Crack!
The sharp whistle of the whip split the air. Wyatt flinched immediately, not daring to say another word.
"Alright, enough talking! Take your Pokémon and find somewhere to keep training. I'll be checking your progress later."
Clair snapped the dragon-taming whip again and added coldly, "And if the results don't satisfy me, hmph!"
"Don't worry, Clair! I'll make sure you're satisfied. I won't slack off at all."
Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief like he'd just been pardoned, fleeing with his Pokémon in tow.
But before he left, he shot Caster a glance filled with both pity and schadenfreude.
Now it was Caster's turn to suffer.
Heh heh!
"Alright, Caster, have your Gyarados show me Dragon Dance first!"
The moment Wyatt was gone, Clair switched into full stern-teacher mode. She raised her whip and commanded, "I need to see if its skill proficiency meets the requirements for learning the secret technique."
Caster's body tensed slightly. He swallowed nervously and asked with genuine concern, "Miss Clair, you're not going to use that whip on me, are you?"
If that was the case, Caster figured he could do without this secret technique!
"Of course not!"
Clair quickly tucked the whip away, her face flushing. "You're an important guest. Using a whip wouldn't exactly be hospitable."
Caster glanced toward a certain someone in the distance. "What about Wyatt?"
"He's not my guest."
Clair snorted.
"That foolish brother of mine doesn't learn his lesson unless I discipline him with the whip!"
Caster's face lit up with understanding. "So Wyatt just responds to that kind of treatment..."
Now that the risk of getting whipped was off the table, Caster quickly ordered Gyarados to demonstrate Dragon Dance.
"Roar~!"
With a skyward roar, Gyarados began performing the powerful, mysterious dance in a steady rhythm.
Three seconds later, the dance ended.
A glow passed over Gyarados's body. Its muscles swelled slightly, its movements became more fluid, and its aura began climbing steadily upward.
"This..."
Clair watched everything unfold, her jaw dropping in shock.
As a Dragon-type specialist and a member of the Dragon Tamer clan, she could naturally tell that Gyarados's Dragon Dance proficiency was extremely high.
Not only did it surpass Wyatt's Gyarados, it was even comparable to her own Gyarados.
But the problem was, hadn't this Gyarados only just learned Dragon Dance a few days ago?
How had its skill proficiency improved so quickly?
Clair's eyes flickered with thought.
She suspected that over the past few days, Caster hadn't actually been fishing at all. Instead, he'd secretly found some corner to train Gyarados's Dragon Dance.
But she quickly shook her head.
Even if Caster had been training Gyarados's Dragon Dance, raising the proficiency to this level in just a few days was absolutely ridiculous.
Lance was hailed as a once-in-a-millennium genius of the Dragon Tamer clan.
He was now the Champion of both Kanto and Johto, and had a real shot at winning the World Tournament to become World Champion.
Yet even when it came to training move proficiency, Clair felt that Lance clearly couldn't match Caster.
"Miss Clair, you're the one who told me to make sure Gyarados kept practicing Dragon Dance these past few days. I never forgot."
Seeing Clair's shocked expression, Caster smiled and added, "Besides, this kid Gyarados has always been sharp. It learns everything fast. You know that, don't you?"
Clair nodded slowly, murmuring, "Right... right, I suppose."
Thinking back to how Caster's Gyarados had learned Dragon Dance and Outrage in a single attempt, it was clear the creature had exceptional talent.
So raising its skill proficiency dramatically in just a few days... maybe that was reasonable?
Taking a deep breath, Clair tried to calm herself down before carefully explaining the secrets of the Dragon Dance technique.
The Dragon Tamer clan's secret Dragon Dance allowed the user to dodge attacks fluidly while dancing and powering up, preventing enemies from landing a decisive blow during the setup phase.
This meant the rhythm and movements of the dance would change, and the internal flow of energy would shift in subtle ways as well.
Though the changes were minor, figuring them out through trial and error alone could take years, even decades. Perfecting a secret technique on your own was nearly impossible.
Fortunately, the Dragon Tamer clan had thousands of years of accumulated wisdom. Through generations of painstaking refinement, the Dragon Dance secret technique had been polished to near perfection.
All Caster's Gyarados had to do was follow Clair's guidance, memorizing the body movements, rhythm, and energy circulation step by step.
More importantly, Caster's Gyarados had already reached the Proficient level with Dragon Dance, which was the ceiling for most ordinary Pokémon. Its foundation was rock solid.
As a result, Gyarados picked up the technique with ease. Its progress was astonishing.
The only downside was that this secret technique couldn't benefit from his cheat ability's point allocation. Gyarados had to rely on its own effort and hard work to master it.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
"Roar~! Roar~!"
Dragon roars echoed across the Dragon's Den.
On the lakeshore.
Gyarados lowered its head close to the ground, its body twisting and weaving in a serpentine motion. Its scales scraped against the earth, producing a rhythmic "crack-crack-crack" sound.
The rhythm of its movements seemed to follow some hidden pattern.
At the same time, a Pokémon in the lake that resembled a seahorse, but with horns like a Chinese dragon and a pair of fins, was eyeing Gyarados with clear hostility.
It was a Water/Dragon-type Pokémon: Kingdra!
Splash!
Suddenly, Kingdra's long, barrel-like snout fired a Water Gun like a bullet. In the blink of an eye, it crossed dozens of meters.
But remarkably, Gyarados on the shore seemed ready for it.
Faced with the incoming Water Gun, Gyarados moved like a coiling dragon. With a single serpentine weave, it dodged the bullet-like attack completely.
Boom!
Kingdra's Water Gun struck a tree trunk behind Gyarados. Instead of dispersing on impact, it punched straight through like a real bullet.
Having dodged Kingdra's Water Gun, Gyarados's Dragon Dance was complete.
"Roar~!"
With a fierce roar, a glow passed over its body, and its aura surged upward once more.
Gyarados's Attack and Speed had both increased!
At that moment, Gyarados's eyes burned with battle intent. Its ferocious appearance sent chills down the spine, as if it might go berserk at any moment and unleash destruction.
Clap, clap, clap!
The sound of applause rang out.
"This Kingdra of mine has the Sniper ability. Any move fired from its barrel-like snout gets a significant boost in both power and speed."
Just then, Clair strode over in her cape, her long legs carrying her forward with confidence. She smiled at Caster. "If Gyarados can dodge Kingdra's Water Gun, then it should have no trouble evading attacks from most opponents. With that, your Gyarados has basically mastered the Dragon Dance secret technique. The rest is just a matter of diligent practice when you get back..."