Just as Ignis/Gyarados was going to turn his head back to sweep through the rest of the stone slabs, an Aura Sphere flew out from behind one of the stone slabs and impacted Ignis' head. That hit disrupted Ignis' focus and caused the Diamond Cutter he was releasing to sputter out. Things did not stop there, the first Aura Sphere was swiftly followed by more, and Ignis intercepted them all using Hydro Pump.
While he did that Lucario actually ripped out the rock it was hiding behind and threw it at Ignis before quickly moving behind another stone slab. Ignis easily took care of that rock as well using his Hydro Pump, but Lucario utilized the time Ignis did that to raise more than 10 more slabs between the ones that had been destroyed by Diamond Cutter. Well, more like halved, but they might as well have been destroyed since they were pretty useless as they were, at least for defensive/hiding purposes.
Still, Stephanie and Lucario did not ignore them just because they were destroyed. Mere moments after Lucario raised the new rock slabs, the upper halves of the cut slabs that were lying on the ground rose into the air and levitated there for a moment before shooting toward Ignis through an obvious use of Psychic on Lucario's part. Ignis dodged most of the projectiles/slabs by simply moving his upper body though he had to face one slab head-on. He destroyed that one slab with an Iron Head.
What followed was a few minutes where Lucario threw out Aura Spheres from behind his cover along with the occasional stone slab it threw out before switching the rock it was covering behind until that very moment for obvious reasons. Ignis naturally blocked or dodged those attacks while he tried to hit Lucario with either a Hydro Pump, Flamethrower, or Steam Jet whenever possible. Ignis actually managed to land one of the Flamethowers during this exchange, but Lucario showed no reaction to being roasted aside from a grunt, which was a rather large difference compared to the hiss of pain it released at the start of the battle.
"Quake, Stone Barrage, then Dew," Stephanie ordered and Lucario directly followed suit. Lucario released an Earthquake that destroyed 90% of the slabs it had erected, and directly after they were destroyed, the small rock pieces rose into the before shooting toward Ignis through another obvious use of Psychic. I was pretty sure that there were too many rock pieces flying towards Ignis to properly block them all with a Hydro Pump, so I ordered him to use "Whirlpool" instead.
While Ignis was controlling the large Whirlpool to block/catch all approaching rocks, Lucario used Life Dew to recover some more. Ignis knew that he had to keep the defense up, but he also wanted to stop Lucario from using another healing move so he sent the Whirlpool toward Lucario. 'Use Surf and then Thunder while it is distracted,' I told Ignis, and he sent out a wave, which swept up Lucario, who had just dodged out of the Whirlpool's way.
"Protect," Stephanie immediately reacted, and Lucario set up the shield just as the Thunder hit Lucario's position. Well, the Protect managed to weather the Thunder, even if Thunder caused the shield to crack. Actually, not only did Protect stop Ignis' Thunder, but it also isolated Lucario from the water of the Surf and the steam-covered area it had been swept to.
"V Wave, Stone, then MP to DP if you can, Aura Barrage if you can't," Stephanie fired off a string of orders at the same time I gave my own set. "Bounce, then Steam Jet while you are up, finish with Flare Impact," I ordered out loud. 'Use Hydro Pump to block any projectiles if Lucario sends any. Oh, and follow up with Steam Eruption after you hit Lucario with Flare Blitz,' I added telepathically.
While Lucario used Vacuum Wave to clear its surroundings of the Steaming Mist, Ignis rose into the air using Bounce. He easily managed to reach the ceiling and fired off a Steam Jet at Lucario who was raising another stone forest. Thanks to being so high up, Ignis had no problem locating Lucario and since he was firing down, the stone slabs Lucario raised provided no cover/protection to Lucario at all.
While that was happening I could not help but think how they would likely react to Ignis' attack and I was sure that they knew that simply trying to dodge the Steam Jet was not a good idea. Digging down to dodge Ignis's attack until gravity did its job or creating a stone roof would be better unless it used a speed amplifier to stay in motion until Ignis was forced to stop his attack.
Still, if they tried to wait for Ignis to fall back down they'd be in for a surprise because Ignis had learned to use internal as well as external steam manipulation in conjunction with Steam Jet and/or Steam Eruption to prolong his time in the air and even maneuver through the air if necessary. Proper flight using both steam energy and draconic energy was still in the works, but prolonging hover/air time was not a problem.
Interestingly enough, Lucario actually used Dig to dodge Ingni's attack, but I had a pretty simple counter for that. 'Use Surf to flood the field including the hole Lucario left behind, then follow up with Thunderbolt after counting till 4,' I telepathically instructed, which had Ignis stop his steam breath, and flood the battlefield instead. The Surf crashed into the ground, no doubt entering/seeping into any crevices present, and roughly 4 seconds later a Thunderbolt impacted the water.
