As Candice gave the signal to begin the final round, Wen Tai didn't immediately attack. Instead, he adjusted his glasses, a smirk playing on his lips.
"I've spent the last two matches dissecting your little 'fortress,' Julian," Wen Tai said, his voice echoing off the gym walls. "You've got high defense and that Clear Body ability to stop us from weakening you. But I saw the flaws. Your Carbink is a literal rock—he's slow. He hasn't moved more than two inches from his starting position the entire time. And his offensive power? It took three direct hits to down a Snover, despite the type advantage. You're a tank with a broken tread and a rusted cannon."
He tossed his Poké Ball into the air with a flourish. "Against a target that can't move and can't hit back hard, speed is the ultimate weapon! Let's go, Buizel!"
With a splash of energy, the sea-weasel Pokémon appeared, its twin tails already spinning like propellers. The yellow flotation sac around its neck was fully inflated, and it hopped from foot to foot, looking like a coiled spring ready to snap.
"A Buizel, huh?" Julian muttered, looking the orange Pokémon over. "I see where you're going with this. High base speed, versatile movement. You're planning to kite me."
"Exactly!" Wen Tai shouted. "We don't need to break your shield if we can just shoot around it! Buizel, use Sonic Boom!"
"Buoy-buoy!"
Buizel spun mid-air, whipping its tails forward. A crescent-shaped blade of compressed air sliced through the gym, whistling as it tore toward Carbink.
Julian didn't look worried. In fact, he looked bored. "Good choice on the move. Sonic Boom deals fixed damage, right? Ignores the target's defense entirely. For a newbie Carbink, two or three of those would probably be enough to crack him open like a walnut."
The students on the sidelines leaned in. They knew the theory: Sonic Boom didn't care how many diamonds Carbink had. It was a flat hit. Unless the target was a Ghost-type, they were going to feel it.
"Too bad you're telegraphing it like a billboard," Julian said. "Carbink, use Rock Throw. But don't throw them at Buizel. Stack them."
"Mishi!"
With a flare of his diamonds, Carbink summoned three jagged slabs of stone. Instead of launching them, he let them fall into a triangular formation right in front of him. The Sonic Boom struck the lead stone with a violent crack, shattering the rock into dust, but the air-blade dissipated harmlessly before it could touch Carbink's blue ruff.
"Is the 'fixed damage' working as expected, Wen Tai?" Julian teased. "A move only ignores defense if it actually reaches the Pokémon. Physics 101: a rock in the way is still a rock in the way."
Wen Tai grit his teeth. "Fine! If you want to play hide-and-seek, we'll find you! Buizel, use your speed! Keep the pressure on from all sides! Sonic Boom, rapid fire!"
The orange Pokémon became a blur. He dashed in a wide circle around the arena, his propeller tails kicking up a cloud of dust. He zipped behind Carbink, then to the left, then the right, launching white crescents of air from every angle.
"Float! Float-buoy!"
"Behind you, Carbink," Julian commanded, his voice calm amidst the chaos. "Use Sharpen, but give it a twist. Lean back and let the momentum carry you."
What happened next made several teachers in the back of the room drop their clipboards.
Carbink's body began to glow as he used Sharpen, but instead of just making his edges more defined, he concentrated the energy into his base. He sprouted thick, jagged spikes that acted like the teeth of a gear. As he leaned back and began to spin, those spikes caught the ground.
Carbink didn't just spin in place; he launched. Using the torque from his spinning spikes against the asphalt, he moved with a sudden, jerky burst of speed that shouldn't have been possible for a Pokémon of his shape. He zipped to the left, the Sonic Boom whistling past the space he'd occupied a millisecond before.
"What?! Since when can a Carbink move like a Beyblade?!" a student screamed from the stands.
"That's not in the manual!" Wen Tai yelled, his composure finally cracking. "Buizel, watch out! He's closing the distance!"
Buizel was momentarily stunned, his propeller tails stuttering as he tried to track the spinning rock-top that was now zig-zagging toward him.
"This is a war, Wen Tai! You don't stand around and wait for the textbook to catch up!" Julian's eyes sharpened. "Carbink, now! Full speed! Tack him down!"
"Mishi! (I'm gonna get ya!)"
Carbink, looking like a high-speed sea urchin, slammed into the stunned Buizel. The impact wasn't a clean hit; Julian had trained him for something much more annoying. As they collided, Julian gave the final command.
"Sharpen! Lock him in!"
As Carbink hit Buizel's chest, he didn't bounce off. Instead, he used the Sharpen move one more time, extending those new, needle-like spikes. They didn't pierce Buizel—Julian wasn't looking to cause a trip to the emergency room—but they acted like a series of interlocking cages. The spikes wrapped around Buizel's limbs and tail, pinning the orange Pokémon to the gym floor like a specimen on a board.
"Buoy! Buoy-buoy!" Buizel thrashed, his limbs caught in the jagged stone 'claws' of Carbink's body. He was completely immobilized.
"Buizel, use Sonic Boom! Get him off you!" Wen Tai screamed, his face pale with sweat.
But Buizel couldn't. His tails, the source of his wind-based attacks, were pinned flat against the ground by two heavy stone protrusions. His arms were locked. He hadn't learned Water Gun yet, and his physical moves were useless because he couldn't get any leverage. He was a speedster who had been stapled to the floor.
"It's over," Julian said, walking toward the center of the ring as Carbink loomed over the trapped Buizel, looking quite proud of himself. "Your plan was perfect on paper, Wen Tai. But you forgot that a battle isn't a math equation. You relied on speed, so I took away your ability to move. You relied on a fixed-damage move that required a specific gesture, so I took away your tails."
Wen Tai stared at the field, his hand shaking. He looked at his 'superior' Pokémon, now whimpering under the weight of a 'slow' rock. "But... the Academy... they never taught us that moves could be used to grapple... Sharpen is an Attack buff, not a trap..."
"Then the Academy is failing you," Julian said, his voice quiet but firm. "A move is just a name for a manipulation of energy. If you only use it the way the book tells you, you'll never earn more than a participation trophy."
Candice stepped onto the field, looking between the defeated Buizel and the composed Julian. She blew her whistle, the sound sharp and final.
"Match over! Buizel is immobilized and unable to continue! The winner—and the undisputed 'Special Guest' of the day—is Julian!"