Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

When the flames finally died down, the tree on Torterra’s back was gone. It had been burned clean off, leaving the giant tortoise bare.

This isn’t working. Grass-type moves can’t even get close. If this keeps up, Torterra loses.

Reggie looked at the scorched Torterra with a frown. He was not worried about its safety; he trusted its defense. What bothered him was that Grass-type moves were doing nothing. Rhydon had an x4 weakness to Grass, yet it was shrugging everything off. That was ridiculous.

Reiji was not going to give him time to think.

”Rhydon, Ice Punch!”

”Rhy!” Rhydon stepped in again, raising a fist wrapped in freezing air, and brought it down toward Torterra’s shell.

”Torterra, Reflect!”

Before the punch landed, a green shell-like barrier appeared above Torterra and expanded outward, catching Rhydon’s Ice Punch head-on.

Reflect raised a barrier that weakened physical attacks for five turns.

Crack. Crack.

Ice Punch lost half its force, but x4 damage was still big damage.

The green shell barrier shook under the blow. Cracks spread across it, then it shattered from the center. Rhydon’s fist kept going and slammed straight into Torterra’s shell.

The impact kicked up a burst of dust, blocking both Reiji’s and Reggie’s view. No one could see what had happened inside, or how badly Torterra had taken the hit.

Then Torterra cried out.

Reflect was not the same as Protect. Protect could block an attack outright if it went up in time, but Reflect only weakened physical damage. It did not make the hit disappear.

”Terra!” Ice Punch landed on Torterra’s shell, and the pain forced it to pop back out, roaring in agony.

”Torterra, Iron Head!”

Reggie did not know if Torterra could hear him through the dust, but heavy footsteps soon thundered from inside the cloud. A moment later, Rhydon was knocked out of the smoke.

Reggie had not expected Iron Head to do much damage. He only wanted Torterra to push Rhydon away and create some distance, giving both it and himself a chance to breathe.

But that hope died almost immediately.

When Rhydon came out of the dust, it had Torterra in its hands.

And once Torterra was in Rhydon’s grip, the rest was obvious.

Rhydon slammed Torterra. If Torterra could think clearly in that moment, it was probably questioning every decision that had led to this battle.

After smashing Torterra dizzy, Rhydon planted itself on top of its shell. The heat pouring off its body made Torterra miserable, and when flames burst around both of its fists, Reggie immediately ordered Torterra to pull back into its shell and stack Iron Defense as fast as it could.

Rhydon ignored the desperate defense boosts and started punching.

One Fire Punch after another hammered down.

Torterra had 105 base Defense, and three Iron Defenses pushed that defense as high as it could go. On paper, that was over four hundred Defense.

Against Rhydon’s Fire Punch, it only changed one thing: whether Torterra fell in one punch or after many.

By the time more than ten punches had landed and Pidgeot cleared the dust, Torterra lay on the ground with its eyes rolled back. Rhydon stepped off its shell and roared at the whole stadium.

”RHY!”

That roar snapped the crowd awake, announcer included.

”Unbelievable! Rhydon isn’t afraid of Grass-type moves! Torterra couldn’t fight back at all and has been knocked unconscious!”

The announcer’s voice shook when Rhydon turned its glare toward the booth. That look was terrifying.

”Come back, Torterra.” Reggie recalled it. After testing Rhydon with his strongest Pokémon, he finally understood how dangerous it was.

It was not just resistant to Grass-type moves. If he wanted to bring that monster down, he would need at least three Pokémon. This match had just become much harder.

”Go, Drapion!”

”It’s Drapion! Can Drapion defeat Rhydon? Contestant Reggie has chosen a Pokémon with a Ground weakness to face it!”

Drapion?

Is he going for Toxic Spikes?

Seeing Torterra go down, Reiji could not help feeling it was a shame. That turtle would have been terrifying if it could learn Counter.

At the same time, he understood what Reggie was thinking. To beat Rhydon while its rock armor was up, the best option was something that ignored defense and wore it down directly.

Status was another route. Poison or burn could slowly grind Rhydon down.

