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Lucario gasped as he stared at the Blaziken, flames leaking out of her left arm. Similarly, the right arm suddenly burst into flames, two mighty infernos raging above her arms like an impressive set of wings. Lucario leaped back while the heat in the room steadily rose, surprised to see Torana ignore Brendan's orders of not using fire so quickly. The two pyres suddenly began to crawl up her elbows, colliding around her chest before moving down to her waist and spreading by her crotch, the blazes now covering her legs. Lucario could see the fires raging extra violently before beginning to diminish, almost as if they were being sucked into the legs. The Blaziken closed her eyes with a strained expression for a moment, before relaxing and letting her muscles go back to normal, her feathers falling back into place as the fire was all but gone.

"... What? Did you forget?" Lucario said after everything had settled down, "No fi-"

He did not have time to finish his sentence as Torana was upon him, the Blaziken moving at a high pace. She raised her leg as to kick again, and Lucario realized she was leaving herself open just like before. He turned towards her other leg in the last second, forcing the Blaziken to leap back while lashing out with her prepared leg in defense. Lucario ducked to avoid the kick and smiled brightly as he headed towards her face, ready to settle things.

However, her face was no longer where he thought it would be. Instead, the Blaziken had managed to jump back a second time, kicking at him once again. Unprepared for such swift movements, Lucario staggered back in the last second, thinking himself clear of the leg but feeling something gash across his arm. He yelped and was about to look down to see what happened, when he realized the Blaziken was heading towards him again, much faster than before. She crouched and delivered a low sweep as Lucario jumped to avoid it, but in barely a second she was standing up again, striking at him with a roundhouse kick. Lucario was able to block the attack with both his arms, but felt them crumble under the sheer power of the Blaziken's legs as he was thrown several feet away by the recoil.

He crashed down on the ground, taking little damage from the soft, dirty soil. He quickly got to his feet and examined his arm, where a gash from something like a talon had appeared. It was not bleeding too badly, but he was beginning to think that the Blaziken's feet were sharper than he had been expecting. Not wanting to misjudge her again, Lucario put two and two together and determined a clear connection between the weird fiery display the Blaziken had put on, as well as the sudden speed boost which had followed.

"Nice powerup," Lucario muttered while rubbing away some of the dust from his eyes, "I guess... It's time for me to get serious, eh? Let's see how fast you really are!"

Calling to mind all his past failures, Lucario remained still and made no suspicious movement whatsoever. However, inside his body he carefully led a group of mitochondria from their comfortable homes into his right arm, where they grouped together to form a subtle blue glow through the cracks of his fingers.

Using every last bit of restraint to keep himself from shouting, Lucario punched the air in front of him while opening his palm, revealing the aura sphere that had been building within. The Blaziken only had time to blink as the body of blue fire ran through her left shoulder, disappearing before ramming into the wall of the arena behind her. Although she did not scream, it was clear that she was in great pain, falling to her knees as she grasped her left shoulder with her right hand.

"Next one's going for your head," Lucario said confidently, amazed to actually have pulled off the move successfully. He made a mental note to always keep the attack subtle, instead of giving it away by posing and shouting like an idiot.

The Blaziken looked up at him with a surprised expression, which then melted into anger. Standing up, she tried to hold out her arms, but her left shoulder was no longer responding. She flexed with the rest of her body, a fiery explosion igniting on top of her head. Although the position of the fire was different, Lucario knew what she was trying to do.

"Hah! Like I'd let you reactivate that thing again!" he shouted as he ran up to the defenseless Blaziken, seeing her as kind of stupid to be leaving herself so open in the middle of combat. He put all his weight behind him as he tried to ram her stomach, and she had no choice but to move out of the way. He quickly spun around and followed up with a punch directed at her lame shoulder, narrowly blocked in the last second by one of her now burning legs.

It was then that Lucario realized what was going on. The inferno on her head had been crawling down her body to her legs, all while she had been in the middle of dodging his attacks. Surprised to see that such a peculiar technique required little-to-no concentration whatsoever, Lucario suddenly felt himself ripped away from the ground, struck in his side by a very speedy kick.

He flew away a few feet before landing on the ground, confused and hurting from the sudden attack. It had been a direct hit, something his abdominal muscles made quite clear with the pain shooting up his spine. In terms of power and size, the kick had felt more like a full body slam and was something Lucario hoped he would not need to withstand too many more of. Meanwhile, both Celebi and Zerobi stood speechless as they witnessed the spectacle.

