"What's going on? Caster, why aren't you making it rain?"
"I heard Gary Oak is friends with the streamer. Is he going to throw the match?"
"Holy shit! Something's definitely fishy here."
"Fuck this! I want my money back!"
Many of Caster's fans had come to watch in person. They knew he used a rain team, so something was clearly wrong if he wasn't making it rain.
The stadium's big screen showed close-ups of the two competitors.
Caster looked at Gary and said casually, "Gary, your Kingdra's ability is Swift Swim, isn't it?"
"That's right!"
Gary nodded with a smile.
There was no point hiding it now that Caster had figured it out.
Most of the spectators understood at once.
Quite a few still didn't get it, though. Ash, for one, asked, "Swift Swim? What's that?"
"It's a Pokémon ability. Pokémon with Swift Swim get much faster in the rain."
Professor Oak took it upon himself to explain. "And since Kingdra is part Water type, it benefits from the rain's power boost, too. If Dragonair makes it rain, Gary will actually gain more of an advantage."
"Oh, so that's it!"
Ash looked enlightened at first, then rubbed his head in frustration. "Argh! This is so complicated!"
Professor Oak, Brock, and Misty were speechless.
Compared with Gary and Caster, Ash was a complete idiot.
Ding, ding!
The bell rang, signaling the start of the battle.
Whoosh!
Without waiting for Caster's command, Dragonair became a streak of light and shot toward Kingdra at blinding speed.
A priority move, Extreme Speed!
Hum!
Kingdra was ready. A translucent barrier appeared in front of it and blocked Dragonair's attack.
Less than a meter apart, the two Pokémon locked eyes, each seeing the other's fierce desire to fight.
As the Protect barrier faded, Gary gave his next command.
"Kingdra, Smokescreen!"
Whoosh!
Thick black smoke poured from Kingdra's long, tubular snout, covering almost half the battlefield in an instant.
Dragonair reacted fast enough to pull back. Any slower, and it would have taken a faceful of smoke.
Kingdra hid within the cloud it had created, leaving Caster and Dragonair unable to see where it was or what it was doing.
Caster tried an attack. "Dragonair, Water Pulse!"
Even without rain, Dragonair's Mastered Water Pulse was formidable. The resulting wave swept across the entire battlefield.
It clearly wasn't doing much good, though.
Kingdra was a Water type with excellent control over water, allowing it to greatly reduce the force of the current.
Its coveted Water and Dragon typing also gave it a quadruple resistance to Water. Water-type attacks could barely tickle it, let alone deal any serious damage.
"That's Gary for you!"
Caster couldn't help praising him.
If it were raining, the raindrops would let Dragonair sense its opponent's movements. A little smoke wouldn't hide anything.
But rain would help Kingdra far more than Dragonair, leaving Caster at a disadvantage.
Without rain, however, he had no way to tell what Kingdra was doing. It might be secretly boosting its stats inside the smoke. If he let that happen, the battle could spiral out of control.
"Dragonair, Haze!"
With little choice, Caster ordered Dragonair to add a layer of Haze over the Smokescreen.
At least Kingdra wouldn't be able to boost its stats now.
"Caster, your Pokémon are strongest in the rain, right?"
Gary smiled at him from the opposite command platform. "If you won't make it rain, let me help you out! Kingdra, Rain Dance!"
A deep blue ball of energy flew out of the smoke, soared into the sky, and burst.
But the dark clouds everyone expected never appeared. The sky remained clear.
"What's this? Gary's Rain Dance seems to have failed! There's no sign of rain!"
The commentator's voice rang out over the speakers, tinged with surprise.
"Trying to make it rain against me, Gary? You've got some nerve."
Caster smiled from his command platform. "I'm the one who decides the weather here."
As he spoke, even the few white clouds drifting through the clear sky vanished. The sunlight grew harsher.
Sunny Day had taken effect!
"What...?"
Now it was Gary's turn to be dumbfounded.
He'd known Dragonair could control the weather. He hadn't expected Caster's rain setter to be so good at summoning sunshine, too.
Kingdra's Rain Dance hadn't stood a chance against it.
Worse, while Kingdra thrived in the rain, harsh sunlight left it struggling.
Its Water-type moves would be much weaker under these conditions.
As a Water-type Pokémon, Kingdra would also lose moisture rapidly in the harsh sun, gradually weakening.
The longer the battle dragged on, the worse its situation would become.
"Kingdra, Dragon Pulse!"
Gary had no choice but to go on the offensive.
Crackle!
A terrifying surge of Dragon-type energy shot out of the black smoke like a dragon-shaped bolt of lightning, streaking toward Dragonair in midair.
The rush of air in its wake scattered the Smokescreen, revealing Kingdra.
Dragonair was ready. It raised its head and fired a Dragon Breath of its own.
Boom!
The two dragon-shaped blasts collided in midair. Neither gave an inch.
The stalemate lasted only a moment before Dragonair's Dragon Breath gained the upper hand.
It swallowed Kingdra's Dragon Pulse, then swelled into an even larger dragon-shaped wave of energy and roared toward Kingdra.
"How is that possible?"
Gary's eyes widened in disbelief.
He could accept losing a clash of attacks!
But how could Dragonair's Dragon-type energy devour Kingdra's?
How did that make any sense?
Yet it had just happened right in front of him.
"Doo, doo!"
Kingdra could only stare in terror as the enormous dragon-shaped wave engulfed it.
"Dragonair's Dragon-type moves are getting scarier by the day!"
Caster smiled from his command platform.
It was all thanks to the giant Dragonite's scale. It had doubled Dragonair's size and made its Dragon-type energy increasingly dominant, as though it belonged to the ruler of all dragons.
That energy seemed to have gained the ability to suppress other Dragon-type energy.
Of course, that only worked when there wasn't too large a gap in strength between the two Pokémon.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion rang out, throwing up clouds of dust and smoke.
When the smoke cleared, a huge crater scarred the battlefield.
Kingdra lay at its center, eyes spinning.
"Kingdra is unable to battle!"
The referee hurried forward and raised his flag to announce the result.
Gary recalled Kingdra and immediately threw another Poké Ball.
"Go, Fearow!"
A large orange bird appeared, its keen eyes full of aggression.
Seemingly determined to give Dragonair no time to catch its breath, Gary immediately called out, "Fearow, use Agility and get in close!"
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