“Hydro Pump, knock it out of the sky!” Chuck orders without hesitation, his Poliwrath obeying immediately, as its usually hidden mouth right above its stomach swirl flies open and a massive concentrated jet of water comes pumping out.

  “Evade! Then Supersonic!” Ran instructs in return, giving Golbat only just enough time to fly out of the way of Poliwrath’s initial salvo. Chuck’s pokémon is well-trained however, the Hydro Pump not just consisting of a single burst of water but instead managing a sustained beam as it shifts to follow Golbat’s flight path.

  “Break off!” Ran calls hurriedly, realizing that any attempt from Golbat to target the notoriously finicky Supersonic accurately will result in getting hit by Poliwrath’s powerful Hydro Pump in turn.

  Golbat manages in the nick of time, his attempt to come around and aim his large mouth, already halfway open in preparation of his supersonic cry, breaking off at the last moment as he spins up into a sharp climb. Poliwrath’s Hydro Pump cuts right through the space Golbat was filling just a fraction of a second later, the Hydro Pump clipping Golbat’s feet as he wings out of the way in a move that clearly shows the benefits of the countless hours of agility training on obstacle courses Ran has put him through.

  Fortunately, it’s just a glancing blow, allowing Golbat to make it out only a little worse for wear. Poliwrath’s Hydro Pump finally cuts off the next second, as it has to catch its breath for a moment, though whether from exertion or the poison running through its veins finally making its presence felt, Ran can’t tell.

  Still, he isn’t in the habit of wasting any time, as he enthusiastically calls out an order for Golbat, “Air Cutter! Put it under pressure!”

  “Rock Tomb!” Chuck orders for the second time today, seemingly disregarding a response to Ran’s attack in favor of his own offensive move, “Knock it out of the sky!”

  Both pokémon swiftly move to obey, handily favoring Golbat, as he doesn’t need to retrieve ammunition and appears to be the naturally faster pokémon of the two besides. Within moments, he’s sending a sharp blade of flying-type energy towards Poliwrath. Chuck’s chosen fighter doesn’t make for a stationary target however, as it’s broken into a run towards the nearest boulder, which it is already hefting into the air by the time Golbat’s first attack impacts.

  It’s a harsh hit that clearly sends Poliwrath stumbling for a moment, but it doesn’t get knocked over and it doesn’t lose its grip on the boulder it’s hoisted up. Golbat needs no instruction from Ran to fire off another Air Cutter, but his window has closed, as Poliwrath easily interposes his newfound shield between the attack and itself.

  The Air Cutter cuts a few inches into the rock, but otherwise doesn’t truly impede Poliwrath as it runs towards a second rock. Golbat swings around, wings beating frantically as he tries to circle around to Poliwrath’s weak side, but the compact water-fighting-type isn’t impressed, easily switching the boulder over to its other side and catching Golbat’s third Air Cutter just as easily as it did the second.

  Then, with its free hand, it levers the second rock it arrives at up out of the ground, before turning to face Golbat once more. Ran’s pokémon hesitates noticeably, clearly hesitant to load up another attack for fear of opening himself up to a thrown boulder from Poliwrath. It’s a feeling Ran can understand, though it doesn’t change the need for him to find a solution.

  Poliwrath for its part doesn’t immediately attempt to carry out the Rock Tomb Chuck called for, as it instead slowly walks towards a third rock, never taking its eyes off of Golbat as it walks in that direction with a large boulder in each hand. It’s an imposing sight, but Golbat doesn’t appear too affected, firing off a testing Air Cutter without even waiting for an order from Ran. Poliwrath blocks it off of course, almost bored as it holds a rock in front of it like a shield.

  “Be ready to dodge!” Ran instructs, even as he cautiously waits for Poliwrath to act, well aware that the poison in its system will force it to act eventually.

  Or at least, that’s the plan, only for Chuck to rather handily throw a wrench in things.