"She was able to pull it off in the middle of combat!?" Zerobi finally exclaimed before increasing the volume of her voice to a yell, "Lucario! Wait until it runs out again, and then attack her with all you've got!"

"No!" Celebi shouted to interrupt her sister while Lucario looked back at the two of them with a confused expression, "That initial boost in speed... It never ran out to begin with."

"... Of course it did! Why else would she use it again!?" Zerobi argued stubbornly before a quick tapping sound broke her concentration. Looking out at the arena, she saw the Blaziken moving towards Lucario in a zig-zag formation, much like she herself usually did in order to throw her opponents' aim off. However, what surprised Zerobi even more was the fact that the Blaziken was now moving at a far higher pace than earlier, realizing that the bulky Blaziken was now even faster than she was.

"It's compiling... Her agility is steadily increasing..." Celebi whispered with a troubled voice, obviously having noticed the same thing as Zerobi. The fact struck Lucario a few moments later, when he was just barely able to block the oncoming kick with one arm, nearly taking the brunt of the blow. Sensing danger, he suddenly jumped back a few paces.

"All right... Fine..." Lucario muttered while exhaling heavily and lowering his stance into a pounce, "Warm-up is over. Here I am, trying to be a nice guy and save my energy, but you're just ASKING for me to go all-out!"

"Save your energy...?" the Blaziken asked with a bored expression, her former anguish completely vanished. She lifted her left arm and looked it over, showing it to no longer be paralyzed from the earlier aura sphere.

"Yeah... I'm not that naive; I know Brendan'll sic Suicune on me after you're done..." Lucario said as he looked up at Brendan, the trainer wearing a sinister expression like always, "I'm prepared to fight a legendary, so I can't let a patsy like you get in my way!"

The Blaziken looked at him for a moment before shrugging.

"... And what makes you think Suicune is stronger than I am?" she asked bluntly.

"Eh?" Lucario exclaimed quietly, a chill suddenly running up his back. The implication was not lost on Zerobi or Celebi either, both of whom stared at Torana with a growing sense of dread.

"... Besting a legendary... While at a type disadvantage?" Celebi whispered to herself, trying to think of a plausible scenario where such a thing would even be remotely possible. She suddenly felt less certain of her chances at besting the Blaziken, and even less so of Lucario's.

"Save your energy if you want to... It will not change the outcome..." Torana continued as she sighed audibly and then flexed her muscles once more. Sensing danger, Lucario sped towards her, but in the back of his mind he already knew it was useless. No matter how many punches he threw, the flames sprouted forth from her back and caressed the tall Fire-type's body as they moved down and disappeared within her legs. Immediately an effect was shown, the Blaziken swiftly moving away from him by shuffling back with the agility of an alerted arachnid, light as piece of cloth caught within a tornado.

"I-Impossible! She sped up further!?" Zerobi stammered in shock as Celebi gasped, not having seen anyone move so quickly since Pikablu had employed his 25% against her. Lucario braced himself as the Blaziken decided to attack, charging at him like a locomotive jumping from zero miles per hour to two hundred in a flash. Torana was like a blur as she came nearer, but Lucario was able to detect a kick approaching from her right side, ducking from it through pure instinct alone. Before he could even raise his head again, another impossibly fast kick came from the opposite direction and smashed against his arm, a third kick suddenly striking him squarely in the chest.

Lucario stumbled back as the impact from all the kicks seemed to reach his brain all at once, the kicks coming out faster than his nerve clusters could manage. Torana shuffled back once more before coming at him again, Lucario realizing that he was completely defenseless against her assault. At a loss for what to do, he jumped directly upwards as high as he could, but only reached a few meters of height before being struck in midair by the Blaziken's jump kick. He fell gracelessly down to the ground, hurting badly from the violent attacks. He felt his legs begin to give out when he stood up, sorely hoping there was still a chance for him to turn things around.

"This time...!" Lucario growled as he struck a pose, abandoning all technique and getting ready to counterattack the moment he saw Torana do anything. Fast as a lightning bolt, the Blaziken ran up to him and he immediately kicked into the air with all his might, hoping to score a lucky hit like in his battle against Zoroark.

However, as his leg whooshed through the air, he realized that there was absolutely nothing for him to hit. Looking down, he saw the Blaziken crouching down into a ball, showing her back to him. The sight only lasted a moment before her two mighty legs suddenly engulfed his neck, the Blaziken pushing away from the ground by standing on her hands.

