Following Ash's rousing words, the red Gyarados let out an excited roar, then slapped its tail against the water and charged forward!
"Aqua Tail!"
Ash's command came late, but it was enough for the red Gyarados to react. Its tail became wrapped in a swirling layer of water, the small appendage unleashing a shockwave that felt like crashing waves.
It seemed Clair hadn't yet adapted to Ash's aggressive fighting style and was momentarily dazed. It wasn't until the red Gyarados was nearly upon her own that she hurriedly shouted, "Counter with Dragon Breath!"
The Dragon-type move Dragon Breath wasn't an ideal skill for a physically-oriented Pokémon like Gyarados. Even with its chance to paralyze, it was hardly the best choice in this situation. Clair was already flustered!
"Roar!!" Gyarados roared, a stream of emerald-green breath spraying from its massive maw.
Seeing this, the red Gyarados swung its tail—the one wrapped in churning water—colliding with the emerald breath mid-air, causing an explosion!
Boom!
Smoke filled the area.
Just as Clair felt lucky to have blocked the attack, a spinning blue light burst from the smoke and struck her Gyarados squarely on the head!
Boom!
The Gyarados in the water was sent reeling, barely stopping itself at the pool's edge. The headshot left it dizzy, its eyes crossed.
Clair hadn't expected this. She thought she'd blocked the Aqua Tail; the water around the opponent's tail had only lightened. It wasn't just unblocked—it had been completely ineffective!
Another gap… Attack power, speed… another overwhelming difference…
Clair was beginning to feel anxious and irritable. She'd already seen it in the battle against Snorlax: Ash's command level was higher than hers. Snorlax's crushing victory illustrated that not only was Ash's command superior, but his Pokémon's levels were higher too!
Now Ash recalled Snorlax and sent out the red Gyarados. This Pokémon adopted a completely different style from Snorlax—a speed-based assault form! Yet this only made the hidden disadvantage from before even more glaring. Speed vs. speed likely came down to raw power… She really couldn't find a way to turn this around!
"Gyarados, Crunch!"
Ash didn't know what Clair was thinking. He only knew… she seemed distracted. Getting distracted in a Pokémon battle was a cardinal sin! He showed no pity, commanding Gyarados to attack again!
"W-Water… Hydro Pump!" Clair, reacting in a daze, hastily commanded. However, the thick water column fired by her Gyarados in a panic was directly caught in the massive, dark energy-formed fangs the red Gyarados conjured in the air! Not only that, the abyssal maw of energy didn't stop, biting down on Gyarados one after another! The jet-black, sharp teeth made Gyarados howl in pain, leaving bloody gashes on its body.
"It's over, Miss Clair! Gyarados, Hyper Beam!"
Ash issued the finisher. Gyarados's body became shrouded in unparalleled energy, a bright white-gold light distorting the surrounding air. Clair wanted her Gyarados to dodge, but it was still reeling from the Crunch. Meanwhile, the red Gyarados shot forward like an arrow from a bow.
In full view of everyone, Gyarados was struck by the red Gyarados's Hyper Beam. Violent energy exploded, water from the pool splashing out and hitting both Ash and Clair. The cold water snapped Clair back to her senses from her daze.
"Gyarados!!"
Her frantic shout couldn't revive Gyarados. As the smoke cleared, Gyarados lay in the pool like a dead fish.
Ash had won this battle, too.
"Haaah… Haaaah…" Clair took a deep breath, completely suppressing the chaotic emotions in her heart. She recalled Gyarados and said to Ash with a complicated expression, "You're far stronger than I imagined, Ash… How long have you had this Gyarados? To achieve such coordination…"
"Haha, because I've been staying with Gyarados constantly recently. This big guy was very restless at first. It wasn't easy to restore him to this state."
Ash didn't refute the comment on his strength. Excessive modesty was a form of arrogance. He was very strong—at least much stronger than Clair. And the red Gyarados's level was also higher than her Gyarados's. Overall… victory was natural; losing would have been a major upset.
Hearing this, the red Gyarados swam back to Ash with a smile, rubbing its huge dragon head against him. Its damp body soaked Ash's blue jacket.
"You… my clothes are all wet now!"
"Rooaar~"
"Hehe, I'm not really blaming you, it's a joke. You know it's a joke, right? Don't take it so seriously~"
Clair watched Ash interact so closely with Gyarados and couldn't help but smile. Ash… he really enjoys battling! On the other hand, what had she been doing just now?
