Although Kane Sawyer's Golduck didn't have the Swift Swim hidden ability, the Rain Dance weather was still highly advantageous for it.
As for why he didn't use Hail, which would have affected Togekiss even more—
Yes, Water- and Ice-types are closely related, but rules don't change: a pure Water-type like Golduck doesn't have immunity to the continuous damage caused by Hail the way Ice-types do.
Silas smirked slightly—being older had its benefits.
For these veteran trainers, having at least one Pokémon that could manipulate the weather seemed practically standard.
Silas had actually wanted Togekiss to use Sunny Day to fight back over weather control, but unfortunately, the little one didn't know it yet.
Among his six main Pokémon, only Gigalith could truly be said to command a weather condition—Sandstorm.
Moreover, even if Togekiss somehow managed to pull off Sunny Day right now, it likely wouldn't be enough to overpower Golduck's Rain Dance effect.
Their strengths were roughly similar, but the gap lay in skill mastery.
Unlike in the games, where a move used later could simply overwrite the previous weather, in this world, weather control during battle depended on both the Pokémon's strength and its mastery of the move.
Typically, if two Pokémon had similar strength and skill levels, their weather effects would cancel out, resulting in no weather change at all.
The battlefield's weather would simply revert to whatever the natural conditions should be, instead of one overriding the other.
That's why in official matches between powerful trainers, you rarely saw direct weather wars—it just wasn't worth the effort.
(That said, certain Pokémon with exceptional control over weather are a different case.)
Of course, things were different in the wild—unless you could convince your enemy trying to kill you to follow official 1v1 rules.
And that, obviously, was impossible.
This rule effectively prevented absurd scenes like Hail and Sandstorm raging at the same time, or Pokémon constantly hiding in their own weather while exchanging long-distance energy blasts—turning the battlefield into chaos.
On the field, Golduck formed two small glowing blue orbs in its hands, then merged them into a single large one that shot up into the sky.
Soon, a light drizzle began to fall.
But the next moment, Golduck's manipulation shocked everyone.
"Hm?"
Silas's eyes lit up.
The red gem on Golduck's forehead glowed, and the dark clouds in the sky suddenly compressed—shrinking in area but growing heavier—turning the drizzle into a torrential downpour.
The clouds summoned by Rain Dance were, after all, created by a Pokémon's move, which made them susceptible to manipulation. Natural clouds, however, wouldn't be as easy to control.
Still, the creativity was impressive—Kane thinking was certainly flexible. No doubt many others would try to imitate this trick.
Silas analyzed it with interest and quickly identified the flaw.
First, the duration—with that much rainfall intensity, Rain Dance's duration would be cut at least in half. And this method likely only worked with Rain Dance.
Sunny Day couldn't be forced into Harsh Sunlight, and manipulating Hail or Sandstorm to that degree would be exponentially harder.
Also, the boost to Water-type moves and the debuff to Fire-type moves wouldn't change with rainfall intensity.
Still, there was one advantage
Because of the torrential rain, Togekiss was forced to lower its altitude.
Flying high in a downpour caused unnecessary stamina drain—a clever way to pressure Flying-types.
"Golduck, use Water Pulse!" Kane seized the moment to attack.
Rippling waves—no, more like surging water—formed instantly. Golduck clapped its hands together, sending a Water Pulse straight upward.
"Use Ally Switch," Silas commanded, raising his voice unconsciously against the heavy rain.
A flash of psychic energy shimmered around Togekiss, and in the next instant—Golduck appeared midair, right in front of its own Water Pulse, taking the full hit directly!
Unlike in Double or Triple Battles—where Ally Switch exchanges positions between allies in Singles, the move swaps positions between the user and its opponent.
However, pulling that off was extremely difficult.
An ally wouldn't resist your psychic power—in fact, they'd cooperate. But an opponent always resisted.
Togekiss had only succeeded because it timed the move perfectly, right after Golduck launched Water Pulse and entered momentary stiffness.
