"yeah. it's just... a movie from a series i like comes out later. i'm too worked up for it. was wondering if this would help with the excitement, you get me?"

the movie would stream online, scheduled at a time that isn't suited for someone in their timezone. there were still a few hours left before it shows, giving enough time for the trainer to get uncomfortable with too much excitement.

"let's go with three," he answers with a smile, holding up the same number of fingers in the air. "i've got a pet project i've been working on. kinda need to test them somehow."

it feels weird to call a team of pokemon to be a project. it makes him sound like some kind of tryhard ace trainer that he wasn't. the words had already left his mouth, however, and there was nothing left for him to do but regret his choice of words.

he takes a ball out, releasing a dragon-type instead of the usual canine he'd use. the kommo-o lands a few inches from above the ground, the loose scales making a distinctive sound unique to them.

"dragon tail."

the kommo-o lunges forward towards the heracross, twisting his body at the right moment to hit the opposing pokemon with his tail.

if he was to tell the truth, he did not expect grapples to happen. he did not prepare any countermeasure what happens next, even. perhaps he should change his current mindset for this.

the kommo-o tries to block the heracross' assault with a close combat of his own, attempting to parry most of the blows that follows the grip of his tail. it works for most of the attack, until he gets blown back.

the final strike was unexpected for both the trainer and his pokemon. the aerial ace finds the kommo-o's weakness as the dragon clings onto the part of his torso hit. its resolve for the battle doesn't falter at least, which kyle was thankful for.

"dragon dance."

the kommo-o starts to power itself up with a dance not unknown to kyle, boosting its offensive capabilities. the heracross needs to take the offensive instead of reacting defensively, else kyle would be tempted to have his kommo-o keep the dance up.

the kommo-o manages to match the speed of the heracross, retaliating with a timely headbutt as the bug-type honed in. unfortunately for the kommo-o, the aerial ace proves to be too much as he falls onto the ground after the assault.

the kommo-o is recalled to its ball soon enough.

"there's that, i guess."

kyle runs his hand at the back of his nape as he tries to choose between the pokemon he has with him at that time. he thinks of overpowering with type advantage, but he knows he won't be having the same kind of leverage once the gym leader switches pokemon.

he decides to simply go with a play style he is most comfortable with.

"dragon pulse!"

the command goes with the release of his dragalge. the lithe creature saunters in from the light it came from, coughing up a blast of energy from his mouth towards the heracross.

"smokescreen!"

the dragalge releases his move a second too late. a cloud of smoke manages to reduce the visibility within the arena, but the dragalge barely gets to move itself to dodge the blow as an implication of the issuance of the move.

night slash gets a hit. the dragalge gets to intensify its poison on its body, activating poison touch to knock the heracross out.

the smokescreen remains in the field, hiding the pokemon from sight.

The impact from the high-jump kick clears most of the smokescreen with its shockwave. The thought of using camouflage to dodge comes to kyle, but decides that maybe the inevitable type change that comes with it wasn't worth it.

"Toxic."

The dragalge allows the kick to hit. It's poison typing allows it to resist the otherwise deadly blow. It also allows him to easily infect the opposing pokemon with poison through contact.

"Dragon Pulse!"

A roar comes out. A blast of energy shoots from the damaged dragalge towards the fighting-type.

bounce had its delay before the attack connects. kyle uses the opportunity to set up for the next set of moves to help prolong his dragalge's time within the battlefield.

"Smokescreen!"

another cloud of smoke provides cover for the dragon-type. the smokescreen engulfs majority of the gym's battlefield, but not the mienshao, who was up in the air for its attack. the dragalge moves away from its original position as it readies for what comes next.

"Camouflage."

the dragalge uses the smokescreen to get rid of any visual cues for the move that makes him easy to track afterwards. its color changes, blending perfectly with the gym's flooring.

he could have probably ordered the move more implicitly had he been using one of his easier-to-train dogs, but it can't be helped.