The blinding light could be seen from miles, with Lucia covering her eyes while Hero fought with Wavecrest's jaw as his form began to elongate before Navy and Lucia. The smaller of the two gasped at Navy's observation, her eyes widened in surprise. The Dunsparce's body shook with a tremendous energy, before its body had experienced growth. Two more segments of his body pushed out of his midsection, alongside his drill letting out an audible whirr of invigoration!

"Let's finish this Hero!" The fresh Dudunsparce cried out in unison with his owner, whirring his drill tail up and pushing back against the bite of Wavecrest. The child's eyes honed in on her pokemon, cheering him on with a renewed fervor. Her body felt sensitive, every pore screaming with energy as she matched the movements of Hero with both fists. The sudden force of the normal-type caused Wavecrest to let out a pained roar as the Dudunsparce had overpowered it and soon, rocketed into the skies with its drill tail, knocking the Gyarados back.

Hero land square on a platform as Wavecrest's OUTRAGE had ended and left the great water beast confused. Seeing their opportunity, Lucia ordered Hero around as their spirits joined in unison! "Ancient Power, Hero!" The Dudunsparce summoned forth an ancient, mysterious energy that surrounded himself. With Wavecrest out of commission, she was subjected to the powerful blast of energy, dealing far more damage due to the type difference between them.

"We got her on the ropes! One more time, Hero! Hyper Drill!" The Pokemon's tail began to grow in size once more, coating itself in a mysterious energy as Hero took aim. With a sudden push, the normal-type flung through the air with his tail aimed at the Gyarados's wounded body. Just as it had snapped out of its confusion, Hero approached with a fearsome HYPER DRILL! He struck Wavecrest head on and the Gyarados splashed back into the water. The form of grass snake appeared on the water as he fell back near Lucia and Navy.

The Gyarados reemerged from the water, letting out a pained groan as it was pretty beaten up, though was reluctant to listen still. Lucia took responsibility and walked forward on the ice platform to face her. The fear was visible in the child's eyes, though she would only have this chance if Wavecrest was going to pause enough to listen to her.

"Look, I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be. I did the worst thing a trainer could do to a Pokemon and blamed you for everything that was my fault. I just started my journey, and ever since I found you as a Magikarp, I didn't know what to do with you. You can be upset at me and hate my guts, maybe try and hurt me if I call you out again..." Lucia said, looking away for a moment, with a tense pain in her eyes. "I just want to let you know that I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. If you want, I'll let you free here, and you can be on your way. We'll never have to see one another again if you want."

The Gyarados said nothing, gazing down at Lucia and then towards Hero. She was breathing heavily, letting out an angry but short growl. Wavecrest said nothing for a moment, then moved to gently lower herself down and brush her whisker across the younger human's cheek. Lucia looked up in time to see the eyes of the water-type and smile to herself. The Gyarados let out another few grunts and returned to its ball, with Lucia a bit wide eyed, but accepting answer. Her hand held onto the ball and dropped it back into her storage.

Hero slithered up to the platform again while Lucia let out fangirlish squeal and picked the Dudunsparce up, twirling him around. "Oh my gosh, Hero, you were amazing! I knew you could do it! Look how brave you look now!" Their heads nuzzled against one another, pokemon and trainer caught in a moment of celebration, as both had taken a large step forward in learning the bond between Pokemon and trainer. The pair laughed and Lucia doted upon Hero more and more, his tail trailing on the ground.

"We're sure to be Champions with you like this now! And we'll do it together!~"

Navy

☉