William looked out to the distance for a moment. Beams and explosions echoed where Lochness and Aether were battling. William looked worried. Lance didn't. He needed to end this quickly and use his numbers advantage to take care of Lance's Ace.
The battle had lasted a while, yet still the Charizard remained just as powerful and energetic as he had been at the beginning.
Juggernaut stood on the surface of the water, his arms mimicking that of an orthodox boxing style—while Raiden remained half-submerged in the ocean to the side, ready to support just as he had been doing.
They had the numbers and the type advantage—but the Charizard more than made up for it in individual strength.
Charizard flew high into the sky. "Dragon Pulse! Target the strong one!" Lance said.
"Dodge it! Use Swift Raiden!"
A collection of small golden stars shot out of Raiden's mouth. In the Pokemon games, the move Swift never missed, and in real life, it translated to the shooting stars locking onto their target and following them like homing missiles. They wouldn't disappear until they were destroyed or they hit the opponent. That was the beauty in this move.
Charizard flew rapidly, twisting and twirling its body in all different kinds of directions as it struggled to get rid of the stars. No matter where he went, they stayed on his trail.
"Ignis, use Flamethrower to destroy the stars."
Charizard opened its mouth, ready to shoot a big stream of fire, but it was at that moment that Juggernaut appeared, firing off a point-blank Jet Punch from behind—sending the lizard Pokemon directly into the stars.
"Press the attack!" William shouted. Juggernaut pounced, but in the next moment, he was forced to retreat as a great wave of flames, hotter than anything he had ever felt—even from far away—erupted from Charizard.
He was surrounded in a great orange aura—a second layer of energy which rested on his skin. Blaze.
Throughout the fight, Charizard's fire-type moves lacked any warranted attention due to the rain. However due to STAB and it most likely being what the Pokemon was comfortable with using—it was used despite this fact.
However, with Blaze now active, they had turned into hot, molten flames—which William was now cautious about. It was a type of Fire which could truly burn albeit the conditions.
"Fire Blast!" The words were accompanied by a great roar followed by a detonation of fire from its mouth. It came in the shape of something that resembled a star—like a stick man figure, only each of these points were as wide as building pillars. The fire was so hot it burned the water before the raindrops even touched it.
The attack seared through the air, targeted at Juggernaut. Juggernaut dived below, the attack missing him by a hair's breadth.
Another advantage of the water.
Juggernaut emerged, jumping out of the water with his fist held upwards in a Superman pose, intent on punching Charizard.
Charizard shot out another stream of flames, which propelled it backwards and burned Juggernaut.
That's the problem, William thought. Charizard is now relying on its special attack and mastery of fire to keep Juggernaut at bay.
It was the same way Vortex and Aerodactyl had clashed—physical versus special attack. He needed to think of something fast.
Since Blaze was active, it would only take a couple of hits for Charizard to faint. That's why he was staying at range, he was cautious about moving in close.
William's mind naturally leaned towards a plan where Juggernaut would finish Charizard off—mainly due to Juggernaut's role as a brawler and his high attack stat. However, that necessarily didn't need to be the case. With Juggernaut now being Charizard's full attention, Raiden could take advantage of that.
Both Juggernaut and Charizard reset their positions, staring at each other intently. Raiden circled from the side, seemingly out of both of their minds.
"Blast Burn!" called Lance.
"Use Waterfall, Juggernaut!"
Juggernaut nodded, more than happy to meet the attack head-on.
Water formed all around him like a shield, and he rushed forward in a posture which looked like he was running while a rugby ball was tucked in between his arms.
Fire and water clashed—steam rising up from the intersection. It was the battle of two Pokemon who wanted to prove they were stronger than the other—a battle of wills.
But at that moment, Charizard seemed to forget about William's other Pokemon.
He gave a non-verbal nod to Raiden to avoid attracting any attention—he was an intelligent Pokemon, and he knew what to do.
Rock Slide!
Just as the words left his mind, out of thin air from above, a landslide of rocks emerged above the Charizard.
Below, Charizard and Palafin clashed. Juggernaut tried to push forward, but the fire was too hot. Its skin burned as the water protecting it evaporated into steam. However, despite being forced back, Juggernaut still continued to fight—pushing against the fire with all of its might, giving Raiden the opening he needed.
"Ignis, above you! Dodge!" Lance said, noticing the falling rocks. Charizard didn't—either consciously or not, it ignored its trainer's commands in favour of proving himself the stronger one in the fight.
The pride comes before the fall, quite literally.
Fire continued to burn with an ever increasing intensity until the rocks slammed down with a resounding force all over Charizard's body, halting its attack. Each rock seemed to bring it down further and further, the creature which had valued itself on pride had now bowed and lowered its head as the rocks continued to smash and break on its back.
And then, it ceased. Both Juggernaut and Charizard lay motionless, both out for the count. Juggernaut had lasted on just long enough before allowing itself to succumb to the burns. It had fainted from them— but it didn't look serious. He would be fine in his pokeball until he allowed him to properly recover at a stolen healing station in Team Aqua base.
They were withdrawn simultaneously.