With a thought, Caster immediately activated the Dragon Dance TM and infused it into Gyarados's body.
Immediately after, Gyarados's head began to tingle.
A completely new method of energy manipulation appeared in its mind and became deeply etched there, every step crystal clear.
"Roar~"
Gyarados grew excited.
Though it hadn't fully absorbed the move yet, that didn't stop Gyarados from understanding how terrifying this technique was.
This was the type of boosting move Gyarados currently lacked most!
And it was a double boost, enhancing both Attack and Speed.
Facing Feraligatr, which surpassed it in every aspect of base stats, Gyarados had practically no ability to fight back. Its loss wasn't undeserved.
But if base abilities weren't enough, boosts could make up for it.
If it could boost itself once with Dragon Dance, Gyarados still wouldn't dare boast it could guarantee victory over Feraligatr, but at least it wouldn't lose as badly as it did today.
If it could boost twice, it would have confidence to go toe-to-toe with Feraligatr.
If it could boost three times...
Taking advantage of Gyarados digesting the move, Caster turned his attention to the other available TM.
[Giga Impact: Normal-type move. The user charges at the target using every bit of its power. The user can't move on the next turn.]
Giga Impact was a super powerful move comparable to Hyper Beam.
Though Gyarados using Hyper Beam to attack appeared multiple times in the anime and had practically become Gyarados's signature move.
In reality, Hyper Beam was a special attack move, while Gyarados was a Pokémon that excelled at physical attacks. The compatibility between the two wasn't high.
From a practical application standpoint, Giga Impact was clearly more suitable for Gyarados.
"Gyarados, make sure you understand!"
Moments later, Caster also taught Giga Impact to Gyarados.
Having learned two extraordinary moves in such a short time, Gyarados finally recovered most of its confidence.
However, thinking about how its base abilities were still weak, Gyarados swam directly to the nearby waterfall and began climbing it with its physical strength alone, training its body repeatedly.
"The lazy Gyarados has actually become diligent."
Watching the highly motivated Gyarados, Caster stroked his chin. "Looks like this defeat wasn't necessarily a bad thing."
Because of the existence of Energy Orbs and TMs, Caster's Pokémon hardly needed to exert much effort to easily gain strength and victories, so they'd always been rather lazy in training.
But now, having tasted defeat for the first time, Gyarados had finally become diligent. Caster felt gratified, like an old father.
Finally, Caster focused on the last reward.
[X Attack: An item used in battle. A wondrous item that dramatically raises a Pokémon's Attack during battle. The effect disappears when the Pokémon leaves the field.]
"Even got an X Attack."
Caster fiddled with the item in his hand, his face full of delight.
X Attack was a type of battle item.
And its effect was quite terrifying, equivalent to having a Pokémon use Swords Dance once, doubling the Pokémon's Attack power.
The key was that it counted as an external move. Not only could it be used on any Pokémon, but it didn't consume the Pokémon's battle turn, and there was no worry about the opponent using Taunt to block it. It was guaranteed to work 100% of the time.
That was absolutely terrifying!
"Now when I'm fishing in the wild, I've got a trump card to save my life."
Caster happily put away the X Attack.
If it were a normal competitive battle, winning was winning and losing was losing. Caster wouldn't stoop to using external items like X Attack.
But if he encountered danger in the wild, Caster wouldn't care whether it was an external or internal move—as long as it could save his life.
"Karp~"
Just then, Magikarp surfaced from the water. Though panting heavily, its face showed inexplicable excitement.
Skill instructor, I finished swimming a hundred laps!
How did I do?
"Very good! Great spirit!"
After praising it a few times, Caster pointed at the distant waterfall and Gyarados, continuing to spin his tale.
"Now then, go practice climbing the waterfall! If you want to learn Bounce, you must first climb the waterfall to train your tail and jumping ability."
"Karp~"
Looking at Gyarados continuously climbing the waterfall, Magikarp was impressed without fully understanding, and immediately went off to follow the order.
"Finally can fish in peace again."
Watching Magikarp swim away wagging its tail, Caster continued fiddling with his fishing gear and began angling.
Plop!
The bait hit the water, and Caster waited quietly.
Before long, the bobber moved.
Caster gave a gentle tug, and a small, cute Pokémon appeared. Its body was mostly blue, with its front abdomen and back fin in pale yellow.
It had three spikes on each side of its head, a long cylindrical mouth, and a tail that curled forward in a counterclockwise spiral.
"Horsea!"
Caster's face lit up with joy. Finally caught one.
[Caught 'Horsea', awarded 'Dragon Breath' TM x1.]
[First time catching 'Horsea', bonus reward 'Dragon Scale' x1.]
As the notification from his cheat ability appeared, Caster couldn't help but feel even more delighted.
Dragon Scale, this item not only boosted the power of Dragon-type moves for the Pokémon holding it but was also key to evolving Seadra into Kingdra.
Immediately after, Horsea's stat panel appeared.
[Pokémon: Horsea]
[Attribute: Water]
[Ability: Sniper (Powers up moves if they become critical hits)]
[Skills: Water Gun, Smokescreen, Dragon Breath, Twister, Focus Energy]
"If only I could capture this Horsea, I could feed it back its own rewards."
Looking at the timid Horsea in the distance spitting out the bait but reluctant to leave, clearly conquered by the bait's flavor, Caster couldn't help but glare resentfully at the sleeping Dragonite.
Being able to catch these adorable Pokémon but not capture them—what a crime!!!
But then his eyes shifted, and a thought suddenly appeared in Caster's mind.
He first pointed at Dragonite sleeping in the distance, then at himself, and said to Horsea with a smile, "Horsea, hello.
I'm Caster, Dragonite's good friend. Dragonite commissioned me to distribute new flavors of food here. If you'd like to eat more, I can give you some."
"Horsee~ Horsee~"
Toward Caster, a stranger, Horsea had initially been somewhat afraid.
But following Caster's finger and seeing the Sanctuary's guardian deity Dragonite, its courage immediately grew.
With the peace-loving, justice-minded Dragonite right there, what did it have to fear?
Besides, this human also said he was Dragonite's friend.
And that food was really delicious!
"Horsee~"
Dragonite's presence gave Horsea an enormous sense of security. It immediately swam over with its eyes squinted contentedly.
Seeing this, Caster kept his promise and took out a piece of bait for Horsea to eat.
Horsea was barely bigger than Pichu. After eating another mouthful of bait, it was full and appeared very satisfied. Its favorability toward Caster kept rising.
"Delicious, right?"
Caster took the opportunity to pet Horsea's smooth little head. Seeing it didn't resist, he said softly, "Horsea, I have a lot of this food here.
Dragonite asked me to distribute it to the Pokémon in the lake, but I can't go underwater myself. Could you help me notify the Pokémon in the lake and have them come here to receive the food?"
"Horsee~ Horsee~"
The innocent Horsea glanced at Caster's "good friend" Dragonite, didn't suspect anything, and immediately nodded obediently. Clearly, it was also a helpful good baby.
"Then I'm counting on you!"
Splash!
Horsea dove into the lake and disappeared.
"I'm about to have a massive haul! A massive haul!"
Caster danced around excitedly.
If this were anywhere else, Caster would still worry about whether Horsea would flake on him.
But this was the Dragon's Sanctuary, and he had "Dragonite's guarantee." Caster was certain Horsea wouldn't let him down.