Under Wyatt's arrangement, the group quickly found an empty battle arena. He even arranged for a professional referee to officiate, really setting the mood.
Seeing that a battle was about to begin, quite a few people in the club gathered around.
Since Caster was a new face, everyone was curious.
And when they learned it was a "double battle," something relatively rare in the Johto region, people became even more interested, discussing it amongst themselves.
Many had just noticed that Caster had been brought in by Wyatt, so they hurried over to fish for information. But Wyatt only smiled without saying anything.
He didn't know much about Caster himself.
However, to everyone else, his silence seemed rather mysterious, so more and more spectators gathered around.
"Please have both competitors take your positions!"
The referee raised small flags in both hands, signaling for both sides to select their competing Pokémon.
Since double battles have no distinction between first and second moves, both sides must confirm their Pokémon simultaneously.
Otherwise, if one side released their Pokémon first and the other adjusted their choice accordingly, it would be unfair.
Trixie reached for two Poké Balls, preparing for the battle, and Caster followed suit. "Go, Gyarados!" he called out.
With a heaven-shaking roar, the massive Gyarados appeared on the field, radiating overwhelming presence.
"What a ferocious Gyarados!"
"The size of that Gyarados is kind of ridiculous. Compared to it, my Gyarados is practically tiny."
"That kid seems to have some skills. No wonder he's walking around with Wyatt."
Everyone exclaimed in admiration and envy at the Gyarados, and their curiosity about Caster rose considerably.
"Pi~chu~"
However, when Pichu took the field, everyone froze. More than a few nearly laughed out loud.
They'd assumed this whole time that Pichu was Caster's pet Pokémon, not realizing it could actually battle.
This kind of Pokémon would probably cry for ages after just one punch, right?
At least evolve it once before bringing it out!
"Pretty lucky, huh?"
Seeing the Gyarados, Trixie smiled and released her two Pokémon.
On the left was a Pokémon resembling a bulldog, primarily light purple with black stripes on its wrists and neck, and heavy, massive fangs in its lower jaw.
On the right was a Pokémon shaped like a sheep but standing upright on two legs. Its skin was yellow, with a red orb on its tail and forehead, and yellow-and-black patterns on its neck, ears, and part of its tail.
"Granbull, a Fairy-type! Ampharos, an Electric-type!"
Caster's eyes narrowed slightly as he assessed them: "Full Johto flavor!"
As expected of someone who'd made it to the top 48 of the Silver Conference, Trixie's Pokémon weren't necessarily the strongest, but they were definitely solid. After all, they were all in their final evolved forms.
Especially that Granbull. The moment it appeared, it bared its fangs, looking extremely fierce.
Immediately after, both Pichu and Gyarados seemed to be intimidated, their expressions changing as their bodies involuntarily stepped back half a pace.
Before the battle even began, just in terms of momentum, Caster's side had already lost.
"The Intimidate ability? What a pain."
Caster's expression darkened.
Intimidate was an ability that intimidated opponents when the Pokémon entered the field, lowering their physical attack. It could seize the initiative.
Especially for a physical attacker like Gyarados, the negative impact was significant.
However, Caster wasn't panicked, because he'd chosen the double battle format for a reason.
Both Gyarados and Pichu had obvious weaknesses and disadvantages.
Gyarados, with its Water/Flying dual typing, had a quadruple weakness. While this was supposedly "the mark of a champion," it was undeniably a critical flaw.
Against any opponent skilled in Electric-type moves, Gyarados had to be extremely careful.
As for Pichu, its advantage was agility, but its drawback was weak offensive output, and its defenses and durability were poor. Currently, it could only provide support.
In the previous battle against Flint's Onix and Golem, they'd actually exploited an information gap and played to their strengths while avoiding weaknesses, using the opponents' quadruple weaknesses to win.
But if Gyarados and Pichu worked together, with one handling main offense and the other support, the situation would be completely different.
With Pichu's Lightning Rod ability present, Gyarados's quadruple weakness was essentially nullified.
And with Gyarados as a shield, Pichu didn't have to worry about its fragile body getting pummeled. It could just focus on support.
However, just to be safe, Caster mentally connected to his fishing space and decided to invest some points.
After all, when it came to Pokémon battles, winning when you could was always better.
First, Rain Dance. Taught twice, advancing to Proficient level.
Second, Dragon Dance. Taught six times, shooting straight up to Expert level.
Third, Dragon Tail and Outrage, each taught twice, both advancing to Proficient level.
Finally, Substitute. Taught only once, but it gave Gyarados much greater room for error.
"ROAAAAR~"
In an instant, Gyarados's strength surged dramatically. It was practically a transformation.
Of course, the others couldn't see the change in Gyarados.
In their eyes, after Caster's Gyarados appeared, it simply roared toward the sky a few times.
Its roar shook the arena, and its eyes blazed with fighting spirit, fitting the stereotypical image of Gyarados as a "brainless battle maniac."
Only Gyarados turned back to glance at Caster, its eyes full of resentment.
Trainer!
You had all this good stuff in your hands. Why didn't you bring it out earlier?!
You let me get beaten up by that Feraligatr!
"The battle begins!"
Right at that moment, the referee announced the start of the match.
Reluctantly, Gyarados could only bury its dissatisfaction for now.
"Granbull..."
Trixie waved her hand, about to launch an offensive.
But just then, a blinding light suddenly burst from Pichu's body, causing everyone present to temporarily lose their vision.
Immediately after, Gyarados's ear-splitting roar echoed across the field, making people's eardrums ache.
Trixie, having competed in a regional tournament before, was an experienced trainer.
Though her attack rhythm was suddenly disrupted, she quickly came up with a countermeasure.
Eyes still closed, she shouted: "Granbull, Roar! Ampharos, Magnetic Flux!"
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
Though Granbull had lost its sight, it didn't stop it from roaring with its eyes shut. The booming sound reverberated throughout the arena.
After being struck by the sound wave energy, both Gyarados and Pichu each manifested a dim shadow.
Their special attack had been lowered!
At the same time, Ampharos released an invisible electromagnetic field that blanketed the entire arena.
Though it too had its eyes closed, the magnetic field was like a second pair of eyes, allowing it to sense the movements of every Pokémon on the field with perfect clarity.
Not only that, once the magnetic field was established, two glowing auras appeared around Ampharos.
Magnetic Flux: an Electric-type move. By manipulating magnetic fields, it raises the Defense and Special Defense of Pokémon with the Plus or Minus abilities.
Clearly, this Ampharos had the Plus ability.
So Magnetic Flux not only provided sensory coverage but also boosted its defenses. It was killing two birds with one stone.
In the opening exchange, the veteran trainer Trixie had seized the advantage, lowering her opponents' special attack while raising Ampharos's defenses. Many onlookers nodded in approval.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
But as a few raindrops began to fall, people finally realized something was off.
Once their vision returned, they discovered that at some point, a rain cloud had formed above the indoor arena.
It was raining!