Behind the Pokémon Center, there were several standard battlefields available for trainers who wished to spar; this was standard.
On either side of the battlefield, Adrian and Gary stood, facing each other from a distance.
"I was ready to battle your Gyarados in the lake, but I didn't expect you to choose a standard battlefield. Honestly, I'm quite surprised."
Gary looked at Adrian, a look of surprise on his face.
Because Gyarados is a Water-type pokémon, it can unleash more power in water, but once on land, it can only exert at most 80% of its full strength.
"After all, in most future competitions, we'll be on standard battlefields, so Gyarados needs to learn to adapt."
Adrian smiled, not hiding anything.
Standard battlefields are the mainstream venues for pokémon competitions.
Didn't Lance's red Gyarados have to crawl on land like a snake in the Master League?
The strong never complain about the environment; they only adapt to it!
And Adrian yearned to be strong!
With that, Adrian released his Gyarados.
"Awooo~"
Accompanied by a mighty roar, Gyarados appeared on the dirt field. Its massive body always left shallow marks on the ground as it moved.
"You're absolutely right! I'm growing to admire you more and more."
Gary nodded in agreement, then took out a poké ball and threw it: "In that case, I'll go all out too. Go, my darling!"
"Awooo~"
Another deep roar sounded, and a large pokémon appeared. It was entirely purple with a white belly, a long poisonous horn on its head, and a row of thick spikes running down its back from its neck to its tail, resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
"Nidoking!"
Adrian's eyes narrowed, his expression serious.
He hadn't expected Gary, who had only recently started his journey, to have already raised a pokémon to its final evolution.
He truly lived up to his title of 'the little nurturer'; his talent in pokémon breeding was undoubtedly beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Nidoking possesses both Poison and Ground types, and there are many ways to train him. Coupled with his incredibly deep move pool, his battle tactics are hard to predict.
In the anime, Gary's Nidoking only appeared a few times, with his most significant scene being his defeat by Golem in the Indigo Conference.
"Gary, Gary, the best! Go, Gary, go!"
"Gary, Gary, so good! Gary, Gary, so handsome!"
While Adrian was momentarily stunned, Gary's girlfriends parked their luxurious convertible outside the arena, then streamed into the field, cheering for Gary while dancing.
"Thank you, my beautiful girlfriends!"
Gary tossed his hair, striking a cool and handsome pose: "Don't worry, I, Gary, won't disappoint you."
"How does this guy, Gary, manage to have so many girlfriends simultaneously? Not only is it not a massive chaotic scene, but they all get along so harmoniously."
Glancing at the smug Gary, Adrian thought: "I need to ask him about this sometime!"
"Gyarados is at a disadvantage on a standard field, so I can't take advantage of you."
Gary looked at Adrian, magnanimously saying: "You can go first!"
"In that case, I won't hold back!"
Adrian grinned and shouted: "Gyarados, Rain Dance!"
As soon as he spoke, Gary's expression changed slightly, and he said seriously: "You've already mastered a weather move like Rain Dance?"
Weather moves have always been powerful tools for tipping the scales of battle.
Because once the weather changes, certain types of pokémon gain unprecedented strength.
For example, in rainy weather, the power of Water-type moves increases, while the power of Fire-type moves decreases.
In addition, rainy weather can also be combined with certain specific moves or abilities to perform various wondrous functions.
For instance, Thunder and Hurricane become 100% accurate in the rain.
"Awooo~"
After a furious roar, the Water-type energy within Gyarados surged out, continuously gathering above the battlefield.
In just a blink of an eye, a small patch of dark clouds appeared in the previously clear sky, its area only slightly larger than the standard battlefield.
Immediately after, the dark clouds lowered, and a light drizzle began to fall on the field.
Rainy weather, activated!!!
Gary waved his hand and shouted: "Nidoking, use Poison Sting!"
