"So, what do you think? Can you handle this?"
Sanji's voice pulled Caster back from his thoughts. The captain's tone was firm but measured: "If you're not sure, don't do anything reckless. We can't risk setting those Gyarados off and having them turn on the ship. Whatever happens out there, the ship's safety comes first. Non-negotiable."
The Seagallop Ferry was a large passenger vessel with several escort trainers on board, but none of them felt confident about taking down the Gyarados group in one clean move.
This was the open ocean. Even if they managed to beat the Gyarados, the creatures could just sink beneath the surface and disappear. And if they came back with a grudge, shadowing the Seagallop Ferry and waiting for the right moment to strike, the whole thing would end up doing more harm than good.
The ship's safety was the one line nobody could cross. That was the reality of the situation.
"I can handle it."
Something clicked into place in Caster's mind. He felt sure of it.
"I'll send my Pokémon in to deal with the Gyarados group. You just keep the Seagallop Ferry where it is and wait."
They were out on the open ocean, which meant the moment his Gyarados entered the water, Royal Authority of the Sea would kick in and push all its stats up by fifty percent.
Between that and the full range of moves Gyarados had, routing a pack of wild Gyarados didn't seem like much of a stretch.
Besides, Gyarados could fly. If things went sideways, they could always pull back.
"That's great news!"
Captain Sanji's face broke into a wide grin. "Caster, if you clear them out within an hour, I can put in for a reward of two hundred thousand Pokédollars. Three hours, and it drops to a hundred thousand."
"Wait, there's a reward?"
Caster's eyebrows went up. He hadn't seen that coming.
He'd come up to the bridge mostly to get a better look at the Gyarados group before deciding what to do next. He hadn't planned on any of this. Two hundred thousand Pokédollars wasn't pocket change.
Well, maybe it was, for a ship like the Seagallop Ferry. But it certainly wasn't for him.
"I'll get it done."
Caster got Sanji's phone number so they could stay in contact during the operation, then followed the captain down to the deck and threw out two Poké Balls.
"ROOAAR!"
A thunderous roar split the air as a massive Gyarados burst up from the sea.
The moment it hit open water, Royal Authority of the Sea activated. Its presence swelled like a rising tide, stats climbing steadily across the board.
Captain Sanji stared.
Even without knowing much about Pokémon, he could tell at a glance that this was not a normal Gyarados.
The other Pokémon, a Dratini, gave him pause as well. Quasi-legendary and exceptionally rare, a Dratini was the kind of Pokémon most trainers never got close to in their entire careers. The fact that Caster had both meant he was no ordinary trainer.
Whatever lingering doubt Sanji had held onto quietly vanished on the spot.
The Pikachu perched on Caster's shoulder; he barely noticed.
"Heading out, Captain."
Caster gave a quick wave, stepped up onto Gyarados's head, and slid down its neck toward its back before vaulting over onto Dratini.
An ordinary Dratini might stretch two or three meters, and more importantly, its frame was too slender to support a rider. But Caster's Dratini had been fed a steady diet of Energy Orb power and the giant Dragonite scale, and it had been growing at a pace that caught even Caster off guard. It shed its skin every day, and every time it did, it came back noticeably bigger.
In just under two weeks, it had already pushed past four meters in length. Its frame had filled out enough that riding it was just barely possible.
"Pika! Pika!"
Pikachu was practically vibrating with excitement at the news that they were heading out to deal with the wild Gyarados group. The sparks at its cheeks were going nonstop.
Nothing in the world made that little mouse happier than a good electrofishing session.
But when Caster laid out the plan and explained that Gyarados was going in first, Pikachu visibly deflated.
Gyarados, on the other hand, looked like it had been waiting for this.
It felt better than it had in weeks. It wanted to tear into something.
"Go."
Caster pointed toward the wild Gyarados group in the distance. His Gyarados let out a roar and shot forward at full speed.
Dratini hung back at a safe distance, waiting.
It didn't take long before the wild group came into view.
They had formed a rough circle, with two of them going at it inside the ring in a brutal back-and-forth. The rest watched from the outside.
From where Caster's Gyarados was, the wild ones looked thoroughly outclassed. They were cycling through Bite, Ice Fang, Aqua Tail, and Hyper Beam like a short playlist on repeat. A few had managed to pick up Dragon Breath or Twister, but even those hit weakly. Nothing worth a second look.
The moment the wild Gyarados spotted the newcomer, every one of them went rigid.
The sheer size of Caster's Gyarados made it obvious this was something different. The two that had been fighting each other stopped mid-clash. The whole group turned and started snarling.
An outsider had no business here, and they weren't shy about making that clear.
When Caster's Gyarados kept coming without slowing down, that was enough to push them over the edge. Several lunged forward and fired off thick jets of water.
Hydro Pump.
The aim was poor, and the distance didn't help. Caster's Gyarados wove from side to side and let every blast pass wide without taking a scratch.
Then, as it came out of the last dodge, two faint white glows flared around its body. Its presence surged another notch.
Dragon Dance. Attack and Speed, both up.
That was the last straw for the wild group. They came in from every direction at once, a wall of Gyarados moving in tightly, intent on making an example out of the intruder.
Caster's Gyarados looked at the mass of bodies closing in and let out something that could only be described as a cold, quiet laugh.
CRACK.
A massive bolt of electricity exploded outward from its body and hammered straight down into the middle of the pack.
Thunder.
Under normal circumstances, Thunder hits only one target. But seawater conducts electricity, and out here that turned it into something else entirely.
The wild Gyarados group erupted in a wave of screaming. Seven or eight of the smaller ones were already spinning in place with glazed eyes by the time the electricity faded, knocked completely out.
Of the dozen or so left standing, three to five were still crackling with residual arcs, locked in paralysis from Thunder's secondary effect. The rest were on their feet, technically, but their bodies were scorched black, and the way they looked at Caster's Gyarados made it clear they had no interest in pushing their luck.
One move. Half the group, gone.
Caster's Gyarados blinked.
No wonder Pikachu loved this so much.
This was genuinely satisfying.
Wild Gyarados really were just completely helpless against electricity.
Then a thought drifted through its head.
It was also a Gyarados.
۞۞۞۞
~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones