"Poliwhirl, that's Dragon Pulse—move!" Reiji caught the dragon-shaped shadow inside the beam and immediately called for Poliwhirl to dodge. It had already used Protect once, and pushing it again meant risking a failure. Dodging was the safest play.
"Yo-bo!" Poliwhirl kicked off hard enough to crater the grass again, then vanished. Two flickers later, it was already right in front of Gyarados.
Just like the first Ice Punch, Poliwhirl's chained Waterfall hops looked like a short-range teleport. Dragon Pulse lost its target—and so did Gyarados.
It was too fast. Gyarados didn't even have time to react before Poliwhirl was in its face, raising a fist coated in ice crystals.
The gap wasn't just speed, but reflexes and burst power. This Gyarados had never been trained, and it was outmatched across the board. It wasn't even close.
Boom, boom, boom—
The moment Poliwhirl arrived, it drove another punch straight into Gyarados's face, launching it again and snapping through several trees on the way.
To be fair, this Gyarados was absurdly tough—tougher than Lance's Dratini. It had taken two full-power Ice Punches off Waterfall and stayed on its feet.
Most Pokémon would've dropped already. If it wasn't just raw durability, then it was the rage—angrier meant stronger.
"ROOOAAR—ROOOAAR!" Gyarados couldn't touch Poliwhirl, while Poliwhirl kept beating it down. It knew Poliwhirl was a monster it couldn't defeat, and the only way to win was to keep roaring until it went completely feral.
Gyarados snapped into a rampage. Its eyes turned blood-red, red light flared across its body, and it charged around like a mad beast, slamming into everything nearby and attacking indiscriminately.
"Gyarados, stop! That's enough—you did great! Gyarados, stop!" Gulzar heard something go wrong in its voice and screamed at it, trying to pull it back from the edge.
Too late. Gyarados was already buried in a chaotic frenzy. You couldn't talk it down now—you had to knock it out.
"Poliwhirl, don't hold back. Knock it out," Reiji said as he stepped up beside Gulzar, eyes on the rampaging Gyarados in the woods.
Its strength wasn't that high to begin with. Even in a rampage it topped out at Advanced tier at best, and Poliwhirl could handle that—especially with Scyther ready to cover it.
Reiji came over mainly to stop Gulzar from charging in. Kids like this loved doing something reckless, and if he didn't block him, Gulzar would sprint straight into the fight.
This was exactly when you couldn't be impulsive. When a Pokémon rampaged, you knocked it out and ended it. If Gulzar ran in, it was a coin flip between death and a crippling injury.
"Don't go. That's Outrage—Gyarados used Outrage and fell into confusion and a rampage. Let Poliwhirl knock it out," Reiji said, holding the line.
"Outrage? Isn't that a Dragon-type move?" Gulzar blurted. How was Gyarados using Outrage? That was a Dragon-type finisher—Gyarados was Water/Flying, not Dragon.
"That blue scale I gave you," Reiji said, "was an Elite Four–tier Dragon Scale."
"What? An Elite Four–tier Dragon Scale?" Gulzar froze again. An Elite Four–tier Magikarp was already unbelievable—now he was hearing Reiji had given him an Elite Four–tier Dragon Scale on top of that.
He didn't even know what to say. Something that valuable was beyond anything he'd ever seen, let alone something you just… handed over to him.
"Just keep it in your heart. Pay me back when you're able," Reiji said, giving Gulzar's shoulder a light pat. If one Dragon Scale could tie down a future Elite Four, it was a trade he'd happily make.
"Rai-nii… I, I…" Gulzar's throat tightened. He barely even knew this trainer—they'd met for the first time less than two days ago.
Yet everything Reiji brought out was more precious than the last. Reiji was helping him get revenge, and he was treating him better than Gulzar's own parents ever had.
An Elite Four–tier Magikarp was one thing. That Elite Four–tier Dragon Scale was on a different level entirely. And then there were the Water Gems.
Gulzar knew those. Each one cost four or five hundred thousand. A handful of them was over two million, and he was so broke he couldn't afford even one.
