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With the guidance of the skill, the already violent rain instantly doubled in intensity.
Raindrops the size of beans pelted the deck, letting out a series of dense, muffled thuds.
Visibility on the sea dropped to less than five meters.
Under the boost of the Rain Dance weather, the power of Water-type moves received a qualitative leap.
More importantly, in such a downpour, the accuracy of Electric-type Pokémon would be severely hindered, while the Gyarados' Waterfall and Hydro Pump would become omnipresent.
The field advantage had completely shifted to the opponent.
The Gyarados Leader swam slowly through the curtain of rain, its body flickering in and out of sight amidst the waves like a moving hill.
It was waiting—waiting for this group of humans to collapse before the great power of nature.
Yuki's face turned somewhat pale.
She could feel that weather of this intensity had already exceeded the team's limit of endurance.
"Lord Ruth, the environment has deteriorated severely. Shall we continue the operation?"
She pressed her communicator, her gaze fixed on the gargantuan creature in the distance.
Ariel did not answer.
He reached out his hand, feeling the icy rain on his fingertips.
He raised his hand and threw three Poké Balls.
The moment the three Pokémon emerged, the atmosphere on the sea changed instantly.
Greninja hit the water with hardly a Splash.
Its movements underwater were surprisingly fast as it pushed aside the waves in its path and dove toward where No. 3 had sunk.
Within seconds, its frog-like claws had gripped No. 3's wrist, dragging him up from the seabed.
On the other side, Deino's actions were just as decisive—it bit down on the tail of the Gyarados trying to approach Yuki.
That Gyarados stiffened immediately.
It clearly hadn't expected this, and it thrashed its tail violently, trying to shake Deino off.
Deino held on tight; no matter how much the Gyarados struggled, it simply wouldn't let go.
The Gyarados thrashed more and more frantically, eventually spinning itself like a top; Deino spun right along with it, looking relaxed and not moving a single millimeter.
Yuki watched this scene, dumbstruck.
Ariel took No. 3 from Greninja, patted his back to help him cough up the water, and glanced casually at the commotion over there.
The Gyarados Leader was now staring at him with a ferocious look.
In its eyes, Ariel's actions were a blatant Taunt!
"Reporting to Lord Ruth, this Gyarados is Level 44!"
Yuki's voice came through.
Ariel did a quick calculation in his head.
He raised his hand and signaled to both Greninja and Malamar.
The Gyarados Leader had grown impatient.
It reared its body high in the rain, waves flowing down its back as all the Magikarp and Gyarados within a ten-meter radius scattered.
This was a warning, and a declaration of territory.
It stared at Ariel, waiting for him to show the panic it wanted to see.
Ariel thrust his hands into his pockets.
"Greninja."
Greninja curled its long tongue in its mouth and sized up the ten-meter-long behemoth from head to toe.
It had fought more troublesome opponents—but this one was indeed quite large, its size providing a sense of visual pressure.
However, Greninja's expression was:
Completely unafraid.
"Malamar, follow up."
Malamar poked its head out of the water, its eight tentacles resting lazily on the surface, just watching the opponent.
The Gyarados Leader was infuriated by this attitude.
This was exactly what Ariel wanted to see.
It lunged—without any tactical preparation, just a direct charge. A Level 40-plus Water-type special attack, a Hydro Pump under the Rain Dance weather, tore through the sea's surface and slammed down.
Greninja was no longer there.
With a Quick Attack, it circled to a spot six meters to the Gyarados' right, its movements clean and efficient.
The Gyarados turned, following up with a Waterfall, lunging in a circular arc.
Greninja dove into the water and re-emerged three meters from the Gyarados' flank.
The Gyarados had no experience with this style of fighting—its combat logic was simple: charge, crush, charge again. It had used this routine in these waters for years and had never encountered anyone who dodged instead of clashing head-on.
Greninja didn't match its strength and was never in the position where it had Lock-On, which made the Gyarados Flail.
It lunged a third time, even faster, the commotion so great that it knocked several nearby Magikarp into the water.
Then, it was slashed from behind.
Malamar.
Psycho Cut.
A deep purple light sliced across its flank. The Gyarados recoiled in pain and lashed its tail backward, but Malamar had already submerged and surfaced on the other side, its tentacles drifting with the water, looking completely composed.
The Gyarados charged at Malamar.
This was the moment Ariel had been waiting for.
"Greninja, Water Shuriken."
Greninja formed them with both hands, and three Water-type shurikens were fired in succession, hitting the Gyarados' back, the side of its neck, and the base of its tail.
These weren't maximum damage points—Ariel had chosen disruption points to make it hurt and distract it, but not stop it.
If the Gyarados stopped to focus on a single target, its attack power would be much more concentrated, so it had to be kept moving, wasting its stamina on missing.
A Level 40's endurance isn't infinite.
After missing three times in a row, the Gyarados began to enter an out-of-control state—its attack power went up while its judgment dropped. This is a common trade-off for power-based Pokémon; the more they rely on instinct, the harder they are to control.
It began to attack indiscriminately, even striking at the ripples Greninja left in the water.
Greninja looked up at Ariel.
Ariel tilted his chin up.
Greninja Splashed up, using Quick Attack to close in from the front, and the blade-light of Aerial Ace sliced across the Gyarados' lower jaw—its weakest point of defense, a blind spot where the thick scales couldn't cover.
This didn't need to be taught; for Greninja, this kind of common sense was basic training.
The Gyarados slammed its head down, trying to crush Greninja into the water.
It was a step too slow.
"Malamar, Dark Pulse."
Malamar rose from directly below, its tentacles fully spread. It unleashed a Dark Pulse from its chest, the deep black energy wave slamming directly into the Gyarados' chest.
For a Gyarados that had spent most of its life rampaging based on instinct and had never faced disruptive strikes, the effect of this hit was equivalent to a forced power cut mid-sprint.
The Gyarados' roar cut off at that moment.
It shuddered in place, then slowly began to sink.
Greninja leaped off its back, clapped its hands, glanced down at the sinking leader, and then turned its gaze toward the nearby Malamar.
Malamar spread its tentacles in a shrug.
The surrounding Magikarp schools were silent for nearly four seconds before they began to retreat—that instinctive retraction of group animals before the strong caused the commotion across the entire sea area to quickly subside within a minute.
"Is it over?" Yuki's voice came through the communicator.
"Yeah."
Ariel recalled the Poké Balls.