Chapter 83: The Final Battle
Another autumn.
Will didn't know how much longer it was until winter's arrival. He only knew that it had been two and a half years since he had come to this world. He still hadn't learned to sing, dance, or rap. After all, he had spent a year and a half of that time fighting nonstop in this mountain range.
"It's been a long time since I've been back to the Dragonite Kingdom... but I should be heading back in the next couple of days," Will thought, turning his head to look outside the cave.
The forest seemed untouched by the ravages of time; it looked exactly the same as it had last autumn. He glanced at his personal status screen and couldn't help but grin.
Level: 54
Height: 12m
Weight: 80kg
Moves: ...Rain Dance, Scale Shot
The growth in his height and weight was nothing to him. The increase in his level was what made him happiest. Last winter, when he had just left Dragonite Valley, he was only Lv. 48. Now, he had gained six levels in three seasons, a speed that met his expectations.
Moreover, he had been at Lv. 54 for some time now. The gradually rising temperature and abundant energy within his body were a constant reminder... he was about to evolve.
As for the two new moves, Rain Dance and Scale Shot, the former was a weather move he had learned naturally as he leveled up, which he had not yet used. Most Pokémon would not casually use weather-altering moves outside of battle; their very genes warned them that doing so would impact nature. The latter was a low-damage, multi-hit Dragon-type move that increased speed at the cost of lowering defense. It wasn't strong, but it wasn't weak either. In any case, he didn't particularly like using it.
"Alright, it's about time to go deal with that one," Will said, heading out of the cave.
There were many powerful Alphas in the middle ring, the kind that could hold their own even in the central region. But most of them understood the principle of "better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix." Even though the central region had more abundant resources and fewer creatures, if you couldn't secure food and territory, it was all meaningless. So, for the high-level Pokémon who were already satisfied with their resources and had no higher ambitions, staying in the middle ring was the best choice.
Most of these Alphas had already been defeated by Will. There was only one left, one that lived year-round in a lake. Because he hadn't fought underwater in a long time, Will had saved this one for last.
There was a clear boundary between the central and middle rings. At a certain altitude, the terrain of Mt. Silver changed abruptly. The result was a sheer cliff face, nearly five meters high. This cliff became the dividing line. Climb up, and you were in the central region. Jump down, and you were in the middle ring.
Directly below this cliff face was a huge lake. It was the water source for the Pokémon in that area, and also the territory of a certain Pokémon.
Will was now approaching that lake. He stopped in the canopy of a tree and looked around. If it wasn't near the lake, it had to be in the lake.
Will quietly slipped into the water. The next moment, he was so scared his heart nearly leaped out of his chest. The moment he entered the water, a meter-long face was right in front of him, its two creepy, sinister eyes staring straight at him.
This was the Alpha of the lake. A Feraligatr.
Feraligatr is the final stage of the Johto region's Water-type starter. Its stats are relatively balanced, making it a fairly tanky physical fighter. However, compared to the other Water-type starters, Feraligatr ranks at the bottom in terms of strength, design, and popularity.
It's not that Feraligatr is a bad Pokémon, but its contemporaries are just too strong. First place is the undisputed king, Swampert, a T0-tier powerhouse even among all Water-types. Then you have Empoleon, Blastoise, Greninja, and Primarina, each of which is exceptional in at least one or two categories. Even the later-generation Inteleon is stronger than Feraligatr. Only Samurott and the recently debuted Quaquaval are currently ranked below it.
Another thing that affected Feraligatr's popularity was that although Ash's Totodile was lively and cute, it was completely overshadowed by the true god of its generation: Chikorita. Chikorita's love and possessiveness towards Ash was so endearing that its popularity at the time even surpassed Pikachu's, scaring the officials into quickly evolving it to make it less cute and lower its popularity, lest it obstruct Pikachu's own path to godhood.
What is this guy doing...
