As soon as the battle started, Shiro called out first.
"Dragon Dance!"
Drakloak spun and swayed in the air as its power rose.
On the other side, Raihan didn't rush to attack. He didn't boost Goodra either. Instead, he ordered.
"Rain Dance!"
Goodra raised its head and let out a long cry. Thin waves of energy gathered above until a dark cloud covered the whole Wyndon Stadium.
Rain began to fall. The drops slipped freely through the psychic barrier and fell onto the battlefield.
The ground was uneven and scarred. The grass burned earlier had vanished without even ash left behind. The charred dirt slowly soaked in the rain.
Several Corviknight waiting at the edge of the arena took off with a few company psychic types meant to handle unusual situations. They flew to the cloud overhead.
A psychic barrier formed above the crowd, blocking the rain.
Some spectators scratched their heads, confused why it rained on the field but not on them.
"Raihan used Rain Dance. That means his Goodra's ability should be Hydration. It can cleanse all status conditions in the rain." Ryan explained, then stopped to continue watching.
As a professional referee, host, and not-so-professional commentator, he knew when not to distract the audience.
By the time the rain settled in, Drakloak finished its Dragon Dance.
Shiro understood how Hydration worked. He could guess part of Raihan's plan, so he ordered.
"Drakloak, Dragon Dance again!"
Raihan wasn't worried about his Pokémon's ability being exposed. Goodra had many water type moves. In the rain, it gained a strong boost.
'Since he's using Dragon Dance...'
While thinking, Raihan raised his voice.
"Goodra, Tearful Look!"
Tearful Look made a Pokémon look as if it were about to cry, lowering the opponent's will and decreasing attack and special attack.
Dragon Dance raised attack and speed.
If both offenses kept getting lowered or stayed the same, Dragon Dance would do little.
Raihan didn't care about catching up in boosts. He only needed to wait for the opponent to lose patience and attack first.
Goodra put on its Tearful Look act. Drakloak paused for a moment, the sight tugging at its heart.
But its stats didn't drop.
"Heh..."
This went exactly as Shiro expected.
From the start, Raihan's habits were clear. He always tried to weaken the opponent first, then seize the rhythm. After that, he would boost or attack while controlling the pace.
But earlier he misread Corviknight's ability and got tricked. Now his habit misled him again. He forgot Drakloak's ability.
Clear Body.
It prevented stat drops.
When Drakloak finished its second Dragon Dance, Shiro shouted.
"Drakloak, Phantom Force!"
Raihan still hadn't noticed. He ordered too.
"Thunder Punch!"
Drakloak vanished like smoke. Goodra focused as golden sparks curled around its claws.
In the rain, even a slightly off Thunder Punch could disrupt Drakloak. As long as it grabbed Drakloak and dealt enough damage, the trade was worth it.
"Draaa..."
A faint cry sounded. Goodra swung its Thunder Punch.
Drakloak reappeared right behind it and struck its back with its tail, bending Goodra's body forward.
At the same moment, Thunder Punch landed clean on Drakloak.
Rain covered the field, so lightning spread through the water the instant it was released. Gold sparks flickered and formed a small field of static.
Drakloak's body tingled in the current. Thankfully, its Dragon typing softened the shock. The lightning didn't hurt it much.
As electricity crackled around it, Drakloak reacted fast and used Quick Attack to slip out of the charged zone.
Goodra winced. The Phantom Force hit hard.
Didn't Tearful Look lower Drakloak's attack and special attack?
Raihan frowned. But when he saw Drakloak pull away again, he commanded.
"Goodra! Tearful Look!"
Shiro caught the command at once and shouted.
"Drakloak, Dragon Dance!"
Tearful Look and Dragon Dance lit up the field again. Drakloak's attack and speed rose one more stage.
Tearful Look still did nothing.
But Raihan could not be sure of that. Dragon Power wasn't like psychic power. He couldn't read the opponent's stats. He could only rely on experience to judge.
Shiro continued, "Drakloak, U-turn into Dragon Tail!"
Drakloak's blue-green body disappeared. The dim battlefield made it hard to track.
