After that first exchange, David quietly let go of any hope for a quick finish.
This Lapras was on a completely different level from the Dewgong and Cloyster that came before it. It was not the kind of opponent that could be worn down in a handful of moves. But rather than feeling discouraged, David found himself smiling. Opponents like this were hard to come by. And only by beating them could anything truly worthwhile be gained — whether that was Zorua growing stronger through a real fight, or the rewards the system would hand out for a hard-earned win. Either way, David came out ahead. Win-win, as he liked to think of it. He won, and then he won again.
Across the field, the opposing trainer was feeling something very different.
She was genuinely stunned. Others watching the match might not have understood the full weight of what was happening, but she knew exactly how strong her Lapras was. Unlike the Dewgong and Cloyster she had sent out first — solid Pokémon, but nothing exceptional, the kind she kept around for dealing with ordinary challengers — this Lapras was her ace. It was her newest main Pokémon and the cornerstone of the team she was building toward a Gym Leader position.
Its origins were anything but ordinary. She had gone through considerable effort and called in more than a few favors to acquire it from the official League, back when it was still an Egg. The League maintained a sizeable number of Lapras at their official breeding facilities. Because of its impressive carrying capacity and its natural instinct to assist people in danger at sea, a well-trained Lapras made an ideal partner for coastal safety officers, and the League had bred many of them over the years. Her Lapras had come from one such breeding program — and it had been the most outstanding of its graduating class. She had recognized its potential the moment she saw it.
Its parentage alone told the story. Its mother was an Elite-level Lapras. Its father, somehow, was an Elite-level Primarina. The size difference between the two species was something best left unquestioned — the way Pokémon worked sometimes simply defied explanation — but the result spoke for itself. In under two years of training, her Lapras had nearly caught up to her most experienced Pokémon. It had won battles that looked impossible on paper, carrying her to victory when the odds were against her.
And yet, today, it seemed as though she and Lapras were the ones being outmatched.
She was still turning that thought over in her mind when the clash in front of her reached a new intensity.
The energy from the collision shattered the newly refrozen surface of the pool. Watching the ice splinter and break, David felt a quiet wave of relief that he had not let Zorua step out onto it. If it had been standing on the ice when it gave way, the little fox would have been in the water — completely at Lapras's mercy.
The two Pokémon continued trading attacks. Dark pulse met Psybeam again and again in the air above the field, each exchange looking fierce, though in truth, both sides were still reading each other, looking for an opening.
Then the opposing trainer made her move.
"Lapras — Surf, maximum power!"
"Woo-ee~"
With a low, resonant cry, Lapras turned its full attention to the pool. The water responded immediately. It began to churn and swell, currents forming rapidly beneath the surface. With the central platform as its focal point, the pool water — barely thawed from the earlier freeze — began rising and circling with growing urgency.
In moments, a massive vortex had formed around the platform. It pulled in everything nearby — loose chunks of floating ice, debris from the broken surface — and continued to grow. Under Lapras's steady influence, the scale of the vortex expanded further and further, until the entire pool seemed to be in motion at once, water surging and foaming like a storm at sea.
Zorua had no clean answer to this.
"Zorua — Psybeam, freeze the incoming water!"
Under David's command, the little fox launched a Psybeam at the leading edge of the churning tide, trying to slow it down by freezing it in place.
The opposing trainer saw the plan immediately.
"That won't be enough," she said, her voice steady. "My Surf doesn't stop that easily. Lapras — ride it in, full power Surf!"
The Psybeam struck the surface of the oncoming wave and a thin layer of ice began to form — but Lapras did not slow down. A Psybeam alone was nowhere near enough to halt a Surf of this scale. The ice cracked and broke almost as fast as it formed. Lapras surged forward, using the momentum of the wave itself, riding up onto the crest as it built higher and higher.
By the time it was fully formed, the tidal wave looming over the field was dozens of metres tall. Even Zorua, who had seen more than a few impressive sights over the past several days spent travelling with David, could not help but feel the weight of it. This was not just a battle move anymore. It looked like a real ocean wave — raw, natural force given shape — and facing it head-on was simply not an option.
"Zorua — Confusion, get airborne!"
Zorua reached inward and gathered its psychic energy, using Confusion to lift itself off the platform entirely. Its body rose into the air just as the wave crashed down below.
The tidal wave hit the empty platform with a thunderous impact. Tiles shattered. Water sprayed in every direction.
David listened to the sound of the strike and exhaled slowly. If Zorua had still been standing there, even its impressive stamina would not have saved it from serious damage — and a direct hit from something that powerful might have ended the battle on the spot.
"That's a tricky one," David muttered, eyes still on Lapras as the water settled.
The Lapras was genuinely in a different class from the first two. He needed to think carefully. A plan was going to be necessary.