  “Build yourself a house, Poliwrath.” The Gym Leader instructs calmly, his pokémon immediately dropping both large rocks he’s holding next to the third one he’s wandered over towards, before delivering a few sharp chops to cleave off some parts of the boulders and leave them oblong-shaped enough to form a rough pyramid, which Poliwrath swiftly hides within.

  Then, with a smile that wouldn’t look out of place on a kid managing to sneak a cookie out of the cookie jar, Chuck speaks once more, “Now Rest up buddy, I bet you’ll feel better after a little nap.”

  Ran can only listen and watch in dismay, as Chuck pulls out an unexpected trick. Ran didn’t even know that Poliwrath could learn Rest!

  There’s clearly something of his surprise visible in his expression, because Chuck lets out an audible bark of laughter, before offering a brief comment, “People always forget that the Poliwag-line has a bit of an affinity for psychic-type energy.”

  Golbat’s annoyed screech makes his feelings on the matter perfectly clear, stuck on the outside of an impenetrable protective shell that keeps the resting Poliwrath safe from harm. Ran can’t help but agree with his team member, especially as Golbat doesn’t have any moves that will allow him to use Poliwrath’s temporary sleep to set up his own advantages.

  However, Ran has another team member who can do precisely that. Even if it does play into Chuck’s hand to a degree, by giving him the initiative once more as far as match-ups go, an opportunity for Caesar to get off a free Stockpile or two is too tempting to miss out on.

  “Come back, Golbat!” Ran calls out, even as he raises Golbat’s ball, “You’ve done enough for now.”

  His most temperamental pokémon clearly isn’t happy about it, but Golbat only lets out a brief plaintive cry, not otherwise resisting as Ran recalls him and hurriedly sends out Caesar. Because while his Golbat may not have a move that will allow him to make use of a sleeping opponent, his Arbok absolutely does.

  Without wasting time, Ran immediately calls out an order, “Stockpile, Caesar! There’s a Poliwrath inside that pile of rocks, get ready to fight it!”

  His starter obeys immediately, loosely coiling up in place as he starts to stockpile energy, head coming to rest on a loop of his own body as he faces Poliwrath’s makeshift bunker.

  Long seconds pass in silence, as Chuck, now seeming at least somewhat bothered as he looks at Caesar’s long body, and Ran, who tensely watches the small pyramid of rocks, both watch quietly, anticipating the resumption of hostilities. As they do so, Caesar continues to lay in wait, his scales slowly seeming to shift apart just slightly, as Stockpile’s effects make itself known.

  Of course, the quiet can’t last forever. When it ends, it does so abruptly.

  Between one moment and the next, the rock most directly facing Caesar is flying directly at him, launched forwards with great force. Rocks two and three are following close behind, the trio of massive weights sailing through the air in quick succession. Following after them at a dead sprint is an angry Poliwrath, clearly fully patched up and rearing for a fight.

  Caesar is caught off guard, unable to evade as the first rock slams into him. He at least manages to twist in place, turning numbers two and three into glancing hits, even as Ran calls out a late warning he feels stupid about the moment it leaves his lips. There’s no time to be wasted on self-recrimination however, as Poliwrath is still on the charge.

  “Bulldoze, Poliwrath! Run it over!” Chuck orders confidently, leading to Poliwrath immediately hunching over, large white hands dragging over the ground and pushing up a rapidly growing wall of sand in front of it.

  “Glare, then Thunder Fang!” Ran hurriedly cries out, immensely grateful for Caesar’s obedience and reaction speed, as his starter immediately rears up and locks eyes threateningly with Poliwrath.

  The move clearly connects, but Poliwrath’s built-up momentum and muscle memory are too great, as it simply rushes onwards, closing the final distance between the two pokémon. At the last second, fangs crackling with electricity, Caesar lunges head first into the incoming Bulldoze, attempting to punch right through the worst of the attack and land his own in return.