Otherwise, with Golduck's psychic aptitude, it would have been nearly impossible.
Besides, very few people even knew Togekiss could use Psychic-type moves at all.
Most only thought of it as a symbol of happiness—or jokingly, as a "plane."
Kane certainly hadn't known.
Luckily, Golduck's Water-type nature allowed it to resist the hit fairly well.
But that wasn't the main issue.
"Golduck, Psychic!" Kane Sawyer called urgently because Golduck couldn't fly.
Falling from that height would definitely take time to recover from, and that delay could be fatal.
Golduck's panicked eyes calmed as blue-purple light radiated from the red gem on its forehead, enveloping its body.
Its free fall slowed into a gentle descent.
Togekiss, floating just above the water, flashed a mischievous smile.
You can't fly? That's fine—I can swim. And if I can't, I can still fly back up.
It flapped its triangular wings and soared back into the air.
"Air Slash!"
Silas, of course, wouldn't miss the chance.
"Toge-Kiss!"
Togekiss cried out confidently, and the white crescent-shaped blades of air shot forward toward Golduck.
"Don't flinch, don't flinch…" Kane prayed under his breath.
He could only blame himself for not expecting Ally Switch, a rare Psychic move and even more, for underestimating Togekiss's psychic strength.
Golduck, maintaining Psychic midair, had no good way to dodge.
Even letting go of Psychic to fall faster wouldn't help—it still needed time to accelerate, and Air Slash was far too quick.
"Wah!"
As the Air Slash struck, Golduck's pupils visibly shrank—the glow of Psychic flickered out.
Kane Sawyer sighed in frustration.
A flinch meant it couldn't move and Togekiss's attacks obviously weren't going to stop.
Just as he feared, one Air Slash after another rained down, slamming Golduck left and right, up and down, keeping it airborne and helpless.
By the time Golduck finally lost consciousness, it hadn't even managed to hit the ground.
"Golduck is unable to battle—Togekiss wins!"
The referee, drenched in the shrinking rain, walked to Golduck's side, checked it, then raised the flag for Silas.
At the edge of the field, three of Kane Sawyer's six Poké Balls dimmed—Donphan, Wobbuffet, and Golduck.
On Silas's side, only one Poké Ball—Serperior's—was dim, while Togekiss and his remaining four Pokémon still glowed bright.
"The first half of the match is over! Silas has taken a significant lead—but Kane's ace, Feraligatr, has yet to appear! There's still hope for a comeback!"
"In previous tournaments, Kane's Feraligatr once defeated three opponent Pokémon in a row—it has incredible explosive power and attack potential…"
Above, the commentator's voice continued enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Silas and Kane stepped down from the command platform, returning to their respective resting areas.
A 6-on-6 Full Battle was divided into two halves, with halftime beginning once either side lost three Pokémon.
After all, Pokémon battles required intense concentration and mental effort. Without a short break after three consecutive rounds, fatigue could easily lead to strange or careless decisions in the second half.
Both trainers followed the same procedure after returning to their rest zones—handing their fainted Pokémon over to Nurse Joy from the medical team.
Although Pokémon who fainted during normal battles could eventually recover consciousness inside their Poké Balls, their stamina and vitality wouldn't fully return without proper treatment.
Neglecting medical care could leave hidden injuries—something no serious trainer would risk.
Silas sat quietly on the chair in his rest area, staring straight ahead without a word.
On the opposite side, Kane took out his remaining three Poké Balls and seemed to be giving his Pokémon some last-minute instructions.
The fifteen-minute break passed quickly.
At the referee's signal, both trainers returned to the stage.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen—the second half of the battle is about to begin! What kind of thrilling match will these two trainers bring us next?
Without further delay—let's look forward to it!"
The commentator, who had been hyping up the audience for the full fifteen minutes, finally took a chance to rest, sipping water as both trainers sent out their Pokémon.
