Let's rewind the clock about five minutes.
After the swimsuit-clad referee announced the start of the match, Brock's Magikarp and Jennie's Feebas began their "battle."
Calling it a battle was honestly giving the two Pokémon too much credit.
The two fish Pokémon continuously leaped out of the water and splashed back down, looking more like they were competing to see who could jump higher.
In that regard, Brock's Magikarp won thanks to its species advantage.
However, Splash ultimately couldn't deal any damage to an opponent.
After about a minute of stalemate, long enough for even the referee to become speechless, the two fish Pokémon seemed to reach a mutual understanding and dove underwater, swimming toward each other.
At the exact same moment, both Trainers issued their commands.
"Magikarp/Feebas, use Tackle!"
One golden figure and one brown figure streaked through the water.
Brock's expression became slightly serious.
"A Feebas can move that fast? Impressive."
Most people couldn't clearly observe underwater Pokémon due to light refraction, but Brock was obviously not among them.
In his eyes, while the Pokémon weren't perfectly visible, their movements were still easy enough to track.
As Magikarp burst forward at a respectable speed, Feebas kept pace surprisingly well.
Normally, sluggish movement was one of Feebas's defining characteristics.
It was also one of the reasons they were so easy to catch.
Yet this Feebas was clearly different from others of its kind.
Its blue fins swayed gracefully as it maneuvered through the water with remarkable agility.
Across the field, Jennie from Sootopolis Gym was very satisfied with her partner's performance.
It seemed that more than half a month of battle training had paid off.
Although Feebas had suffered many injuries during that period, it had been worth it.
Only she knew how much effort she'd gone through to find suitable opponents.
Brock's Magikarp was actually the first one she'd ever encountered.
Before this, her opponents had mostly been Pokémon like Goldeen and Psyduck.
Even though Goldeen and Psyduck were considered relatively weak among unevolved Pokémon, when facing a Feebas they seemed almost like starter Pokémon.
If not for the Sootopolis Gym's specialized breeding methods, which greatly improved Feebas's physical conditioning, it might not have been able to withstand even a single attack from those Pokémon.
Now that she finally had the opportunity to battle a Trainer-raised shiny Magikarp, Jennie had no intention of wasting this chance at victory.
After all, confidence gained through victory was one of the factors that influenced a Pokémon's beauty and charm.
And for Feebas, that was crucial to eventually evolving into Milotic.
Born into the Sootopolis Gym, with both parents holding high-ranking positions there, Jennie understood this better than most.
Thunk!
A somewhat muffled collision echoed from beneath the water.
Ripples spread across the surface.
Under the watchful eyes of both Trainers, the two Pokémon were evenly matched.
Magikarp compensated for its weaker physical conditioning through the natural advantages of its body structure.
After all, Brock had only caught this Magikarp less than a week ago.
No matter how many resources he invested, there was no way he could dramatically improve its physique in such a short time.
Compared to Feebas, which had received careful specialized training since birth, this wild-raised Magikarp was naturally at a disadvantage.
One collision after another took place beneath the water.
The referee unconsciously moved farther away.
She hadn't expected these two Pokémon to create such commotion.
Watching Magikarp repeatedly slam into its opponent, Brock nodded approvingly.
The reason he'd chosen to catch this Magikarp was precisely because of its personality.
Among a species known for being dull-witted and absentminded, this shiny Magikarp was as unique as its golden scales.
"Feebas, use Scale Shot!"
The command from the opposite side immediately changed Brock's expression.
Feebas flicked its tail and used Magikarp's forward momentum to widen the distance between them.
The scales on its body suddenly stood upright before launching outward like projectiles.
Scale Shot, a Dragon-type move that strikes the target multiple times, typically between two and five hits.
Similar moves included Bullet Seed and Rock Blast.
Clearly, this wasn't a move that ordinary Feebas could learn.
Although fish scales could somewhat substitute for Dragon Scales, learning this move generally implied the Pokémon possessed traces of Dragon-type bloodline traits, much like Seadra.
"Because of Milotic, perhaps? I do remember some studies suggesting that Milotic possesses a small amount of Dragon-type energy."
Brock frowned as he thought about it.
The sudden attack didn't throw him into panic.
A move was only as strong as its user.
Given Feebas's current level of strength, unless it got extremely lucky and landed five hits every single time, defeating Magikarp would still take a considerable amount of time.
