"Nasty stuff, huh? Y'know, they say this Pokemon was part of a set of cursed treasures that toppled a whole kingdom. When ya see it in action, kinda makes you believe it!" He dusted off his hands against his red pants and leaned back, popping the joints in his spine as a few strands of hair stood up. "Guess I better be collecting the goods and moseying on outta here, huh? It was nice testing my new partner out on you all, but maybe ya ought've called for help instead of picking a figh—" Celot stopped, and sniffed the air. Then he felt it, as more hair stood.

Wildly, without an instant's preparation or flash he dove to his right, rolling near twenty feet as the spot he'd once occupied lit up in a tremendous flash of electric energy. He came to a stop flat on his belly before hurrying back up, Chien-Pao returning to his side after it had dashed in the opposite direction. It was halfway up in that awkward stance that a bright spotlight shone down on him from above.

Kuzey rolled onto his back, his swimming vision only barely able to make out a figure standing on the very edge of the upraised Magenta plaza above them.

"They called for help all right!" A man's voice shouted down at Celot. Then the figure extended his hand, a blue and yellow jumpsuit reflecting the brilliant lights of the City of Light in every direction. A shadow at his side leaped down, its wild fur crackling with energy as it wound up its arms.

"Electivire!" the man pushed a thick pair of glasses up and then cast the same arm out dramatically. "Thunderbolt!"

The shadow flipped in the air and hollered in a booming voice as streaks of black and yellow fur coursed with sheer power. "ELEK! TEE! VIRE!" Then it clenched, and the stored power blasted away from it in pouring streams of brilliant light. Celot had to dodge again, skipping backwards and away from the trio pressed against the building and only narrowly avoiding a pealing bolt shot his way. Chien-Pao chose to counter, dashing between the shots of lightning before taking to the air in a pouncing leap. But the Electivire, well over twice its size in height and bulk alike tightened its tremendous, frightening smile. Its trainer responded to the attack, "Thunder Punch!"

The power converged again, now in the Electivire's right fist as it made a half-spin in the air clockwise; just as Chien-Pao came within an instant of the yellow ogre, it pivoted back the other way and connected.

For just a moment there was darkness. Kuzey's eyes were focused now; nothing could possibly be on his mind but the sight of the bright white orb floating in the air above him, as Chien-Pao took the full brunt of that Thunder Punch in its face. All the lights of the city faded away against the brilliance of that violent star; the sparks flying between Electivire's fist and Chien-Pao's bewildered face; and above them, the triumphant grin of a skinny young man with bright blonde hair as wild as the lightning of his Pokemon.

"Clemont!" Emma called out to him from her position, overjoyed. "You made it!"

The star dispersed, and its victim hurtled back to the ground. Chien-Pao smacked once against the ruined pier before flipping midair on the bounce and landing once again on its face, humiliated if not harmed. Electivire slammed heavy to the ground and scattering dust from the impact, its fiendish glare illuminated by crackles of lightning across its body. High above, Clemont threw a two-fingered salute to Emma, then stepped off the edge of the platform. Just as he began to plummet two apparatuses strapped to his sides opened, and powerful jets of air slowed his descent, bringing him gracefully to the pier below. At least, until he hit the ground and hopped about four steps forward in a lean to keep from falling on his face. "Sorry I'm late, Emma!" He put his hands on his hips and cut a pose, staring down Celot from behind his circular spectacles. "As for you. Did you really think you could stir up trouble in Lumiose City without answering to its Gym Leader?"

(...)

"All right, partner." Celot ran his hand back through his snow white hair, in sync with his companion as it prepared to pounce, bristling fur standing along its back. "Sacred Sword!" The elaborate fangs sprouting from Chien-Pao's mouth glowed with tremendous power in response to Celot's command, and he darted forward in a zig-zag pattern.

"Simpleton!" Clemont and Electivire were ready for him and made identical dismissive flicks of their wrist. "Brick Break, Electivire!"

"Vi-VIRE!" Electivire rushed forward with another spin, its massive arms matching its momentum to smack recklessly against Chien-Pao's blades. The two attacks burst off of one another like a pair of explosions, sending both Pokemon spinning away from one another before they caught their footing and collided once more. Chien-Pao leaped upward and hurtled forward, missing Electivire by inches as its feet shimmied it to the side and swung downward. But the catlike Pokemon was more nimble and arched its back into an incredible angle, catching Electivire in the side of its arm before it made contact. The ogre-like Pokemon cried out in pain but didn't flinch, smacking Chien-Pao away with one of its two prehensile tails as it buzzed with electricity.

Chien-Pao skidded about fifteen feet, finally managing to end its travel as its paws dug into the rubble of the pier. Celot was quick to seize the momentum again yelled "Icicle Crash!"

His Pokemon snarled, letting its frame tense and contort as it prepared to strike. All along its sloping body, the perfect ice crystals that covered it began to shake and splinter, forming a hazy cloud of shards that surrounded it like a deadly fog. "CHI!" And with a yell, every single one of those shards fired in a supreme barrage.

"Charge, Electivire!" Clemont's Pokemon threw its arms out in a protective stance, shielding him as it concentrated all of its electric charge into a field surrounding its own body. The aura of crackling yellow met the oncoming hail head-on, the charge vaporizing every shard of ice as it neared. All around Electivire mist blossomed outward, the vapor of Icicle Crash shrouding it and Clemont alike. It was a supremely effective defense to meet a supreme attack; the proof of it lie on the opposite side of the river. The outermost edges of Chien-Pao's move had passed around Electivire's Charge, and instead struck the pier on the far side of the river; and where it had the stone and concrete had been pounded to fine dust, slipping into the water beneath like a stream of sand.