Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

”Rhydon, rock armor!”

”Rhy!” Rhydon raised its body temperature at once. Molten rock wrapped around its legs first, even the soles of its feet, so it would not step on the Toxic Spikes. Then the lava crawled upward until it covered its whole body.

Rain fell from above and hissed against the armor, sending up steam. Once the molten rock cooled, the black armor returned.

”What is that? Rhydon put on armor? It looks like it was made from lava…”

After all the Pokémon and tactics they had already seen, the crowd’s nerves had been pushed again and again. Now something even stranger had appeared. The whole stadium grew restless. The finals really were on another level.

No poison?

Reggie watched the Toxic Spikes settle on the field, but Rhydon showed no sign of being poisoned. His eyes went to the black armor. It seemed to cover Rhydon completely. So it could block Toxic Spikes too. That was outside his expectations.

”Rhydon, Earthquake.”

Reggie wanted Rhydon out, so Reiji gave it to him. Drapion was weak to Ground, and Earthquake would end this quickly.

Rhydon was already on the field. Reiji had no way to recall it anymore. It had to fight until it dropped.

The shock waves tore across the field. Reggie recalled Drapion the moment he saw Toxic Spikes had failed. His plan was dead, and there was no reason to let Drapion take Earthquake.

He threw another Poké Ball.

”Go, Aggron!”

”Aggron, Sandstorm. Rock Tomb.”

”Aaaa!” At this point, Aggron’s only job was to clear the field.

Reggie had it give up on fighting back. Aggron whipped up a sandstorm, then sent rock after rock crashing toward Rhydon.

”Rhy!” Rhydon ignored the sand. It punched apart the incoming rocks while stomping the ground again, sending another Earthquake forward.

Aggron cleared the Toxic Spikes with Sandstorm, then took the x4 Earthquake and went down.

”Aggron is unable to battle. Contestant Reggie, please recall Aggron.”

”Come back, Aggron.” Reggie recalled it. As Aggron fell, the sandstorm stopped too. Just as he expected, Rock Tomb had not slowed Rhydon at all.

But Aggron had done its job. Rhydon could no longer be recalled. Now it just had to be worn down.

”Go, Abomasnow!” Reggie sent out Abomasnow and immediately called, ”Ice Beam!”

The rain became snow the moment Abomasnow appeared. The weather finally shifted into what Reggie wanted.

Abomasnow raised its arm and fired Ice Beam, freezing Rhydon in place.

”Abomasnow, Ingrain. Synthesis.”

Synthesis only restored a quarter of its HP in snow, but even that was better than nothing. Reggie just needed Abomasnow to last longer.

The ice around Rhydon began to melt. Its newly formed rock armor melted with it. Now that the Toxic Spikes were gone, it no longer needed that layer of defense.

Without the rock armor, Rhydon still gave off intense heat. It was keeping its flame armor active. Ice hit it for x2, and it could not afford to take the full force of it.

”Abomasnow, it’s coming. Keep using Ice Beam!”

”Rhydon, Fire Punch.” Reiji knew Reggie wanted to drag the fight out and burn through Rhydon’s HP. He wanted to end it quickly instead. Keeping that heat up in snow took a lot of energy.

At least snow boosted an Ice-type’s Defense, not its attacks. Otherwise, this would be even worse.

”Rhy!” Rhydon charged with Fire Punch. The snow melted wherever it passed. Even when Ice Beam hit it, the ice that formed on its body evaporated almost instantly. It never had the chance to freeze.

”Abomasnow, don’t stop. Keep using Ice Beam. Use Protect when it reaches you.”

Reggie was sure Ice Beam was doing something. Rhydon could not be spending no energy at all.

Rhydon reached Abomasnow and swung. Only then did Abomasnow stop firing Ice Beam and raise both hands to use Protect.

The heavy Fire Punch slammed into the shield. With Ingrain holding it in place, Abomasnow managed to block the hit.

”Abomasnow, grab it and use Giga Drain!”

”Aboma!” The moment Protect vanished, Abomasnow caught Rhydon’s hands and tried to drain its HP.

