Just as the lioness' baking fires were about to wash over Happy, the fairy-type formed a psychic circle around itself, the heat from Nala's attack reflecting back onto her. While she loved high temperatures, they were far from immune to their own breath weapons, the deflection of energy reducing her to her last legs. Zachary's endurance strategy was brutal; though high speed attacks were deadly, they came at the cost of longevity.

It was true in racing, as well: Pokémon that were capable of superb burst speeds had to be paced, for it was easy for them to run out of endurance to cross the finish line. His ashen Beast was no exception; Swift's speed was incredible, but over long distances, he lagged behind his two brothers.

Seeing Nala about to fall, Josh ordered a last-ditch effort from the Pyroar. "Chew Happy up and spit it out." Now past the crumbling barrier keeping her out, she lunged at the mime with a wide-open maw ready to CRUNCH down upon the small Pokémon.

The game of cat and mouse would not last long if Nala had anything to say about it. Skidding to a stop was the psychic-type's mistake, giving the lioness a chance to pounce. Whether she had whiffed or gnashed against Happy's body with her sharp teeth, she was too tired to immediately rush past for a follow-up attack.

That smallest hesitation was all Happy had needed to curiously wag its largest finger. What kind of energy came out was unpredictable, but it mattered not; even the weakest of attacks would down the Pyroar. Josh applauded Zachary.

"You're a strong trainer to get this far. Now my last Pokémon may not be as fast as the other two, but she's strong. And she's no slouch in speed either. Come on out, Pinky!" With a softball-style pitch, Josh hurled the fairy-type's Poké Ball toward center court, her rare sheen glittering white and blue. This Sylveon was huge, too, easily big enough to ferry a human about. Were all of the Gym Leader's Pokémon like this?

"MOONBLAST," Josh barked. The Sylveon sounded an almost alien-like, low-pitched squeal as a brilliant sphere of lunar light descended upon the small Pokémon, its beam guided by her feelers.

The final showdown was on, and Zachary had a serious defensive advantage. A defensive advantage that would turn into an offensive advantage as the fox steeled himself for battle. The old Josh would have bum-rushed the psychic-type. Not the new Josh that was one of Kyle's final Champions!

"Pinky, LIGHT SCREEN!" Josh ordered. The Sylveon sounded a low-pitched squeal, drawing a teal dome around herself with her feelers. Whatever attack the fire-type had planned would be greatly blunted if Zachary didn't do something creative. "I was able to find a chink in your defenses. Now, let's see Dizzy find a chink in hers!"

Dizzy coming to battle was a disaster for Josh, and not in the way Zachary might expect it, either. This Sylveon had been through it all in a way that his friend may not have been able to imagine. "Aaron's a bright one," Josh remarked, the young man one of his Gym's Badge holders.

The sky above disappeared, masked by a psychic terrain composed of geometric shapes that the staff-wielding vulpine shifted about with ease. The Pokémon, like Josh's, was evasive, but this one in a different way. He knew how to handle evasive threats: area attacks. And what better area attack was there than sound?

"HYPER VOICE, Pinky!" Josh commanded. Opening her mouth wide, the fairy-type pointed her feelers toward Zachary's Pokémon and let out a low-pitched squeal that sounded utterly alien. Were the Delphox to be caught within its range, it would find the sonic attack to be less harmful than expected for a reason that only Josh and illeana reyes knew.

Due to Pinky the Sylveon losing all benefits of the PIXILATE ability, all of her NORMAL-type moves will be resisted as though they were FAIRY-type moves.

The FUTURE SIGHT was concerning; were the attack from the future to connect at the same time as another one of the Delphox's powerful attacks, it would be curtains for Pinky. She was tough behind her LIGHT SCREEN, but such a double whammy was something even a legendary Pokémon would need to take heed of.

The squealing was effective, but it wore Pinky's lungs out to hold it up much longer. "Pinky, PSYSHOCK!" Josh ordered. The Shiny Sylveon pointed all four of her feelers toward Dizzy, discharging a neural snare toward the Delphox's mind. The attack was not meant to harm, but to disable and disrupt. FUTURE SIGHT took concentration to divine and detonate perfectly beneath its target. With the wand-wielder's mind under possible stress from the attack, perhaps the Sylveon could escape the scissors of fate!

The use of a TERA ORB took Josh by surprise; he was used to Gym challengers agreeing on what was to be used beforehand. They never had, so it was anything goes. The use of Terastallization was both a blessing and a curse; while it would augment the immense power of the Delphox's fire attacks, the removal of the psychic-type made it even more vulnerable to the barrage of bolts the MAGIC ROOM blocked. It was clear his path to victory.

"Pinky, MYSTICAL FIRE!" Josh ordered. Its purpose was not to harm the Delphox; it was to etch fairy fire into the psychic's mind, distracting it from being able to unleash the full power of its mind upon the Sylveon. Pinky just needed Dizzy's concentration broken at the right moment, and she would be close enough to fire another barrage of perhaps match-ending Psyshock.

Two concentric circles of white flames formed around the Delphox, moving with it if it tried to evade them or get far away from Pinky.