But Hanhan, wrapped in rock armor, was not afraid of Toxic Spikes. Reiji had already tested that with Forretress. Toxic Spikes could not pierce the stone armor covering its whole body. Burn was even less of a concern.

Still, Rhydon’s real job was not to deal with small fry. It had to be saved for Electivire.

And since Reggie already knew about Poliwhirl’s explosive power, it would be miserable if he baited Poliwhirl out and removed it before its time. Poliwhirl was not ready to enter yet.

”Drapion, Toxic Spikes!”

”Come back, Rhydon.” The moment Reggie called Toxic Spikes, Reiji recalled Rhydon. Taking down Torterra was already enough.

Rhydon was not invincible. Keeping its body at that temperature burned through a lot of energy, and attacking did the same. At most, it could handle two hard battles like that. For now, it needed to rest.

”He… recalled it?” The announcer exhaled in relief when Rhydon disappeared. He had thought Rhydon was about to sweep all six. Honestly, it looked like it could, yet Reiji had pulled it back.

Reggie was just as confused. Rhydon should have been building momentum. Why recall it now?

Unless Reiji was saving it for Electivire.

”Go, Forretress!” Reiji’s only Pokémon that did not care about poison was Forretress. If Reggie wanted Toxic Spikes on the field, fine. Steel-types were not bothered by poison.

”Forretress, Defense Curl and Rollout.”

When Reggie heard that, he immediately gave up on setting more Toxic Spikes. One layer was all he had, and Toxic Spikes meant nothing against Forretress anyway.

”Drapion, Hyper Beam!”

”Forretress, Protect.” Reiji knew Forretress had excellent defenses, but there was no reason to eat a Hyper Beam head-on.

Forretress used Protect and blocked Hyper Beam. Before the dust even cleared, red light flashed across the field. Reggie had already recalled Drapion.

So he did not want Drapion fighting Forretress directly.

What would he send out next?

There was still a layer of Toxic Spikes on the field. Anything switching in would need to be Poison-type or Steel-type, or it would be affected.

”Go, Aggron!”

”So that’s the pick.” Reiji looked at the Steel-type Aggron. It stepped onto the field and ignored the Toxic Spikes completely.

”Aggron, Sandstorm!”

”Aggron!” Aggron stomped the ground hard, kicking up a storm of sand that swallowed the battlefield and cut visibility to almost nothing.

Sandstorm.

Reiji understood what Reggie was doing. The sand would tear up the field, scatter the Toxic Spikes, and bury whatever was left. Not bad.

”Forretress, Defense Curl and Rollout.”

”Forre!” Forretress had already used Iron Defense inside the sandstorm. When it heard Rollout, it tucked into its shell and rolled toward Aggron.

”Aggron, Fire Punch!”

”Aggron!” Aggron sensed Forretress coming and slammed a burning fist down at the rolling shell.

The moment Fire Punch hit Forretress, an explosion tore through the field. Even the sand was blown aside, and the storm stopped under the blast.

Aggron was forced back several steps. One arm hung uselessly at its side, the fist charred black. Counter had ruined that arm.

Counter was a Fighting-type move, and Aggron had an x4 weakness to Fighting. The fact that it did not drop on the spot only proved how much HP and defense it had.

Counter.

Reggie gritted his teeth. He had actually forgotten how high Forretress’s physical defense was. Physical attacks barely worked on it, and Counter made that even worse. He had been careless.

Drapion had only used Hyper Beam because Reggie planned to attack and switch right away.

”Come back, Forretress.” Before Aggron could attack again, Reiji recalled Forretress.

His Forretress was there to handle Drapion. He was not going to waste it in a long fight with Aggron. If he lost either Rhydon or Forretress, Reggie could break through the match instantly.

For Aggron, Reiji had a better answer.

”Go, Gyarados!”

”Gyaaa!” Gyarados appeared and unleashed Intimidate, but against these huge, heavy Pokémon, it never worked that well. Monsters like this did not scare easily.

”Aaaa!” Aggron roared back, refusing to be outdone.

