Silas scratched the back of his head in frustration.
The Pokémon that Kane Sawyer sent out was quite a troublesome opponent.
Come to think of it, it felt familiar—after all, the one used by Team Rocket's trio in the anime of his previous life had left quite an impression on him.
Standing before him now was the Patient Pokémon—Wobbuffet.
However, although Wobbuffet is classified as the "Patient Pokémon," it cannot actually learn Endure or Sturdy.
This Pokémon, whose blue body is attached to a black tail, is one of only two known Pokémon that cannot actively use any physical or special move to deal damage.
The other one is Pyukumuku from the Alola region.
But that doesn't mean it's weak.
On the contrary, unlike its often useless reputation in the games, a strong Wobbuffet is highly practical in real-life battles—especially when deployed strategically.
Compared to Pyukumuku, however, Wobbuffet's move pool is extremely limited.
Aside from the nearly useless Splash, Wobbuffet can only learn seven other moves: Charm, Encore, Amnesia, Counter, Mirror Coat, Safeguard, and the most frustrating one of all—Destiny Bond.
But that's already enough.
Combined with Wobbuffet's naturally high HP and decent physical and special defense, these few moves are more than sufficient to make any opposing Trainer or Pokémon never want to see it again after just one battle.
Its core moves are, of course, Counter, which reflects physical damage with double power, and Mirror Coat, which does the same for special damage.
Wobbuffet's way of defeating opponents is simple—"endure."
It "endures" the incoming attack and then mercilessly doubles it back to the opponent, dealing devastating damage.
Unless you can knock Wobbuffet out in one hit, you'll most likely be the first one to fall—
though, of course, there's always the chance that you'll KO it while it uses Destiny Bond and end up going down together.
But taking down a Wobbuffet in a single blow is no easy feat.
With Charm sharply lowering the foe's Attack and Amnesia greatly boosting its own Special Defense, it's nearly impossible for a Pokémon of the same or even higher level to inflict fatal damage on it.
And you can forget about inflicting status conditions like poison, sleep, paralysis, burn, freeze, confusion, or drowsiness—
that's exactly what Safeguard is for.
As long as Safeguard is active, Wobbuffet can't be affected by status problems.
Combine that with Encore, which forces the opponent to repeat the same move three times in a row, and Wobbuffet becomes like a spiked turtle that reflects everything you throw at it, frustrating and impossible to deal with.
It's not that you can't win against it, but even if you do, you'll end up exhausted, irritated, and utterly helpless.
Of course, this only applies to a strong Wobbuffet, one at least Quasi-Elite level, like Sawyer's.
Otherwise, it's not that effective.
After all, a Pokémon that only defends is inherently at a disadvantage.
Only a Wobbuffet that's been trained for a long time can master its few moves to perfection.
Otherwise, the delay between move uses would give any opportunistic opponent enough time to attack safely without triggering the counter.
Watching the Wobbuffet step forward and press its shadow onto the ground as if pinning something down, Silas's right hand, which had instinctively reached for his Poké Ball belt, helplessly dropped to his side.
Wobbuffet's Ability—Shadow Tag.
It uses its shadow to prevent the opposing Pokémon from being recalled to its Poké Ball or other similar devices.
Another infuriating ability and an absolutely perfect fit for Wobbuffet.
Its message is simple: Either you die or I do.
If all else fails, Destiny Bond ensures that you'll go down together.
There's no escaping it.
"Let's test it out first," Silas muttered under his breath.
"Serperior, use Giga Drain."
That was one of Serperior's weakest moves,
and since it also restores its HP, even if the damage was reflected, the recoil would be minimal.
Of course, that wasn't his only reason for using it.
"Ser~"
Seeing the green energy orbs flying toward it,
Wobbuffet calmly raised its hand in a salute, its eyes going blank as white light shimmered over its blue body.
The instant Giga Drain struck,
its body flashed with a near-transparent glow.
A second later, the green light that had entered Wobbuffet shot right back out—
this time, doubled in number.
Serperior, who was still benefiting from the HP recovery effects of Giga Drain and Grassy Terrain, was hit squarely by the reflected attack.