She took another deep breath, then slowly exhaled. When she opened her eyes again, Clair's expression was completely different.
Ash noticed the change in Clair, and the corner of his mouth curled into a smile. That's more like it… Now it gets interesting!
"This is my last one, and also my strongest Pokémon. Ash, be careful!"
"Bring it on, Miss Clair!"
With that, Clair threw her last Poké Ball. White light flashed, and a yellow-orange figure appeared on the field—petite wings, a somewhat dopey expression, a rotund body, and two small antennae on its head.
The final evolution of Kanto's pseudo-legendary—Dragonite! Also affectionately called 'fatty'!
Ash was stunned seeing Dragonite. He knew Clair had a Dragonair that had just evolved. Now she sent out a Dragonite… these two were clearly not the same Pokémon. In other words, Clair had two fully-evolved Dragon-types? She was seriously wealthy!
He sighed inwardly and recalled his Gyarados. Coincidentally, the last Pokémon Ash had prepared… had a major type advantage against Dragonite. If it were a normal Dragon-type, fine, but Dragonite… Well, I can only say it picked the wrong time to show up!
Just as Ash was about to send out his final Pokémon, Clair suddenly spoke.
"Strictly speaking, this Dragonite isn't a Pokémon I raised through training. She was my childhood playmate."
"Before I was even ten, this Dragonite was by my side as a Dratini. As I grew up, she grew up bit by bit too. Then, with almost no formal training, she evolved through age alone, first into Dragonair, and then into Dragonite…"
"Because she evolved into Dragonite, her power is around Elite Four–level. But… because she didn't receive much training in her youth, improving her strength after reaching her final form is very difficult."
"Her combat skills and abilities aren't weaker than a normal Elite Four–level Pokémon's, but raising her level further…"
Clair didn't continue, but everyone present understood. Because its childhood potential wasn't fully developed through training, it was extremely difficult for this Dragonite to grow stronger after final evolution. When a pseudo-legendary reaches its final form, its combat power at the same level is almost overwhelming. But there was still that problem: it's really hard for a pseudo-legendary to increase its level. They share traits with Legendaries—high stats, capable of leapfrog battles, difficult to raise, slow to grow—just in a slightly watered-down form. That's why they're called pseudo-legendaries.
And Clair's Dragonite had been with her since childhood. Not everyone was like Ash, who had known about training Pokémon since he was a kid. Ash had that awareness thanks to Red's help. The former naturally couldn't be like the latter. By the time Clair consciously began training it, her Dratini had already evolved into Dragonair and was about to become Dragonite! By then, it was clearly too late for foundational training…
So Clair was indeed an Elite Four–level trainer, but… this Elite Four–level trainer was a bit… watered-down. Strictly speaking, her Dragonair was her real ace. But against Ash, she didn't think she could win with Dragonair, so she sent out Dragonite!
...
[Pryce: So that's the kind of Elite Four–level trainer you are… Little girl, your 'Elite Four' status is a bit too watered-down!] Not just a bit—it was practically pure water! Aside from the childhood Dragonite, she had no true Elite Four–level Pokémon. In reality, Clair was simply a top-tier Gym Leader. She and the Elite Four… couldn't be said to be far apart; one could only say they were almost entirely unrelated.
[Clair: Well… it's not like I went around calling myself an Elite Four–level trainer. Everyone in Blackthorn City knows I have a Dragonite. Add to that the trainers who kept losing to me, word spread, and I became 'Elite Four–level.'] All one could say was… gossip was terrifying!
[Lance: That may be so, but Clair, you got a little carried away by everyone's praise, didn't you? Otherwise, why would the you in the image think you could beat an Elite Four–level Charizard… To be honest, even if you sent out that Charizard without a trainer, you probably couldn't beat Black Ash's Charizard.] Hearing this, Clair felt ashamed. The her in the image… seemed… maybe… a little too arrogant! In the Black World, aside from Ash who changed due to the Rainbow Rocket incident, most people were similar to their White World counterparts. So… her mindset in the Black World was likely similar to her current one.
First, it was Uncle Pryce being embarrassed… now it's my turn…
...
P.S.: Gigaton Impact is also Giga Impact. I checked, and it's not on Gyarados's natural move list. However, in the real world, Gyarados could theoretically learn this move—it can even learn Hyper Beam. The Normal-type collision moves share some similarities… Well, I made it up. Cough. Anyway, if Pikachu can learn the Thunder Kirin, it's no big deal if Gyarados can use Giga Impact, right?
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