Chapter 386: You're the Dragon Master. So Why Aren't You Using Dragons?
"Come and feel it for yourself: my Dragon Legion!"
With that arrogant declaration, Lance threw his first Poké Ball with a flourish.
"Gyarados!"
"ROAR~!"
Gyarados's domineering, ferocious roar rang out as the massive, powerful Gyarados landed heavily in front of Lance and glared down at Giovanni from on high.
The Water/Flying-type Gyarados!
"Ummm..."
Platinum's pretty face looked a little strange as she watched Lance and his Gyarados.
There was no doubt this Gyarados was extremely powerful. Its oppressive presence alone was leagues beyond Lysandre's shiny Gyarados.
But that wasn't the point.
Lance's declaration had oozed swagger, the kind that made your blood boil just hearing it.
The power of dragons, unmatched in all the world! Seriously cool.
But after a line that cool, you send out a Gyarados?
Sure, Gyarados has "dragon" in its name (in Chinese, at least), but it isn't a Dragon type...
Champion Lance, is this really your Dragon Legion?
"Gyarados, huh."
Giovanni narrowed his eyes slightly. Gyarados was one of Lance's well-known frontline main battlers.
It had also been one of the main battlers on the team Lance used to claim the Kanto Champion's title.
Without a doubt, this Gyarados was extremely strong!
"I'm not finished."
Lance wasn't done. He raised his arm, a Key Stone gleaming on his hand.
Mega Evolution!
The Key Stone shone, answered by the Mega Stone on Gyarados.
Gyarados's entire enormous body was engulfed in the light of evolution, and in an instant, an even fiercer and mightier Mega Gyarados appeared, throwing back its head with a violent roar.
"Huh? Mega Evolution right off the bat?" Platinum was surprised.
Isn't Mega Evolution a trump card you save for the critical moment? Who Mega Evolves at the very start?
That's way too aggressive.
"You chose to Mega Evolve Gyarados? I take it you still haven't found a Mega Stone for Dragonite, Champion Lance."
Seeing this, Giovanni needled Lance.
"Hmph~!"
Lance folded his arms with an irritated snort, but couldn't argue.
He really had been searching hard for a Dragonite Mega Stone, and to this day, he still hadn't found one.
It frustrated Lance to no end. Dragons were his faith, and Dragonite was his ace. Because of Dragonite, his Dragon Legion had always been unstoppable.
But with the arrival of Mega Evolution, a miraculous enhancement that let fully evolved Pokémon evolve once more, it had become a must-have for any top-tier trainer.
If others had it and you didn't, you were falling behind.
But not every Pokémon could Mega Evolve. Lance firmly believed Dragonite had to have a Mega Stone out there. Unfortunately, so far there was no word of one.
So, to avoid having no Mega Evolution at all, Lance naturally had to use another Mega Stone in the meantime.
"Even if I haven't found Dragonite's Mega Stone yet, my Mega Gyarados is no match for any ordinary trainer."
Lance said coldly.
That much was true.
Giovanni looked at the ferocious Mega Gyarados. Gyarados was already one of the strongest Water types. If not for the 4× Electric weakness dragging it down, Gyarados would easily be top-tier among ordinary Water-type Pokémon.
After Mega Evolution, Mega Gyarados's typing changed to Water/Dark, and it lost that fatal 4× Electric weakness.
Its combat power jumped by more than one tier, no question about it!
"Nidoking!"
After a moment's thought, Giovanni decisively threw Nidoking's Poké Ball.
Nidoking landed heavily in front of Giovanni and growled at Mega Gyarados.
Mega Gyarados wasn't the least bit intimidated and roared back at Nidoking even louder.
"Nidoking? And you're still not using Mega Evolution? You're quite arrogant yourself, Giovanni."
Lance sized up the Nidoking.
In the battles against Lorelei and the other two, Giovanni's Nidoking had performed brilliantly. But Lance was nothing like Lorelei and the others!
"The battle's only just begun. Why rush?"
Giovanni kept one hand in his pocket and smiled faintly.
"Hmph! Let's see how long you can keep up that relaxed act."
Lance shot Giovanni a glance and grinned, but there was ice in his voice.
It had been a long time since he'd met anyone who dared to be this brazen in front of him.
"Gyarados! Aqua Tail!"
Without hesitation, Lance attacked first.
Mega Gyarados whipped its massive tail and charged at Nidoking with a roar.
Its enormous, hulking body was overwhelmingly intimidating.
Mega Gyarados really was huge. An ordinary Gyarados was a full 6.5 meters long, already one of the larger Pokémon of all.
But Lance's frontline Gyarados reached an astonishing 8 meters, more than a meter longer than normal. That showed how well Lance had raised it.
Mega Gyarados roared, its massive tail wrapped in surging water, and brought it crashing down on Nidoking.
The Water-type Aqua Tail!
"Take it with Superpower!" Giovanni's tone was noticeably more serious than in his previous three battles.
Nidoking growled at Mega Gyarados and raised its powerful arms high, not the least bit afraid.
The Fighting-type Superpower!
"Oh? You think you can take it?" Lance bared a savage grin.
Take it? You're underestimating my Mega Gyarados!
Mega Gyarados's Aqua Tail came down hard, slamming straight onto Nidoking's two Superpower-charged arms.
BOOM!!!
The heavy, muffled impact made ears ring. Nidoking's arms were pressed down hard, and the ground beneath its feet cracked apart inch by inch, fissures spreading like a spiderweb.