Rhydon moved faster. As soon as Abomasnow grabbed it, Rhydon tried to lift it up and smash it into the ground.

But Ingrain held Abomasnow down. Rhydon could not pull it free.

Reiji’s voice came from behind it.

”Rhydon, don’t worry about that. Fire Punch.”

”Rhy!” Flames burst around Rhydon’s hands, and its body temperature shot even higher. This was heat strong enough to melt rock.

Rhydon was fine. Abomasnow, stuck holding onto it, was not. Fire hit Abomasnow for x4 damage.

The heat burned so hard and after that, Giga Drain stopped halfway, and it even pulled back its roots.

Abomasnow backed away in alarm, staring at the burning Rhydon. What kind of monster was this? It felt like it was about to melt.

”Abomasnow, Ice Punch!”

Rhydon answered Ice Punch with Fire Punch.

The two fists collided, and Abomasnow was blown backward.

If it had not already used so much energy against Pelipper, Abomasnow would not have looked this weak. Ingrain and Synthesis had only recovered so much. Trying to fight Rhydon head-on after that was asking too much.

Even so, with Reggie urging it on, Abomasnow stood back up and kept fighting at close range with Ice Punch.

Fire Punch hit Abomasnow for x4 damage. Ice Punch hit Rhydon for x2.

Snow helped Abomasnow to boost Its Defense.

But Rhydon’s base Defense was 120 even without Iron Defense, higher than Abomasnow’s.

In the end, Abomasnow was the first to break. If it had not spent so much against Pelipper earlier, the result might have been different. But battles did not run on ”might have.” Abomasnow could not hold on. That was the truth.

It had lasted far longer than Reiji expected against an x4 weakness, but it was time for it to fall.

Abomasnow crashed to the ground, and the snow stopped. Sunlight returned. Rhydon had lived up to its place as Reiji’s fiercest main Pokémon, taking down two of Reggie’s main Pokémon by force. Now it lay on the ground too, breathing hard.

The bell rang.

”Abomasnow is unable to battle. Contestant Reggie, please recall Abomasnow. Contestant Reggie has lost three Pokémon, so we will begin the five-minute intermission.”

Reiji recalled Rhydon and stepped down from the platform. He glanced at the big screen. He had lost one Pokémon, while Reggie had lost three. But Reggie had gotten what he wanted. Rhydon was exhausted now. It was ready to be picked off.

Reiji — Reggie

Gyarados [recalled, out] — Electivire [recalled]

Rhydon [recalled] — Torterra [out]

Forretress [recalled] — Drapion [recalled, recalled]

Pelipper [recalled, recalled] — Aggron [recalled, out]

Poliwhirl [recalled] — Abomasnow [recalled, out]

From the screen, Reiji’s Gyarados was out, Rhydon was spent, and Pelipper was spent. Only Forretress and Poliwhirl were still in good shape.

Reggie had lost Torterra, Aggron, and Abomasnow. He still had Drapion and Electivire.

Both sides had two nearly fresh Pokémon left. If Rhydon and Pelipper counted, Reiji was still ahead, but barely. It was a rough lead, not a clean one.

Worse, Rhydon could not be recalled anymore, and neither could anything after it. Reggie still had one switch left. That was an advantage too.

Reggie’s last Pokémon was almost certainly Garchomp. Reiji’s last had to be one of Kingler, Accelgor, or Slowpoke.

Once Rhydon fell, Reiji had two real choices. He could use Poliwhirl to trade with Electivire, and he was at least ninety percent sure that would work. Or he could try to kite it with Accelgor, but that was closer to fifty percent, since he had never used Accelgor in a real match.

Forretress was not a good answer. Drapion could clear poison, and Reggie’s last switch was enough to set up whatever play he wanted.

Reiji had a lot on his mind, but Reggie was no better. He sat under the shade, going over the match with his younger brother.

”Reggie, Poliwhirl still hasn’t moved. Are you sure about the second half?” Paul asked.

”Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

He absolutely did not. That Poliwhirl made Reggie nervous.

