Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

”Poliwhirl, you’re up.”

Skinny still didn’t want to use his Breloom—it hadn’t been sent out alongside the others, and leaning on type advantage felt a bit like bullying.

After yesterday’s rest, Poliwhirl had recovered some stamina. As long as the fight wasn’t high-intensity, it could handle a quick bout.

Once Skinny and his opponent took their marks, the boys who’d been bickering all stopped and crowded around to watch. For the moment, girls were forgotten—nothing beats a Pokémon battle.

The scuffle under the palms also drew tourists; there are rubberneckers everywhere, and a Pokémon match—the hottest sport in this world—always pulls a crowd.

”I’ll let you move first,” Skinny said. After talking with Reiji, he understood that moving first isn’t automatically an advantage—unless you can read the opponent’s next command, going second is often safer.

”Krabby, use Water Gun!” the boy ordered.

”Krab! Puh-puh-puh—”

Krabby spat three Water Guns…and whiffed all three.

Even if they’d hit, Poliwhirl’s Ability was Water Absorb—Water Gun would’ve done nothing anyway.

Reiji couldn’t help thinking: did this kid’s battle class get taught by the PE teacher? Or did he gamble that Poliwhirl had Damp instead and bet on a 50/50?

Either way, those miserable shots couldn’t hit a stationary Poliwhirl. Maybe try training accuracy before picking fights? Just like Skinny and the chubby kid used to be—charging in, shouting orders, hoping volume buffs your stats…

You can learn the theory at school, but you have to apply it. Practice is the only test of truth.

Reiji didn’t even want to watch, let alone jump in. Total time sink.

Seeing it too, Skinny sighed. He finally got why Reiji had been so bored fighting him before. Letting Poliwhirl throw a single KO was already doing the kid a favor.

”Poliwhirl, go—Double Slap!”

Poliwhirl sprinted over the sand and started smacking. Smack smack smack… until Krabby was out cold.

Sulking, the boy recalled Krabby. The next challenger sent out a Bellsprout, and also took the first move.

”Bellsprout, Sleep Powder!”

”Poliwhirl, sidestep and fire Mud Shot—blind it!”

Poliwhirl danced away from the slow-drifting powder and, with Water-Gun-honed aim, peppered Bellsprout with Mud Shot, plastering its face and cutting its Speed.

With the target mucked up, Skinny followed through: ”Poliwhirl, Ice Punch!”

One clean punch. Bellsprout crumpled.

Type matchups 101. If you can’t use that, why are you battling?

(Granted, this doesn’t work on Ash—he’s got a reverse-matchup halo. You only beat him on disadvantage if he’s en route to a championship.)

After two straight wins, no one on the boys’ side dared look down on Skinny. Then a student with an Electric-type stepped up—his Pikachu was one of the stronger Pokémon among them.

”Pikachu, that Poliwhirl’s tough. Be careful,” the boy warned.

”Pika pika!” Pikachu hopped off his shoulder, crouched low, cheeks sparking—ready to unleash a big Electric move.

Reiji beckoned Skinny over and whispered a couple pointers. Skinny nodded, returned to his mark, and—again—let Pikachu go first.

”Pikachu, Thunderbolt!”

”Poliwhirl, get moving—Mud Shot!”

They couldn’t take Thunderbolt head-on. Under a type disadvantage, a clean hit would flatten Poliwhirl. It ran, Thunderbolt missed, and Mud Shot splatted Pikachu several times—super effective.

The boy had Pikachu run—faster and faster.

”Pikachu, Quick Attack!”

Pikachu was already quicker than Poliwhirl; add a priority move and it closed the gap instantly. At point-blank the boy called for another Thunderbolt—

”Poliwhirl, Protect!”

A pale green shield flashed up and soaked the blast.

”Now—Double Slap!”

Smack smack smack smack smack! Five clean slaps. Pikachu reeled.

”Finish it—Ice Punch!”

Frost bloomed around Poliwhirl’s fist. Thud! Pikachu sailed back to its Trainer’s feet, eyes spiraling. KO.

Three wins in a row—two of them at a type disadvantage—and the crowd erupted.

Clap clap clap!

”So strong—Poliwhirl just got a hat trick!”

”And into a bad matchup, too. That kid’s Poliwhirl is legit!”

The boys wanted to disappear. A triple loss? Who had they picked a fight with?

The girl who’d started this whole mess got pointed at and whispered about until her face burned. She stomped and stalked off—no getting her pride back today.

Skinny, red-eared from the cheers, hurriedly recalled Poliwhirl.

”Pwuuh… pwuuh…” Poliwhirl panted hard. Three straight fights while still nursing injuries—yeah, it was beat.