"Nido~"
With a furious roar, dark purple Poison-type energy continuously gathered in Nidoking's mouth until it condensed into countless needle-like projectiles, which shot towards Gyarados nearby.
From a distance, Adrian could already smell the pungent odor, which indicated that Nidoking's Poison Sting move was undoubtedly extremely potent.
"Gyarados, use Icy Wind to block the Poison Sting."
Under Adrian's command, Gyarados spewed a blast of cold wind from his mouth. Nidoking's Poison Stings were frozen into ice sculptures as soon as they approached, shattering into powder upon hitting the ground.
"Quite a trick!"
Gary folded his arms, appearing very composed, and chuckled: "After the appetizer, it's time to show some real skill. Nidoking, charge forward and use Poison Jab."
As a Poison-type move, Poison Jab's power far exceeded Poison Sting.
The large and sturdy Nidoking began to run, like a bloodthirsty Tyrannosaurus Rex, making the ground tremble slightly.
And the horn on his head, glowing with dark purple light, became even thicker and longer, thrusting irresistibly towards Gyarados.
"Bounce!"
Seeing the aggressive Nidoking, Adrian decided to play it safe.
Because if he were to directly clash with Waterfall, he wasn't confident of victory.
And once Nidoking entangled Gyarados, Gyarados would be in danger.
Compared to Gyarados, who has no limbs, Nidoking, with his strong limbs and powerful tail, was clearly better at close combat.
If Nidoking knew the Thunder Punch move, then Gyarados would essentially be useless in close combat.
Gyarados, being quadruple weak to Electric-type moves, could very likely be knocked out in one hit!
In addition, one of Nidoking's abilities, 'Poison Point,' also had to be careful of, otherwise, once touched, there was a chance of falling into a 'poisoned' state.
Boom!
Slamming his tail heavily on the ground, Gyarados took off with a propelled start, soaring dozens of meters into the air, and then, in one swift motion, sprayed a chilling stream of water, engulfing the unsuspecting Nidoking.
Water-type move: Soak!
Besides dealing damage, its secondary effect is to lower the opponent's attack.
"Nido~"
Chilled by the cold water, Nidoking felt a chill throughout his body, and his physical condition visibly declined.
"Your Gyarados is quite something!"
Gary's eyes narrowed slightly, clearly not expecting Adrian's Gyarados to have mastered the Bounce move.
Otherwise, with Gyarados's enormous size, Nidoking's Poison Jab move would practically be impossible to miss.
And once in close combat, that was Nidoking's comfort zone for battle.
"Your Nidoking isn't bad either; he's full of power, and his moves are very strong, making him not to be underestimated."
Adrian praised him sincerely, clearly acknowledging Nidoking's strength.
Gary truly lived up to his title of 'the little nurturer'; he had only just started his journey and had already raised such a powerful Nidoking, almost without any weaknesses in any aspect.
One must know that Gary's ace wasn't Nidoking, but his starter pokémon, Squirtle.
Of course, at this stage, Squirtle had a high probability of having evolved into Wartortle.
In contrast, Ash's current pokémon were just a few weak ones, without a single powerful pokémon.
"Again!"
After a noncommittal smile, Gary once again commanded Nidoking to launch an attack.
"Gary, Gary, the best! Go, Gary, go!"
"Gary, Gary, so good! Gary, Gary, so handsome!"
Seeing this, Gary's girlfriends cheered even more enthusiastically, wildly twisting their waists and legs.
But what no one noticed was that an uninvited guest had arrived at Gary's luxury car, which was parked outside the standard battlefield.
This was a pokémon with a light yellow body, a pair of diamond-shaped black ears, black markings around its neck, and pink circles on its cheeks.
After rummaging through the car with its short front paws, the little fellow quickly found a box of poffin, opened it, and eagerly gobbled them down.
Seeing that no one had noticed him, the little fellow wasn't in a hurry to escape. Instead, he comfortably leaned back in the car seat, eating and watching the battle not far away.
Food to eat and fun to watch, how comfortable!