Rain poured down, and on the lush grass, the lump of mud and stone exploded too, returning to its original size.
Both instances of Max Power had been cut off.
Mason probably had more stamina left, but even taking endurance, type matchups, and field synergy into account, either of them would fall to one more hit.
This seemingly endless battle had finally reached its last stage.
On top of everything else, it was raining now. That was the key to my second secret strategy.
"Mason!"
"Wonderful!"
"?"
"No way."
Just as I was about to give Mason an order, his body suddenly grew hot, and he cried out. The sudden development left me, Milo, and even the audience dumbfounded. The blue-white light illuminating the entire battlefield grew stronger, until it was too dazzling to look at. It shone for several seconds. To me, though, those seconds felt like ten whole minutes. When the light finally burst and my field of vision opened up, what I saw was-
"Jimi!"
"He evolved. He really did."
"Jimelon. The water lizard Pokémon. Mason's evolved form. Water-type.
It engages in battles of wits and courage using water balls formed by rolling water in its palms."
Mason had evolved right before my eyes. The Rotom encyclopedia explained what had happened. I could not help staring in astonishment at the mysterious event unfolding before me.
"Kaim!"
"Huh!?"
"Evolution is wonderful, but freezing up with an enemy right in front of you is a terrible move. Watomoth, 'Rinsho'!"
Jimelon's words dragged my mind back to reality.
Of course I was delighted by the evolution, and the sudden development had left me frozen, but right now, that could be fatal. My reaction had indeed been a little slow. Still, there was time. The evolution had almost made me forget,