”You were awesome. I saw how hard you’ve worked. Here—have a Water-type Pokéblock, then rest.” Skinny fed it a cube and returned it.

This was his first time putting up a line like that—Poliwhirl had swept three! He was buzzing so hard he trembled, trying and failing to keep a straight face as he hustled over to Reiji. ”Big Bro Reiji, how did you know Pikachu would close the distance?”

”To land Thunderbolt,” Reiji said, chuckling. ”When your aim’s bad, that’s what kids do—close in. Pikachu’s faster, so closing is optimal. Either keep blind-firing and get kited down by Mud Shot, or force it up close for one last shot. Most will pick the latter.”

Word spread fast; soon they were ringed in tight, everyone wanting another match. Skinny sent out Breloom. The boys took it seriously now—but two more challengers fell in a row.

On the sixth, Reiji tugged his sleeve. Don’t overdo it; big waves bring trouble. Skinny took a loss, and the boys finally exhaled—if they’d been swept 0–6, they’d never live it down at school.

No one tried Reiji after that. Skinny had said Reiji was his ”big bro.” If you can’t beat Skinny, there’s no point challenging the boss.

The boys hurried off to find the girl and ”cash in” the dates she’d promised—one week for the first, a whole month for the winner.

As for the girl, reality had set in: these schoolboys weren’t beating Reiji’s side. If she wanted a stronger Trainer, where would she find one? On campus, ”Elite-tier” already meant a hotshot. Senior-year Elites hung out in clubs—they weren’t coming down for a beach brawl.

Even after the crowd thinned, a few Trainers stuck around, itching to test themselves against the kid who’d just swept three. Skinny turned them down with a solid reason—his Pokémon were gassed and needed rest.

When the last of them drifted away, the shade finally felt cool again. With all those bodies packed in, it had been sweltering.

One person didn’t leave: a chubby kid came barreling over. ”Hey! It’s only been a week—when did you get so strong?!”

”You’re allowed out?” Skinny grinned.

”Don’t ask. Mom said outside’s dangerous and grounded me for a week.” He sighed. Tears not included.

”I went by to find you and your mom chewed me out,” Skinny said. ”How’d you escape today?”

”My folks are right over there in the water, being all lovey-dovey.” The chubby kid jerked his chin toward a couple cuddling in the surf. He’d meant to gawk and slipped away instead.

”Seriously, when did you get this good? We only haven’t seen each other for a week. Your Poliwhirl swept three—and you beat an upperclassman from my school!”

He’d been there the whole time, just keeping quiet while Skinny battled. Now he had to know.

”That’s Big Bro Reiji—my grandpa found me a teacher. I’ve been learning Pokémon training with him lately,” Skinny said.

”A teacher?” The chubby kid tugged him aside and whispered, ”I heard private coaching from a Trainer costs a ton. Is he strong?”

”Very. I can’t beat him. That 3-0 just now—he taught me how.”

Skinny didn’t bring up money. The kid’s parents thought battling was a game; they figured he’d grow out of it, get a job, and settle down. They weren’t paying for anything like this.

”Whoa. Could I learn from him too?”

”Uh…” Skinny scratched his head. He wanted to be honest about the tuition but didn’t want to crush him. ”Let me ask. Wait here.”

He trotted back. ”Big Bro Reiji—this is my buddy, the chubby kid. You’ve met.”

”What’s up?” Reiji nodded. He remembered—he’d actually robbed the kid on his first night in town. He still felt a little bad about that.

”He wants to learn from you too. I’m just passing the message.”

”Learn from me, huh? Did you tell him what we’ve been working on?”

”I told him the 3-0 was what you taught me.”

”In that case…” Reiji thought a moment. Teaching the kid could be his way of making up for that robbery. How much he’d absorb would be up to him. ”Give him our villa address. Tell him to come by tomorrow.”

The afternoon’s Wingull-scouting had been wrecked by the students anyway; they could try again at night. If that didn’t pan out, Skinny would have to choose: settle for the almost-there one, or keep grinding solo. Reiji’s own team resumed full training tomorrow—he couldn’t sink more time into fishing for Wingull.

”Kiddo, let’s head back. We’ll come again tonight.”

”Okay, Big Bro Reiji!”

Skinny ran to brief the chubby kid—yes, he could study with them; here’s the address; take a cab over tomorrow—then jogged to catch up with Reiji. He still wondered why Reiji hadn’t mentioned money. Maybe he’d raise it tomorrow?

After they left, the chubby kid dutifully returned to his parents’ side, all angelic again—already planning how to talk his way out tomorrow. If they said no…well, he could always sneak out.

[End of Chapter]

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