Kyogre?
Nope. It's Dondozo!
A massive catfish Pokémon.
Normally, they already reach an astonishing 12 meters in length, but this one—just eyeballing it—had to be at least 15 meters long. It far exceeded the size of an average Dondozo.
Its massive body loomed like a small mountain, delivering a visual impact that was nothing short of breathtaking.
With Dondozo's appearance, the already intense tournament atmosphere exploded to a whole new level.
"Dondozo! It's Dondozo! Contestant Caleb actually fished up a Dondozo!"
The commentator jumped to his feet, gripping the mic, screaming at the top of his lungs.
You have to understand—Dondozo is one of the largest Pokémon in the vast oceans. Its only real rival in sheer size is Wailord.
But even so, this Dondozo was clearly something special—its size was on a whole other level.
If Caleb could manage to capture it, it would completely flip the rankings, overtaking Miles's Milotic.
Staring at the massive beast in front of him, Caleb was at a complete loss.
Never mind catching it—if this thing so much as twitched, his little boat might capsize right then and there.
"Doooon—!"
Dragged out of the water so suddenly, Dondozo was enraged. It opened its mouth wide, and a powerful jet of water blasted forth.
Just as it was about to hit, a green barrier snapped into place—Chansey had used Protect, perfectly blocking the attack.
"Toxic!"
Caleb immediately gave the order. He knew he had no advantage fighting head-to-head on the open sea, so he had to wear it down instead.
Chansey was just about to summon a strange, glowing orb of poisonous energy in her hands when a sudden wave of malevolent energy interrupted her.
Taunt?!
Caleb instantly recognized the move.
Taunt—a notorious counter to all status moves, a staple in competitive team battles.
But... Dondozo shouldn't have Taunt in its move pool!
Which meant the only likely culprit was...
Tatsugiri!
Sure enough, coiled on top of Dondozo's head was a little orange fish.
It might be tiny, but it was dangerously clever.
Dondozo might look powerful, but when it came to brainpower... yeah, not its strong suit.
Out of survival instincts or maybe something more, the two had formed a bizarre kind of partnership. They hunted together, and some Dondozo even treated Tatsugiri as their boss.
What made things worse was that Tatsugiri had the Commander ability, which could massively boost Dondozo's stats during battle.
Oh, and by the way—despite the name "Tatsugiri," it really is a Dragon-type Pokémon.
"Mili!"
This particular Tatsugiri was unbelievably arrogant. It didn't just Taunt Chansey—it even threw a Taunt at Caleb himself.
Oh HELL no.
You think I can't deal with you?
I've got a whole boat full of Magikarp and nowhere to vent my frustration!
"Chansey, use Egg Bomb!"
The moment Caleb gave the command, Chansey pulled a large, round egg from the pouch on her belly and hurled it straight at Dondozo.
But this wasn't just any old Egg Bomb—this was Caleb's Chansey's Egg Bomb.
And everyone knows: Egg Bomb is a Normal-type move where a huge egg is hurled to damage the target.
But Caleb's version came with a twist—the egg was laced with poison. And not just any poison—toxic poison, the kind that keeps stacking over time.
BOOM!
The egg exploded on impact, and thick purple smoke engulfed the area around Dondozo.
As the smoke slowly cleared, splotches of dark, poisonous blotches had already spread across half of Dondozo's massive body.
Even the Tatsugiri on its head hadn't escaped. It, too, was now writhing from the toxic exposure.
It had no idea how things had gone so wrong. It had already used Taunt to block Chansey's moves, so how had they still ended up poisoned?
As its vision began to blur, the Tatsugiri suddenly leapt up and dove into Dondozo's mouth...
Commander ability activated!
In an instant, Dondozo's aura exploded. A terrifying shockwave radiated out in all directions. Though it was still poisoned, its once sluggish posture became fierce and energized.
All five of its stats received a massive boost.
Just from its presence alone, it now felt like the undisputed king of this part of the sea.
But...
Caleb wasn't about to let it get away with that.
He smirked confidently and said, "Haze."
"Gaaaastly~"
At the command, Gastly floated up in front of Dondozo. The two locked eyes for a brief moment before Gastly began spewing a thick, pitch-black mist from its mouth.
Haze—a powerful Ice-type move that resets all stat changes on the field.
There's an old saying among competitive trainers in Paldea: "You might not have a Dondozo, but you damn well better have something that can counter it."
As the dark mist spread, Dondozo's overwhelming aura instantly vanished. All the stat boosts it had just received disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Poison spots once again crept up its enormous body.
Caleb saw his moment and didn't hesitate. He threw a Poké Ball.
It barely even struggled. The ball shook three times, and just like that—Dondozo was caught.
"Un... unbelievable! Contestant Caleb has actually captured Dondozo—just like that!"
The announcer looked out at the sea, frowning. Thanks to that Egg Bomb, the area was now completely void of fish.
The sea would recover eventually... but for now, the tournament had to end early.
...
At the awards ceremony, Caleb stood proudly at the top of the podium.
To his left was a burly middle-aged man—Miles, the guy who caught that Milotic, and also the father of Lana from Alola.
To his right stood Fiona, wearing a white dress and sporting her signature pink buns.
The three of them were the champion, runner-up, and third-place winners, respectively.
The person presenting the awards? None other than a familiar face—Daisy from the Cerulean Gym.
A gorgeous blonde with big "cool big sister" energy.
Being the leader of the Solaceon Gym—rival to Cerulean—Daisy clearly recognized Caleb.
"I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now, Gym Leader Caleb."
Talk about what? How to turn my gym into a water ballet stage?
No thanks.
Times have changed. The Solaceon Gym is way out of your league now.
Please don't lump me in with you. Thanks.
Daisy handed over a tray. "Here's your champion's prize—the Dream Rod Set and the Mystic Water."
Mystic Water? Man still has tons of those in storage.
But the Dream Rod Set? Rumor has it they're out of production—money can't buy one anymore.
Man had people hunting for this thing forever, and now it's finally mine. Heh heh...
"Oh, and this."
Daisy held out her fist and smiled. "A little something from me. Hope you'll accept it."
Aw, you shouldn't have—but hey, I'm not gonna say no to free stuff.
Caleb curiously accepted the gift. It felt metallic in his hand.
[Ding! Mission Triggered]
[Mission Objective: Participate in the Indigo League Tournament. Badge Collection Progress: (1/8)]
???
Wait—this system gives out missions now?
I thought it only handled gacha pulls?!
"What's this?" Caleb asked, staring at the Rain Badge in his hand, expression complicated.
"Told you—it's just a little token," Daisy said with a smile.
Ah, now I remember. Misty's sisters loved handing out badges.
One time, a random passerby helped them clean the gym, and Daisy just gave them a badge on the spot.
If this were Sinnoh, she'd be right up there with Volkner.
No—scratch that. At least Volkner had the strength to back it up. If Daisy pulled that stunt in Sinnoh, Officer Jenny would've torn the place down.
"Whoa! Big Bro Caleb, that's the Rain Badge! Are you entering the Indigo League too?" Max ran over, eyes sparkling as he spotted the badge.
Nope. I'm not you. There's no way I'm challenging those six monster-level Gym Leaders in just two months. Keep dreaming.