Behind the Pokémon Center, there were several standard battle arenas available for trainers who needed a place to spar. This was a standard feature.
On opposite sides of the arena, Caster and Gary stood facing each other from a distance.
"I'd already prepared to battle your Gyarados in the lake, but I didn't expect you to choose a standard arena. To be honest, I'm pretty surprised."
Gary looked at Caster, his face showing genuine surprise.
Since Gyarados was a Water-type Pokémon, it could perform at its peak in water. Once on land, it could only display about eighty percent of its full strength at best.
"Well, most competitions use standard arenas anyway, so Gyarados needs to learn to adapt."
Caster smiled, making no attempt to hide his reasoning.
Standard battle arenas were the mainstream venue for Pokémon competitions.
Just look at Lance's red Gyarados, even in Master-level matches, it had to crawl across the ground like a snake!
The strong never complain about their environment; they adapt to it!
And Caster longed to become strong!
With that, Caster released his Gyarados.
"ROOOAR~"
With a massive roar, Gyarados appeared on the dirt arena. Its enormous body left shallow trails in the ground as it moved.
"You're absolutely right! I'm liking you more and more."
Gary nodded approvingly, then took out a Poké Ball and threw it. "In that case, I'll go all out too. Take the stage, my sweetheart!"
"ROOOAR~"
Another deep, rumbling roar echoed out. A large Pokémon appeared, purple all over except for its white belly, with a long poison horn on its head and a row of thick spikes running from its neck to its tail along its back. It looked like a dinosaur.
"Nidoking!"
Caster's eyes narrowed, his expression turning serious.
He hadn't expected Gary to have already raised a fully evolved Pokémon so soon after starting his journey.
Truly worthy of being called "Mr. Breeder", his talent in Pokémon training was undoubtedly beyond what ordinary people could reach.
Nidoking had dual Poison and Ground typing, with many possible training directions. Combined with its incredibly deep move pool, its tactical approach was hard to predict.
In the anime, Gary's Nidoking only appeared a handful of times, with its most significant scene being its defeat by a Golem at the Indigo League.
"Gary, Gary, he's the best! Gary, Gary, you can do it!"
"Gary, Gary, he's so great! Gary, Gary, he's so cool!"
While Caster was momentarily lost in thought, Gary's girlfriends had parked their luxury convertible outside the arena and filed in one after another, dancing and cheering for Gary.
"Thank you, my beautiful girlfriends!"
Gary flipped his hair and struck a pose that was both cool and handsome. "Don't worry, I won't let you down."
"How does this guy manage to have so many girlfriends at once? Not only is it not a total bloodbath, but they all get along so well."
Glancing at the smug Gary, Caster thought to himself, "I need to get some pointers from him when I get the chance!"
"Since Gyarados is at a disadvantage on a standard arena, I can't take advantage of you."
Gary looked at Caster and said magnanimously, "You can have the first move!"
"Well then, don't mind if I do!"
Caster grinned and called out, "Gyarados, Rain Dance!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Gary's expression changed slightly, and he said seriously, "You've already mastered a weather move like Rain Dance?"
Weather moves had always been game-changers on the battlefield.
Once the weather changed, certain types of Pokémon would receive unprecedented boosts in power.
Take rainy weather, for example—Water-type moves would increase in power, while Fire-type moves would decrease.
Beyond that, rain could combine with specific moves or abilities to produce all kinds of amazing effects.
For instance, Thunder and Hurricane would have 100% accuracy in the rain.
"ROOOAR~"
After roaring, Gyarados's Water-type energy surged wildly outward, gathering continuously above the arena.
In the blink of an eye, the previously cloudless sky sprouted a small patch of dark clouds, just slightly larger than the standard battle arena.
Then the clouds descended, and a light drizzle began to fall across the field.
Rain mode, activated!!!
Gary swept his arm and shouted, "Nidoking, use Poison Sting!"
"Nido~"
With a roar, dark purple Poison-type energy gathered in Nidoking's mouth until it condensed into countless needle-thin projectiles that shot toward Gyarados in the distance.
Even from far away, Caster could smell the pungent stench. This alone showed that Nidoking's Poison Sting must be extremely toxic.
"Gyarados, use Icy Wind to block the Poison Sting."
Following Caster's command, Gyarados exhaled a blast of cold wind from its mouth. The moment Nidoking's poison needles approached, they froze into ice sculptures and shattered into powder when they hit the ground.
"Pretty slick!"
Gary folded his arms, looking composed, and smiled. "Now that the appetizer's over, time to show some real skill. Nidoking, charge in and use Poison Jab!"
As a Poison-type move, Poison Jab was far more powerful than Poison Sting.
The massive, muscular Nidoking began to run, like a bloodthirsty dinosaur. The ground trembled slightly beneath its weight.
The horn on its head glowed with dark purple light, growing thicker and longer as it thrust unstoppably toward Gyarados.
"Bounce!"
Seeing Nidoking's fierce approach, Caster decided to play it safe.
If he tried to meet it head-on with Waterfall, he wasn't confident of a guaranteed win.
And once Nidoking got in close, Gyarados would be in danger.
Compared to the limbless Gyarados, Nidoking, with its strong limbs and powerful tail, was clearly better suited for close combat.
If Nidoking knew Thunder Punch, then Gyarados would be basically done for in close quarters.
With its quadruple weakness to Electric-type moves, Gyarados could potentially be knocked out in one hit!
Besides, Nidoking's Poison Point ability also had to be watched carefully; any contact could potentially inflict poison status.
BOOM!
Slamming its tail hard against the ground, Gyarados launched itself upward like a catapult, soaring dozens of meters into the air. Taking advantage of the momentum, it sprayed a stream of icy cold water that enveloped the unprepared Nidoking.
Water-type move: Chilling Water!
Besides dealing damage, its additional effect was to lower the opponent's Attack stat.
"Nido~"
Drenched by the cold water, Nidoking felt a chill run through its entire body, and its physical condition noticeably declined.
"Your Gyarados is pretty impressive!"
Gary's eyes narrowed slightly. He clearly hadn't expected Caster's Gyarados to know Bounce.
Otherwise, given Gyarados's massive size, Nidoking's Poison Jab would have been almost impossible to miss.
And once it got in close for melee combat, that would be Nidoking's comfort zone.
"Your Nidoking's no slouch either. Not only does it pack serious power, but its moves hit hard too. It's not to be taken lightly."
Caster praised sincerely, clearly recognizing Nidoking's strength.
Of course, Nidoking wasn't Gary's ace. That honor belonged to his starter Pokémon, Squirtle.
Though at this stage, Squirtle had most likely already evolved into Wartortle.
By contrast, Ash's current team consisted of just a handful of Pokémon, without a single powerhouse among them.
"Again!"
With a noncommittal smile, Gary once more commanded Nidoking to attack.
"Gary, Gary, he's the best! Gary, Gary, you can do it!"
"Gary, Gary, he's so great! Gary, Gary, he's so cool!"
Seeing this, Gary's girlfriends cheered even more enthusiastically, wildly swinging their hips and legs.
But what no one noticed was that an uninvited guest had appeared on Gary's luxury car parked outside the arena.
It was a Pokémon with a light yellow body, a pair of near-diamond-shaped black ears, a black pattern around its neck, and small pink circles on its cheeks.
Using its small front paws to rummage around in the car, the little creature soon found a box of pokéblocks.
It opened the box and immediately began gobbling them down.
Seeing that no one had noticed it, the little one wasn't in any hurry to run away.
Instead, it made itself comfortable on the car seat, eating while watching the battle in the distance.
Food to eat and a show to watch, how nice!