Brock’s dugix highlighted how much of a gamble fusing pokemon could be.

Beyond the initial gamble of whether or not two pokemon would be able to successfully fuse, there was the risk over what traits the fusion would inherit from each pokemon. An onix-dugtrio fusion could just as easily end up no bigger than a normal dugtrio, or possess a different head on each of its segments rather than three separate bodies, or have any number of other variable traits. But despite the risks, people still chose to fuse their pokemon for the power the fusion could provide. And Brock’s dugix was an example of what happened when that gamble paid off.

It was close to two stories tall even with the dugix’s connected tail buried underground, and each of the hydra-like pokemon’s three heads had a mouth that could swallow me whole. Its skin looked just as solid and rock-like as a normal onix, and despite the somewhat goofy-looking round diglet noses at the end of each of its faces, it was impossible not to be intimidated by the massive pokemon. The dugix was slightly smaller than a normal onix, either due to the fusion with dugtrio or because its tail was perpetually underground, but that was hard to remember when the reverberations of its cry were shaking the arena around me.

But I couldn’t allow myself to lose focus. I gave myself a mental slap, and yelled across the arena.

“Don’t get intimidated, Hobbes! You can take it out — we planned for this!”

As if my words restarted the battle, the dugix gave a final roar before diving underground. The pokemon was deceptively fast, and in no more than a few heartbeats it was gone, leaving Hobbes seemingly alone in the arena with one more of the craters I’d noticed upon first taking the platform.

“Stay airborne! Don’t let it surprise you,” I called, and Hobbes responded by zig-zagging through the air of the arena, hoping to dodge any sudden projectiles or submarine attack.

We’d gotten lucky with Brock’s first pokemon. I’d always planned on Hobbes transforming into a copy of his lead under the assumption that his anchor would be an onix fusion. Sableye and Hobbes in his base form simply didn’t have the moves to deal with an opponent who could so easily hide underground. But ground type moves were perfect against a pokemon like dugix, able to target it even while digging. And while the Pewter City gym was rock-typed, which was entirely separate from ground, there was usually quite a bit of overlap in the learnsets. I had been counting on Brock’s first pokemon knowing something that could target his onix fusion underground.

We’d just gotten lucky in that it also happened to be flying type.

The dugix popped up from beneath the earth in a random attempt to bring Hobbes back to the ground, three heads flailing as they each roared their displeasure. But as high as Hobbes was, he had plenty of time to dodge as his wings flapped a staccato beat.

“Sand attack—” I started to call, but the dugix had already retreated back to the safety of underground. I nodded. If that was how Brock wanted to play this… “Next one!” I yelled instead.

“Otto!” Hobbes chirped his acknowledgement as he continued to fly around the ceiling of the arena.

Brock stared at me from his platform with his arms crossed across his chest. If he knew what we planned, he made no move to call out any counters, seemingly content to wait for his pokemon to make the next move in the ongoing stalemate.

We didn’t have to wait long. A dozen seconds later, the dugix reemerged from a new hole to randomly flail at the air in hopes of a lucky hit, to just as little effect. But this time when the dugix dove back into the earth, Hobbes followed it with a dive of his own.

“Bulldoze! Now!” I yelled, somewhat unnecessarily, as Hobbes was already starting the move with his hands and hind talons pressed against the rocky ground. It wasn’t as strong as earthquake would have been, an even more powerful move the geotto might have known. But Hobbes had never used earthquake before — much better to guarantee a move he had experience with than to gamble and fail with a move the geotto might not even know.

The arena shook once again, this time with the low rumble of bulldoze as the ground beneath Hobbes’ hands vibrated in expanding concentric circles. From across the arena, I watched Brock frown, but still, he refrained from calling out any new instructions.

Which is when I realized — he couldn’t call out instructions, at least none that would do any good. While dugix’s strategy of hiding underground was great for avoiding attacks, it also prevented Brock from being able to call out any new variations on the strategy, at least not until the dugix popped back up. And since the dugix couldn’t see what was happening above ground from within the protection of the earth…it was unlikely to vary its strategy on its own, either.

“Don’t let up, Hobbes!” I yelled, and started mentally counting the seconds. I hadn’t kept track exactly of the time between the first two of the dugix’s emergences, but it couldn’t have been more than twenty seconds. It had already been five seconds since it dove back underground, and subtract another five, just to be safe…that gave Hobbes ten more seconds to use bulldoze until his opponent’s expected counterattack.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“…three, four, five…” I mumbled under my breath. I wasn’t sure how accurate my counting was, given all the distractions and the adrenaline flowing through me. So I decided to err even further on the safe side, and the subsequent seconds came out even faster than before. “…six, seven, eight, n—GET OUT OF THERE!”

But I was too late. With bulldoze giving the dugix a target, it decided to attack earlier than its previous pattern. The three heads shot out of the ground where Hobbes was pressed against it in a massive, full-body take down, sending my pokemon flying.

Fortunately, his disguise had still been up, and he took the hit without receiving any actual harm. Unfortunately, I didn’t think Brock would give us a chance to repeat our previous strategy.