  It doesn’t appear to have worked at first, as his body gets knocked back and swallowed up by the Bulldoze, Poliwrath’s charging form pushing the far larger and heavier pokémon at least twenty feet from his previous position before coming to a halt. However, even though Caesar got swallowed up in the attack, his head did in fact manage to punch right through the large sand wall Poliwrath pushed up in front of it, an angry Thunder Fang landing on Poliwrath’s right arm.

  In fact, on closer inspection, with Caesar still angrily hanging on and Poliwrath clearly struggling to break free, the undeniable conclusion is that Poliwrath’s Bulldoze only came to an end where it did because Caesar forced it to. Still, it’s a precarious position, as the vast majority of Ran’s starter’s body remains buried in a seemingly rather heavy heap of sand.

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  “You can’t miss! Mud Shot!” Chuck orders enthusiastically, karate chopping the air in front of him as if he were personally bringing his fist down on Caesar’s neck.

  “Wrap it up and Thunder Fang again!” Ran instructs as an immediate response, “The paralysis will give you a moment and you’ve got the better defenses! Just hang in there!”

  Caesar winds forwards out of the small hill he’s been buried into, finally releasing Poliwrath’s shoulder only to immediately lurch out and start wrapping around the other pokémon. He doesn’t get to do so without being contested however, as Poliwrath’s mouth opens once more, a thick, painful spray of mud slamming directly into the poison-type’s side. The dampening effect the ground-type energy has on Caesar’s inherent poison-type energy is apparent, with Ran’s starter letting out an aggrieved hiss, but it isn’t enough to force him to back down, as Caesar vigorously wraps himself around Poliwrath.

  Before he can really start squeezing however, Chuck interferes.

  “Don’t let it squeeze you out! Overpower it!” The Gym leader commands, setting up a direct battle of raw power, as Caesar uses every muscle in his body to squeeze, whilst Poliwrath stretches out its forearms as far as they can go in either direction, pushing against Caesar’s thick loops to the best of its ability.

  It’s a grinding contest for a few long seconds, but then, even though on raw muscle strength, Poliwrath might have held out, sheer size comes into play. Poliwrath only has two hands to keep Caesar back with, as the lowest loop, the one going around Poliwrath’s legs, cinches tight first. Then, Caesar lifts the coils Poliwrath is wrestling with slightly, forcing his targets arms diagonally upwards. It’s enough to create room for another loop of Caesar’s coils, as he squeezes down further.

  Within seconds, it becomes apparent that Poliwrath isn’t gaining anything by expending its significant strength on trying to keep the coil it is wrestling against open. Instead, Chuck lets out an actual snarl, “Earth Power!”

  Poliwrath pulls back its arms, clearly preparing to try and call up an Earth Power directly around it, but before it can, Caesar, now finally confident that his Wrap is secure, carries out the second part of Ran’s orders. His two large fangs crackle menacingly with electricity for a moment, before he bites down vengefully on Poliwrath before it can perform Earth Power.

  The impact is a vengeful one, the spark and sizzle of Thunder Fang almost worrying in its intensity. Ran can immediately tell, from the way Caesar’s coils loosen almost imperceptibly just moments after impact, that Poliwrath is out cold.

  Immediately, before Chuck or the referee can even speak, he’s calling out instructions, not blind to just how beaten up Caesar just got.

  “Release and then use Swallow, Caesar,” He calls swiftly, not wanting to waste any time, “You did great, now heal up and get ready for round two!”

  Caesar, ever obedient, follows orders without hesitation, allowing a slack Poliwrath to slump onto the ground unmoving.

  “Poliwrath is unable to battle!” The referee calls out immediately, “Gym Leader Chuck, please recall it and send out your next pokémon.”

  “You don’t need to tell me twice.” Chuck responds without fanfare, a pokéball in each hand just so he can waste as little time as possible, recalling Poliwrath at the same time as he lets out the only pokémon he hasn’t used yet in this battle.

