A one-hit knockout, even in the finals!
Ash and his friends sat side by side in the stands.
"What's that Pokémon? I've never seen one before!"
The moment he saw Gastrodon, Ash pulled out his Pokédex to scan it. But the device had no information on it.
"That's Gastrodon, Ash. It's from faraway Sinnoh. You hardly ever see one in Kanto, so your Pokédex doesn't have an entry for it."
Professor Oak leaned forward for a look, then asked with a worried expression, "Don't tell me that Gastrodon has Storm Drain?"
Professor Oak had once been a renowned Trainer. Though he'd left battling for research many years ago, his instincts were as sharp as ever.
One look was enough for him to see through Zeke's plan.
Ash didn't know much, but at least he was eager to learn. He immediately asked, "Storm Drain? What's that?"
"It's an Ability that draws Water-type moves toward the Pokémon. Instead of taking damage, it gets a boost to its Special Attack."
After listening to Professor Oak's explanation, Ash began to see the problem. "Then doesn't that mean Caster's Water-type moves are completely shut down?"
"His rain is shut down, too."
Professor Oak could see further ahead than Ash.
In the real world, Storm Drain could block more than moves. It could even shut down the Drizzle Ability.
If it was water, Storm Drain would draw it in.
That was what made the Ability so terrifying!
"Then... can Caster still win?"
Beside Ash, Misty was starting to worry, too.
Caster used a rain team. His Pokémon relied on rainy weather to bring out their strength.
Without rain, he could use at most 70% of his full strength.
If his Water-type moves were blocked as well, he'd be lucky to manage 50%.
"So Zeke brought Gastrodon as a trap for Caster's rain strategy."
Brock rubbed his chin. "He's even tougher to deal with than I thought."
"I know Caster's going to win! A little trap like that won't stop him."
Ash stood up with a grin. "Come on, this is Caster we're talking about!"
He began shouting encouragement. Even his Pikachu joined in, cheering for Caster's Pikachu.
"Huh? He figured out Gastrodon's Ability?"
At his command position, Zeke noticed that Dragonair still hadn't changed the weather, despite having been on the field for some time. Caster had clearly seen through his plan.
He'd assumed that a rookie who had only started out this year wouldn't know much about Pokémon from other regions.
Apparently, he'd underestimated Caster.
Clang! Clang!
The bell rang, officially starting the Indigo League Conference finals.
To everyone's surprise, neither Trainer gave an attack command.
The two Pokémon simply faced each other from a distance, one in the air and one on the ground.
"What's going on? Why aren't they fighting?"
Impatient spectators began shouting, but others quickly shot back, "It's the finals! They both know what they're doing. Of course they're being careful!"
Caster had fished up this Gastrodon before. With a thought, he could bring up its stat panel again.
There, he saw Counter and Mirror Coat, both moves for retaliating after taking a hit. That was why he hadn't immediately ordered Dragonair to strike first with Extreme Speed.
Gastrodon was a defensive Pokémon to begin with. Without a Grass-type move, dealing serious damage to it would be difficult.
Its move list also included Recover and Sandstorm.
Caster worked through the possibilities, his eyes fixed on his opponent. He'd already figured out what Zeke was planning.
"If you don't want to control the weather, Caster, I'll be happy to take it!"
Zeke grinned across the field, then shouted, "Gastrodon, Sandstorm!"
Gastrodon sent Rock-type energy sweeping across the field. The hard-packed ground rapidly crumbled into sand.
The sand rose into the air without a breath of wind, forming a small sandstorm. It stung their cheeks and quickly reduced visibility.
"Got it!"
Zeke's grin widened as the sandstorm grew.
So what if Caster had seen through his plan?
Unless he had a way to counter it, knowing wouldn't help him!
With Storm Drain in play, Caster couldn't make it rain.
Of course, given Dragonair's powerful control over the weather, it should still be able to use Sunny Day.
But unlike in the games, where different kinds of weather couldn't coexist, sunlight and sandstorms could work together in the real world. That was the whole idea behind sun-and-sand teams that combined the two.
Even if Dragonair used Sunny Day, it wouldn't interfere with the sandstorm. It would actually make it stronger.
Zeke was sure Caster wouldn't do anything that foolish.
Just as Zeke was congratulating himself, Dragonair began its attack. It swung its head and tail as it rushed toward Gastrodon at the center of the sandstorm.
Gastrodon was at the critical point of summoning the sandstorm. It couldn't move or stop what it was doing. It was an easy target.
Even Zeke had to admire Caster's timing.
"But you can't knock Gastrodon out in one hit!"
Zeke sneered, full of confidence.
With Gastrodon's high Defense and Special Defense, Dragonair wouldn't be able to do much damage. It couldn't learn Grass-type moves, after all.
In fact, once the sandstorm was up, taking a hit would be a good thing for Gastrodon.
Counter or Mirror Coat would send twice the damage back at Dragonair.
Zeke almost hoped Dragonair would hit a little harder. That way, Gastrodon's retaliation could knock it out in one shot.
A one-hit knockout in the finals?
Just thinking about it got him excited. "This could be a battle that goes down in history!"
"Dragonair, Hidden Power!"
Caster's voice rang out, just as excited.
"Draair!"
Dragonair swung its head and tail as it charged toward Gastrodon at the center of the sandstorm. Its mouth opened slightly, and a bright green orb of light formed before it. Dragonair fired the orb at the immobile Gastrodon.
"That color..."
Zeke's heart seemed to skip a beat as he watched the energy gather.
Boom!
A small explosion sounded. The sandstorm faltered.
Then dark clouds gathered overhead, and rain began pouring down.
The downpour washed away every trace of the sandstorm.
The rain had arrived!
Only then did everyone see Gastrodon lying unconscious in the middle of the field, limp as a puddle of mud.
Silence fell.
Zeke, the spectators, and the viewers in Caster's livestream were all speechless.
"Gastrodon is unable to battle!"
Only when the referee announced the result did everyone snap out of it.
Gastrodon really had gone down in one hit!
"Is the Indigo League Conference some third-rate tournament? How are Pokémon still getting knocked out in one hit in the finals?"
"Seriously! Gastrodon looked like it had everything under control. It even took over the weather! How did it get knocked out that fast?"
"What move did Dragonair just use? Hyper Beam? How was it that powerful?"
"I couldn't get a clear look, but I think I saw something green."
At his command position, Zeke's face had turned a furious purple.
Caster's Dragonair knew a Grass-type Hidden Power. He'd never expected that.
Well, it wasn't as though the possibility had never occurred to him. But there was no telling whether Dragonair even knew Hidden Power. It had never used the move before.
And even if it did, the odds of its Hidden Power being Grass-type were only one in 17.
All things considered, it had seemed like a very small risk.
Now he knew just how wrong he'd been.
Of course Dragonair just happened to have a Grass-type Hidden Power. How infuriating was that?
What Zeke could never have imagined was that Dragonair had gained that Grass-type Hidden Power because Caster had fished up his Gastrodon.
Caster had received the move as a reward and learned all about Gastrodon in advance.
Otherwise, he could never have anticipated Zeke's entire plan so precisely.
If Zeke knew the truth, he'd probably be furious enough to make himself sick.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Even without knowing that, Gastrodon's defeat had left him seething.
He'd chosen Gastrodon as the core of his strategy to suppress Caster's rain team. Storm Drain would block Water-type moves, while its Ground typing would shut down Pikachu's Electric-type moves.
And now his trump card was gone!