Will was startled by the Feraligatr, then warily met its gaze. This Feraligatr was a full 5 meters tall, which was quite exaggerated. To become an Alpha, you not only needed to occupy a large enough territory, but also be the leader of a clan. But this Feraligatr had no clan; it had always fought alone. Without the Alpha bonus, to still reach a height of 5 meters was a testament to its strength.
But against Will, it still wasn't enough. Its Water-type moves would be halved against the Dragon-type Will, while Will had three super-effective Electric-type moves: Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, and Thunder.
"Gatr..."
The Feraligatr, seeing Will, lifted its eyelids and shuddered. It had been in a daze, and when it came to, it was startled to find a giant serpent in its territory. Realizing this, it felt it had lost face and became angry. It spat into the water and then charged at Will.
Although a Feraligatr's body is huge and doesn't look very agile, when it pounces on its prey, its speed is blindingly fast. In the water, it's even faster.
This is the last battle, I suppose, Will thought, unhurriedly using Thunder Wave as the Feraligatr swam towards him. In the water, the move's accuracy was almost 100%. However, the diffused effect wasn't as strong as a direct hit, so for the Feraligatr, it was just a slight numbness. But Will wasn't trying to paralyze it. He was just taunting it, making sure it would follow him.
The next moment, Will turned and swam towards the shore. The Feraligatr's level was a high 55, higher than his own. He certainly wasn't going to give it the home-field advantage. Although a Dragonair is also good at fighting in the water, the water is ultimately a Water-type's domain.
"RUA!!"
The Feraligatr was a simple-minded brute. It didn't consider things like home-field advantage. It leaped directly out of the water and lunged at Will, its mouth gaping. A mouth over a meter high could bite Will's body in two with just a couple of chomps.
Crunch. As expected, an ordinary Pokémon wouldn't know about type matchups, Will thought, observing the light on the Feraligatr's teeth. A dim, brownish energy indicated the move was either Bite or Crunch. Crunch was stronger and had a chance to lower the target's defense. But a Feraligatr could learn Ice Fang at Lv. 21, its only move that was super-effective against him. While Crunch was stronger in a vacuum, Ice Fang would deal significantly more damage to Will. But the Feraligatr clearly didn't know this.
This was a huge advantage for Will. Not a type advantage, but an intellectual one. Against such a dim-witted opponent, the battle should be easy, even with the level difference.
Will didn't even need to use Agility. He just lifted his body to create distance and easily dodged. Then, from the air, he unleashed his skills on the Feraligatr below.
[Twister]
[Fire Spin]
A purple tornado and a vortex of fire shot towards the Feraligatr one after another. It was a complete brute. It didn't dodge, but instead used [Whirlpool], spitting a vortex of water from its mouth to block both of Will's attacks.
But this played right into his hands. He had intended to trap the Feraligatr to give himself time and space to set up. Now, the Feraligatr had controlled itself.
[Dragon Dance] x3
[Focus Energy]
Will had originally planned to use Dragon Dance and Focus Energy just once, assuming the Feraligatr would have attacked again by then. But who would have thought it would get into a stubborn contest with his Twister and Fire Spin, refusing to stop using Whirlpool until they were gone? So, Will took the opportunity to use Dragon Dance two more times. The main purpose was to increase his speed, allowing him to attack so fast that the Feraligatr wouldn't be able to react. The attack bonus was less useful, as both Thunder and Thunderbolt were special attacks.
[Agility]
Buffs stacked, time to strike.
The Feraligatr, looking at the clear sky above, nodded with satisfaction. But after a second, it scratched its head. Something's missing from my field of vision... what was it?
Feraligatr: ...
The next moment, it felt itself being constricted by a long, blue rope, the immense force nearly making it vomit up its lunch. Then, the blue rope released a powerful electric current. A moment later, the Feraligatr smelled something burning.
Just in case, and not to waste the Dragon Dance bonus, Will then used Slam to smash the Feraligatr heavily onto the ground, then followed up with another Thunderbolt for good measure.
Under this unexplained combo, the Feraligatr finally lost consciousness.
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