The recovery war. The one thing that most trainers fear, as it serves as a ticking clock. Lose the ability to recover and the battle is inherently lost.
The epic warrior SkyBurial entered the Solitary Gym and demanded of its valued Leader a real challenge. The Dark and Fairy master, Cyclone, stood at the ready with his trusty Tyranitar by his side. He had heard many things about SkyBurial, and knew that he was one of the very best, being one of the league's E4 members out on a quest to prove himself.
Cyclone attempted to predict his opposition's starting Pokémon and guessed correctly, sending out Azumarill to the foe's Charizard. SkyBurial used the chance to power up his Gastrodon, quickly swapping it in to take an Aqua Jet on its Storm Drain. Cyclone was agape, but just for a moment, knowing he had nothing to deal with this foe and that he couldn't power it up further. He brought in his staller, the trusty Mandibuzz. The recovery war was waged, and both competitors eventually grew tired of it and swapped in their Tyranitars. Cyclone got the upper hand when Gengar was substituted on the other side, taking Cyclone's Tyranitar's Iron Head, though Tyranitar was itself critically weakened by a Focus Blast and could not continue after taking out Gengar.
Houndoom fell next on a misguess of strategy, and Cyclone's battle plan began to unravel from there. When the opponent brought out his Gastrodon once more, at a point where Azumarill was back in the lead, there was nothing he could do. He attempted to put Slurpuff in, but the evil Stealth Rock and a strong attack left it unable to set up. After it fell, Cyclone knew the battle was lost. SkyBurial showed his type mastery by ensuring his remaining warriors never had to face a super-effective blow, and Cyclone's early loss of Tyranitar proved his downfall as each of his remaining warriors fell, one by one.
Downcast, Cyclone looked up and smiled at his opponent, who had raised his fist in the air before stooping to pet his Excadrill and feed it a Sitrus Berry as a thank-you reward. He stepped forward and handed him the Solitary Badge, proving his victory. He knew he had to think of a way to deal with that slithery snail in the future, as this was not his first encounter with one. Next time, he knew the war had to have a different endgame.