Ever since the poachers hit him, his whole life had turned grey. He'd thought this was it—that he'd never get revenge, never fix anything.
But after finding the poachers' trail, he'd met a Gym Leader's son… and now an Elite Four–tier Trainer who treated him like this.
If only he'd met them sooner. If he'd met them sooner, Gloom wouldn't have died. But there were no "ifs," and that guilt still sat in his chest.
If he'd never left home, Gloom wouldn't have been in danger. But if he never traveled, he never would've met Reiji either. Traveling meant danger for both trainer and Pokémon, and back then he simply couldn't change his situation.
The thought almost made him cry again. He'd been suffocating for so long, and the moment revenge looked possible, the tears finally pushed through.
"This Gyarados really does keep surprising me," Reiji said, spotting Gyarados frozen in place after Poliwhirl's finishing blow. He patted Gulzar's back and urged him forward. "Go recall it and bring it back for treatment."
Gyarados had shocked him again and again—first Hyper Beam, then Dragon Pulse, then Outrage… and in that frenzy it had thrown out Hurricane, Hydro Pump, Crunch, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Earthquake, and more.
So many big moves across so many types, all fired off in the same rampage—and Dragon Pulse and Outrage on top of that.
Honestly, it tempted him. He hadn't expected a Dragon Scale from a pseudo-dragon line to produce a Gyarados this vicious. That first Intimidate had startled even him, and Poliwhirl and Scyther hadn't handled it much better.
Poliwhirl and Scyther were stronger than Gyarados, but the roar still made them hesitate. They'd stood there for a beat, stiff and wary, and only moved when Reiji himself backed up first.
Once Gyarados went down, it was over. Reiji turned and walked out of the trees, hand on Poliwhirl's shoulder as he praised it. "Poliwhirl, good work. Keep it up."
"Yo-bo!" Poliwhirl perked up instantly, fired up again, and even flexed its arms like it was asking for round two.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Reiji said, amused. He handed Poliwhirl a Pokéblock, then gave one to Scyther too. "Eat. Then rest properly. Training can wait."
Scyther had done plenty in that rampage. If he praised Poliwhirl and ignored Scyther, that would just be bad form.
"Scyther, you've gotten stronger too," Reiji said. "Keep going. Only by taking on stronger opponents can you reach a higher level."
"Scy!" Scyther nodded seriously. It agreed completely.
It sparred with Poliwhirl all the time. It also got hit far more often than Poliwhirl did, which meant it understood exactly how strong Poliwhirl really was.
Poliwhirl's burst power wasn't something Scyther could block head-on. It had to evade—it couldn't take that kind of force cleanly. Still, sparring like this had made Scyther stronger, even if it was still behind.
Maybe it just wasn't working hard enough. When they rested at night, Poliwhirl still stayed up to do extra training.
When it rained, Poliwhirl was either running or hammering tree trunks, punching under the waterfall, drilling combination techniques under the waterfall—always moving.
If Scyther didn't match that, it would never surpass Poliwhirl. It needed to work harder. That truth sat there like a blade.
Before, its world was just the jungle on Murcott Island. Traveling with Reiji showed it how huge the world really was. It couldn't even beat Poliwhirl yet—so what did that say about the stronger enemies out there?
As for the Scyther clan leader back on Murcott Island, that wasn't its target anymore. It had a bigger one now: Darkrai.
Poliwhirl hadn't fought Darkrai, but Scyther could still tell what was hiding inside that mythical Pokémon. That pressure was a mountain it intended to climb.
It wanted to beat Darkrai. Who said an ordinary Pokémon couldn't take down a mythical? Scyther didn't believe in that kind of fate. It wanted to gamble everything once.
"Go find your own spots to rest," Reiji said. "If you want a bath, use the inflatable tub." Seeing Scyther buy in, he smiled to himself. He'd already caught Darkrai—getting this proud, stubborn Scyther to follow him was the easy part.
To win Scyther over, all you needed was one Pokémon stronger than it—someone it could chase.
For Scyther, that Pokémon was Poliwhirl.
