The battle with Cynthia (3)

"What?" Liu Qing's face fell at the sight of the Twister. Exeggutor might have barely endured an ordinary Twister, but with countless chunks of ice and water mixed into it, the damage would rival the quadruple damage of a Bug-type move. Watching the spectacular vortex, Liu Qing could only smile wryly. He had still underestimated Cynthia.

Boom! Milotic soon drove the vortex of ice and water into the ground with a deafening crash. The ice and water scattered instantly, revealing Exeggutor lying motionless on the ground, its body covered in frostbite and bruises.

"Exeggutor is unable to battle. Milotic wins!" Uncle Fu announced.

"Return, Exeggutor." Liu Qing recalled Exeggutor into its Poké Ball, then took out another and threw it. "Gyarados, it's up to you."

"Roar!" As golden sparkles scattered, the purplish-red Gyarados appeared on the field and roared at Milotic, its Intimidate ability spreading outward.

"Gyarados, Aqua Tail!" Liu Qing commanded first.

"Roar!" Gyarados let out a great roar. Rings of water immediately wrapped around its enormous tail, which swept toward Milotic.

"Milotic, Surf!" Cynthia commanded without a trace of panic at Gyarados's attack.

"Miloo~" A blue gleam flashed through Milotic's eyes. Before Aqua Tail reached it, a wave suddenly surged beneath it and carried it high into the air, avoiding the sweep.

"Smash it!" Liu Qing shouted.

Boom! At Liu Qing's command, Gyarados slammed its tail into the wave, smashing it into countless droplets that scattered through the air. Sunlight refracted through them in seven colors, like a rainbow. With the wave gone, Milotic fell from above.

"Gyarados, Thunderbolt!" Liu Qing seized the opening.

As soon as he spoke, golden electricity appeared around Gyarados and shot straight at Milotic in midair.

"Milotic, Aqua Ring!" Cynthia commanded just as Thunderbolt was about to hit.

Milotic's long, flowing red fins above its eyes suddenly flared outward like strands of hair. Three transparent rings of water appeared around its body and began to pulse. With the rainbows surrounding it, the sight was so beautiful that even Liu Qing was captivated.

Thunderbolt surged toward it, but the three Aqua Rings drew in all the electricity. Milotic leaped lightly out of the electrified rings and, at Cynthia's command, opened its mouth and struck Gyarados with an Ice Beam. The beam met the electricity on Gyarados's body and exploded with a boom. Meanwhile, the Aqua Rings struck by Thunderbolt collapsed into countless droplets flickering with electric sparks, falling to the ground and vanishing.

As expected of Cynthia. She blocked Thunderbolt with just an Aqua Ring and even landed a powerful counterattack on Gyarados, Liu Qing thought in admiration. Watching Gyarados recover from the explosion, he called, "Gyarados, Giga Impact!"

"Roar!" Gyarados glared at Milotic with fury in its eyes. At Liu Qing's command, it roared in rage, a rapidly spinning pale purple aura enveloping its body as it charged straight at Milotic.

Before Gyarados even reached it, the wind pressure sent Milotic's long red fins fluttering, making it look exceptionally beautiful.

"Milotic, get ready." Faced with a Giga Impact unleashed by Gyarados's ten-meter body, even Cynthia's expression turned grave. The instant Gyarados was about to strike Milotic, she shouted, "Milotic, weave around it!"

"Miloo~" Just as Gyarados was about to hit, Milotic leaped, avoiding the blow from its head. It then wound its way along Gyarados's body like a snake, passing half its length in moments.

"Wishful thinking. You think that's enough to dodge?" Watching Milotic evade the attack this way, Liu Qing remembered how his Arcanine had fought Steelix at the Pokémon League Conference. A mocking smile tugged at his lips.

Oh no. I learned this move from him, so he must know how to counter it. The moment Cynthia spotted the smile on Liu Qing's lips, she realized what was wrong and shouted, "Milotic, use Twister, quick!"

Hearing Cynthia's command as it wove along Gyarados's body, Milotic whipped up a whirlwind from its tail without hesitation. At that very moment, Gyarados swung its tail, still wrapped in the purple aura, straight at Milotic. It smashed through the Twister and swept Milotic away. Pain twisted Milotic's face as it crashed to the ground and rolled several times before stopping.