Nidoking's feet were driven into the ground. That showed just how heavy Mega Gyarados's Aqua Tail was.
And yet, Nidoking really did take it!
Nidoking was nearly at its limit, gritting its teeth and straining to hold up the enormous tail, but it had taken the Aqua Tail!
Lance's expression darkened. This was something he hadn't expected.
But then Lance grinned. Now this was getting interesting!
What fun was there in fighting an opponent who shattered at the first touch?
"Hydro Pump!"
Lance barked.
So you took the Aqua Tail. So what? The battle's only just started.
Mega Gyarados roared, water light gathering in its gaping maw: the Water-type Hydro Pump!
"Dig underground to dodge!"
Giovanni ordered without hesitation.
In truth, if he could have, he'd have liked Nidoking to trade blows with Thunder. Mega Gyarados was Lance's Mega slot, so any trade would be pure profit.
But in Nidoking's current state, having barely held off Aqua Tail, the Hydro Pump would probably hit before Thunder even went off.
Nidoking instantly dug down underground. It moved fast.
The massive Hydro Pump blasted in, but missed Nidoking.
"Dig? You're asking to die!" Lance sneered.
"Gyarados! Earthquake!"
Everyone knew Earthquake did double damage to a Pokémon underground!
Mega Gyarados raised its huge tail high and swung it down hard at the ground.
The Ground-type Earthquake!
"Superpower!"
But Giovanni had of course prepared for this. Digging underground was only to dodge Hydro Pump and buy Nidoking time to recover.
Nidoking burst up out of the ground and leaped, swinging a Fighting-type Superpower at Mega Gyarados.
Having lost its Flying type and gained the Dark type, Mega Gyarados was weak to Fighting!
"I saw that coming!"
But Lance wasn't surprised at all. In fact, his grin only widened.
He'd known Giovanni couldn't be that stupid!
Mega Gyarados stopped mid-swing just before its tail hit the ground, changed direction, and brought it slamming down at Nidoking instead.
Fierce currents of water swirled around it. Aqua Tail!
Giovanni's eyes narrowed.
That's Lance of the Dragon Clan for you.
BAM!
Aqua Tail and Nidoking's Superpower collided head-on again, but this time Nidoking had no ground beneath its feet, and Mega Gyarados was far stronger than Nidoking!
Nidoking couldn't hold, and the crushing Aqua Tail slammed it hard into the ground. Water sprayed everywhere, and half of Nidoking's body was driven into the earth.
Nidoking growled in pain. That Aqua Tail had hit very hard!
"Giovanni, is this all you've got?"
With the advantage his, Lance looked at Giovanni, his tone indifferent.
"If this is the best you can do, you might as well just bring out Groudon."
"No need to rush, Champion Lance. The battle's only just begun. Besides..."
Giovanni chuckled twice and gestured toward Mega Gyarados, his shadowed face unreadable.
"Why don't you take another look at your Mega Gyarados?"
"?"
Lance's sharp brows drew together, and he looked at Mega Gyarados.
Mega Gyarados's face was twisted, as if it were enduring something. The next moment, its whole body flickered with an eerie dark-purple glow, and blotches of poison rose across its skin.
Mega Gyarados had been poisoned!
The vast majority of the audience was stunned.
Lance's expression turned cold and ugly. Poison? When?
"Poison Point? No... this is Toxic!"
Lance's gaze sharpened to a razor's edge as he looked at the Nidoking that Mega Gyarados had just slammed into the ground.
Nidoking's most common ability was Poison Point, which had a chance of poisoning any opponent that touched it.
But that was ordinary poison. Blotches like these only appeared when a Pokémon was badly poisoned!
Mega Gyarados was badly poisoned! When it pinned Nidoking with Aqua Tail just now?!
"I see. So everything was setting up for this Toxic?" Lance stared hard at Giovanni.
He understood now: every move Nidoking had made had been to hide this Toxic.
"Clever scheme, Giovanni."
"Seems you've figured it out, Champion Lance. Your greatest weakness is your arrogance and conceit, the way you look down on everything."
Giovanni smiled faintly.
Bad poisoning grew stronger and stronger the longer it went on.
So in theory, Mega Gyarados was already dying slowly.
An opponent this strong would wear itself down over time!
Hearing that, Lance's face darkened, and he kept his eyes fixed on Giovanni.
Before long, a low laugh began to escape his lips.
"Heh heh heh heh, ha ha ha ha~"
Lance's laughter grew louder and louder, then cut off abruptly.
"Interesting. Truly interesting, Giovanni!!"
"I never expected the man they call Giovanni of the Earth to stoop to poison."
There was an unmistakable edge of mockery in Lance's voice.
"Likewise."
Giovanni kept his mature, easygoing smile and fired right back.
"The man they call the greatest Dragon Tamer and the Dragon Master, and you still haven't used a single Dragon-type move. Have you?"
Trainers who specialized in Dragon types were called Dragon Tamers, and Lance was naturally the greatest Dragon Tamer in the world today.
Hearing Giovanni's retort, Lance's face twitched over and over, as if he wanted to laugh, or as if he were furious. It was very strange.
Without anyone quite noticing, the hostility between the two had grown extremely thick.
So thick that the referee and the announcer in sunglasses were drenched in sweat.
Who gets it, fam?
Why does it feel like these two are getting kind of heated?
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