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"Ha... ha... I can't hold on anymore! This Dragonite is too powerful!"
Misty gasped for breath, her chest heaving as she surveyed the battlefield before her. Her three Pokémon stood wounded and exhausted, their bodies bearing the scars of intense combat.
Gyarados had taken the worst of it. As her main attacker throughout this desperate battle, the massive sea serpent had launched assault after assault against their opponent, enduring multiple devastating Hyper Beams from the raging Dragonite without backing down.
Golduck and Starmie had served as support, using Light Screen to protect the fleeing civilians on the beach. However, even these two had suffered serious injuries from the sheer aftershock of Dragonite's overwhelming attacks.
The evidence was clear—this wild Dragonite possessed strength far exceeding that of a typical Gym Leader like herself.
"As a Gym Leader, I can't even defeat a single wild Pokémon. How pathetic am I..."
During their battle, Misty had quickly realized this Dragonite was completely wild. No trainer commanded it from the sidelines. It relied purely on its tremendous natural power and battle instincts to fight against her team.
But this Dragonite was truly extraordinary. It had used brute force alone to overwhelm her three carefully trained Pokémon.
Under normal circumstances, even if Misty couldn't claim victory against this particular Dragonite, she should have been able to hold her ground and maintain a defensive stalemate.
She was a Gym Leader, after all. While this Dragonite clearly outclassed her in raw power, she wasn't completely helpless against stronger opponents.
Though she knew she couldn't defeat higher-level trainers like Ash, Gary, or Eddie in direct combat, she could usually hold her own and put up a respectable fight.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a normal battle situation.
While the obviously enraged Dragonite focused its primary attacks on Misty, it would periodically turn its fury toward the crowds of people scattered across the beach, forcing Misty to desperately intercept its devastating moves.
Even when Dragonite didn't deliberately target the civilians, the tremendous force behind its attacks created dangerous shockwaves that threatened the fleeing bystanders.
This constant need to protect others had severely restricted Misty's battle strategy, leading to her inevitable defeat.
"ROAAAAAR!"
Dragonite's eyes flashed with violent crimson light as it observed its nearly fallen opponent. Rather than continuing to attack Misty's battered Pokémon, it turned its rage directly toward the Gym Leader herself.
A blazing Dragon Rage erupted from its maw, the searing flames racing straight toward Misty's defenseless form.
Witnessing this final assault, Gyarados, Golduck, and Starmie ignored their severely wounded conditions and threw themselves between their trainer and the incoming attack, using their own bodies as shields.
Tragically, they were already at their limits and couldn't withstand the scorching dragon flames for more than a few seconds before collapsing in defeat.
All three Pokémon crumpled to the sand, unable to block the remaining assault heading toward their beloved trainer.
"Is this really how it ends for me? Dying in such a ridiculous way before the final confrontation with Team Rocket?"
"Erika told me to face my true feelings, but now I won't even get to see him one last time..."
As Misty watched the approaching dragon flames, an unexpected calm washed over her. Her mind drifted to memories of the past, but when her thoughts turned to Eddie—how he had traveled all this way just to see her—the reality of her situation hit hard.
"I'm so frustrated! This can't be how it ends!"
Her composure finally shattered, and she cried out in desperate defiance.
"What exactly are you frustrated about?"
A familiar male voice called down from the sky above. The moment she heard it, Misty felt tears welling up in her eyes.
Then, a massive star-shaped flame—burning even hotter than Dragon Rage—descended from above, completely overwhelming and dispersing Dragonite's attack.
Not only did it neutralize the dragon's assault, but the Fire Blast retained enough power to continue onward, striking Dragonite directly.
The wild dragon clearly hadn't expected anyone to intervene in their battle. Caught completely off guard, it took the full force of the fire attack.
However, despite the direct hit, Dragonite's seemingly unbothered expression revealed that the move had caused minimal actual damage.
"After overpowering Dragon Rage, Fire Blast lost most of its remaining power. Combined with this Dragonite's impressive strength and natural resistance to fire-type moves as a Dragon-type, that's about all the damage we could expect."
Eddie descended from the sky aboard his Charizard, landing gracefully in front of Misty while calmly analyzing the battle situation.
Name: Dragonite
Type: Dragon/Flying
Ability: Inner Focus (Pokémon with this ability cannot flinch)
Level: 60 (Gym Leader rank)
Potential: Quasi-Elite
"Hmm? Only Quasi-Elite potential? That's somewhat disappointing."
While this potential would be considered exceptional for most Pokémon, it seemed rather limited for a pseudo-legendary species.
"But since I've just reached Gym Leader level myself, this should make for an interesting battle."
Eddie closed his Pokédex and reached for his Poké Balls, releasing the team he'd selected for this confrontation.
Charizard, Pikachu, and Eevee were already present on the battlefield.
Now he added Garchomp, Greninja, and Sceptile to complete his roster.
Fighting a Quasi-Elite level Dragonite with a nearly ten-level disadvantage would require his full team.
Eddie had faced Quasi-Elite opponents before—he'd pursued Koga's Crobat through the Pokémon Tower during a previous encounter.
But that had been under special circumstances. Koga's Crobat couldn't attack freely due to its surveillance duties at the tower, and Crobat's naturally fragile defenses had made it vulnerable. With Sabrina's assistance, Eddie had managed to drive off his opponent.
This situation was entirely different. Dragonite was a pseudo-legendary Pokémon with overwhelming overall stats compared to Crobat. Without a Gym Leader level ally like Sabrina to support him, Eddie needed all six of his strongest Pokémon to have any chance of victory.
As he'd learned through experience, cross-level battles became exponentially more difficult once trainers reached Gym Leader caliber and beyond.
The gap between a level 60 and level 59 Pokémon had already been explained in previous battles, so Eddie knew this fight would test his limits.
This level 60 Dragonite was in a completely different league from the level 55 Dragonair he'd defeated in single combat recently. That's precisely why he didn't dare send only one or two of his level 52 Pokémon into this battle.
Even with these precautions, Eddie was only deploying six team members, with one or two held in reserve as emergency backup.
"Misty, leave this to me. You should go and help evacuate the remaining civilians... eh?"
After releasing his battle team, Eddie turned to address the exhausted Gym Leader, intending to send her to safety so she could assist with crowd control and evacuation efforts.
However, before he could finish speaking, his words were cut short.
Misty rushed forward and threw her arms around him, using what seemed like her last reserves of strength to pull him close and press her lips firmly against his.
"ROAAAAAR!"
The wild Dragonite, apparently enraged by this public display of affection, decided it had seen enough romantic gestures for one day. Declaring war on anyone who dared show such intimate behavior in its presence, it charged up a devastating Hyper Beam aimed directly at the embracing couple.