Sure enough.
The next moment, three Scale Shot projectiles cut through the water and struck Magikarp.
The attack only forced it slightly backward.
But Feebas didn't stop attacking.
More scales continuously formed and flew toward Magikarp.
Fortunately, move manifestations consumed energy rather than actual scales.
Otherwise, Feebas would have become completely bald by now.
Brock quickly issued a command.
"Magikarp, dive into deeper water and widen the distance!"
His strategy was simple:
Stall.
Using Scale Shot consumed a considerable amount of energy.
If Feebas couldn't inflict continuous effective damage, the move would end up hurting its own stamina more than anything else.
Since Magikarp held a slight speed advantage, the increased water pressure in deeper areas would help reduce a significant portion of Scale Shot's power.
Of course, this wasn't a permanent solution.
The opposing Trainer could simply remain patient and refuse to overcommit.
According to the rules, once the battle time limit was reached, Brock would be the one declared the loser.
Jennie curled her lips.
"Feebas, chase it and keep using Scale Shot!"
She knew perfectly well how to maximize her chances of victory within the rules.
But that wasn't the kind of victory she wanted.
A win by timeout wouldn't improve Feebas's confidence at all.
So she decisively ordered Feebas to pursue.
She was confident that Magikarp had no real way to resist under these circumstances.
And the battle quickly proved her right.
Faced with Feebas's relentless pursuit, Magikarp became increasingly battered.
Its body was covered in wounds.
Its swimming speed gradually slowed.
The vacant look in its eyes slowly transformed into fury.
Of course, it recognized the ugly Pokémon chasing behind it.
Those creatures that hid among the aquatic plants were Pokémon that Magikarp normally wouldn't even bother acknowledging.
But the shiny Magikarp had never imagined that one day it, the handsome superstar among all Magikarp would be chased around by such an ugly fish.
It knew this wasn't its Trainer's fault.
Even though they'd only spent a short time together, that squinty-eyed human suited its tastes perfectly.
Every day he fed it delicious food.
Magikarp could clearly feel itself growing stronger.
Which meant it was steadily moving toward its dream becoming a Gyarados.
The reason it was in its current predicament was simple:
It was too weak.
The golden Magikarp had hated more than once that it was only a Magikarp, and it had often wondered why it hadn't been born as a Gyarados.
Of course, that was a knowledge blind spot for it.
If Gyarados were born as Gyarados from the start, the entire Pokémon world would probably have been destroyed by those violent beasts.
Given the sheer number of Magikarp in existence, that wasn't an exaggeration at all.
Bang! Bang!
Two more Scale Shot projectiles slammed into Magikarp's golden scales.
That became the final straw.
The fury in Magikarp's eyes gradually deepened until they were completely filled with a raging crimson color.
For a brief moment, it looked almost like a Gyarados.
Yet neither humans nor Pokémon noticed the change.
Not even the Feebas chasing behind it.
The battle had taken place too deep underwater.
Even with Brock's eyesight, he could only make out rough outlines.
Emotions were a mysterious power.
Many Pokémon moves utilized emotional energy, such as Return and Frustration.
Even evolution itself was heavily influenced by emotions.
The concept of friendship had been developed because of phenomena like these.
Many researchers also believed that Magikarp's evolution into Gyarados was triggered by extreme rage.
Otherwise, it was difficult to explain why most Gyarados entered a violent rampage phase after evolving and had to vent their power.
Even theories claiming evolutionary energy overstimulated Magikarp's brain cells failed to fully explain the phenomenon.
No matter how aggressive they became, evolution should bring excitement, not complete loss of control.
Team Rocket's research into Magikarp evolution had been based on this very theory.
However, compared to natural evolution, their methods were extremely harmful to Pokémon, with side effects comparable to those of the Dark Ball.
At that moment, the golden Magikarp had entered a state of absolute fury.
A seemingly endless stream of Water-type energy surged through its body.
Under normal circumstances, it should have evolved into Gyarados right then and there.
The problem was that it was only Level 13.
Pokémon could occasionally learn higher-level moves ahead of schedule.
Evolution, however, was a different matter.
Without reaching the required energy threshold, early evolution was nearly impossible.
And Level 13 was a full seven levels short of Magikarp's standard evolution level of 20.
The Water-type energy overflowing inside its body could not trigger evolution.
