"But the shield on that bone should have had a hard time knocking that stone back. That earlier Crush Grip must have paid off here, right?"
Exactly. Crush Grip had a one hundred percent chance of triggering an additional effect that raised Attack by one stage. By now, Paz's Attack had probably risen about as much as it would after two Swords Dances.
With that boost, landing an Ice Punch could easily take Salamence down in one hit!
"Salamence, seal it off with rocks again!"
As the small stones bounced away, another Rock Slide rained down on Lucario. But the same trick wouldn't work on this little fellow twice!
"Lucario, you don't have to take it for me! Jump up!"
"Whoa!"
Lucario jumped out of the path of a rock that would have struck her directly. Landing on a rock that had already hit the field, she leaped higher. Next, she found a rock that was still falling and landed neatly on it, then jumped toward another falling rock above her. Repeating this maneuver, Lucario deftly used the raining rocks as footholds, dodging them and leaping ever higher. Just like that, she soared into the sky.
"Sorry for the wait, Cynthia!"
"What did you say?!"
Looking closely, I saw that Salamence had risen to almost the same height as Lucario.
"Salamence, Fire Blast!"
"Tch! Honestly, you're still an annoying brat-you really know how to mess with people! Lucario, how about you?"
"...Um, Miss Baina, what you really mean and what you say out loud are complete opposites. I'm not your husband."
Salamence tilted its wide-open mouth upward, while Lucario held both wrists at her right hip. After a moment of charging, a mass of fire shaped like the character for "big" burst from that enormous mouth and collided with the