Lucario choked as the grip around his throat became stronger, and suddenly began tugging him to the side. The Blaziken used her arms to spin around, moving into a normal standing position while dragging Lucario's head down with her legs and slamming it against the ground.

"Wh-What the hell was that!?" Zerobi exclaimed in utter disbelief at what she had just seen, Lucario lying in the dirt with a dazed expression. Although he was at the Blaziken's mercy, his head was still spinning from having been thrown in such an odd manner and he made no attempt to retreat to a less vulnerable position.

"Get up," the Blaziken muttered, unfazed by the impressive move she had pulled while tapping the side of Lucario's head with her sharp foot. Lucario came to once more, rolling away from the dangerous foe and standing up. He barely had time to get his bearing together before the Blaziken was upon him once more, delivering a straight kick to his unguarded stomach. He staggered back with a pained expression as his back bumped into the arena's wall, his foot knocking over one of the candles placed nearby. Seeing the Blaziken come for him once more, he made one last attempt at fighting back, charging up an aura sphere in his right palm. The attempt was short-lived, Torana zooming towards him and lifting her leg, grasping a hold of his face with one of her talon-like feet. She lifted her leg further and pushed it forward, smashing the back of Lucario's head against the wall while suspending him in midair and mercilessly crushing his skull with her powerful claws.

"AAAHHHH!" Lucario screamed as the amassed aura leaked out of his arm, causing an internal explosion of blue fire. The sudden pain and panic had broken his concentration, and the current lack of ground beneath his feet left him feeling disoriented and restricted. He groaned and was unable to make resistance as Torana's claws ripped into his skin, warm blood dripping down his chin.

"So weak. So brittle," the Blaziken growled with disappointment in her voice, "What merciful trials have led you here thus far?"

"N-Never had to fight such an ugly twat bef- GAAAHHH!" Lucario tried to respond, his snarky comment cut short by the grip around his skull suddenly increasing, his cranium feeling like it was about to pop from the immense pressure.

"What was that?" Torana asked sarcastically as Lucario twitched in pain.

"H-hey, f-funny story..." Lucario stammered through the splitting headache, "... D'you know I'm actually Ethan? That means I've already beaten both you and that psychotic asshole you refer to as 'master'..."

Torana continued looking at him for a moment, her face remaining expressionless. She lifted him up into a completely vertical position with her leg before throwing him down on the ground beside her.

"No," she said bluntly, "You are far too pathetic. A man like Ethan would dispatch you in an instant."

Lucario's arms shook as he struggled to get up, every part of him pained, exhausted and begging for rest. One of his ears was bent an unnatural angle, and there was a blotch of his blood rubbed into the dirty ground underneath. Realizing just how pathetic he must be looking, he filled himself up with determination once more as he stood up.

"Best keep lying down," the Blaziken mumbled quietly, not even bothering to turn towards him, "Unless you plan on actually putting up some resistance this time."

"I'm not done yet...!" Lucario growled as he clenched his fists and straightened his back, "It's not over 'til it's over!"

"... It's over," was all Torana said before suddenly disappearing. Lucario felt a frightening sensation creep up his back as he turned around, the Blaziken standing right behind him with a menacing expression.

"You are not fast enough..." she muttered as Lucario punched at her with all his might. The Blaziken brushed the punch aside with a speedy flick of her wrist, barely even paying it any notice.

"Strong enough..." she continued as she suddenly reached out with her arms and grabbed a hold of Lucario's shoulders. As if he weighed nothing at all, she picked him up and held his head level with her own.

"Resilient enough..." she kept going as Lucario struggled and tried to kick her, his attack halted as she pushed her knee deep into his stomach. Lucario felt all the air flow out of his lungs as the Blaziken struck him with her knee again and again, the tight grasp around his shoulders leaving him with no hope of avoiding the onslaught. After a few moments he was becoming strangely accustomed to the pain, each hit against his punished stomach more predictable than the last. He hung limply, unable to put up a fight as the Blaziken wailed away at him, her expression becoming more and more agitated with each hit. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally stopped and shook him a few times. When she was given no response, she tossed him to the side like she was discarding an empty wrapper.