  Considering the way it was obviously meant to be used against Golbat, Ran was expecting a Hitmonchan. The sight of a Primeape is unexpected, but not necessarily unwelcome. Especially as, despite Chuck’s best efforts, Caesar manages to execute Swallow, visibly healing up even as he seems to deflate slightly, as Stockpile wears off.

  The large Arbok doesn’t quite appear to be back to peak condition, but between Swallow and the slow but constant effect of the Black Sludge that’s attached in the slight fold where his hood flares out from his body, nearly all of the damage that was inflicted by Poliwrath’s attacks appears to have been taken care of. It’s a comforting sight to say the least, as Caesar once more rears up and hisses threateningly at Primeape.

  Ran can only wince in dismay, as the Pig Monkey Pokémon’s eyes narrow in obvious anger. Clearly, he’s failed as a trainer by never preparing his starter to face the notoriously ill-tempered fighting-type that’s now facing him. Still, at least the Mankey-line doesn’t get access to Guts, which means that the Toxic Spikes, still lingering from the start of the match, are just as much of a detriment to Primeape as they were to Poliwrath. Before it used Rest, at least.

  “Fling.” Chuck orders calmly, kicking off the next phase of the fight with just that single word.

  “Glare, then Acid Spray!” Ran orders in return, spurring Caesar into action once more.

  Primeape immediately moves to grab something on its back, which it then attempts to fling harshly in Caesar’s direction. However, to both Ran and Primeape’s evident surprise, nothing flies through the air, as Primeape evidently doesn’t have a held item to throw. The fighting-type turns on its trainer with an angry snarl, a vein visibly pulsing in frustration above its eye.

  It doesn’t pay Caesar any mind whatsoever, even as Ran’s starter hisses to try and draw the opposite pokémon’s attention so that he can actually use Glare as planned. Instead, Primeape is too busy stomping the ground in frustration as it bounces up and down in a growing hissy fit.

  Only when Ran catches sight of the smirk Chuck is hiding under those massive sideburns of his, does he realize what’s about to happen, just before Chuck speaks once more.

  “Stomping Tantrum.” The Gym Leader announces with a hint of malice, a voice that’s clearly well-suited to the Primeape, as it only seems to wind it up further. When it pivots on its heel to stare right at Caesar, it doesn’t even react to Caesar’s Glare, the move either failing or Primeape simply refusing to be intimidated.

  Still, though Glare might fail, Primeape still has a bit of distance to cover, as it starts stomping over, the ground trembling under its feet with every angry stomp it unleashes on the ground as it approaches. It leaves a perfect opportunity, advancing mindlessly in a straight line as it is, for Caesar to unleash an Acid Spray, which he does without hesitation.

  The fine purple spray of fluid that leaves his Arbok’s mouth shoots out in a cone, focused on Primeape. The angry fighting-type stomps right through, the tiny acid particles settling all over its fur and exposed skin in equal measure before sinking in. It doesn’t appear affected by the attack, though it surely must hurt, as the attack clearly does some damage, with Primeape’s previously puffed-up fur noticeably losing volume as it storms onwards.

  With Acid Spray stripping away some of Primeape’s natural defenses to attacks, weakening its vigor, Ran immediately gives another order, even as he realizes that Caesar won’t be able to pull it off in the second before the stomping Primeape closes the distance.

  “Sludge Bomb!” Ran shouts nevertheless, before being forced to watch as Primeape arrives.

  Its angry stomps at this point send plumes of sand flying up around its feet with every step it takes. When it arrives within striking range of Caesar, it grabs onto him just underneath his hood with both hands, before violently starting to jump up and down, wildly jerking his head up into the air before slamming it into the ground. A move it angrily repeats again and again and again.

  Caesar is clearly knocked loopy, each hit hurting him badly and clearly disorienting him. It’s a worrying sight, one that makes it clear that Sludge Bomb is a pipe dream under the circumstances, with Caesar being unable to gather his bearings for even a moment.