I was not expecting the Thunderbolt to hurt Lucario, but if it caused his muscles to cramp up and seize, that would already be enough. Who knows? Lucario might even drown before it could come out of the flooded hole it was in. It became obvious that this was not the case when Lucario jumped out of the ground/water and coughed a bit to clear its lungs. No one was surprised to see Lucario stand on the steadily receding water. I knew it did that through aura manipulation, but most probably wrote it off as a Lucario thing since the species had a rather impressive reputation.
Anyway, Ignis had directly resumed with the plan after releasing that Thunderbolt, so when Lucario surfaced, Ignis was already coming down, leaving barely any room for Lucario to react. When I saw Lucario attempting to capture Ignis I really wanted to say "You chose poorly", but that would have been a bit much considering what was about to happen.
Ignis did crash into Lucario, and for a moment Lucario actually persisted under Ignis' attack. It seemed like it would be able to Counterattack after all, but then Ignis used Steam Eruption and Lucario got hit point-blank by the move. The superheated steam broke the balance Lucario managed to maintain and sent Lucario flying. Lucario rolled along the ground for a bit before it managed to stop itself.
It pushed itself back on its feet, its palms and arms looking a painful red. I saw it using Life Dew to soothe its arms and body. Just when I was about to tell Ignis to use a Diamond Cutter Stephanie did something that took me off guard. "Good effort so far, but we're not done by a long shot," she declared. "Luke, let's show them the full extent of your power," she proclaimed, which Lucario answered with a determined if excited nod, and a moment later Lucario suddenly lit up, forcing Ignis to abort the Diamond Cutter he was about to release since he recognized the light as the light of evolution.
I had not seen a Mega Stone on Lucario's body, which was why I was surprised when he suddenly lit up like that, but considering how the light had originated from behind Lucario's head, I was assuming that the Lucarionite had been hidden behind/between the extensions on the back of his head. Good hiding place or not, it was a fact that Lucario was undergoing a Mega Evolution, and the audience was cheering enthusiastically.
Still, just because we could not attack Lucario while he was undergoing his Mega Evolution, did not mean that we had to sit there and do nothing until he was done. 'Use Dragon Dance as many times as you can until Lucario is done with its evolution,' I instructed Ignis, and he proceeded to ignore Lucario to do just that.
Ignis managed to complete 2 Dragon Dances and was on the third one by the time the light died down, revealing Mega Lucario in all his glory for everyone to marvel at. The audience certainly expressed its excitement through loud cheering and a lot of shouting, mostly about how awesome Lucario looked. However, we ignored all that. 'Steam Jet,' I ordered as soon as the light died down, indicating that the evolution was over, and Ignis followed through.
The attack surprised literally everyone, especially Lucario who suddenly got hit in the face by a Steam Jet moments after successfully Mega Evolving. Even Stephanie, who was about to say something, woodenly closed her mouth after her Mega Lucario was sent flying mere moments after Mega Evolving. Still, while Stephanie appeared unimpressed by our action, I could feel that she was actually amused by our "sneak attack".
However, her Lucario was everything but amused by Ignis' attack. I could feel that he was pissed, and the pressure/aura he was releasing, which had spiked after his Mega Evolution, began to rise again along with his emotions. Lucario pushed his paws to the forefront and fired off a really big Focus Blast, forcing Ignis to block it using Hydro Pump. Initially, Lucario's doped-up Focus Blast and Ignis' transcendent Hydro Pump were evenly matched, but after roughly 7 seconds that began to change.
Lucario's Focus Blast began to slowly but surely overpower Ignis' Hydro Pump. Not only that but I/we could feel the pressure aura Lucario was releasing steadily rising as well. I even felt a slight movement in the ambient energy toward Lucario's direction, and combining these factors it was not particularly hard to conclude that Lucario was actually breaking through in the middle of our confrontation.
I was not all that surprised that Stephanie's Lucario was capable of breaking through to the next stage, but I was surprised that it happened during the fight since I assumed that they had been pushing it back. My theory was that Lucario's Mega Evolution along with his heightened emotions had led to him losing control over his energy which started off the breakthrough process.
Anyway, my theory got confirmed when, from one moment to the next, the undulations Lucario released were those of a (low) platinum-stage Pokemon. At the same moment that Lucario completed his breakthrough, his Focus Blast also ended up overwhelming Ignis' Hydro Pump. It impacted Ignis' head and resulted in him being thrown backward. Thanks to his serpentine body, Ignis managed to avoid being sent flying, but it took him a moment to recover his initial position.
"Well, that was unexpected," Stephanie spoke up during that moment. "It appears that your challenge has gotten a bit harder than planned. I hope you don't mind," she said with a smile. Not that it would have changed anything even if I did mind the recent development. Hence why I shrugged and said, "I don't mind".
"Stuff like this can happen, and I don't think that it will change the end result. I'm going to leave with my Badge regardless. Lucario breaking through to the platinum stage won't change that," I continued cooly. Stephanie's smile widened at my words and she actually released a chuckle. "I like your confidence. We'll see how long you can keep that confidence of yours," she replied, putting an end to this little interlude. Our Pokemon had temporarily put a stop to their battle while Stephanie and I had our little exchange, but both remained poised for action the whole time.
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