As Reggie lowered his head in thought, he suddenly realized that the supposedly sealed dojo was now shrouded in dark clouds!
The originally bright dome overhead had been completely swallowed by roiling thunderclouds, bolts of terrifying lightning flashing within from time to time.
Zapdos's silhouette had already merged into the clouds above; only the occasional streak of golden light could be glimpsed darting through the darkness.
"Jiji!" (Hey, spacing out in the middle of a battle is a really bad habit, you know~)
The moment Zapdos finished speaking, a torrential downpour suddenly crashed down. Every droplet of rain carried a faint electric charge.
And when that conductive water gathered into little rivulets across Drapion's shell…
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning raced down along the path of the water and slammed into Drapion's back, charring its carapace black once again and sending up acrid white smoke!
"???"
Reggie was left completely dazed by this combo.
Grey clearly hadn't commanded Zapdos to use Rain Dance…
But the rain had fallen anyway…
Wait, no, that wasn't right!
Thinking of those electrified raindrops, and vaguely guessing what the next finishing blow might be, Reggie's tone turned urgent. "Drapion, use Night Slash on the sky, now!"
"Dronk—!!!"
Feeling the violent energy swirling in the thunderclouds overhead, Drapion's pupils shrank, and fine beads of sweat seeped out between the gaps in its armor.
Instinctively, it tensed every muscle in its body, staring up at that mass of storm clouds brewing lightning as if facing a mortal enemy.
This next attack was going to be terrifyingly powerful!
"Thunder!"
Grey's command sliced through the curtain of rain.
"Jiji!" (Then behold the might of the storm! I am the god of thunder! The legendary that rules nature's thunder!)
Zapdos's shriek exploded from deep within the clouds, and blinding lightning ripped the sky apart in an instant.
Empowered by the rain, that thunderbolt was as thick as a barrel, like a gleaming lance screaming straight down with an ear-splitting crack!
"Dronk!"
Drapion sprang up, its arms wrapped in inky-black Dark-type energy as it swung straight into the descending bolt, seizing a narrow opening!
Its razor claws tore through the sheet of rain, carving two black trails of energy into the air!
Thunder and talons collided head-on in midair!
Drapion's two arms were like twin jet-black blades, forcibly splitting the raging thunder right down the middle.
The blinding lightning broke in two, twisting into crazed serpents of electricity that slammed into the ground on either side, blasting out two blackened craters.
Even so, the remnant current still crawled along Drapion's shell.
It let out a muffled grunt as its heavy body crashed back to the floor, breathing a little harder now, faint sparks still crackling around its pincers.
Clearly, that strike hadn't been shrugged off scot-free…
It had taken damage.
But nothing crippling.
"Not bad—your Drapion is very well trained, Mr. Reggie. But if you're thinking of forcing Zapdos off the field, that's still going to be quite difficult~"
Grey clapped his hands.
This was his first time seeing an opponent, even at a slight disadvantage, still manage to use brute strength to split a Thunder attack in half with its arms.
He had to admit, Reggie really did have some skill.
At the very least, his commanding wasn't an issue.
If it had been some other Trainer, they probably would've panicked when they heard "Thunder in the rain" and just yelled, "Quick, dodge it!"
But from that last exchange alone, you could already see Drapion's level of performance.
If it had been another Pokémon in its place, it might've gone down already.
"I'll gladly take that compliment! But this battle isn't over yet! Drapion—today's the day we slay a god!"
Reggie's fighting spirit flared up all at once.
This time, though, he thought things through carefully.
Grey didn't issue any immediate commands. Instead, he calmly waited for Reggie.
He wanted to see whether Reggie was just bluffing or if he actually had something up his sleeve.
[So what was up with that Rain Dance just now?]
[Yeah, it went from sunny to a total downpour in an instant—is that the terrifying part of Zapdos?]
[Too scary. My Poliwrath says that move is terrifying—hard to dodge even with Swift Swim.]
[You'd send Poliwrath to fight Zapdos? That's… bold.]
The viewers were all discussing Zapdos's move set.
The sudden change in weather in particular had shocked them.
When had Zapdos even used Rain Dance?
The speed at which the rain had started just now was faster than some Drizzle-ability Pokémon, wasn't it?
"It must've used Rain Dance in that instant when Thunderbolt and Cross Poison collided and exploded earlier, using the smoke to block our line of sight…"
That was the only possibility Reggie could come up with.
Thinking that, he formed a preliminary assessment of Grey's strength…
Very strong.
Against a Pokémon like that, Reggie honestly didn't see any effective countermeasures he could pull off in a short time.
Zapdos could fly, it outranged him, and right now, the field was under rain.
Drapion's anti-air options weren't particularly effective.
If this continued, the one to fall would definitely be him!
"…Forget it. Come back for now—we'll save that god-slaying for later!"
With that thought, Reggie decided to recall Drapion and sent out his next partner instead. "Gastrodon, your turn!"
A Pokémon whose body was mostly blue, with a soft green muddy shell coating its back and head, lumbered onto the field.
It looked a bit dopey and harmless at first glance.
"Gastrodon, huh? In terms of typing, that is a pretty solid choice."
Seeing Reggie's second Pokémon, Grey nodded slightly.
[Pokémon: Gastrodon (East Sea)]
[Type: Water / Ground]
[Level: 55]
[Ability: Sand Force]
Gastrodon's Ground typing completely shut down Zapdos's Electric-type attacks, and with the rain still pouring down, its Water-type moves were now even more powerful.
All in all, it was a fairly effective countermeasure.
[Eh, what Pokémon is that? Why won't the Pokédex Professor Oak gave me scan it?]
[Idiot Ash, that's Gastrodon, a Water/Ground-type Pokémon. As long as their power levels are similar, Zapdos's Electric moves won't work on it.]
[Huh? Then doesn't that mean Dojo Master Grey is going to lose?]
[Not necessarily. It's Zapdos—we can assume it knows at least a few Flying-type moves. Question is, how many.]
[Gastrodon: I'm fighting Zapdos? Hah, this could be fun.]
[What's there to be afraid of? You're Ground-type, the advantage is yours!]
[I'm putting my money down now: I'm betting Dojo Master Grey sweeps all three with Zapdos. If I win, I'll send three Ultra Balls; if I lose, I'll just send one Poké Ball.]
[You trust Dojo Master Grey that much? Fine, I'm in too!]
[Careful, what if he just throws out a Golem on the rebound? That'd be hilarious.]
"Same as before—the challenger moves first."
Grey signaled for Reggie to take the opening move.
It was as if he was saying that no matter what move the opponent used, he'd be able to respond with ease.
"Gastrodon, use Muddy Water!"
Reggie didn't hold back either. Taking advantage of the still-active rain, he had Gastrodon unleash a powerful STAB move while the weather was in its favor.
"Nyo-nyo~"
Gastrodon's body wobbled as murky yellow-brown water surged up all around it, the torrent lifting it high off the ground as it tried to rise to Zapdos's height and meet it head-on!
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