”Gyarados, Hydro Pump.” Reiji looked at Aggron. Its level was definitely about ten higher than Gyarados’s, but one of its arms was already ruined. As long as Gyarados could trade with it, that was enough.

”Aggron, Thunder Punch!”

”Gyaaa!” Gyarados fired three Hydro Pumps in a row. Aggron charged straight through them and smashed each blast apart with its fist.

So this one was not afraid of water either.

”Gyarados, Earthquake!”

”Gyara!” Gyarados’s tail hardened like steel, then slammed into the ground. Shock waves tore across the field toward Aggron.

Aggron did not dare take an x4 Ground-type hit lightly. It stomped the ground as well. Earthquake was not something only Gyarados could use.

Aggron’s own shock waves surged forward, colliding with Gyarados’s in the center of the field.

The battlefield could not take it. A huge crack split open from the middle and ran all the way to the wall below the stands. Even the wall itself cracked.

”Aggron, Thunder Punch again!”

”Gyarados, Waterfall in, then Iron Tail!”

”Gyara!” Gyarados surged forward, rushing straight at Aggron.

”Aaa!” Aggron roared and charged with lightning wrapped around its fist.

Thunder Punch crashed into Iron Tail with a deafening blast. Dust and smoke burst up from the center of the field, and the shock wave swept across the stadium. Both Pokémon were thrown backward and only stopped when they slammed into the stone pillars beneath the trainer platforms.

Neither side came out clean.

Aggron had it worse. It had used its left arm, which was weaker than its right, and Iron Tail had blocked the full force of Thunder Punch.

Thunder Punch hit Gyarados for x4 damage, but against the Steel-type energy wrapped around Iron Tail, it was only neutral. That was why Reiji had chosen Iron Tail instead of Aqua Tail.

Aqua Tail would hit Aggron super effectively, yes. But Aggron was using Thunder Punch. Meeting it with Aqua Tail would not be countering Aggron. It would be letting Thunder Punch counter Gyarados.

Aggron’s resistances were also a pain. It only had an x4 weakness to Fighting and Ground, plus an x2 weakness to Water. There really were not many clean ways to break it.

As for Earthquake?

Everyone had just seen the wall under the stands crack.

Aggron’s Earthquake had matched Gyarados’s evenly. If they kept clashing like that, there would be no result except wrecking the main stadium. The match would probably be paused. Both sides understood that and stopped using Earthquake.

If Hydro Pump did not work well, then they would try fire.

”Gyarados, Flamethrower!”

”Gyara!” Gyarados spat out a blast of high-temperature flame.

”Aaa!” Aggron stomped the ground, ripped up a huge slab of rock, and held it in front of its body. Flamethrower slammed into the stone while Aggron hid safely behind it.

Once the flames passed, Aggron lifted the rock and hurled it at Gyarados.

Gyarados did not need an order. It launched itself up and smashed the rock apart with its tail, sending shards flying back toward Aggron.

”Aggron, Rock Blast!”

The falling rubble rose again and circled Aggron before shooting toward Gyarados, each stone trailing a streak of energy.

Gyarados did not just sit there and take it. It fired Bubble after Bubble, knocking rocks out of the air. Some of the bubbles even struck Aggron directly.

If Aggron wanted a war of attrition, that suited Gyarados. Getting close was the dangerous part, since one Thunder Punch could hit it for x4 damage.

At some point, the rocks Aggron called up started getting larger. They crashed down toward Gyarados one after another. Rock-type moves hit Gyarados for x2 damage.

Not good. Rock Tomb.

Gyarados’s space was being squeezed smaller and smaller. Reiji immediately had it smash the rocks apart with Iron Tail.

But every rock it broke was replaced by more. Gyarados could only twist its body to dodge.

That was the downside of being so large. Gyarados had a much harder time avoiding the falling stones.

Aggron also had rock shields to hide behind, so Gyarados was clearly losing the exchange between Hydro Pump and rock projectiles.

”Gyarados, Crunch through the rocks and finish this head-on!”

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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