"... And definitively not experienced enough to ever match up to someone like me," the Blaziken finished her speech with disdain apparent in her voice. Lucario lay on his back with white noise echoing in his ears, only faintly aware that he wasn't being hit anymore. His former determination had all but vanished, the concepts of victory and defeat meager when compared to the agony he now found himself in. No matter what, he wanted to take a break for an hour or two to lick his wounds and figure out a countermeasure against his opponent. Still, there was something in the back of his mind telling him to keep on fighting, and he tried sitting up. His abdominal muscles screamed out in protest as he coughed and fell back down again. Torana sighed as she looked at Lucario and suddenly held one of her three-pronged talons in front of her.

"Thrice I've used the speed boost..." the Blaziken said with a menacing tone, hoping she would be able to hammer in the point this time. Quietly she lifted her other hand and placed next to the first one.

"Before reaching maximum efficiency..." she continued undauntedly while spreading her fingers, "... I can use it for a total of six times."

Due to the sudden ringing in his ears, Lucario could only assume that he had heard her wrong. Celebi and Zerobi were both fully aware of the implications behind statement, the latter gazing at Lucario's broken form with terror.

"... She's still just halfway powered up!?" Zerobi exclaimed with hopelessness, finally realizing that Lucario never even had a chance to begin with. Shame filled her, understanding that all the beatings he had taken so far had been for nothing while she had just been standing there and watching. Unable to restrain herself any longer, she took a step towards the ring in order to interrupt the match, not caring about the consequences. However, she froze in shock as the Blaziken suddenly stomped down hard on the ground, sending dust whirling all around her.

"Is this it!? You wild Pokﾃｩmon roam about, thinking you're hot stuff after beating up the big kid in your neighborhood," Torana burst out with anger as she stared at Lucario, not even noticing Zerobi's short-lived advance, "I am a trained monster, a weapon forged for your destruction! I feed on pathetic warriors like you and shit out their broken dreams!"

Brendan sat and watched the spectacle from afar, taking delight in the battle. The Lucario's battered condition, the Weavile's feeble hesitation and Celebi's binding fear. From his position they looked like bugs, unable to do anything before the might of his Pokﾃｩmon.

"Hehehehe... That ability truly is like something out of a dream..." he snickered into the microphone, not sure if anyone was able to hear him as they were busy gazing at Torana with admiration.

"Fire is heat, and simpleton fools only thing to use to it scorch the opposition..." he whispered to himself as his fingers tingled, letting his hands close and open irregularly, "... But I... I figured out its true value. Heat is energy, after all... If you can generate heat, then you have a nearly infinite supply of energy! Torana is both a Fire and Fighting type, so she can use the excess energy to strengthen herself! Her legs are thick and muscular because they're built to withstand any amount of strain! Lesser legs would've been torn to pieces!"

Lucario was beginning to come back to his senses, Brendan's words echoing through his pained ears and within his aching skull. He tried to sit up once more, but his suffering stomach muscles refused to comply. The repeated kicks had left their mark on him, and he felt weaker than ever before.

"Go ahead... Cry," the Blaziken whispered to him with a demeaning tone, "I know you want to. Do not hold back on my accord."

"Would you... Stop treating me like shit!?" Lucario growled in response as he tried to lift his upper body with his quickly buckling arms, "I haven't given up yet!"

"Hmpf... Why try to be nice?" the Blaziken muttered while shrugging, "You'll hate me in the end, anyway."

As stubborn as Lucario's badly beaten stomach was, he knew himself to be even more stubborn. Rolling over to his side, he was able to use his arm to push off the ground and stand without using his abdominal muscles at all.

"Our conflict has one victor, but two contestants," the Blaziken continued without paying any particular note to Lucario retrieving his upright position, "For me to triumph, you must taste defeat. There is no other way around it... And as it happens, I never lose."

Torana lost herself for a moment, seemingly reliving painful memories while solemnly closing her eyes.

"Bitter tears of defeat... They're all I know how to create..." she whispered before opening and fastening her eyes on Lucario with a critical gaze, "So... Go ahead, weep like everyone else! Blame me for your own weakness!"

The Blaziken roared as she flexed once more, a fiery explosion igniting around her chest. Lucario could do nothing but stand and watch in amazement, wondering how such a technique was even possible. This was the fourth time he was witnessing it, but only the second without being busy trying to fight. Now that he knew what was about to happen, there was a sudden pang of familiarity when the fire crawled over the outside of Torana's body. As it settled down into her legs, there was a faint moment of recognition. Behind Lucario's faded vision, he thought he saw the yellow fire give off a violet glow before flashing completely blue.

