Dragon Spiral Tower, second floor of the Secret Realm.
Colby appeared on the island. He first studied his surroundings, then began gathering useful information along the coastline.
...
Out on the open sea.
The crimson Gyarados sliced rapidly through the waves, only its fierce, snarling head breaking the surface.
After six uses of Dragon Dance, Gyarados's speed had hit its absolute peak, and it surged forward in one final push toward the approaching finish line.
Jacob held tightly to the long horn on Gyarados's head, his eyes locked ahead.
Although Gyarados had managed to pull into the lead, King Relicanth behind them was already finishing its third use of Rock Polish. Once it completed that third Rock Polish, its speed would also reach its absolute limit, and then the real chase would begin.
Jacob glanced back. King Relicanth had just finished its Rock Polish, its muddy yellow body twisting as it burst forward with frightening speed.
What incredible speed!
The gap between it and Gyarados was visibly shrinking by the second. At this rate, King Relicanth would catch up and pass them well before the finish line.
Seeing this, Jacob gritted his teeth, racking his brain for a way to turn things around.
Both sides had now reached their maximum speed, so it had come down to a straightforward contest of power — and thanks to its Swift Swim ability, King Relicanth was simply faster than Gyarados in the water.
What could he do?
Jacob took a deep breath, searching for a solution, but at that moment, nothing came to mind. Gyarados's speed had already maxed out and could go no higher — the only other option would be to slow King Relicanth down instead. But because of the lightning barrier dividing the lane, neither side could interfere with the other. If not for that, Jacob could simply have had Gyarados use Scary Face to sharply cut King Relicanth's speed.
As things stood, though, he genuinely couldn't think of a useful answer.
He breathed deeply again, reminding himself to stay calm. The more critical the moment, the less room there was to panic. He had to think of something else.
Mega Evolution?
Jacob shook his head. For one thing, the bond between him and Gyarados wasn't deep enough yet to trigger a Mega Evolution. For another, in the games, Mega Gyarados gains no boost to Speed at all — and he had no way of confirming whether that held true in reality.
Gigantamax, then?
That wouldn't work either. What if Gyarados, once Gigantamaxed, couldn't simply be recalled into its Poké Ball the way Gigantamax Lapras could? That would be a disaster. On top of that, out here in the open ocean, Gigantamaxing would eat up precious time — time King Relicanth could use to overtake them completely.
Was there any other way to boost Gyarados's speed? Something to do with its shape, its weight, or perhaps a better command over Water-type energy?
Wait!
There was a way!
Jacob's eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face. With King Relicanth closing in fast behind them, he didn't hesitate — he pulled a rarely used item from his system space and threw it hard at Gyarados's head.
"Terastallize!"
A crisp, crystalline sound rang out as Tera energy gathered around Gyarados, wrapping its body in a layer of clear, glittering crystal. Above its head, a Water-type Tera symbol flickered into view.
A Water Tera Type Gyarados!
The moment it Terastallized, Gyarados's command over Water-type energy jumped up a level. It seemed to feel the pull of the current itself, the water sweeping across its body almost carrying it forward on its own.
In an instant, Gyarados's swimming speed surged again. It still wasn't quite a match for King Relicanth, but combined with the lead it had already built, Gyarados now had a real shot at holding on to first place until the finish.
King Relicanth felt that sudden burst of speed too, and it only spurred the Pokémon on harder. It thrashed its body with everything it had, chasing with all its strength.
"Gyarados, push harder! We're almost there — go!"
Hearing Jacob's voice and seeing the finish line draw near, Gyarados tapped into something even deeper, twisting through the water with everything it had, its crimson scales catching the sunlight in a dazzling shine.
What a magnificent sight!
"Gyaaa!"
With that roar, Gyarados surged forward one last time and crossed the finish line first, ahead by half a body length.
Watching it happen, Jacob finally let out a long breath of relief.
Lucky that he'd thought of Terastallizing at the last second — and lucky, too, that a Pokémon's Tera Type usually matches its primary type under normal conditions. Gyarados is a Water/Flying-type Pokémon, with Water as its primary type, so naturally its Tera Type had come out as Water as well.
Otherwise, this whole speed trial might have ended in failure.
If he'd known beforehand that this challenge would be all about speed, Jacob would have brought along a Barraskewda instead — 136 base Speed plus Swift Swim, with three quick uses of Agility on top of that. Nothing could have kept up with that.
...
Just as Jacob was about to move on to the next floor of the Dragon Spiral Tower, he noticed King Relicanth swimming around to face Gyarados head-on, settling into a battle stance as its aura began to climb steadily.
"Hmm?"
In the blink of an eye, King Relicanth's strength had risen all the way to Quasi-King Level. At the same time, Gyarados's own strength beside him rose to match it, reaching that same level.
Jacob frowned, watching this unfold, and slowly understood. The first floor had been a Gym Leader Level battle — so naturally, this floor's challenge would be a Quasi-King Level battle.
"A battle, huh? Am I allowed to switch Pokémon?"
At Jacob's question, King Relicanth gave a small nod in agreement. A Pokémon as proud as this one had no reason to fear a change of opponent.
Jacob studied King Relicanth carefully, weighing which Pokémon to send out.
As a Water/Rock-type Pokémon, Relicanth has exactly four weaknesses, each at double effectiveness: Fighting, Ground, Electric, and Grass. Its HP, Defense, and Attack are all excellent, with its physical Defense standing out as especially outstanding, while its Special Attack and Special Defense are comparatively weak.
Given all that, the most fitting choice seemed to be Sceptile. As a Grass-type, Sceptile naturally leans toward Special Attack, and even with a limited movepool of special attacks, a single STAB Solar Beam would be more than enough to pose a real threat to Relicanth.
And yet, in the end, Jacob chose to send out Iron Valiant instead.
As strong as Sceptile was, Jacob wanted to end this fight quickly — catching Gyarados and Dragonair earlier had already eaten up far too much time, and he couldn't afford to waste any more.
The bigger reason, though, was that after only half a year of training, Sceptile's strength had just barely reached Quasi-King Level. Jacob wasn't fully confident sending Sceptile up against a King Relicanth whose own strength had been raised to that very same level.
"Come on out, Iron Valiant!"