Reiji wanted Scyther to let go of that jungle and stop obsessing over the clan leader.
The future stage was bigger than any single leader fight. Scyther deserved more than that, and its eyes needed to look farther.
Back at the waterfall campsite, Reiji let both Pokémon rest. They'd worked hard. The Pokéblocks were open season, and he didn't skimp.
The Gyarados rampage was over, but the chaos it caused was anything but small. It had nearly triggered a forest fire.
Poliwhirl had already put it out with Water Gun. That little tadpole was still as reliable as ever—and still his strongest partner.
Training could wait. Poliwhirl and Scyther were disciplined Pokémon. He didn't need to hover over them.
Over on Gulzar's side, after Reiji left, he found Gyarados unconscious deeper in the woods. He gently stroked its battered body and spoke softly.
"Gyarados… you were already amazing. You did your best. Next time, don't hurt yourself like that, okay?"
"When you use Outrage, you lose yourself. You can hurt other Pokémon in the forest too. You're supposed to protect me." Gulzar swallowed and kept his hand on its scales. "We'll get stronger slowly. We won't rely on anger to power up anymore."
That rampage had scared him. Anything related to Outrage had to be used carefully. The boost was real, but he couldn't control a rampaging Gyarados at all.
If Gyarados ever rampaged in a city, the consequences would be unthinkable. People would die. That was the price of power—Reiji's "price."
"Rrr…" Gyarados stirred awake at Gulzar's murmuring. Seeing Gulzar safe, it finally let out the breath it had been holding.
It forced itself up through the pain and scanned around, but Reiji and Poliwhirl were nowhere to be seen. That Poliwhirl had been terrifying—Gyarados had been completely helpless in front of it, and the memory of those Ice Punches still burned.
Even if it had lost its mind during the rampage, it still remembered who knocked it out. Being pinned down in that state… it didn't have the right to act stubborn about it.
Luckily, Poliwhirl was gone. Right now, Gyarados couldn't even protect Gulzar properly. It was still too weak.
"Gyarados, come back," Gulzar said, catching its searching gaze. "I'll take you back to camp and treat your injuries."
He didn't need to ask what it was looking for. He could guess—it was looking for Reiji and the others, but they'd already gone back.
Gulzar needed to hurry too. With a body seven or eight meters long, treating Gyarados wasn't going to be quick. He was about to be busy for a long time.
At the same time, the poachers' wooden boat off Rind Island was startled by the furious roaring coming from the forest.
When the poachers' boss saw a Gyarados appear near the Rind River and start firing moves at the sky indiscriminately, he immediately realized something: the trainer who'd beaten his useless men was probably somewhere near that river.
His men were still catching Pokémon deeper in the forest, far from the river. He quietly exhaled, grateful for his earlier caution. Sending them away from the river had been the right call.
Thinking about it now, not provoking that trainer was the smartest decision he'd made in a long time. If someone could even suppress a rampaging Gyarados, then that wasn't someone a poaching gang could afford to mess with.
Money came first. There was no need to invite a powerful enemy. As long as the trainer didn't come looking for trouble and didn't call Officer Jenny, everyone could mind their own business. Peace made profit.
The last couple of days, he'd been on edge, convinced the trainer would report him. But a lackey at the port on Mandarin Island North had called and said Officer Jenny's enforcement boats hadn't moved. That told him the trainer hadn't reported anything—and clearly didn't want to get involved.
Once he knew that, he relaxed and kept sending his men onto Rind Island to catch wild Pokémon.
Still, those idiots were lawless by habit. They only feared the League, and nobody else. He needed to hammer it into their skulls not to drag trouble back onto him.
The boss called his men and told them what had just happened. He warned them to stay away from the river and the waterfall—stick to the forest, and don't provoke that trainer.
If any idiot didn't have a brain, he'd skin that idiot alive. He wasn't letting a pack of morons ruin his road to getting rich.
After chewing them out hard, he finally hung up and let his shoulders drop. If peace could keep the money flowing, then he could keep enjoying good wine and good food.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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