  “Abort Sludge Bomb, try to knock it away!” Ran calls out hurriedly, watching with increasing worry as Caesar continues to get slammed into the ground.

  It isn’t an easy ask, under the circumstances, but despite the beating he’s taking from Primeape, Caesar manages to flail wildly in place, a lucky jerk slamming part of his lower body into Primeape’s legs. It’s enough for the fighting-type’s legs to buckle for a second, which in turn sees it release its grip on Caesar as it’s finally knocked out of its Stomping Tantrum for a moment.

  Caesar is clearly significantly worse for wear, but Ran doesn’t even try to have his starter retreat. Giving a furious Primeape a target to chase is the last thing he wants to do. Instead, he tries once more to let Caesar set up a decisive advantage.

  “Sludge Bomb!” He calls without hesitation, watching hopefully as Caesar’s hood bulges out around his throat slightly in preparation.

  “Thrash!” Chuck counters, his Primeape immediately becoming an even more insanely raging ball of frustration.

  Primeape’s moves are entirely uncontrolled, as it essentially becomes a bouncing ball of anger with four erratically moving limbs that punch and kick out powerfully at a continuous pace in wildly unpredictable directions. Caesar immediately takes a few powerful hits, whilst at the same time clearly being unable to ensure that his own stored up Sludge Bomb will actually hit his target.

  Ran calls out an order for Caesar to try and Wrap his target up first, which clearly aligns with Caesar’s instincts, as Ran hasn’t even finished shouting out the order before Caesar is already coiling around Primeape, barely managing to pin the fighting-type in place but forced to take a battery of ongoing hits for every moment he maintains his hold, before rearing up. It’s clearly with his last strength that Caesar opens his maw, a large globule of dark purple sludge shooting directly at Primeape.

  The hit draws an angry, but also pained, cry from Primeape, his thrashing intensifying even further until, just seconds later, he jerks around so powerfully that he manages to tear free from Caesar’s grasp. Just moments later, Caesar’s head sinks onto the sand, his tongue slipping out as his eyes slide closed in a clear sign of his defeated unconsciousness.

  Ran hurriedly recalls his starter before his prone form can take any further damage from the rampaging Primeape. Taking a look at it, it’s clear that the angry pokémon has taken a lot of damage, not to mention the poison that’s been coursing through its system throughout the fight. Still, before he can properly examine it, or even really poison stall at all, Chuck is recalling Primeape.

  “I’m switching,” he announces, “Machoke should still have something left in the tank and I think Primeape can use a moment to regain his bearings.”

  Ran can only watch with a mix of mild frustration and begrudging respect as Chuck yet again denies him an opportunity to poison stall. Still, with Ran only left with Golbat and Chuck still having the poisoned and battered pair of Machoke and Primeape, there’s no more secrets left for either trainer to pull out, at least as far as team selection goes.

  So, without hesitation, he brings out Golbat once more, speaking some words of encouragement as he does so, “Come on buddy, it’s time for you to win us the match.”

  “Come, Machoke!” Chuck shouts with some suitably dramatic flair, as he sends out his own pokémon in response, “Our opponent is down to his last pokémon!”

  The two pokémon stare each other down for a moment, but with Machoke on a poison-inflicted timer, there’s no time for any banter or any feeling out. Something Ran is well aware of, which is why Chuck doesn’t even manage to beat him to the draw.

  “Up!” He shouts immediately, eager to see Golbat get out of Machoke’s immediate range.

  “Rock Slide, Machoke! Anti-flying-type-variation!” Chuck calls to his battler. Ran is dismayed to hear the Gym leader call for a move that’s even worse for Golbat than the previously displayed Rock Tomb. Though what Chuck means by anti-flying-type-variation is a mystery to him, his only conclusion being that it likely won’t be good for Golbat.