Silas chose to continue with Togekiss—he wasn't planning to switch.
Meanwhile, Kane sent out Swampert, the Water- and Ground-type Pokémon.
Swampert was a plump, blue amphibian Pokémon with purple and dark green stripes running across its back and tail.
Its slimy skin made it extremely hard to grab onto.
Naturally laid-back and somewhat goofy-looking, Swampert lived peacefully in the water, hardly reacting even if it bumped into rocks or ship hulls.
Its dull, unbothered personality reminded many of Slowpoke, though it was far more intelligent than it appeared—its calm demeanor wasn't actual stupidity.
Compared to its pre-evolved form, Marshtomp, Swampert no longer had the small purple antenna-like gills on its head but had gained two sturdy pairs of arms and a much larger, more powerful tail.
Although Swampert was a Ground-type, it actually didn't learn many Ground-type attacks—only around seven or eight in total.
However, since Rock- and Ground-type moves often overlapped in application, and Swampert could also learn several Rock-type moves that countered Togekiss, Kane Sawyer's choice was quite reasonable.
"Togekiss, Air Slash!"
Silas's strategy didn't change—why fix what wasn't broken?
In Singles battles, a Togekiss with this approach was often all it needed to dominate.
"Use Amnesia."
After the halftime break, Kane, who had seemed flustered earlier, had clearly regained his composure. He calmly gave his command.
Swampert didn't react outwardly—its usual wide grin only stretched wider. Its beady, sesame-like eyes revealed nothing of its thoughts.
Togekiss's Air Slash struck it cleanly, but there was no visible effect.
For a moment, Silas wasn't even sure whether it had flinched or not.
Swampert's reactions were naturally slow, and the Amnesia move temporarily blanked its conscious thought while greatly boosting its special defense—so not showing a reaction was normal.
"Playing dead, huh?"
Silas muttered, then immediately commanded,
"Another Air Slash!"
Whether Swampert had actually flinched or not didn't matter—attacking was always the right move.
Besides, Silas had absolute faith in Togekiss's luck—just as he trusted his own.
Rumble—!
The sound of rolling rocks filled the arena as a pile of jagged boulders suddenly appeared in front of Swampert.
Togekiss's first Air Slash hadn't triggered a flinch, but Kane had already prepared for that during halftime.
Following his trainer's instructions, Swampert used Rock Tomb, blocking the incoming attack and hiding behind the stones.
Reality was different from the games—in this world, nearly every move could be used creatively.
Just like how Golduck had earlier used Psychic to control its own movement midair, using Rock Tomb defensively as a barrier was perfectly viable.
It was precisely this flexibility that made Pokémon battles so captivating.
Silas smiled.
"Togekiss, Aura Sphere!"
Think you can hide from me?
He glanced at the stone barricade, completely unconcerned with Swampert's exact position.
Because Aura Sphere—never misses.
A glowing blue sphere of energy spun rapidly at Togekiss's beak, faint blue particles flickering across the arena for a brief moment.
But in the blink of an eye, the particles vanished—no one noticed, their full attention fixed on the battle.
The sphere expanded in size—soon reaching the diameter of a soccer ball.
With a flick of its head—almost like a "header"—Togekiss launched the Aura Sphere forward.
The blue energy shot toward the boulder wall, weaving through every crack and gap effortlessly.
Boom!
A dull explosion followed—Swampert was blasted out from behind the rocks.
Under the Blaziken's earlier guidance, Togekiss had learned Aura Sphere quickly, and in fact, its natural aptitude for it was even greater.
After all, Togekiss possessed powerful Aura sensitivity by nature—its ability to "sense happiness" was, in essence, part of its aura perception ability.
So its Aura Sphere packed a serious punch.
Even with the boosted defense from Amnesia, Swampert's dull face twisted in pain.
Kane grimaced.
A rare Togekiss that could master so many techniques—this was turning into a nightmare.
.....
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