Battle of conviction 

Monica and Emboar stood to one side, determined to win against the blue phoenix standing atop the cliff with a serious expression. It no longer had the relaxed look it once dawned, it understood the importance of this battle for this trainer, and that it would make or break them. It was very much interested to see what power they would demonstrate in their desperation for victory.

As one of the three legendary birds of Kanto, it represented a specific set of traits. Perseverance, determination, and the will to never give up. That was partly the reason why the league used Moltres flame in their tournament. It represented the challenger's desire and yearning for victory even when up against insurmountable odds, in their case, the elite four and their peers.

So, although it somewhat looked down on Monica for her strong headedness, and inflexibility in battle, it also admired that positive traits such a mindset brought, traits that were very much in line with what a good trainer should exhibit if they wish to be the best.

As a show of seriousness, Moltres flapped its wings and flew down to the ground and stood high and mighty, all the while gazing at Emboar and his trainer with battling intent. Flames raged across its body, dancing with the yearning for combat.

Emboar, clearly knew this was a battle like no other. This was something that transcended himself, for the first time, he was doing this for his trainer's pride, so that he would never see that sad face ever again.

He smashed his fists together causing green sparks to fly as a torrent of hot air shot out of his nose. His muscles bulged and his eyes squinted.

Monica clenched her small fist tightly, as she stared at her opponent intensely. This was her last chance, and even though she was originally dismayed at her chances, staring at the massive back of her most trusted partner, which had been with her through thick and thin, she felt a surge of confidence that even she didn't know existed.

"Let's do this buddy, win or lose, we are going to prove that we are not simply pushovers." She yelled, seemingly trying to convince herself as well.

Emboar roared loudly in response as the green flames around his neck burst forth violently.

"Use rollout go!" she yelled.

Bang, with a start, Emboar leapt into the air before doing a flip that continued until the image of a giant boulder replaced his figure. With great momentum empowered by his weight, Emboar barrelled towards Moltres at surprising speeds. Rollout got strong and faster the longer it was used. Moltres, being an experienced fire/flying type with a quad weakness to rock perfectly understood this.

It flapped its wings causing a tornado to form before sending it towards Emboar. The tornado left a deep scar on the earth beneath it as it shot towards the massive incoming boulder.

As the two collided, Monica expected Emboar, due to his weight and momentum, to easily shatter the tornado. But much to their shock, not only did it not shatter it, Emboar was easily lifted off the ground and began to spin with the Tornado.

"Maybe if Emboar was allowed to roll a bit longer, the momentum would have been enough to shatter it, but you seem to have forgotten, that there still exists a disparity in strength between the two." Elesa chimed in suddenly, awakening Monica from her disbelief. She had a grim expression on her face as she observed Emboar who now looked like a rock, being dragged along in circles like a pebble.

Jessica saw this coming, and so did Rex the moment she saw what Moltres did.

The fiery temper didn't allow Monica to take this lying down and the gears in her head began to take in the surroundings. Suddenly, a wild idea popped into her mind.

"Emboar, use the wind to spin backwards!"

The order was a bit confusing but Emboar, at this point, completely trusted his trainer and did as told.

Rex couldn't help but smile slightly.

'Using the force of the wind to generate spin. Instead of trying to continue spinning against the wind, she's using the wind to create more spin but in the opposite direction.' He thought.

It was a rather interesting method, but what was the point if she didn't get any traction?

Moltres saw this happening but wasn't alarmed and simply raises its wing causing Emboar to rise to the top of the tornado before swiping its wing down causing the twister to bend before smashing into the ground.

The collision sent a cloud of dust to rise, as the sound of rocks flying spread everywhere. But just as everyone thought that Emboar had failed, a spinning sound could be heard coming from within. Like a grinder against rock.

"Something like that isn't going to stop us!" Monica yelled before punching out with her fist.

As if those words were a signal, Emboar burst through the cloud spinning so fast that the air began to warp around him. Before Moltres could blink, a giant boulder occupied the entirety of its vision.

Moltres felt a suffocating pressure rushing towards its face, without much time to react, it twisted its body to avoid the attack but wasn't quite fast enough. Although it was able to avoid a full-blown impact, it still got hit on the side causing it to stumble for a while.

Monica clenched her fist with all her might. Rollout was the only move that could beat Moltres in a contest of power. Fire types didn't have binding moves apart from fire spin, and flying type moves only had gust and hurricane. Moltres had used gust as the foundation before empowering it with Hurricane to create a massive tornado.

She was banking on the compounding strength of Rollout to break through it. And much to her relief, Emboar was able to do it.