Pokémon's Master of Rain

"Gyarados, MEGA EVOLVE!"

Caster did not bother shouting any of those ridiculous evolution catchphrases. He had no intention of cheapening the bond between him and Gyarados with something that embarrassing.

As he pressed his hand against the Key Stone, an old memory suddenly rose to the surface.

When he had first arrived in this world, Magikarp had been throwing itself furiously against the glass of its tank.

That had been their very first meeting.

Then Caster had nearly been knocked unconscious by a single swipe of Magikarp's tail.

Later, Caster had gone fishing by the river, but his bait had been so terrible that not a single Pokémon would touch it.

In the end, he had told Magikarp to bite the hook, accidentally activating his cheat ability in the process.

From that point on, Caster and Magikarp had used that ability to climb steadily toward the top.

One memory after another flashed through Caster's mind.

His eyes suddenly snapped open, and the scene before him came sharply into focus.

The Magikarp once dismissed as useless had long since evolved into the powerful, awe-inspiring Gyarados.

And now, that same Gyarados was about to evolve once again, pushing beyond the limits of ordinary evolution.

A surge of emotion welled up inside Caster.

Buzz!

At that moment, a dazzling light burst from the pendant in his hand.

"It's starting!"

Caster's face lit up with barely contained excitement.

Within the brilliant glow, the Key Stone set into his pendant began to change rapidly. Shimmering rainbow light sprang to life, casting a dazzling glow across the sea.

A moment later, the rainbow light split into several beams and shot from the Key Stone toward Gyarados.

At the same time, the Mega Stone mounted on Gyarados's head trembled faintly and began to shine, resonating with Caster's Key Stone.

The instant the light from the Key Stone connected with the glow of the Mega Stone, an extraordinary reaction began.

The two forces merged into an even brighter, more overwhelming torrent of energy. It poured into Gyarados and swallowed its entire body in a sea of light.

"Roooar!"

With a thunderous roar, Gyarados's body began to transform.

"Mega Evolution!"

Caster's eyes widened as he stared at Gyarados, refusing to miss even the smallest detail.

"Pika-pi!"

"Durr!"

"Yano!"

"Shwaa!"

Nearby, the four younger Pokémon watched their big brother without blinking, witnessing the birth of a miracle.

Slowpoke, in particular, had an unusual gleam in its eyes. No one could tell what it was thinking.

"Roooar!"

Gyarados's roar echoed across the sea, loud enough to shake the air.

Within the brilliant light, its curved body was the first thing to change, rising into a higher arch.

Then the horns on its forehead and the sharp, finlike spines running along its back grew longer and larger, eventually resembling a massive sail rising from its body.

At the same time, Gyarados's frame became thicker and more powerful. Several red jetlike vents appeared along its sides, occasionally blasting out massive streams of water.

Even its two whiskers continued to lengthen until they looked like slender ribbons fluttering through the air.

Caster watched the transformation with barely restrained excitement.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. Once the Mega Evolution energy surrounding Gyarados was finally spent, the brilliant light around it slowly began to fade.

"Roooar!"

When the light disappeared completely, the newly transformed Mega Gyarados stood before them.

At the same moment, a terrifying presence radiated outward from Mega Gyarados, leaving all four younger Pokémon trembling.

They knew the figure before them was their beloved big brother, but his presence was simply too overwhelming. Their instincts filled them with equal parts fear and awe.

The timid Shellder could not even bring itself to look directly at Mega Gyarados. Its tongue hanging out nervously, it hurried in front of Caster as if to protect him.

"Gyarados, how do you feel?"

Caster studied Mega Gyarados closely. He could sense an extraordinary power surging from its body.

That power was so immense that Caster felt Gyarados might now be capable of going toe to toe with a Legendary Pokémon.

Powerful. Majestic. Dependable.

That was the impression Mega Gyarados gave him.

"Roooar!"

Gyarados answered with an excited cry.

It felt incredible.

Better than it ever had before.

It lowered its head and looked down at the sea.

Its new form was reflected across the surface of the water, making it even more excited.

Boom! Boom!

Without warning, enormous streams of water erupted from the red vents along Mega Gyarados's sides.

Propelled by the recoil, Mega Gyarados launched itself over the surface of the sea. Its terrifying speed exceeded the speed of sound, producing a piercing shriek as it tore through the air.

In the blink of an eye, Gyarados had traveled more than three hundred feet.

The water streams it released were just as terrifying. The instant they struck the sea, they exploded violently, sending countless sprays of water soaring into the air.

"With that much power, I'd believe you if you said it was Hydro Pump!"

Caster stared at the destruction Mega Gyarados had caused, momentarily speechless.

The truth was, those water jets were merely a byproduct of Gyarados's flight.

They were not even an attack. Mega Gyarados had produced them simply by moving, so they could not even be called a basic offensive move.

"Trainer, I don't want to evolve into Slowking anymore. I want to become Slowbro!"

At that moment, a young voice echoed inside Caster's mind. Slowpoke was speaking to him through telepathy.

"Huh? Why the sudden change of heart?"

Caster paused, but quickly understood.

The reason was obvious. Slowpoke had seen the terrifying power Gyarados gained through Mega Evolution and wanted the same thing.

As the most intelligent Pokémon on the team, Slowpoke knew many of Caster's secrets. Caster even asked for its advice from time to time, so Slowpoke knew that Slowbro could Mega Evolve while Slowking could not.

What Pokémon could resist the temptation of Mega Evolution?

"We'll talk about that later!"

Caster waved it off and turned his attention back to Mega Gyarados.

With a thought, Mega Gyarados's status panel appeared before him.

[Pokémon: Mega Gyarados (Royal Authority of the Sea)]

[Type: Water/Dark]

[Ability: Mold Breaker (The Pokémon's moves are unimpeded by the Ability of the target.)]

[Moves: ... Torment, Lash Out, Dark Pulse]

"It learned three new moves? Not bad. Not bad at all!"

Caster was thrilled as he studied the new moves displayed on the panel.

Perhaps because Mega Evolution had added the Dark type to Gyarados, it had finally filled the gap in its Dark-type move pool and learned three Dark-type moves at once.

Torment: The user torments and enrages the target, making it incapable of using the same move twice in a row.

Lash Out: The user lashes out to vent its frustration toward the target. This move's power is doubled if the user's stats were lowered during this turn.

Dark Pulse: The user releases a horrible aura imbued with ill intent. This may also make the target flinch.

All three moves were extremely useful.

"Roooar!"

After Caster dismissed the status panel, Mega Gyarados returned with a piercing roar, its excitement written all over its face.

"Gyarados, let's see exactly how powerful you've become!"

A faint smile tugged at the corners of Caster's mouth, and his eyes shone with anticipation.