Pokémon: Above the Top

Veilstone Gym had a traditional, antique design. The ceiling could be opened during battles, the audience stands were well-equipped, and all facilities were fully functional.

Reggie and Maylene were already seated in the audience with a bunch of other kids, all staring blankly at the "discussion" between Sato and the Gym Leader.

Meanwhile, Maylene kept glancing toward the door. Why weren't her senior trainees and fellow students coming in to watch the battle?

Little did she know… they were all still outside sunbathing.

"The 3-on-3 Gym evaluation battle will now begin. During the match, Gym Leader Maylo may not switch Pokémon. Any objections from either side?"

"None." x2

"Then, both sides, send out your Pokémon!"

"Medicham, I'm counting on you!"

"Murkrow, prepare for battle."

The referee glanced at both sides, then announced loudly, "Battle start!"

"Murkrow, Tailwind."

"Medicham, Mind Reader!"

Both sides started without attacking, opting instead for status moves.

Murkrow boosted its Speed, while Medicham's Mind Reader immediately made Sato frown.

Sure enough, the Gym Leader Maylo's command came right after: "Medicham, High Jump Kick!"

High Jump Kick was incredibly powerful and had a decent hit rate, but if it missed, the user would lose half its stamina instantly.

Sato looked at Maylo's confident expression and understood; if he dared to open with Mind Reader, then he clearly wasn't worried at all about the 10% failure rate.

He was aiming for guaranteed accuracy.

"Murkrow, Substitute."

Moves used after Mind Reader were guaranteed to hit, so things like Double Team were useless.

Murkrow sacrificed a quarter of its stamina to avoid greater damage.

The moment the Substitute was shattered by High Jump Kick, Sato and Maylo gave their next commands simultaneously.

"Murkrow, Taunt."

"Medicham, Ice Punch!"

Sato's brow furrowed, he was being led around. Taunt blocked Medicham's status moves, but Maylo had clearly only intended to use it once. By sealing off its status moves, Sato had actually fallen behind.

Maylo discarded such a powerful move like Mind Reader without hesitation just to control the pace of the battle.

Sato realized he had underestimated his opponent…

"Krooow~"

Ice Punch grazed Murkrow's belly, and the Ice-type energy seeped into its body, making it cry out in pain.

And this was after Tailwind boosted its speed… Murkrow had relied on raw physical toughness to force a last-second dodge, avoiding a direct hit.

"Nice physical endurance. Medicham, Focus Blast!"

Sato's brows tightened. At this moment, Focus Blast posed almost no threat to Murkrow. Clearly, Maylo was setting something up.

"Murkrow, dodge and counter with Heat Wave."

That guy was a sly fox. Sato refused to follow his pace. Murkrow's previous graze from Ice Punch was still a problem; he'd use Heat Wave to flush it out.

Medicham threw a few Focus Blasts for show, but Murkrow dodged them all with ease.

Then came the Heat Wave. Medicham merely crossed its arms in front of its chest and tanked the full force of the move.

Sato felt something was off… and then Maylo gave the next command, confirming his suspicion.

"Medicham, High Jump Kick!"

Once High Jump Kick landed, Taunt would wear off, allowing Medicham to use status moves again.

And as a Psychic/Fighting-type Pokémon, it combined the bravery of Fighting-types with the mystery and finesse of Psychic-types.

To use High Jump Kick without any hesitation; without worrying about missing an airborne Murkrow… Sato quickly thought of one particularly annoying move.

Pain Split.

Even if High Jump Kick missed, Pain Split could still help Medicham recover part of its stamina.

And the key was that Medicham could also learn Reversal and Recover!

Reversal: the lower the user's health, the stronger the power. At its peak, it rivaled Self-Destruct.

Recover: instantly restores half of the user's stamina, an incredibly strong sustain move. In a crucial moment, it could easily save Medicham's life.

Clearly, Medicham had already developed a perfected battle system centered around "stamina manipulation".

So, there was no way Sato would let Murkrow foolishly use Substitute or Protect again to try blocking High Jump Kick.

After all, you might block once or twice; but could you block five, six, seven, eight times? Constant defense would never win a battle.

Looking at it now, the best chance to counterattack was a single shot.

"Murkrow, Brave Bird." At the same time, Sato subtly gestured toward Murkrow.

For the first time in the match, Maylo's expression tightened, though only barely. Seeing that, Sato grew more certain of his guess.

Only a powerful one-hit KO could completely stop the nightmare of Pain Split and Recover.

Medicham leapt into the air, its knee glowing with a blinding orange light, driving straight at Murkrow.

Murkrow also spiraled in midair. Its dry feathers sparked flames from friction with the air, which quickly became a terrifying blue energy aura enveloping its body.

The two forces clashed head-on. It was clear that this one strike would decide the battle.

Just as they were about to collide, Maylo caught a glimpse of Sato's calm expression and suddenly panicked.

"Medicham-"

"KROOOOOOW!"

Murkrow let out a piercing cry. In the middle of Brave Bird, it forcibly twisted its wing, narrowly dodging Medicham's High Jump Kick at the last second.

Medicham fell calmly from the air. It had long grown used to the searing pain of shattering its own knee.

It even had time to silently mock Murkrow for not daring to go head-to-head, dodging at the last moment instead.

However… hadn't Maylo just called out to it? Medicham was about to turn around to confirm when it suddenly felt a blast of scorching energy strike from behind.

Murkrow, still in Brave Bird mode, had come crashing down with full force, right into Medicham's vulnerable waist.

Then, Medicham flew at terrifying speed -amplified several times- before slamming violently into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

Maylo finally stood up, eyes full of rage and worry. When the dust settled, Medicham lay embedded motionless in the floor.

"M-Medicham is unable to battle. Murkrow wins! Gym Leader, send out your next Pokémon!"

"Krooow! K-Krow!"

Murkrow panted heavily, letting out triumphant cries. While forcing transitions between aerial states under Brave Bird, it had built up a lot of side effects, but it had still won.

Sato kept a close eye on Murkrow and noticed it had faint signs of breaking through. But in the end, it faded away and didn't succeed.

Sato sighed in disappointment, but then thought again and realized it made sense. As tough as the battle had been, Medicham was still only Elite level.

And Sato wanted Murkrow to break through to Pseudo-Elite Four before evolving, building a stronger foundation, which was clearly harder.

A breakthrough… really couldn't have the slightest flaw.