Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

The bell rang, Reiji and Reggie returned to their platforms.

Reiji sent Rhydon back out. The few minutes of rest had helped. It was no longer as drained as before.

Still, a few minutes could not bring it back to full strength. Reiji only needed it to hold on for a few more turns.

”Go, Garchomp!”

”It’s Garchomp! Contestant Reggie’s strongest partner has finally appeared!”

There it is.

Reiji watched Reggie send out Garchomp. It was here to clean up. Rhydon was nowhere near full strength anymore, so it could not beat Garchomp. All Reiji could do was make it spend as much energy as possible.

”Garchomp, Draco Meteor!”

”Chomp!” Garchomp raised its head and roared at Rhydon. Purple light gathered around its body, forming a sphere of energy in front of its mouth. It fired the sphere into the sky, where it burst apart and sent meteors raining down on Rhydon.

”Rhydon, break through them. Get in close with Ice Punch!”

”Rhy!” Rhydon looked up at the falling meteors, then charged straight at Garchomp. Any meteor that dropped in its path was smashed apart with one punch.

Rhydon let the heat drop. It didn’t need the armor against Garchomp, and saving energy mattered more now.

”Garchomp, Dragon Claw!” Reggie saw it too. Rhydon was at the end of its rope. There was no need to be afraid anymore. Garchomp could meet it head-on.

Ice Punch and Dragon Claw crashed together.

Rhydon was blown backward.

Garchomp followed at once, leaping into the air. Pale green light wrapped around the blades on its arms, forming claw-shaped energy. It slashed again and again, while Rhydon could only raise Ice Punch to block. Then Garchomp landed one clean hit and sent Rhydon flying.

”Rhy…” Rhydon carved two deep tracks through the ground before it stopped. It forced itself upright, panting hard. Garchomp did not attack again.

Then Garchomp shifted forward, and Rhydon finally gave out. It collapsed.

The fall shook the field.

Reggie let out a breath. That Rhydon had put far too much pressure on him. Now it was finally down.

”Rhydon is unable to battle! After carrying Contestant Reiji this far, it finally goes down. Contestant Reiji, please recall Rhydon and send out your next Pokémon!”

”Come back, Rhydon.” Reiji recalled it, then threw Poliwhirl’s Poké Ball.

Reggie still had one switch left. He could send in Drapion and let poison deal with Poliwhirl.

But Garchomp was facing a Poliwhirl that had not even fully evolved. Would it really accept being pulled back?

”Chomp?” The moment Poliwhirl appeared, Garchomp stiffened. Bad memories came rushing back.

”Poli.” Poliwhirl looked at it, crooked a finger, and grinned. ”Poli. What’s wrong? Running away again, coward?”

”Chomp!” Garchomp roared at it.

”Garchomp.” Reggie heard the roar, then saw Garchomp look back and shake its head. He understood.

Switching to Drapion was the safer play. If Poliwhirl got poisoned, Reggie could take it down without much risk.

But Garchomp was a pseudo-legendary. There was no way it wanted to back off here.

”I get it, Garchomp.” Reggie loosened his fist. ”Dragon Claw!”

”Chomp!” Green light wrapped around Garchomp’s arm blades, forming claw-shaped energy as it rushed toward Poliwhirl.

”Poliwhirl, Ice Punch!”

Reiji kept the order simple. Ice Punch was the right move. From here, Poliwhirl had to handle the fight itself.

”Poli!” Frost gathered around Poliwhirl’s fist.

This time, it did not go all out. It did not use Belly Drum either.

Reiji had warned it before. A one-hit finish looked impressive, but if it put everything into one attack and Protect blocked it, the fight would turn bad fast.

Poliwhirl burst forward. Each step cracked the ground under its feet. It was faster than Garchomp, and its icy fist came in from behind.

”Chomp!” Garchomp felt the cold at its back. Its tail hardened like steel and whipped around.

Poliwhirl used Waterfall to dodge, then burst again and appeared at Garchomp’s side. Its Ice Punch went straight for Garchomp’s head.

Garchomp barely got its arm blades up in time. A faint Dragon Claw glow still clung to them, but the punch still sent it flying.

Poliwhirl had held back, yet Garchomp still slid a long way before digging its claws into the ground. It stopped, staring at Poliwhirl with a grave look.

It was only a small tadpole, so why did it feel so dangerous?

Garchomp had almost failed to keep up.

This is bad.

Reggie gritted his teeth. Garchomp was slower than Poliwhirl. It could barely track the movement at all. At least the power behind that punch had not been too heavy.

Still, if Garchomp could not match Poliwhirl’s speed, it had no real advantage. Even forcing an even fight would be hard.

How was Poliwhirl doing this? Its bursts were too smooth. Its base Speed was only 40, but with that explosive movement, it was moving like something well over 100.

”Poli.” Poliwhirl crooked its finger again.

Was that all Garchomp had after evolving?

”Chomp!” Garchomp refused to take that. It charged again. It was a pseudo-legendary. It had trained this hard for this moment. It would not let a Poliwhirl push it around.

It rushed in and got knocked back again. Frost spread over its arm blades.

”Garchomp, Sandstorm!”

Sand swept across the field.

Reggie wanted the sandstorm to block Poliwhirl’s sight, and Reiji could not take the weather back easily.

Poliwhirl had never focused on rain tactics. It could try Rain Dance, but it could not overpower Garchomp’s Sandstorm. Pelipper might have managed it. Poliwhirl could not.

So the sandstorm rose.

Inside the sand, Garchomp’s Sand Veil kicked in. Its movements became harder to follow, and the storm itself did not hurt it.

”Poliwhirl, Rain Dance.”