As the Blaziken charged towards Lucario once more, Zerobi snapped out of her self-induced hesitation. Seeing that the fire-type had grown faster once more was all it took for her to finally completely give up on Lucario's chances of winning.

"... This is not an enemy he can handle!" she shouted in desperation, "We've got to do something!"

Turning back, she had expected to see to Celebi leap into action right away. However, the small legendary hovered in stillness, not even looking back at her. Celebi knew that if she were to look her sister directly in the eye, the Weavile would clearly see the fear she was attempting to hide.

"B-But... He's not unconscious yet..." Celebi whispered while trying not to think too hard about Brendan's intimidation, her face both troubled and worried, "I can heal him later if he breaks anyth-"

"So!? Can't you see how much he's suffering!?" Zerobi interrupted, a loud banging coming from the arena as Lucario received a powerful kick to his right shoulder, "Fine, I'll do it myself! I'll run in and grab him, you stay here and make a barrier or something!"

Suddenly, Zerobi took a step into the ring. Celebi gasped as she reached out with her arms, two newly-formed seeds lying in the palm of her hands. Two long vines suddenly sprouted forth as the seeds cracked open, shooting out and coiling themselves around Zerobi's arms, holding her in place.

"No!" Celebi yelled with a hint of terror in her voice, "Fighting/Fire against your Dark/Ice... You won't last a second, and that trainer will bring out more Pokﾃｩmon to attack us!"

"I don't care!" Zerobi growled as she looked back at her sister with anger and fought against her binds, "Let me go, damn it! He'll die if we don't do anything!"

Celebi winced, not knowing what to say. The fight between the Blaziken and Lucario was clearly over, the latter currently being pummeled by several rapid kicks to his chest. She could see a few of his tendons ripped, and quickly worsening fractures all over his body. Torana did not seem to be letting up at all, and if the snickering Brendan was indeed merciless enough to see her raped to death he would have no qualms about snuffing out Lucario here and now. As much as she feared being enslaved and meeting her end at the hands of the mad champion, she wondered if she would truly be able to simply sit by and watch as Lucario dies right in front of her.

The Blaziken had sped up even more and was now too fast for Lucario to even attempt to parry her attacks. As the battle would turn out the same with or without his focus, Lucario let his mind drift elsewhere. Brendan's words echoed in his head as he carefully observed what little he could see of the Blaziken before getting struck once more by a mighty kick, trying to figure out what had happened the instant she had powered up. Mew's words echoed in his head as he carefully observed what little he could see of his own legs before getting struck once more by a powerful tackle, trying to figure out what had happened the instant he had detonated his mitochondria.

Each smashing blow brought him one step closer to clarity, a faint smile starting to form around his lips. Torana assumed he was slipping out of consciousness, and wondered how much longer she would be forced to beat him before Brendan ordered her to stop. He had completely given up on both attacking her and defending himself, doing nothing but staring at her legs as she moved around. Subconsciously, she began to ease up on her assault, the situation feeling less and less like a fight with every passing second. After a few moments she was just standing there, breathing heavily while gazing at the broken Lucario, lying on the ground with a creepy smile plastered across his face.

"Did I tell you to stop!?" Brendan's voice suddenly came from above her, making her wince. She walked slowly towards Lucario, his curious gaze still fastened on her legs. He made no attempt to get away as she closed her claws around his throat and lifted him up into the air. For a few moments he hung there, before finally starting to struggle as he noticed his supply of air being cut off.

"What's so funny?" she asked and loosened her grip around his throat.

"... Cheater..." Lucario wheezed almost inaudibly.

"Speak up," she muttered while punched him in the gut. The flesh beneath his fur had visibly reddened, and she knew it had to be very painful.

"Ugh!" Lucario coughed before lowering his head, his ears hanging by the sides of his head as blood dripped down on the floor, "... Th-That speed's too much... Too overpowered... It's cheating..."

Torana sighed and threw Lucario away, watching him not even attempt to land on his feet as he fell on the ground. Once more he tried standing up as she sighed, finally deciding to break one of his legs just to put an end to the pathetic display.

"Hey..." Lucario mumbled as he slowly rose to his feet, wobbling slightly before catching himself from falling with his leg. Instead of straightening himself up he held his position, looking like a marathon runner waiting at the starting position of a race.

"I-If you're gonna cheat..." he exclaimed with a desperate expression, "... Then... I'll cheat, too!"

And with that, Lucario vanished from sight.