That year was the 2024 Pokémon World Championships.
Inside the largest stadium in Wyndon,
at the iconic Wyndon Stadium—
The semifinals reached their climax.
On one side stood Cynthia,
Champion of the Sinnoh League.
On the other was the reigning Galar Champion—
Leon.
Two Champion-level Trainers fought with everything they had,
pushing the battle to a deadlock.
5–5.
The outcome would be decided by their final Pokémon.
A true ace-versus-ace showdown.
Cynthia's Garchomp
vs
Leon's undefeated Charizard
With a base Speed stat of 102,
Garchomp always held a tiny—but critical—advantage
over Pokémon sitting at the 100 Speed tier.
That microscopic difference often meant everything.
Move first.
Or get hit first.
Charizard happened to sit at exactly 100 Speed.
Two points.
That gap was the difference between heaven and earth.
Both ace Pokémon were near-identical in level and raw power—
Champion partners through and through.
Borrowing those "stolen" two points of Speed,
Garchomp pressed Charizard relentlessly,
maintaining tempo in the duel.
(Inside the competitive community, fans joked that Garchomp's extra Speed was "stolen" from Hydreigon, whose base Speed sat tragically at 98.)
Then—
Leon activated Gigantamax.
The battlefield shifted instantly.
Whether it was G-Max Wildfire,
or the Speed-boosting Max Airstream,
Gigantamax Charizard gained overwhelming momentum.
On top of that, Gigantamax doubled its HP pool.
A Charizard with doubled health
could even tank a direct Stone Edge from Garchomp.
Forced into a corner—
Cynthia reached into her black coat,
pressed the Mega Stone embedded at the end of her lipstick—
And activated Mega Evolution.
Mega Garchomp
vs
Gigantamax Charizard
Was it ideal?
Not really.
Mega Garchomp's power boost was notorious for being… underwhelming.
Among all Mega Evolutions,
it was infamous for being the only one that lost Speed.
But once Leon had accessed a battle mechanic like Gigantamax,
refusing to Mega Evolve would only widen the gap.
Otherwise, Cynthia would be down an entire combat system
compared to another Champion.
G-Max Wildfire dealt unavoidable residual damage.
Max Airstream flipped the Speed advantage completely.
Cynthia attempted to reverse the momentum with Scale Shot,
hoping to regain Speed—
But the attacks missed.
One by one.
In the end, Mega Garchomp fell within the blazing inferno
created by G-Max Wildfire.
Mega Evolution faded.
Garchomp collapsed.
Final score: 5–6.
Cynthia was eliminated in the semifinals.
Leon remained undefeated,
his perfect professional record continuing unbroken.
Half a year had passed since that heartbreaking loss.
Even now, whenever Cynthia recalled the match,
a quiet sense of regret lingered in her chest.
If Mega Garchomp didn't lose ten points of Speed…
Or if Garchomp had possessed
a reliable way to boost both Speed and Attack—
If it could learn the Dragon-type's signature move—
Dragon Dance—
Then perhaps that match's ending
might have been rewritten.
Dragon Dance wasn't just a dual-stat buff.
A Pokémon that truly mastered it
could rotate and move through the dance itself—
Mitigating incoming energy-based attacks.
Reducing damage from devastating moves like
G-Max Wildfire,
or the far more lethal Ice Beam.
After that loss, Cynthia tried everything.
Again and again.
She exhausted every possible method—
Technical Machines.
Move copying.
Level grinding.
She even had Garchomp train alongside Pokémon
that already knew Dragon Dance,
hoping it could learn through imitation.
Every attempt ended the same way.
Failure.
Steelix could learn it.
Whiscash could learn it.
Aerodactyl could learn it.
Feraligatr could learn it.
Charizard could learn it.
Gyarados could learn it.
Countless pseudo-dragons, false dragons,
and Pokémon that weren't even Dragon-type—
All of them could dance.
Yet Garchomp, a true dragon—
Could not.
It made no sense.
Eventually, Cynthia gave up.
Even when she logged into PokéTV using an alternate account
and searched for:
"Dragon Dance Garchomp"
All she found were troll streamers
using Dragon Cheer as bait
to deceive casual viewers.
Her last shred of hope faded.
Absentmindedly, she changed the search terms.
"Dragon Dance Gabite."
"Dragon Dance Mega Garchomp."
"Dragon Dance Gible."
The results grew even fewer.
Naturally.
If even her own Garchomp couldn't learn Dragon Dance,
how could a pre-evolution?
How could a baby Pokémon?
And yet—
Against all reason—
A newbie streamer was live on PokéTV,
boldly using the title:
"My Gible Knows Dragon Dance."
Cynthia crossed her arms.
Ridiculous.
Her Garchomp couldn't learn Dragon Dance—
and this land-shark baby could?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/KidDude296