Nowhere to Hide

8: Exhibition of Power

The crowd seemed cringe at the thought of a cute pokemon like Pikachu being trapped in the jaws of a monster like Haxorus. 

Then, it happened.

Electric sparks flew through the dragon's body, as he froze in place on the spot. I did a silent cheer in my head, before turning to Pikachu. He smiled and nodded his head, confirming the situation.

Haxorus was paralyzed.

Screw that 'Crush Dreams' stuff, Pikachu crushes...haxoruses...I dunno, I'm still working on a catchphrase.

Unfortunately, all was not well. Sure, Haxorus couldn't do anything, but Pikachu was still stuck in Haxorus's jaws.

He was a sitting psyduck, and both champions knew it.

"Fire a Shadow Ball at Pikachu." Diantha commanded, seemingly with no regard that Haxorus would also get hit in the process.

"Ice Shard." Paul said quickly, causing a fast-moving knife of ice to pop Gardevoir's Shadow Ball inches from Pikachu's (and Haxorus's) face. I didn't expect Paul of all people to stop someone from attacking their own teammate, but Pikachu and I definitely appreciated it.

The surprise seemed to lower Haxorus's guard, and Paul didn't hesitate to capitalize on this.

"Froslass, use Hex." 

You see, Hex is usually a pretty weak attack. However, when the target has a status ailment, (like Paralysis, for no reason in particular,) it becomes one of the most powerful attacks a Ghost-Type can use. 

The dragon's entire body looked like it was on fire, and Haxorus didn't have a fire extinguisher. 

"Haxorus-" Iris shouted. Her pokemon was going through agony, and there was nothing she could do about it.

That's a shame.

Pikachu, who was unaffected by the Hex, seemed to be in a position to counterattack. Though I wasn't originally gonna go all out in this battle, I was having a blast, and Pikachu seemed to be enjoying himself as well. I missed battles like these, both the strategies and the raw power. After all, this is our first televised battle in three damn years. 

So why not have a little fun?

"Pikachu, use Thunder!"

Like a mortar from the sky, Pikachu summoned a stormy bolt of vengeance to punish Haxorus. The Axe-Jaw Dragon writhed in pain, barely managing to keep standing. Naturally, his grip loosened for Pikachu to be able to counterattack, so I decided to make the most out of that.

"Iron Tail!" I shouted as Pikachu's tail turned to steel, escaping the dragon's demonic grip, somersaulting, and dealing the finishing blow by landing his tail of steel on Haxorus's forehead. Pikachu landed safely atop Froslass.

Haxorus fell to the ground, defeated.

"Woah- Champion Iris's Haxorus is una-"

"Gardevoir, use Heal Pulse." 

We could only watch in dread as all the effort we put into defeating Haxorus was wasted in a single move. At least Heal Pulse doesn't cure Paralysis.

I glanced at Pikachu, surveying his injuries. "You alright buddy?"

"Pika chu pika."

I could already tell from the elated expression on his face, but his words confirmed my suspicions.

Pikachu was exhilarated. 

However, his tired demeanor told a different story. We couldn't keep battling for much longer, no matter how much we really wanted to.