"Lapras, are you alright?"
Miyuki looked anxiously toward her Pokémon.
Lapras stared at the massive scorched crater on the battlefield, still shaken.
If that bolt of lightning had struck her instead...
The consequences would have been disastrous.
But every advantage came with a price.
Castform was borrowing the power of the weather to unleash attacks far beyond its own strength.
Naturally...
It couldn't precisely control where every lightning bolt landed.
Even so...
As Miyuki looked up at the thunderclouds crackling with electricity, an uneasy feeling only grew stronger.
Lapras might dodge once.
But could it dodge ten times?
Twenty?
As if fate had heard her thoughts...
Three bolts of lightning descended at once.
One of them landed dangerously close to Lapras.
Using Protect, Lapras barely survived another barrage.
But immediately afterward—
Five more bolts crashed down.
This time...
There was nowhere left to dodge.
Lapras hastily erected a wall of ice, hoping to block the attack.
Unfortunately...
How could Castform's carefully accumulated lightning be stopped so easily?
The terrifying bolts shattered straight through the ice wall and slammed into Lapras.
Lapras was instantly heavily injured.
Its once-beautiful blue hide was scorched black by the electricity.
"Lapras..."
It barely managed to open its eyes.
Then—
Even more lightning came crashing down.
...
"Lapras is unable to battle!"
"Please send out your next Pokémon!"
Silently recalling Lapras, Miyuki wore a grim expression.
"Gym Leader Red's Castform really is extraordinary."
"This is the first time I've ever seen someone fight almost entirely by controlling the weather..."
Before she could finish—
Red interrupted impatiently.
"Enough talking."
"Hurry up and send out your next Pokémon."
Miyuki was momentarily speechless.
Technically...
He wasn't wrong.
Taking a deep breath, she suppressed her irritation and reached for another Poké Ball.
The spectators nearby couldn't help whispering.
"Gym Leader Red really is a sigma male."
"He doesn't hesitate to scold even a beautiful girl like Miyuki."
"So the rumors were wrong."
"Doesn't seem like he's a womanizer after all."
Hearing Red bluntly cut Miyuki off...
Both Sabrina and Joy Xue wore faint smiles.
Only Ash, watching from close by, quietly muttered,
"What sigma male..."
"Castform just can't maintain Thunderstorm forever."
"Master simply doesn't want to waste time."
As for whether Red was a womanizer...
Sabrina was probably the most qualified person present to answer that question.
...
The terrifying thunderstorm once again bombarded the battlefield relentlessly.
Miyuki's second Pokémon was Lanturn.
A very rare Water/Electric-type Pokémon.
It even possessed the prized Lightning Rod Ability.
Her reasoning was simple.
Lanturn should be able to survive inside the thunderstorm longer than Lapras.
As long as it could exhaust Castform's stamina...
Victory would still be possible.
But when Red saw Lanturn appear...
He smiled.
"Gym Leader Miyuki..."
"The energy inside this thunderstorm isn't so easy to absorb."
Another rain of lightning descended.
Thanks to Lightning Rod...
Every bolt that had originally been heading toward the battlefield abruptly changed direction and was drawn into Lanturn instead.
Against ordinary Electric-type Pokémon...
Lightning Rod was undoubtedly an outstanding Ability.
But this time...
Lanturn wasn't fighting an Electric-type Pokémon.
It was fighting nature itself.
After only one round...
Lanturn immediately sensed something was wrong.
This electricity...
It's...
It felt as though it were about to explode from absorbing too much power.
Miyuki quickly realized something was amiss.
"Lanturn!"
"Use Thunderbolt!"
"Release the electricity!"
Lanturn obeyed immediately.
But an even worse problem emerged.
After firing Thunderbolt...
The electricity had nowhere to go.
Instead...
It was immediately absorbed back into the thunderstorm overhead.
Miyuki stared blankly.
"You can... do that?!"
It was obvious that she'd never actually fought against Thunderstorm Weather before.
She simply lacked practical experience.
In fact...
Not just Miyuki.
Among everyone present—
Gym Leaders, spectators, everyone—
Only Lt. Surge had even a little experience dealing with thunderstorms.
Watching today's battle...
Nearly every Gym Leader silently made the same decision.
We need to improve our weather control.
Even if they couldn't master Thunderstorm...
At the very least, they never wanted to be as helpless against weather as Miyuki was right now.
Miyuki silently swallowed her frustration.
After enduring Castform's third thunderstorm barrage...
Lanturn looked back at her with despair in its eyes.
It knew.
If it absorbed another wave...
It would explode before it could discharge the energy.
And every absorption came at a cost.
Those violent surges of electricity had already left its body covered in injuries.
Seeing this...
Miyuki slowly raised her hand.
"Lanturn..."
"We surrender."
She recalled it with her Poké Ball.
Taking a deep breath, she said,
"Lapras and Lanturn have already done everything they could."
"Now it's up to you."
"Dewgong!"
Her final ace entered the battlefield.
Dewgong.
Her only true Gym Leader-level Pokémon.
Level 52.
Although the situation looked hopeless...
Miyuki still thought,
Maintaining a thunderstorm of this scale must consume enormous stamina.
And Castform has never been known for exceptional endurance.
Sooner or later...
It'll collapse on its own.
Just as that thought crossed her mind—
The thunderstorm struck again.
First barrage.
Dewgong used Protect.
It blocked the attack without much difficulty.
Miyuki finally breathed a small sigh of relief.
Then...
The second barrage immediately followed.
"Dewgong!"
"Ice Beam!"
The freezing beam collided head-on with two descending lightning bolts.
The resulting explosion shook the battlefield.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Miyuki said,
"Gym Leader Red's Castform is incredibly strong."
"But surely it's reached its limit by now..."
Before she even finished speaking—
The third barrage arrived right on schedule.
"Dewgong!"
"Protect again!"
Flying debris blasted up by the lightning grazed Dewgong's body, leaving fresh wounds.
"There's no way..."
Before Miyuki could continue—
The fourth barrage descended.
This time...
She stopped talking altogether.
All of her attention focused solely on directing Dewgong against the seemingly endless natural disaster.
Fifth barrage.
Sixth barrage.
...
By now...
Miyuki had gone numb.
She was on the verge of losing her mind.
"Impossible..."
"This is impossible!"
"How can an Elite-level Castform have this much stamina?!"
No matter how desperately she questioned reality...
The thunderstorm continued.
Like a funeral bell that never stopped ringing.
Relentlessly wearing away both Miyuki's resolve...
And Dewgong's strength.
Ninth barrage.
Tenth barrage.
...
Miyuki stood there in silence.
Looking at her battered Dewgong...
Then at the thunderstorm that was already gathering for yet another strike...
She slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were empty.
Lost.
"I..."
"I surrender."
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