"Gyaaar!"
A roar shook the stadium as Gyarados appeared on the battlefield. The crowd gasped. None of them had ever seen a Gyarados so large.
They could hardly believe its size.
Heavy raindrops struck Gyarados, activating Royal Authority of the Sea. It seemed more formidable with every second.
"What..."
Ritchie's eyelid twitched. Gyarados hadn't done a thing, and there was no glow around it, yet it somehow seemed stronger. How was that possible?
Happy had inherited Spearow's Agility and Focus Energy, and Tailwind was helping it move faster. Even so, standing across from Caster's Gyarados made Ritchie feel trapped. He could barely breathe.
In the competitors' room, the Trainers waiting for their matches cried out in surprise. Even through a screen, they could sense Gyarados's power.
"He sent out Gyarados right away. Caster didn't hesitate!"
Gary folded his arms and watched intently. How would he handle Gyarados if he faced it himself? The other Trainers were asking themselves the same question.
Ash alone kept grinning. He turned to the other competitors. "That's my rival's Gyarados! Pretty amazing, huh?"
The Trainer scheduled to face Ash went stiff. He'd thought Ash had gotten this far on luck alone. But if Ash could call someone as strong as Caster his rival, their abilities couldn't be too far apart, could they?
"I'm in trouble," he muttered. "I thought I'd gotten an easy opponent. I underestimated him."
On the battlefield, the fight resumed.
"Happy, use Whirlwind!"
Ritchie had a good head for tactics. Like Roar, Whirlwind could force an opponent to switch Pokemon. Gyarados was putting him under enormous pressure, so he would make Caster send out something else and deal with the easier opponents first.
He could build an advantage that way and give Happy another chance to boost its strength.
Ritchie swallowed as he looked at Gyarados, but he hadn't given up hope.
"If Happy uses Quiver Dance once, it should be strong enough to take on that Gyarados. If it manages twice..."
For a moment, Ritchie looked excited. Then he shook his head. Two more uses of Quiver Dance on top of its current boosts might be more than Happy could handle.
"Free!"
Happy beat its enormous wings. A powerful gust rose and swept toward Gyarados.
"Gyaaar!"
Gyarados eyed the approaching gust. Did it really expect to blow Gyarados away?
Still, it wasn't taking chances. It lashed its tail.
Boom!
A huge cyclone formed and met Happy's Whirlwind head-on. It was Hurricane, a Flying-type move.
Beside it, Happy's Whirlwind looked like child's play. The moment the two winds met, Hurricane absorbed Whirlwind and kept rushing toward Happy. It dispersed the Tailwind Spearow had set up as well.
"Free!"
Happy tried to escape, but it couldn't. Hurricane's center pulled at everything around it. Happy's broad wings caught too much wind, and it was too light and too weak to break free.
Sweat broke out on Ritchie's forehead. "Happy, Protect!"
A translucent barrier appeared around Happy and held back Hurricane.
Ritchie breathed a little easier, but only for a moment. Several seconds passed, and Hurricane showed no sign of fading. If anything, it seemed to be growing stronger.
Happy couldn't keep its barrier up for long inside the storm.
"Free!"
When Protect wore off, Hurricane caught Happy and tossed it through the air. The wind cut into it again and again like blades.
"Happy!"
Ritchie shouted, but there was nothing he could do. When Happy's cries stopped, Gyarados quietly let the Hurricane die down.
Caster watched on.
Was Happy strong with Agility, Focus Energy, and Tailwind behind it?
Of course it was.
But strength depended on the opponent. Dragonair had struggled to deal with Happy. Gyarados had at least nine ways to take it down.
Nine!
Caster had known he could win.
Happy tumbled from the air, its eyes spinning. "Butterfree is unable to battle!" the referee announced. "The Trainer on the green side, please send out your next Pokemon!"
Ritchie recalled Happy and sent out Sparky, his Pikachu with the distinctive hairstyle.
He glanced at the rain. "Sparky, use Thunder!"
The rain favored Caster, but both sides could use it. Powerful as Gyarados was, it was still four times as vulnerable to Electric-type attacks. And in the rain, Thunder couldn't miss.
Crash!
A massive bolt fell from the dark clouds toward Gyarados.
A translucent barrier appeared and stopped the lightning. Gyarados was unharmed.
Ritchie had expected Protect. It would have been strange if Caster's Gyarados didn't know it. But Gyarados couldn't use Protect twice in a row.
Sparky's Electric-type moves had received special training. Even a powerful move like Thunder could be used twice in succession without a pause.
"Sparky, Thunder again!" Ritchie called, excitement creeping into his voice. If he could beat Gyarados, he still had a chance.
Crash!
Another huge bolt fell. The flash made the spectators squint, and even the stadium's electronics flickered.
"Pika, pika..."
On Caster's shoulder, Pikachu licked its lips at the sight of the lightning.
It wanted a taste. Its Lightning Rod hadn't absorbed electricity that good in a long time.
But this was an official match. If Pikachu interfered, Caster would be disqualified. It had to hold back.
It kept its eyes on Sparky, though. It wanted to drain that Pikachu dry.
"Did it work?"
When the flash faded, Ritchie stared across the field. His heart sank. Gyarados didn't have a scratch on it.
Above its head, a dazed-looking copy of Gyarados made of energy was slowly fading away. Substitute had taken the hit for it.
Ritchie gave a bitter smile. He knew he'd lost.
Rumble!
The ground shook violently. Gyarados had used Earthquake. Sparky had nowhere to run and went down at once.
Ritchie sent out Spearow next, but it fared no better. A bolt of Thunder even bigger than Sparky's struck it. Protect couldn't hold, and the little bird was left charred.
"Spearow is unable to battle! All three Pokemon on the green side have been defeated." The referee raised his voice. "The winner is Caster of Cerulean City!"
"And there we have it!" the announcer shouted over the stadium speakers. "Our first Trainer through to the quarterfinals of this year's Indigo League Conference! Let's hear it for Caster!"
The whole stadium erupted in cheers.
Caster waved to the crowd on every side. Pikachu was even more excited than he was.
Across the field, Ritchie quietly recalled Spearow. He looked dejected, but after a deep breath, he smiled again.
He looked at Caster. "You're an opponent worth respecting. Next time, we'll battle again," he thought.