Just as Silas had expected, the damage was minimal.
Silas grimaced.
That was exactly the reaction he didn't want to see.
It really did have telepathic coordination.
Seeing Wobbuffet respond perfectly to its Trainer's intent without him even speaking,
Silas couldn't help but groan inwardly—even though he already knew from prior intel that this was possible.
Its hidden Ability—Telepathy.
Having both a regular and a hidden Ability isn't too rare for a Pokémon of Quasi-Elite level.
But in a battle, that made Wobbuffet even more troublesome.
As a Psychic-type Pokémon, with the aid of Telepathy, it could achieve near-perfect synchronization with its Trainer, and, more importantly, anticipate the exact timing of incoming attacks.
That was the key.
It meant that trying to catch it off-guard was nearly impossible.
A Psychic-type's reaction speed and neural precision are on an entirely different level.
It could reflect nearly every bit of damage it took.
Unlike some Wobbuffet that only counter partial hits, this one returned everything.
That tiny difference was enough to decide the outcome of a match.
"How troublesome…" Silas sighed, watching the green lights whirl across the field.
His headache was only getting worse.
He hadn't told Serperior to keep using Giga Drain that was the effect of Encore.
That was also why he had chosen such a weak, low-cost move to start with.
Otherwise, if he'd opened with a stronger move, Silas wasn't sure whether Serperior would be "killed" first by the reflection—
or by its own exhaustion from overuse.
Either way, even with HP recovery helping,
there was no way Serperior could outlast a Wobbuffet in stamina.
Eventually, the green lights faded, indicating that Wobbuffet had stopped forcing the repeated move.
After all, every move consumes energy,
and overusing Encore wasn't in Wobbuffet's best interest either.
Unfortunately, Serperior was the one suffering more.
Counting from the very first Giga Drain,
it had used the move seven times in total.
Serperior was already breathing slightly heavier now.
If only it could use Rest but since it didn't know Sleep Talk, it couldn't act while sleeping.
Otherwise, a few more rounds of Encore might have forced the referee to intervene
and declare Serperior unable to battle due to loss of willpower.
Such a situation—where the energy spent on using moves outweighs the damage taken is something you only ever see when battling a Wobbuffet.
No wonder it's from the same species line as the "Fruit God," Wobbuffet's popular nickname among fans.
Silas licked his dry lips nervously.
Still not strong enough, he thought with a trace of regret.
It wasn't that there was no way to win—it was that Serperior simply didn't yet know enough moves.
Wobbuffet's strength was highly situational.
When facing Dark-type Pokémon, it was almost useless.
The main reason was that several Dark-type moves directly countered Wobbuffet's entire battle style moves like Taunt, which forces the opponent to only use damaging moves,
and Torment, which prevents using the same move consecutively.
Neither of those status effects can be blocked by Safeguard,meaning they can completely "cripple" a Wobbuffet.
If Serperior had even one of those two moves, then the only advantage a Quasi– Elite level Wobbuffet would still hold over a normal Pokémon would be its sheer durability. And in that case, the victor would be obvious.
Unfortunately, there are no "ifs" or "what-ifs" in battle.
The reality was that Serperior was almost completely helpless against this turtle-like blue psychic wall.
If only it had learned Gastro Acid, a Poison-type move that nullifies the opponent's Ability then Silas could've at least erased Shadow Tag and switched out.
He smacked his lips in frustration.
Looks like only the worst option remains, he thought.
Fortunately, he had come prepared for this.
Kane team mostly specialized in Water- and Ground-type Pokémon.
Serperior, being Grass-type, naturally had a massive advantage against such opponents.
It wasn't surprising that Sawyer had specifically targeted it with a counter-strategy like this.
Still, to sacrifice a Pokémon like Wobbuffet just to ensure Serperior couldn't stay in the fight that level of decisiveness was truly ruthless.
Silas couldn't help wondering if maybe he'd been too efficient in the first match against Donphan.
Perhaps if he'd held back a little, Sawyer might've sent out his ace, Feraligatr, next
and then Serperior could've finished it off cleanly.
