"Cough, cough, cough—!"
Because of Tyranitar's explosive entrance, Gary accidentally swallowed a mouthful of sand in his shock. He crouched by the battlefield, dry-heaving for quite a while before finally recovering.
But when he looked back at Tyranitar standing in the arena—
He desperately wished this was all just a hallucination.
"Master… this is the Pokémon you said you 'borrowed'?"
"Yeah. Without a strong Pokémon guarding the Gym, it feels a bit unsafe, so I brought it back."
Red looked at Tyranitar on the field.
"Long time no see, Tyranitar."
Tyranitar's tail slammed against the ground, kicking up dust. When its crimson eyes landed on Red, a rare, almost human-like smile appeared.
"Master… can I forfeit?" Gary really wanted to surrender now. If he had known what Red had "borrowed"—
Red waved his hand.
"It's fine. Just do your best to show your new move. With me here, nothing will go wrong."
"…Alright! If that's the case, let's go!"
"Wartortle, use Rain Dance!"
At Gary's command, Wartortle closed its eyes and began to gather moisture in the air.
But almost immediately, something felt off.
Normally, the air was rich with water particles—easy to gather into rain clouds.
But this time, no matter how hard it tried, the moisture wouldn't budge.
It was as if something else had absolute control over it.
Confused, Wartortle opened its eyes—only to be met with a stinging blast of sand across its skin.
Red looked at Gary and Wartortle.
"In a Gym that specializes in weather… you're trying to compete with Tyranitar over control of it?"
"Bold idea."
Gary scratched his head awkwardly.
"Well… you told me to try anything, Master…"
Red snapped his fingers.
"Fine then. Let Tyranitar show you how Rain Dance is really used."
"Tyranitar—Rain Dance."
Tyranitar's move pool was absurdly deep.
And in the Pokémon world, many Pokémon could learn seemingly illogical moves—like Wooper learning Ice Punch without hands.
Or Groudon learning Aerial Ace (famously mocked for "can't fly but still uses flying moves").
The moment Red finished speaking—
The sandstorm stopped instantly.
The swirling grains of sand fell lifelessly to the ground.
A single raindrop fell.
Then, in the next second, torrential rain poured down over the rocky battlefield.
Yet strangely, despite the rain, Wartortle felt as though the water itself was rejecting it.
The bizarre sensation left it completely bewildered.
Tyranitar stood in the rain, water streaming down its armor like flowing rivers.
Despite being a Rock-type Pokémon, it showed no discomfort—almost as if the rain were no different from sand.
Then Tyranitar stepped forward.
Wartortle shut its eyes nervously.
But instead of attacking, Tyranitar extended its massive claw and gently patted Wartortle's head.
When Wartortle opened its eyes again—
The rain had vanished.
In its place, a blazing sun hung in the sky, radiating intense heat and quickly drying the battlefield.
After the sandstorm and the downpour, the previously cracked and shattered terrain had somehow returned to its original state.
Even someone as experienced as Gary couldn't help but be amazed.
"This Tyranitar is incredible! Even if it's not officially at Elite Four level yet, its combat power probably already surpasses most Elite Four Pokémon."
Wartortle nodded thoughtfully.
That overwhelming control over weather had given it new insights.
Gary patted Wartortle's head.
"Looks like we've underestimated what it means to be a trainer."
"Come on, Wartortle—back to training! We have to get stronger! Maybe not to surpass Master or Tyranitar yet…"
"But at least we should be able to surpass that idiot Ash!"
Watching Gary train seriously, Red nodded in satisfaction.
At that moment, a system notification sounded in his mind.
[Ding~ Gary's exclusive quest "Reclaiming the Original Aspiration" +10%]
[Reward obtained: Evolution Potion (increases a Pokémon's IVs by 3–5 points)]
[Next stage reward: Evolution Potion ×2]
Red looked at the transparent syringe that appeared in his hand.
"So this is the Evolution Potion?"
Inside the syringe was a pale blue liquid, accompanied by two DNA-like double helix rings, giving it a distinctly high-tech feel.
For now, Red put it away—he hadn't decided which Pokémon to use it on yet.
But Gary's last remark reminded him of someone—
Ash.
"Since Gary has already come to Songzao Gym… is there a chance Ash might pass by here too?"
Red was actually quite curious to see the legendary Pikachu—capable of taking hits from mythical Pokémon one moment and losing to starter Pokémon the next.
"And Team Rocket… and Meowth. Honestly, that'd be pretty interesting."
Meanwhile, somewhere deep in a forest—
Ash and his group, who had been lost for three days, let out miserable groans.
"Where even is the road?! I miss the soft beds at Pokémon Centers… and curry rice…"
Pikachu lay weakly on Ash's shoulder.
"Ash! You're complaining now?! If you hadn't insisted on following your 'intuition,' we wouldn't be stuck in this forest!"
"It's creepy, full of bugs, and I can't stand being here for another second!!!"
Beside him, Misty looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown.
Brock stepped in between them helplessly.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let's save our energy and focus on getting out."
Back at Songzao Gym—
Just as Red and Gary finished their battle—
Inside the storage room, the incubator began to react.
When Tyranitar had appeared earlier, the Pokémon egg inside had started to shake noticeably.
A faint white glow emanated from its surface.
Clearly—
This Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon egg was on the verge of hatching.