Raihan stayed calm.
"Dragon Claw!"
He didn't fear Drakloak's damage. His plan was to wear the opponent down and trade hits. As long as Goodra wasn't knocked out in one blow, he believed he could win.
Drakloak slipped to Goodra's flank and swung its tail. Goodra stretched its arm out, claws glowing with pale Dragon-type energy.
The clash lasted less than a second. Goodra's claw blades shattered piece by piece, unable to withstand the strike.
"Oh!" Ryan gasped from the referee's seat.
Part of the crowd erupted into cheers.
"Shiro, go!"
"Shiro, go!"
"..."
"What's happening?" A young trainer muttered. He didn't understand.
Goodra should have lowered Drakloak's stats twice. Why wasn't there any visible change?
An older trainer nearby guessed, "Maybe it's an item or an ability, like Shiro's Corviknight earlier."
He added, "Whatever it is, it's blocking stat drops."
Meanwhile, Goodra was thrown into the air and crashed into the soaked ground, landing in a deep pit.
Dragons struck each other hard.
And Drakloak's attack had already risen a lot. Tearful Look never worked.
Why?
Raihan felt lost.
The only Dragapult line in Galar lived near Lake of Outrage, and the only record in Raihan's clan was from a century ago. His ancestor's Dragapult had the ability Infiltrator.
Infiltrator ignored Reflect, Light Screen, Safeguard, Mist, Substitute, and Aurora Veil.
Shiro's Drakloak didn't have Infiltrator?
And it was another ability about stat changes.
Raihan's chest tightened, though his expression stayed calm. He called.
"Rest!"
The move Rest puts a Pokémon to sleep for a short time, making it restore all of its strength and clear every status condition.
Raihan's entire strategy was to stall with Rest. With Hydration active in the rain, Goodra could wake from its sleep as well.
If the opponent couldn't knock it out in one hit, Goodra was almost impossible to bring down.
That was why Raihan welcomed the hit-for-hit style.
Goodra lay in the pit on the ruined field. Its tired body loosened as it slipped into sleep.
Across the field, Shiro gave his command.
"Dragon Rush!"
"Draaak!"
The Dragon-type straightened its body. Blue-green energy blazed around it like fire, causing rain to evaporate near the heat.
A deep boom followed.
Drakloak dropped from the air like a fallen star. The pressure around its fall squeezed the air into a single crushing wave.
The ground, already torn apart, sank again. Winds whipped the rain toward the edges of the field.
Seeing the force of the attack, Raihan's expression finally shifted. He shouted in a panic.
"Goodra!"
But Goodra hadn't woken up.
Even with Hydration in the rain, it needed a moment to clear sleep caused by its own move.
Blue-green light exploded at the center of the battlefield.
After the shock faded, silence filled the stadium. Soil had been pushed into a ring of small hills around a basin. Goodra lay in the middle, not moving.
"It's over..." Shiro murmured.
Ryan took a breath, lifted the mic, and announced, "Goodra is unable to battle! Raihan, please recall your Pokémon and send out your next one!"
The crowd rose in noise and cheers.
Hammerlocke staff and many trainers from there had fallen silent long ago.
Raihan's Pokémon should have been stronger than Shiro's on paper.
Why was he still being pushed back?
"Raihan..." a young Hammerlocke trainer whispered. "He won't lose before the finals, right?"
Nearby trainers wanted to deny it, but the words stuck in their throats.
If this was the start of the fight, when everything was uncertain, they would have believed Raihan without question. But two of his Elite-level Pokémon were already down.
Only Leon had stood equal to him. The two of them were meant to be the final contenders. Now Raihan might fall before the finals.
A few Hammerlocke trainers thought about it, then shouted:
"Shiro will take the title!"
"Even Leon isn't a match for him!"
"No, Shiro will sweep all six of Leon's Pokémon!"
"...Leon will get swept!"
Their cheers mixed with the rest of the arena. No one could tell which group was louder.
On the battlefield, Raihan gripped the white armband on his right arm. The struggle in his eyes softened.
He didn't want to fight with something that didn't belong to him.
**
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