“Stay up, rock throw,” the gym leader called. Listening to its trainer, the dugix remained on the surface. It pushed up boulders and smaller stones for the three heads to pick up with its three mouths and heave toward the frantically flapping Hobbes, his dodging made all the more difficult by the way his costumed wings were in tatters from the first hit.

“Back to the ground, bulldoze!” I yelled, frowning while I did so. I didn’t want it to come to this. It might have worked for Sableye against the geotto, but trading physical moves against a pokemon with as good of a defense as dugix? If it had been the strategy from the start, it would’ve meant a guaranteed loss. I could only hope the extra seconds of bulldoze Hobbes had gotten off while the dugix was underground would be enough.

Hobbes took a hit from one of the smaller rocks as he returned to the ground, but he didn’t hesitate to follow my instructions. With his talons and hands pressed against the earth, he once again started to use bulldoze as the dugix homed in on his new stationary position.

The ground began to shake as rocks continued to fly through the air. Super effective move versus super effective move were traded. Some of the rock throws missed, the three heads of the dugix having trouble aiming perfectly at Hobbes’ small form, but more than enough hit their target.

Yet for every connected rock throw, dugix was forced to endure through the continuous bulldoze. It wasn’t doing as much now that the dugix wasn’t entirely underground, but its still-buried tails meant Hobbes had a perfect target for the ground attack. Small, hairline cracks began to run though a few of the dugix’s lower segments, and one of the mouths roared in pain between the throws.

But it wasn’t enough. A larger stone connected with Hobbes’ head — a critical hit. He fell backward, the bulldoze finally fading as he transformed back into his base form, unable to battle.

My heart hurt to see my partner so injured, but after years of battling I’d learned to tune out the worry. At least for now. I could give him all the care and attention he deserved once we had the Boulder Badge in hand.

“Challenger Marcus’ pokemon is unable to battle!” the referee called as I returned Hobbes to his ball.

“Not bad,” Brock called across the arena. “But you’re going to have to do better than—”

Ignoring my opponent’s taunts, I grabbed Sableye’s ball and threw it as hard as I could — directly at the dugix.

“Say!” Saybleye cried as he emerged with a fake out punch to one of the dugix’s heads. Brock’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden attack, despite having seen it just a few minutes earlier.

“Back underground, dugix!” he yelled.

“Don’t let up, night shade until its down!”

Sableye was able to get off a single night shade in the wake of his fake out attack before the dugix retreated to the safety of underground, and he stood panting and snarling after his opponent disappeared. He was in bad shape after his battle against the geotto, but his ferocity was undiminished, and he waited for the dugix to reemerge with barely contained fury. The dugix was unquestionably injured as well, but it was difficult to tell how injured with such a large and unfamiliar pokemon. Would one more night shade finish it off? Or would it take two, or three, or a dozen?

There was no way for me to know, not before it happened. And neither was there any other strategy I could think to implement — no special moves or tricks that hadn’t already been revealed. Detect was a power-hungry move, and Sableye struggled to use it even once in our regular practice, so I didn’t think that was an option. All that left was night shade and shadow sneak, against a pokemon that outsized and outweighed Sableye by at least a hundred times.

There were no more instructions I could give — just trust in my pokemon to finish the job.

I’d been yelling my instructions for the entire match, the adrenaline and raised platform causing me to shout much louder than I would in a normal battle. Yet my next words were quiet, barely more than a whisper.

“…you’ve got this, Sableye. I believe in you.”

Sableye’s ear twitched, but aside from that he gave no indication that he heard my words, waiting with claws by his side for the dugix to attack.

And a few seconds later, it happened.

The dugix shot from the ground with a roar directly underneath Sableye’s feet, somehow able to sense my small pokemon’s location. Sableye tried to dodge out of the way with shadow sneak, but was unable to avoid the dig attack completely as one of the heads clipped him, sending him rolling to the side.

Sensing weakness, the dugix didn’t dive back underground immediately, and Sabelye’s eyes began to shine in preparation of another night shade.

“Dugix, sucker punch!” Brock called, and I winced.

Dark energy enveloped the dugix as it rocketed towards Sableye, using its entire body as a weapon against its tiny opponent. It would make contact before Sableye could complete his night shade, but Sableye didn’t abandon the move, simply baring his teeth in a snarl at in charging dugix.

There was a massive boom as the dugix impacted the ground and a plume of dust rose to envelop the combatants. I waited with bated breath for either pokemon to emerge, Brock and the rest of the sparsely populated arena waiting with me. Yet as the dust slowly settled, neither pokemon rose. The dugix lay on the ground where Sableye had stood in a tangled pile of segmented rocks, unmoving. But neither could I see Sableye, presumably also unconscious and buried underneath a half-ton of rock pokemon.

Had Sableye managed to get off the last night shade right before impact? What did a double knock-out mean for the match? I looked to the referee, who continued to stare at the impact point with narrowed eyes. And then those eyes widened, and I looked back to the arena.

With shaking claws, Sableye climbed out from within the dugix, his body glowing purple with ghost type energy. It was obviously a struggle, but he eventually managed to rise to his feet on top of his unconscious opponent. And then, on knees shaking harder than the grass after using a dexnav, he let out a cry of victory.

“SAAAAAAYYYY!!!”

Two seconds later, Sableye collapsed onto his stomach on top of one of the dugix’s heads, unconscious.