That burst was the scariest part. If Protect could block it, then he would have a way to handle the rest of the match.

But if Poliwhirl traded with Electivire, the match would become ugly. That Forretress, with its ridiculous defense, would be a huge problem.

If physical attacks could not break it, he would need special attacks. Drapion would not work. Right now, his only clean special options were Electivire’s Electric moves or Camerupt’s Fire moves.

If he chose that route, Garchomp would not get to appear. For the championship, he could accept that. But could Electivire or Camerupt really take down Forretress?

He had no confidence in that.

”Reggie, Rhydon fought two hard battles, and Pelipper is worn out too. You should take them out as soon as you can.”

”I will. What do you think his sixth Pokémon is?” Reggie nodded. Rhydon and Pelipper would fall sooner or later, but he cared more about Reiji’s hidden sixth.

”With the information we have, it should be Kingler.” Paul opened his notebook, which was packed with notes on Reiji. ”Kingler can’t beat Electivire.”

”Scyther was burned in the match against Gengar and hasn’t appeared since, so it’s probably withdrawn. Farfetch’d, Staryu, and Butterfree are also injured and out. The only other Pokémon left should be Slowpoke.”

”Whether it’s Slowpoke or Kingler, Electivire wins.”

”A dead end?” Reggie trusted Paul’s analysis, but instead of feeling excited about being close to victory, he felt uneasy.

It still felt like Reiji was hiding something.

After all, who would have guessed that Reiji had an Accelgor? Shelmet’s evolution had only been announced a month ago, and Reiji was from the Orange Archipelago. Yet somehow, he had an Accelgor from Unova, a region even farther away than Sinnoh. Not only that, it was shiny and already Advanced tier.

If Reiji had not run into that insect exchange meet, he would never have gotten it.

Sometimes luck really did matter.

In the stands, Ash loosened his clenched fists when the intermission bell rang. He looked up at the big screen. From the numbers, Reiji had the lead.

”Rai-nii is two Pokémon ahead. The second half should be easier, right?”

”Idiot. That’s not how you look at it,” Gary said with a shake of his head. Pelipper and Rhydon were both exhausted. Reggie would finish them sooner or later, and then the match would be even again.

”No way. Rai-nii has only lost one Pokémon,” Ash said, refusing to believe Gary.

”Ash, just watch the match.” Brock patted his shoulder. He could see it too. Reiji’s lead looked bigger than it really was. It would disappear quickly.

The next three Pokémon would decide the match.

”He’s really strong, meow. Noodle Rai finally ran into someone scary…”

”I heard this guy still has a pseudo-legendary Garchomp. Wonder how he’ll deal with that?”

”James, do you think he can win?”

”Hard to say. I hope he does.”

”Then why don’t we steal the Garchomp?”

”Shut up, Jessie! We can’t beat Noodle Rai, and we can’t beat Reggie if he’s that close to Noodle Rai, meow!”

In another lounge above the stands, Amber and the others were watching Reiji’s match too. Several Elite Four members were there as well, and Lorelei was teasing the puffed-up Amber.

”Blaine, did you teach him that rock armor?” Lance asked.

It sounded like a question, but everyone knew that was Blaine’s signature technique. His Magmar used it far better than Rhydon did.

”Lance, I like that boy. When he challenged my Gym, I taught him a little extra.” Blaine did not try to hide his connection to Reiji. Among the older Trainers who knew him, rock armor was no secret.

Lance’s mouth twitched.

So all their earlier worries had been pointless. With Blaine behind him, who would dare touch that kid?

That was not just a guess. Rock armor was the move that made Blaine famous, and he had taught it to someone outside his own circle. Even without knowing the details of their relationship, that alone showed how much Blaine valued Reiji.

Then there was the little girl Blaine had brought with him. They had all heard about her too. She was Agatha’s student. Agatha had gone to the Dragon’s Den for a Dratini because of that student.

Blaine and Agatha.

Lance did not even want to imagine what kind of Trainer those two old monsters were trying to raise. It looked like the older generation had plans of its own.

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]

[[email protected]/BellAshelia]

[Thanks for your support!]