reaching farther and farther with a single burst to respond to the shrinking safe area. Tensions kept rising to a boiling point until finally—SNAP!

"Endeavor! Quick Attack!" Alex suddenly shouted as fast as he could.

Alex too had noticed the changes to their attacks. Most crucially, Alex had noticed when Raticate's Quick Attack had started reaching further than before. Far enough to reach Charizard in mid-air.

"Charizard! No! Stop!" Clarissa shouted a beat too late.

A single beat that mattered more than ever. She as a trainer had missed the turning point of the battle that her opponent hadn't.

Raticate immediately followed Alex's orders with sharp and cold precision. He stopped in place as the area he currently stood on was swept over by Charizard's wider-range Flamethrower while activating Endeavor with full focus.

Endeavor, being the first Novice move that was elevated to Basic ever since Raticate evolved, was now being executed at standard proficiency.

An aura of desperation exploded out from Raticate, wrapping around Charizard, who had just finished its current bout of Flamethrower. Immediately, Raticate exploded with the strongest Quick Attack it had ever managed before. The power from the leap was so strong it left cracks on the blackened ground.

A silver beam of light traced through the space between Raticate and Charizard. A straight silver line was drawn between two points, ending right at Charizard's chest, which was about to be smashed with the full force of Raticate's new Advanced-ranked Quick Attack.

"PROTECT!" Clarissa shouted with all her energy as a last-ditch effort to save this battle.

A gray translucent bubble surrounded Charizard just in time to receive and neutralize the full blow of the Advanced-ranked Quick Attack. As hopeful as the situation was, it was not meant to be.

"Quick Attack again. Finish it!" Alex shouted right back.

Raticate, who was falling as a result of the neutralized Quick Attack, immediately responded to Alex's command and defied gravity as he bolted again towards Charizard, who could no longer produce another shield. She tried to at least get an energyless slash in, but it was no use.

With a flourish, Raticate narrowly dodged the claw and swung his tail with the full force of the Quick Attack, slapping Charizard in the face and causing her head to snap back from the blow as she fainted from the force. She plummeted from the sky, no longer able to hold her flight.

Fortunately, Clarissa had the wherewithal to recall her Charizard before further and more permanent damage could be sustained.

Meanwhile, Raticate was enjoying a short free fall.

"Protect." Alex sighed, no longer shouting, and Raticate obliged, producing a gray translucent shield that negated the fall damage.

"Well done, Raticate. Rest for now," Alex said with proud eyes as he stared into Raticate's own tired ones.

Raticate had just enough energy to enjoy the praise before sleeping to rest off the fatigue as Alex withdrew him back into his Pokéball—a rare occurrence.

"Winner, Alex Wattson!" the automated referee finally announced, as if waiting for the dramatic scene to end.

Alex, having noticed that his opponent hadn't left yet, walked up to her and held out his 12-year-old hands, only now remembering that he was much smaller than the girl.

Surprisingly, she reciprocates the gesture.

"That was a good battle. Congratulations on your Charizard's Advanced-ranked Flamethrower," Alex said amicably.

"Thank you. Congratulations on your Raticate's Advanced-ranked Quick Attack as well," Clarissa reciprocated before deciding to introduce herself. "Oh, by the way, my name is Clarissa Blackthorn."

"Alex Ashford Wattson. Pleasure to meet you," Alex introduced himself, then, recognizing the name, asked to confirm with the most neutral expression he could muster, "Blackthorn City, Blackthorn? Champion Lance's daughter?"

"Haha, yes, that one."

"What are you doing in Pokémon Academy when you have better resources at home?" Alex asked, genuinely confused.

"Mother wanted me to go out and see the world with my own eyes," Clarissa said as she rolled her eyes. There was some tension there.

"Makes sense," Alex easily accepted.

Other families' business were none of his concern.

"Anyway, shall we head to the medical facility?" Alex proposed.

"Yes, Charizard needs to be revived."

"My Raticate just needs Moomoo Milk but I suppose a checkup should be in order."

They made their way to the medical facility on this floor. Along the way, Clarissa kept asking Alex questions—nothing personal, mostly training tips. Alex responded with questions of his own.

Alex was particularly interested in how she utilized Fly and wondered if he could do something similar. He also finally decided to switch Raticate's EVs from Attack to Special Attack.

Diversity was truly the best path for Raticate, as Clarissa explained her thought process in the battle—a sentiment Alex agreed with. Had Raticate possessed Basic proficiency in Blizzard or Giga Impact, he too would have considered opening with Thunder Wave instead. It was simply the better play.

Their conversation continued until they got their Pokémon back to full health. Before parting ways, they decided to exchange numbers so they could train together sometime. Having an opponent at your level is always a great way to improve as a trainer.

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