Chasing Dreams

Chapter 15: Wake Up, Sunshine

"Metagross, Meteor Mash!"

The Iron Leg Pokémon tucked in all four of said iron legs to face forward and compress its massive form a bit before taking off towards Gallade to deter its attack. But - again, almost as if it moved instantly - Gallade's form seemed to vanish and reappear just to the side of Metagross, where, in the split second it was open, it slashed its elbow swords across its opponents metal casing in a X-formation before retreating safely back to Ash's side of the battle. Chi did not fail to notice that the actual size of the cuts that Gallade had left behind were much smaller than its swords appeared to be. Metagross recoiled in pain from the super-effective attack, but didn't seem like it lost much strength. Back to square one.

Ash didn't waste time with the standoff. "Accelerock!"

In the blink of an eye, Lycanroc launched itself with unbelievable acceleration right at Salamence, crashing into it with huge velocity, causing it to recoil in pain with no time to react.

"Strike Metagross again, Gallade! Night Slash, once more!"

Gallade took off running towards Metagross once again. Chi narrowed his eyes, letting it approach a bit. "Use Psychic."

Metagross' eyes lit up bright blue, attempting to focus its psychic power on Gallade, which should have stopped it in place. However, Gallade didn't stop its approach, and landed two consecutive Night Slash cuts on top of Metagross.

"That settles it."

Psychic had failed to work entirely.

"You thought you could fool me?"

Ash grit his teeth. He saw Chi's expression change; he knew his opponent must've caught on to what he was doing. But he didn't have much choice but to keep firing away.

"Salamence, Dragon Rush!"

"Stagger it with Stone Edge! Gallade, strike, one more time! Night Slash!"

Salamence did something of a nosedive and just as it nearly reached the ground, tucked its wings inward and began speeding towards Lycanroc with a blue-purple glow surrounding it. Lycanroc slammed its front two paws into the ground once again, stones erupting from the ground to block the trajectory Salamene was taking. Salamence had managed to break through the massive rocks with what seemed like relative ease, but did manage to substantially slow its velocity before it slammed into Lycanroc, sending it flying back towards Ash.

Meanwhile, Gallade once again charged towards Metagross, who awaited its attack patiently. Ash had figured it could avoid any potential counters from Metagross by leaping around to its backside and striking its blind spot. Such was the approach Gallade took, as it once again seemed to vanish and reappear behind Metagross. It leaped upward, striking with Night Slash on top of Metagross. But Metagross had not attempted a counter whatsoever, and Chi smirked with confidence.

"I've got you this time. Metagross, Bullet Punch!"

Metagross reacted quickly, lifting one of its back arms and twisting it around to face forward, and slammed the attack at high velocity right into Gallade - or, what had appeared to be Gallade - and sent it flying back in Ash's direction as the illusion wore off, and with another flash of pink-tinted light, Zorua lay collapsed on the ground at Ash's feet.

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"Doesn't this remind you of our days fighting against Team Galactic, Dawn?"

"A little bit, yeah. Though these guys are even tougher." She grit her teeth, though she was grinning all the same. She and Brock had been through many battles just like this, alongside Ash. Brock even more so than she had. Ash's fiery spirit had rubbed off on her; not to mention all of her allies and friends that she battled alongside. "All we gotta do is hold 'em off."