Deino couldn't see the fireworks, of course.
However, he could tell from the sound alone that his move had missed, not to mention the warning from his Trainer.
After a quick tactical assessment, Kashiwagi decided not to play the long-range game with Piplup.
This little penguin was way too "cheaty" when it came to distance—in the anime, it had pulled off countless turnarounds thanks to long-range barrages and a healthy dose of "plot armor."
"Dragon Rush!"
"Dei-no~!"
Deino let out a fierce, low growl. Its head was enveloped in a deep azure light as a massive surge of energy quickly spread across its body, transforming into the shape of a predatory dragon's head as it lunged forward.
The wind whistled like a dragon's roar, startling even a battle-hardened veteran like Piplup.
But its counterattack was swift.
"Whirlpool!"
"Pip-lup—lup!"
Piplup raised its flippers, generating a massive, shimmering blue vortex of water before hurling it straight at Deino!
Boom!
The energy-clad Deino plunged into the center of the whirlpool. The powerful torque and surging currents tore at its form, threatening to sweep it away at any moment.
"Break through it! You can do it!"
Kashiwagi shouted at the top of his lungs.
Deino answered with a raspy cry, the dragon-flame coating its body burning brighter as its fighting spirit flared. The closed jaws of the energy dragon suddenly snapped open!
"Roar—!!"
The sound of water clashing with dragon energy produced a boom like rolling thunder.
Finally, Deino relied on its sheer will to burst through the watery cage, riding the snarling dragon head toward Piplup.
But the penguin was ready.
"Ice Beam!"
"Pip-lup!"
Under Dawn's direction, Piplup fired a jagged bolt of ice-blue lightning. Deino charged headlong into the blast, and Dragon energy collided with Ice energy in a spectacular clash!
Pop!
A hazy white mist, carrying countless shimmering pale-blue motes, scattered in all directions. Piplup expected Deino to be repelled, but the dragon-pup burst through the fog, skidding right up to its face, eyes burning with battle-lust.
"Thunder Fang!"
"Peck!"
Kashiwagi and Dawn shouted their orders almost simultaneously!
"Dei-noo!"
"Pip-lup!"
Electricity crackled and popped in Deino's jaws while Piplup's beak lengthened into a sharp cone, its body spinning rapidly like a small top.
Zzzt—Boom!
Lightning flared and thunder rolled! A cloud of smoke from the elemental explosion billowed upward. This time, Piplup hadn't been able to control the power enough to turn the blast into pretty fireworks.
That alone was proof that Deino had pushed it to its limit.
"That's enough!"
Seeing that they were about to go at it again inside the smoke, Kashiwagi called the halt.
The smoke cleared to reveal Deino panting heavily on the ground, tongue lolling out, while Piplup was also out of breath but clearly in much better shape.
The gap in strength was obvious.
"You've still got some growing to do," Kashiwagi walked over and patted Deino's head.
Even though they didn't win, he was genuinely surprised Deino had broken through Whirlpool. That was one of Piplup's signature moves—a staple in both Contests and battles.
He checked his phone; Deino had indeed gained a level.
The biggest difference between the games and the anime was that you didn't need to knock a Pokémon out to gain experience; high-intensity combat and daily training provided similar growth.
Evolution isn't far off.
On the other side, Dawn was praising Piplup, which caused the penguin to puff out its chest and sneak a look at Mawile, hoping for a gaze of admiration from his goddess.
Mawile was looking at him, which made Piplup ecstatic, but... the look was a bit strange. Beneath that keen expression, there was a unmistakable spark of... bloodlust?
Piplup hoped he was just seeing things.
But soon, as Kashiwagi's other Pokémon began sparring with Dawn's team—and specifically when Mawile stepped onto the field—he realized he hadn't been mistaken.
The goddess is too violent!
Piplup watched in shock as Mawile rained down heavy blows on Mamoswine. The mammoth's massive size wasn't an advantage; it just made it an oversized punching bag.
"Pip... lup..."
His eyes bulged as Mawile swung her massive horn-jaw and slammed Mamoswine into the dirt. His tiny heart trembled along with the ground.
He was so stunned that he didn't even hear Dawn telling him to go up against Aggron. Dawn had to send in Pachirisu instead, hoping to use its small size as an advantage.
Unfortunately, Aggron had plenty of experience dealing with tiny opponents—mostly from training with Chansey.
Two Sand Tombs chained together instantly locked down all of Pachirisu's escape routes. After the match, the frustrated squirrel did nothing but lick its tail in annoyance.
Then there was Chansey. She didn't use any offensive moves, but she was pitted against Buneary.
Relying on her incredible Special Defense and the fact that Buneary didn't have Heal Bell, Chansey slowly wore the rabbit down with Toxic.
"I really need to learn more varied moves," Dawn realized. Sometimes a "signature style" wasn't enough to handle every situation.
Next, Galarian Corsola faced Togekiss. Since the latter had relatively low Physical Attack, it couldn't reliably use Strength Sap to recover its health, resulting in a narrow loss.
Finally, for Quilava, Kashiwagi originally thought about using Steelix, but then decided to give Porygon a chance.
Winning or losing didn't matter—this was a practice match, and nobody was aiming for a knockout. Besides, Porygon was already out, while Steelix was still in its ball; it would be awkward if the new teammate was the only one left out.
So, Porygon went up. And... it lost quite smoothly.
Unlike Ash, Dawn had stuck with her core team of six for a long time. Even though she was a full-time Coordinator, her accumulated battle experience and "Ash-like" flashes of brilliance gave her significant combat power.
In Kashiwagi's estimation, Dawn's level was roughly on par with a standard new-generation Gym Leader—like Janine in Kanto, Flannery in Hoenn, Maylene in Sinnoh, or Cilan in Unova.
Especially Piplup. After fighting Deino, it had a brief skirmish with Steelix and actually managed to suppress the giant snake for a moment. Its power was nothing to scoff at.
If Aggron didn't need to practice Heavy Slam and Piplup hadn't been exhausted, Kashiwagi would have loved to see a real clash between the two.
His final assessment: in a full 6-on-6 battle to the finish, he could likely defeat Dawn.
Aggron, Mawile, and Steelix were simply "over-tuned" from multiple life-and-death encounters.
Chansey's Toxic and Minimize combo was also pure psychological warfare.
But he didn't dwell on it. It felt a bit too much like a "mental victory," so he let the thought slide.
Later, during move practice, Mawile gave him a small, yet delightful surprise—perhaps spurred on by the excitement of the battles:
She had finally mastered Sword Dance.