"Paralysis?!"
Caster's eyes widened in shock. "When did that happen?"
"It was Gloom's Stench!"
Across from Caster, Erika brushed her hair and explained with a smile.
"That cloud of stench wasn't just foul; it also contained Stun Spore.
Gloom's Stench might not work on Magikarp, but Stun Spore takes effect just from skin contact."
Looking at Magikarp's pained expression, Erika remarked admiringly.
"That your Magikarp held out this long before succumbing to paralysis was already well beyond my expectations.
It's clear your Magikarp has an incredibly strong constitution."
Though Erika was understanding, her Gloom was decisive in battle.
Seeing Magikarp fall into paralysis and temporarily unable to move, it immediately manipulated Grass-type energy to execute a move.
"Gloo~"
Several green vines suddenly burst from the ground, wrapping tightly around Magikarp.
Immediately after, emerald light glowed along the vines.
Strands of life force were sucked away from Magikarp, then transmitted through the vines to Gloom's body.
Specks of light flickered, and Gloom's aura began steadily climbing.
The injuries on its surface gradually faded and even disappeared, as if it had received a relaxing spa treatment.
In contrast, Magikarp's aura continuously weakened; it was already starting to gasp heavily.
"Damn it! Its stamina's being drained?"
Cold sweat ran down Caster's forehead as he shouted, "Magikarp, break free!"
"Karp~"
Hearing Caster's shout, Magikarp immediately endured the pain and struggled frantically.
But unfortunately, the paralyzed Magikarp was in poor condition, compounded by its stamina rapidly draining.
Meanwhile, Gloom's vines were extremely tough; Magikarp couldn't break free at all. Instead, the more it struggled, the tighter they became.
"It's Mega Drain! It can generate vines to bind opponents and absorb their stamina, then convert it into its own HP to heal.
So after all this fighting, all of Magikarp's efforts were for nothing?"
"It can control opponents, deal damage, AND heal itself? How can there be such a broken move?"
"It can't break free! Looks like this is as far as the streamer can go! But reaching this point, even in defeat Magikarp's performance was glorious.
Truly worthy of being the 'Karp King' I acknowledged!"
"Miss Erika may look adorable, but her tactics are truly dirty! Hiding Stun Spore inside Stench; is that something a decent person would do?"
...
In the livestream, numerous netizens sighed helplessly, feeling it was a bit of a shame.
Just a little more, and Magikarp could have achieved another gym battle sweep.
If that had actually happened, this battle would definitely go down in history.
At the same time, Mega Drain was still in effect, continuously harvesting Magikarp's stamina.
Watching Magikarp like a lamb waiting for slaughter, though Caster was reluctant, he still raised his hand: "I conc—"
"Karp~"
But just then, Magikarp, which had been struggling frantically, suddenly stopped moving.
At the same time, a blinding white light suddenly appeared around its body.
"This is..."
Caster's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
Within the blinding white light, Magikarp's form began to change.
First, its body began to stretch and elongate, gradually transforming from thick and stout to slender, taking on a segmented appearance.
Next, its height kept increasing, in the blink of an eye leaping from just over a meter to nearly ten meters tall.
Finally, its mouth also began to enlarge, with four teeth clearly visible, looking like it could swallow a person whole.
When the white light faded, the red big fish had transformed into a massive Pokémon with a primarily blue body and fierce appearance, emanating waves of intimidating presence.
"Gyarados!"
Looking at the ferocious beast before him, Caster felt like he was dreaming.
His Magikarp had evolved into Gyarados at the critical moment!
And with Magikarp's evolution, Caster's livestream exploded; comments filled the screen.
"Holy crap! Little fish evolved into the big ferocious beast!"
"The hour has come, the Dragon King takes his throne!"
"The streamer's Magikarp has such intense intimidation! That physique is even more exaggerated than before evolution;
it's almost double the size of a normal Gyarados, so long and thick and strong. It's incredible!"
"Yeah! Just looking at its appearance, it seems even more imposing than Lance's Gyarados."
...
While netizens in the livestream discussed fervently, many big spenders immediately sent gifts: Luxury Balls, Master Balls, and various Dragon-type Pokémon Draco Meteors.
For a moment, the livestream screen flashed wildly, with gift effects appearing one after another, dazzling to the eyes.
At the same time, Gyarados evolving mid-battle created a new explosion point. Countless netizens flooded in, and the viewership continued to swell.
"ROAAR~"
Accompanied by a roar, Gyarados announced its presence boldly and freely.
As for Gloom's Mega Drain vines, they'd long since snapped as Magikarp evolved and its body grew larger.
Not only that, but due to evolution, Gyarados's stamina had effectively recovered, and the paralysis status had disappeared.
Caster stared blankly at Gyarados, and its stat panel immediately appeared.
[Pokémon: Gyarados]
[Type: Water + Flying]
[Ability: Moxie (When it knocks out a target, it becomes confident and raises its Attack)]
[Moves: Splash (Mastered), Tackle (Mastered), Flail (Expert), Bounce (Proficient), Taunt (Learned), Roar (Learned), Bulldoze (Learned), Waterfall (Learned)]
"It actually learned four moves at once!"
Delight appeared on Caster's face.
When Pokémon evolve, they usually master new moves, but mastering four moves at once has a very low probability.
Waterfall was Gyarados's Water-type STAB [same-type attack bonus] move, essential for battle output.
Bulldoze was a Ground-type move that could not only deal with Pokémon using Dig but also had the effect of lowering opponents' speed.
Taunt could break opponents' status moves, while Roar could force opponents to switch Pokémon; both had numerous clever uses in battle.
Honestly speaking, all four of these moves were extremely practical.
Looking at the massive Gyarados, Erika felt tremendous pressure. She quickly shouted, "Gloom, use Stun Spore!"
Clearly, Erika understood that Gyarados couldn't be defeated through brute force; she could only rely on strategy, and using status moves for control first was the right approach.
"I won't let you succeed!"
Caster laughed heartily, full of confidence. "Gyarados, Taunt!"
Taunt, a Dark-type move, provokes the opponent through taunting, making them angry so they can only use attacking moves that deal damage.
"ROAAR~"
After one roar, Dark-type energy surged from Gyarados's body, enveloping Gloom and quickly affecting its mental state.
Though Erika clearly commanded the Stun Spore move, ultimately Gloom became extremely angry, and the move it executed changed to Magical Leaf.
BOOM!
Numerous leaves appeared, as if enchanted by magic, transforming into a leaf storm that blasted toward Gyarados.
"Bounce!"
Caster snapped his fingers, victory assured.
Whoosh!
Slapping its tail heavily against the ground, Gyarados immediately launched into the air, fast as lightning.
It not only dodged the Magical Leaf attack but also counterattacked in one motion, shooting down like a blue arrow.
"Gyarados's Bounce speed got faster!"
Caster raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself: "It must be because Gyarados now has the Flying-type attribute. Bounce became a STAB move, more compatible with Gyarados.
So when executing it, the speed is faster, the control is more stable, and the power is greater!"
Whoosh!
After the sharp shriek, Gloom didn't even have time to react before its eyes rolled back and it lost its ability to battle.
But what many people didn't notice was that after executing Bounce, Gyarados didn't immediately land.
Instead, it hovered in the air for a moment before slowly descending to the ground.