"What just happened?"
Ash stared at the battlefield, eyes wide in disbelief.
Smokescreen had been Blaine's strategy. How had it turned into such a huge advantage for Caster?
Caster smiled. "Smokescreen blocks sight, but while Magmortar was using it, Pikachu was setting up Electric Terrain. Inside the field, Pikachu can sense movement through the electrical energy, so hiding in the smoke doesn't stop it from tracking Magmortar."
"That means Pikachu doesn't have to see its target to hit it. Magmortar thought the smoke had made it safe, so it wasn't ready for an attack. Blaine's own strategy ended up working against him."
Ash and the others finally understood.
"Oh! So that's how he did it!"
Magmortar was powerful, but confusion and paralysis had robbed it of any chance to use that strength properly.
That double-status setup was filthy.
It was especially effective against an offensive powerhouse like Magmortar, which had no way to heal itself or clear its status conditions.
Once both effects landed, the battle was already heavily tilted in Caster's favor.
Magmortar had barely taken any damage yet, but Blaine was already red in the face.
"You fight dirty, kid!"
Blaine was a Fire-type Trainer in every sense of the word. He had the temper to match, preferred straightforward battles, and hated exactly this kind of tactic, the sort that left his Pokémon stumbling around while the opponent picked it apart.
For the first time, he regretted making this a two-on-two match.
If it had been three-on-three, he would've brought out one of his real aces and taught Caster a lesson.
The kid needed to learn that there was no substitute for experience.
What Blaine didn't know was that Caster had originally planned something even worse.
If Pikachu hadn't used Electric Terrain, which prevented grounded Pokémon from falling asleep, Caster would've had it use Sing and added sleep on top of Magmortar's other status problems.
Rumble!
Several large bubbles suddenly burst from the lava beneath the battlefield, releasing waves of scorching steam.
"What's happening? Is the volcano about to erupt?"
Ash and the others immediately tensed.
If the volcano really erupted, none of them would have much chance of getting out safely.
"Hm? That's..."
Blaine's anger vanished in an instant. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the lava, clearly realizing something.
Caster, still focused entirely on the battle, didn't notice.
"Pikachu, Thunder!"
After taking two Electro Balls in a row, Magmortar finally snapped out of its confusion.
The paralysis remained. Its speed had plummeted, and there was still a chance its body would lock up before it could attack.
Worse, it was already running on fumes.
Electric Terrain had also strengthened Pikachu's Electric-type attacks, making every hit that much harder.
Boom!
Another bolt of lightning slammed down.
Magmortar collapsed.
"I won! What an interesting..."
Caster was about to channel Yugi for a second, but Blaine's expression made him think better of it.
Ash and the others, meanwhile, were still trying to process the result.
"That's it? He already won? Pikachu didn't even get hurt!"
"Caster's Pikachu is ridiculously strong."
"That's Caster for you. At this rate, he might actually win the Indigo League!"
The battle had given them a much clearer idea of just how strong Caster really was.
"Pikachu! Charizard! Caster's amazing. He's one of our toughest rivals!"
Ash looked discouraged for all of a few seconds before his usual determination came roaring back.
"When we get back, we're training even harder! If we keep working together, I know we'll beat Caster someday!"
"Pika!"
"Rooar!"
Pikachu and Charizard answered with fire in their eyes.
"This proves you defeated me. The Volcano Badge."
Blaine handed Caster the badge, then waved them toward the exit.
"All right, that's enough. Battle's over. Out you go."
He practically herded Caster, Ash, and the others out of the inn, locked the door behind them, and refused to come back out.
"What got into Blaine?" Ash asked outside. "He was acting totally different all of a sudden."
Brock rubbed his chin.
"Maybe losing that easily got to him. I can understand it, actually."
Brock had been a Gym Leader himself. He wasn't exactly top-tier, but he understood the position Blaine was in.
Gym Leaders were supposed to test challengers, but every once in a while, someone absurdly strong came along and turned the whole thing around on them.
When that happened, there wasn't much a Gym Leader could do except take the loss.
"Really?"
Caster scratched his head, looking completely innocent.
"Blaine's been doing this for years. I can't imagine one loss rattling him that badly."
"Who cares?" Misty said. "You got the badge. That's what matters. Come on, let's get back to the villa."
At her urging, the group headed back.
What none of them knew was that Blaine hadn't actually been angry.
Once he'd locked the doors and windows and made sure Caster's group was gone, he returned to the volcano.
A magnificent Pokémon was already waiting for him inside.
It resembled a massive lion, with reddish-orange fur and powerful legs ringed in metal bands. Red, six-pointed markings framed its cheeks, a golden crest like a three-leaf crown sat on its forehead, and a flowing cloud of white smoke streamed from its back.
It was Entei, the Legendary Fire-type Pokémon and one of Ho-Oh's guardians.
Blaine wasn't surprised to see it. He simply rubbed his bald head and frowned.
"What was that about earlier, old friend?"
He was referring to the disturbance in the lava pool.
The volcano was dormant. Its magma was normally stable, with virtually no risk of an eruption. That was one of the reasons Blaine had chosen it as his battlefield in the first place.
So the sudden activity could only have been Entei's doing.
Entei was said to carry the heat of magma within its body and to have been born from a volcanic eruption. It could breathe flames hotter than molten lava, burning everything in their path.
Legends even claimed that whenever Entei roared, a volcano erupted somewhere in the world.
Manipulating volcanic activity was almost effortless for a Pokémon like that.
"I was resting in the magma when your battle woke me."
Entei lifted its head, its voice reaching Blaine through telepathy.
"Then I sensed an extremely sacred energy coming from that challenger."
Blaine's eyebrows shot up.
"Sacred energy?"
"Yes."
Entei's expression turned serious.
It was a Legendary Pokémon itself, and one of Ho-Oh's guardians. For Entei to describe an energy as sacred, it had to belong to a being on an even higher level.
Something comparable to Ho-Oh itself.
A truly top-tier Legendary Pokémon.
"No wonder that kid's so strong," Blaine murmured. "So he's caught the attention of a Legendary on that level."
His surprise remained, but much of his irritation with Caster faded.
Entei raised its head as the white smoke along its back drifted gently through the cavern.
It was considering following Caster for a while.
It wanted to know exactly what kind of being had taken an interest in him.