"Serperior, use Leech Seed!"
Silas finally went for the tactic he least wanted to use the attrition approach.
Leech Seed was an excellent counter against Wobbuffet.
First, it isn't a damaging move, meaning neither Counter nor Mirror Coat would activate so Wobbuffet could only be worn down over time without being able to strike back.
Second, the Leech Seed effect isn't blocked by Safeguard, so there was no worry about it failing to take hold.
The problem, however, was that Leech Seed dealt very little damage in real life.
Unlike in the games—where it drains a percentage of the foe's max HP each turn—
in actual combat, trying to "drain" an opponent with Leech Seed was as slow as grinding an iron rod into a needle.
Especially against a tanky Pokémon like Wobbuffet.
And of course, Wobbuffet wasn't just going to sit still. While the vines generated by Leech Seed weren't fragile, they weren't exactly sturdy either—Wobbuffet could easily break free.
Still, Silas had no better option.
If it had to be a war of attrition—so be it.
"Wobbuffet!"
The blue Pokémon didn't panic at all.
When the Leech Seed flew toward it,
its black tail slapped the ground, propelling it high into the air.
"Keep using Leech Seed," Silas said flatly.
Leech Seed had another problem—accuracy.
Wobbuffet might not attack, but it wasn't a stationary target either. It wasn't fast, but the seeds were even slower.
In other words, every bit of movement counted.
Even a "useless" move like Bounce was suddenly invaluable.
With its Bounce-assisted jumps, Wobbuffet hopped clumsily around the battlefield,
dodging seed after seed.
No matter how you looked at it,
trying to make Wobbuffet faint from Leech Seed alone was going to take forever.
Half a minute passed.
Then one minute, five, ten, fifteen…
Time crawled by.
The commentators had already exhausted every word in the dictionary
to describe "dodging" and "jumping,"
even adding colorful commentary about how Serperior launched its seeds.
Yet the two Pokémon on the field continued their endless struggle.
Spectators began standing up in groups—
it was like the part of a movie everyone used as a bathroom break.
You had to do something, because watching one Pokémon spit seeds and another just hop around was simply too boring.
The League staff backstage were fuming.
The broadcast ratings had plummeted—
this looked nothing like the explosive opening match they'd expected.
Kane adjusted his glasses for what felt like the hundredth time.
That guy really doesn't act like a rookie at all, he thought. A true beginner, on such a grand stage, shouldn't have the composure to use such a "shameless" strategy.
This kind of win-at-all-costs mentality
wasn't something you'd expect from a newly started Trainer.
Sawyer could only sigh.
Twenty minutes.
Half an hour.
Even the referee glanced at his watch.
At this rate, he thought, we might as well cancel the rest of the matches for today.
This was supposed to be halftime already.
But there was nothing he could do.
Both Trainers and Pokémon were still fully engaged in the fight and that wasn't something he could interrupt.
Silas was drenched in sweat, while Serperior panted heavily. Sawyer's glasses kept sliding down his nose, and even Wobbuffet's once-lively bounces were slowing down.
This battle wasn't just torture for the Pokémon it was exhausting for their Trainers as well.
Silas had to constantly adjust Serperior's seed-launching angles, always watching for that one perfect moment to strike.
Sawyer, meanwhile, used Telepathy to guide Wobbuffet's evasions, monitoring every incoming seed and staying ready to command Destiny Bond the instant things went wrong.
The mental strain of maintaining that level of focus was brutal.
"Wobbuffet~!"
Suddenly, Wobbuffet's black tail faltered—
it failed to use Bounce in time.
Multiple Leech Seeds struck its blue body in rapid succession.
In an instant, green vines coiled tightly around it.
"Now! Use Magical Leaf!"
Silas seized the moment, commanding Serperior to attack.
He would've preferred a stronger move,
but Serperior's current condition simply couldn't handle it.
Ten minutes ago, it had even dismissed its own Grassy Terrain from exhaustion.
Kane Sawyer said nothing, his eyes sharpening as the battlefield erupted in a storm of glowing leaves.
.....
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