"Milotic, Aqua Ring!" Although Twister had blocked some of the impact and reduced the damage, Milotic had still been badly hurt. Cynthia immediately called out.

Milotic struggled to raise its body. Its long red fins moved, and three rings of water appeared around it, pulsing gently. Its expression eased somewhat.

"Gyarados, Aqua Tail, wrap it up!" After a short wait, Gyarados's immobility wore off, and Liu Qing issued another command.

Only then did everyone realize that they had been focused on Milotic and failed to notice Gyarados could move again. Aqua Tail struck in an instant, sweeping around Milotic and passing through the Aqua Rings before coiling around its body.

"Milotic, Ice Beam!" Cynthia shouted immediately.

Milotic panicked as Gyarados's tail passed through the Aqua Rings and curled toward it. Hearing Cynthia's command, it immediately opened its mouth and fired several icy blue beams at the tail. Gyarados winced in pain, but it was already in a fury. Ignoring the pain, it coiled its tail tightly around Milotic, refusing to let go even as Milotic kept firing Ice Beam and ice formed over the tail.

"Thunderbolt!" Liu Qing shouted the moment Gyarados caught Milotic.

"Roar!" As though unleashing all its anger, Gyarados roared, electricity surging over its entire body and passing through its tail into Milotic. Milotic's face contorted in pain, and it screamed before losing the ability to battle. Gyarados flung it away and let out another victorious roar.

"Milotic is unable to battle. Gyarados wins!" Uncle Fu ruled.

"Return, Milotic." After recalling Milotic, Cynthia took out her fifth Poké Ball and threw it. "Gastrodon, I'm counting on you!"

With a flash of white light, a Gastrodon with a brown back and pink body appeared on the field.

"Gyarados, Aqua Tail!" Liu Qing commanded first.

"Roar!" Gyarados roared, activating Intimidate. Although Ice Beam had frostbitten its enormous tail during the battle with Milotic, Aqua Tail's power was undiminished. The huge tail slammed toward Gastrodon with terrifying force.

"Muddy Water!" Cynthia immediately countered.

On the field, as Aqua Tail approached, blue light flashed simultaneously through the three eyes on Gastrodon's head. A swirling vortex of mud then appeared around its body.

With a soft pop, the powerful Aqua Tail struck the vortex and sank into it without the slightest resistance, as though merging with it. Gyarados was initially puzzled that its opponent's move had done nothing, but then it realized the deeper its tail went, the greater the resistance became. When it tried to pull back, it could barely extract its tail at all. Muddy Water began creeping up its body, and Gyarados struggled with its whole body, only for the mud to spread faster the harder it fought.

How is this possible? Is Gastrodon's Muddy Water actually sludge? Even sludge shouldn't be able to trap Gyarados so easily that it can't break free. Liu Qing was startled too, but he did not panic. Instead, he remained perfectly calm. If he removed the water from Muddy Water, could it still hold Gyarados?

"Gyarados, calm down! Thunderbolt!" Liu Qing shouted as soon as he thought of a solution.

Hearing Liu Qing's command, the violently struggling Gyarados immediately stopped. Golden electricity flashed over its body and flowed into its tail. Muddy Water gradually stopped spreading, then rapidly dried and flaked away.

"Gastrodon, Stone Edge!" Seeing Thunderbolt gradually evaporate the moisture in Muddy Water, Cynthia had achieved her goal of wasting Gyarados's stamina and immediately ordered an attack.

"Gyarados, break free, quickly!" Seeing white rings of light appear around Gastrodon, spinning rapidly across one another, Liu Qing grew anxious and shouted.

"Roar!" At Liu Qing's command, Gyarados roared, and the electricity over its body instantly doubled in intensity. The remaining moisture in Muddy Water evaporated at a visible rate.

But at that very moment, Gastrodon finished preparing Stone Edge. Countless sharp stones shot forward and struck Gyarados just as it pulled its tail free, erupting in a series of booms. Gyarados's face twisted in pain, and it cried out.