”Poli.” Poliwhirl tried, but the air was too dry and the sand kept tearing through the field. Pelipper and Abomasnow had already used up too much moisture earlier. Calling rain now was much harder than usual.

Since Rain Dance failed, Poliwhirl stayed where it was and watched the sand around it.

Garchomp had vanished into the storm.

Moisture sensing would not help much here. Rain was perfect for it. Sandstorm was almost the worst possible weather for that kind of sensing.

”Poli.” Poliwhirl stayed calm.

During its time with Riolu, it had felt something strange inside itself, something close to Riolu’s emotional waves. It still did not understand it. It only touched that feeling sometimes when it used moisture sensing, and even then, only faintly.

It had tried learning from Riolu, but Riolu barely understood it either. Poliwhirl was even further behind.

If it had that ability now, maybe it could find Garchomp in the sand.

”Poliwhirl, don’t panic. Listen. Sand makes noise when it hits something.”

Reiji could not see Poliwhirl clearly, but his voice should still reach it.

That was all he could do now.

He trusted Poliwhirl to figure out the rest.

”Poli.” Poliwhirl heard him.

It would not have panicked either way. It had been through worse than this. Reiji’s voice just made it steadier.

A sandstorm was nothing compared to everything they had survived together.

Drip.

Drip.

”Poli?” Once Poliwhirl settled down, it heard something.

A faint dripping sound.

It turned toward the noise.

That tiny movement made Garchomp stop. It pulled back the Dragon Claw it had been preparing and slipped deeper into the sand. It did not know whether Poliwhirl had found it, and it refused to gamble.

The dripping moved away.

Only then did Poliwhirl realize the sandstorm’s roar had faded from its senses. It no longer felt the grains striking its body. All it heard was that clear, faint dripping.

It took one step.

Drip.

Poliwhirl froze.

That was it.

This feeling was sharper than moisture sensing. It was the same feeling it had touched when it bumped fists with Riolu.

If its own steps made that sound, then the sound from before was…

Poliwhirl spun around.

The dripping had moved behind it.

The moment it turned, the sound sped up and rushed straight at it.

”Poli!” Poliwhirl opened its eyes and drove Ice Punch forward.

The hit exploded in the center of the field. The shock wave tore the sandstorm apart, and both Pokémon appeared in front of the whole stadium.

”What?” Reggie stared as Garchomp flew backward, while Poliwhirl was knocked away too. ”How did Poliwhirl hit Garchomp inside the sandstorm?”

Poliwhirl had caught the opening and put real force into that punch.

Garchomp took the worst of it.

The blast cleared the sandstorm. Poliwhirl used Rain Dance again, and this time, light rain began to fall.

This was the weather it wanted.

It had touched aura sensing for a moment, so Garchomp could no longer ambush it so easily in the sand. But Poliwhirl still preferred rain.

Because in the rain—

Poliwhirl launched itself forward with Waterfall.

It was twice as fast as before.

Garchomp had barely managed to follow it earlier. Now all it saw was a blur. This was the first time Poliwhirl had gone all out under rain.

”Garchomp, Protect!”

Reggie had barely finished the order before Poliwhirl was already in front of Garchomp. Garchomp only had time to raise its arm blades and put up Protect.

Against that speed, it could only defend.

Compared to its fights with Darkrai, Garchomp was easier to handle. Dark Void had been the real problem. Without that, even Darkrai could be forced back.

Too fast.

Reggie’s eyes could not keep up anymore. There was almost nothing he could do to help Garchomp. Protect could only buy a moment.

The next hit sent Garchomp flying again. Even Gyarados had been kicked around by Poliwhirl, and Garchomp weighed only about half as much.

Once Protect faded, Garchomp could only take the hits.

No matter what Reggie shouted, Poliwhirl did not slow down.

It was not using a full-power burst, so it could keep attacking for a long time. With that speed gap, and with Ice Punch hitting Garchomp for x4 damage, the result was already clear.

The final Ice Punch landed in Garchomp’s stomach.

Garchomp flew backward and froze solid.

The whole stadium stood up.

Garchomp was a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary, a symbol of raw power.

And Poliwhirl had beaten it.

”Incredible! Poliwhirl has defeated Garchomp! It defeated a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary! Contestant Reiji has done it! Poliwhirl has done it!”

The announcer’s voice shook with excitement, and the scene went out through the live broadcast to every place watching the final.

To be fair, ordinary Pokémon beating pseudo-legendaries was not unheard of. The key was the x4 weakness. The fact that Garchomp had lasted this long already proved how tough it was.

”Garchomp.” Reggie recalled it.

He and Garchomp still had a long way to go. Who would have thought Poliwhirl would get even faster once the rain came down?

Rain plus that burst movement was brutal. The whole battlefield became Poliwhirl’s hunting ground. It could reach any point almost instantly, and its attacks still hit hard.

Reggie finally understood what he was seeing.

It was not one move.

It was two moves working together.

That burst was not just for attacking. Poliwhirl used it to dodge, move, reposition, and strike, all with clean control.

It even used Waterfall as part of its footwork. It could run like that for an entire morning. One battle was nothing.

And Ice Punch was the perfect answer to Garchomp.

Against Poliwhirl, Reggie had two choices.

Electivire could fight it head-on.

Drapion could try to poison it down.

With rain still on the field, the answer was obvious.

”Go, Electivire!”

The moment Electivire appeared, the light rain stopped.

Then Reggie shouted, ”Rain Dance!”

”Ele!” Electivire beat its chest and called in rainclouds. Heavier rain fell over the field.

Electricity crackled across its body as it stared down Poliwhirl.

Poliwhirl was in danger.

[End of chapter]

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