Instead, it simply made Magikarp feel unbearably swollen with power.
Its eyes burned red as it instinctively opened its mouth wide.
BOOM!
A violent torrent of water erupted forth.
A brown figure was blasted out from beneath the water.
"Feebas!"
Jennie cried out in shock.
She couldn't understand what had happened.
Just moments ago, Feebas had been relentlessly pursuing Magikarp.
The next instant, it had been struck down by an unknown counterattack.
And if she wasn't mistaken...
That was Hydro Pump, wasn't it?
The Sootopolis Gym was famous for Water-type Pokémon, and Jennie was confident in her judgment.
But the problem was how could a Magikarp possibly learn Hydro Pump?!
Not just her.
Brock and the referee were equally stunned.
Meanwhile, Silas and Ryuji had been splashed by the massive wave created by Magikarp's Hydro Pump while they were chatting nearby.
Although Magikarp's low level limited Hydro Pump's power, Feebas still had no chance of enduring such a powerful Water-type move.
It was knocked out instantly.
At this point, however, the battle's outcome no longer mattered.
After declaring Brock the winner, the exhausted Magikarp floated to the surface and gradually returned to normal.
Brock promptly placed it back into its aquarium.
The tank had been specially prepared with various substances that promoted recovery and growth.
It was one of Brock's personal training secrets.
Otherwise, he would never have walked around carrying such a bizarre-looking fish tank in public.
After learning that Magikarp had used Hydro Pump, Silas immediately requested the arena footage and called a friend.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
The voice of Haruto Haitang echoed through the room from the Pokétch communicator.
"I said my friend's Magikarp seems to have mastered Hydro Pump. The exact scenario from your paper."
Silas sighed and explained once again.
If he remembered correctly, this was already the fourth time.
Silas and Brock had repeatedly reviewed the footage.
There was no doubt.
It had been Hydro Pump.
Not only had Haruto Haitang contacted him, but Enata Tatsuya had as well.
As an old comrade-in-arms, Tatsuya was more than willing to preserve the footage as evidence supporting Haruto's research paper.
Tatsuya hadn't informed his father, who was currently in a meeting.
In his opinion, his father wouldn't be angry at all.
He'd probably praise him.
And even if he got scolded, it wasn't a big deal.
After a long silence, Haruto finally spoke.
"I'm coming immediately. Where are you?"
The excitement in his voice was impossible to hide.
He had never abandoned the hypothesis paper he'd published at seventeen.
Now that a living example had appeared, he felt that not only was his old dream within reach, but the title of Pokémon Professor was calling to him as well.
With his already well-developed research system and one or perhaps several groundbreaking discoveries, he absolutely had the qualifications.
If everything went well, he would become the youngest Pokémon Professor in League history.
"We're at the Johto Battle Park. I—"
"I'll be there in an hour. Wait for me."
Before Silas could finish, the call was disconnected.
Haruto was probably in Kanto.
To arrive within an hour, he would likely use the same method Brock often did.
Having family connections really was convenient.
"So... what about our battle...?"
Ryuji asked weakly.
Meanwhile, Jennie had already begun enthusiastically chatting with Brock.
As the heir to the Pewter Gym, Brock was fairly well-known among Gym circles.
Silas smiled.
"They can do their thing, and we'll do ours.
"I paid for these matches, after all.
"Come on, let's battle now.
"Oh, and after we're done, I can give you Daissy's contact number. I'm sure she'd be happy to discuss water ballet with you."
"Really? That's amazing!"
Ryuji's eyes instantly lit up.
All thoughts of Magikarp using Hydro Pump vanished from his mind.
Back at the Water Battle Arena, Silas and Ryuji took their places on opposite platforms.
"Then the battle officially begins?"
The referee announced somewhat absentmindedly.
The company's young master had instructed her not to spread the news, but that didn't stop her from being utterly shocked by a Magikarp using Hydro Pump.
Neither trainer paid much attention to her state.
"Go, Chinchou!"
Ryuji adjusted his goggles and threw a Poké Ball.
Silas pointed forward.
"I'm counting on you, Piplup."
"Piplup!"
The little penguin cried out excitedly.
With a powerful leap, it launched itself into the air before descending toward the water below.
Then, to everyone's surprise.
A brilliant white light began to shine from Piplup's body while it was still in midair.
...
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