A bizarre roar from the Sanctuary's guardian Dragonite snapped everyone out of their shock.
"Big deal! You can fly!"
Wille finally sensed something was off. Furious, he barked, "But you dare hog the Dragon Dance right in front of me? That's outright disrespect!"
Wille steeled himself, murderous intent flashing in his eyes. "Flygon, Stone Edge!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a beat of its wings Flygon conjured several bucket-thick spiked stone pillars that shot through the sky like missiles, straight at the airborne Gyarados.
"Awoo—"
Roaring, Gyarados whipped its long, powerful body, spiraling up one moment and diving the next, dodging every stone while leaving echoing dragon cries in the air.
It was the secret application of the Dragon Master Family's Dragon Dance technique.
The failed Stone Edge not only wasted an attack but also allowed Gyarados to finish its Dragon Dance.
At last Wille panicked.
Adrian's Gyarados was far stronger than expected!
If it managed one more Dragon Dance, he might as well concede.
He absolutely couldn't let it finish: "Flygon, max-power Hyper Voice!"
Hyper Voice—a Normal-type special nuke that uses deafening sound to damage every pokémon nearby, its force only a hair below Hyper Beam.
Crucially, as a sound-based spread move, it couldn't be dodged by any aerial acrobatics.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Flygon flapped frantically, horrific sound waves rippling from its wings like a stone tossed into still water, the very air shimmering.
Wherever the waves passed, raindrops were pulverized into mist that curled skyward.
"Awoo—"
Just as the dance was about to finish, the sonic blast struck; Gyarados grimaced in pain and faltered.
"Gyarados!"
Adrian's face changed—he hadn't expected Flygon to know Hyper Voice.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just when everyone thought the boost would fail, two hazy glimmers swept across Gyarados.
Dragon Dance completed—its Attack and Speed rose!
The price: it had taken the full Hyper Voice, lost plenty of stamina, and was now panting.
"It endured it!"
Clair's eyes showed admiration. "Adrian's Gyarados has real grit!"
"Damn—did it still go through?"
Wille's face was ashen.
Stone Edge had missed, and even a direct Hyper Voice hadn't broken the Dragon Dance?
Was it luck—or was this Gyarados far more proficient in Dragon Dance than he'd thought?
Wille's breathing quickened while his mind raced for a counter.
High above, the fully-boosted Gyarados loomed, its aura skyrocketing.
Head held high, eyes blazing, it glared down; surrounding pokémon lowered their heads, unable to meet its gaze.
"Awoo—"
With a roar it counterattacked, tail whipping as it charged Flygon.
Watching the weaving, darting Gyarados, Wille frowned. "Too agile—must pin it down."
He barked, "Flygon, Draco Meteor!"
Boom!
A giant orb of energy formed, shot skyward and burst, raining meteor-like projectiles that netted the weaving Gyarados.
"Awoo—"
Gyarados twisted and dodged, but the meteors closed in, shrinking the airspace until escape was impossible.
Seeing this, Adrian shouted, "Gyarados, Protect!"
Buzz!
A translucent shield formed, blocking every meteor amid endless detonations.
"Now—"
Delighted, Wille gambled everything: "Flygon, Outrage!"
Draco Meteor had never been about a KO—just to cage Gyarados so the next strike would land.
Outrage was Flygon's real ace.
Wille didn't expect it to one-shot Gyarados, just to lock it down and swing the odds.
Outrage doesn't hit once; it strikes two or three times in a row without pause.
Adrian's Gyarados might survive the first, but never the second.
That was Wille's chance to reverse the fight!
"Skree—"
Dragon energy surged; Flygon's eyes glowed red as it entered a berserk state, wrapped in draconic aura, and slammed into Gyarados.
"Forcing a showdown?"
Adrian narrowed his eyes, reading Wille's plan.
He glanced at the pouring rain, then at Gyarados, a cold smile tugging at his lips. "Then let's finish this in one go!"
"Gyarados, full-power Waterfall!"
"Awoo—"
With a dragon cry the protective shield vanished; instead a torrent of water erupted around Gyarados like a river flowing in mid-air.
Rain! Dragon Dance! Sea Kings Authority!
Tripled together, they tripled Gyarados's Attack to a staggering thirteen thousand points.
Why fear a head-on clash?
That was its comfort zone.
"Awoo—"
"Skree—"
In the sky, blue and green collided with a thunderous impact.
Yet the expected deadlock never came—Flygon folded like an egg against stone, hurled backward by Gyarados.
It was pushed a hundred metres before crashing to earth and carving out a crater, eyes already spinning.
Silence engulfed the field!
No one had foreseen such a crushing defeat for Wille and Flygon.
"Awoo—"
Only when Gyarados roared again did the crowd realize the match was over.
Adrian and Gyarados had swept both of Wille's pokémon in a clean two-for-none.
But that wasn't Gyarados's limit—only the match's limit.
Had it been a full six-on-six, Wille would have lost even harder.
Theoretically, the current Gyarados could now single-handedly bulldoze an entire team of six.
"Flygon is unable to battle—the winner is Adrian."
Finally shaking off her shock, Clair announced the result.
Without sparing Wille or Flygon a glance, the Dragon Elder stared fixedly at the descending Gyarados, eyes blazing.
He sprang from the bluestone, strode to Adrian, and asked solemnly, "Kid, do you want a Dratini ?"