"Oh? Butterfree, you managed to train a fully evolved Pokémon in just nine days? You truly are an impressive Trainer," Brock said to Ash, admiring the Butterfree flying in the sky.
Although it was a Bug-type Pokémon, training a fully evolved Pokémon in just nine days was indeed remarkable for a beginner.
Moreover, from Brock's perspective, this Butterfree wasn't just simply evolved into its final form; its condition in all aspects was excellent.
Whether it was its spirit, its fur, its wings, or its eyes, they were all of the highest quality among Pokémon. This indicated that Ash didn't rush Caterpie's evolution into Butterfree, but rather allowed Caterpie to evolve naturally under careful nurturing.
In the eyes of Brock, who aspired to be a Breeder, this Butterfree was already exceptionally well-trained.
"Didn't you say it yourself? Rookie Trainers from Pallet Town are different from other Trainers. It's perfectly normal for me to have a Butterfree," Ash said with a slight hint of smugness on his face.
Being praised by a Gym Leader before the battle even began made him feel like he was floating on air.
But Ash quickly suppressed the upturned corners of his mouth, his expression becoming serious.
Arrogance in battle was a major taboo; any self-satisfaction or pride should wait until after victory.
"It's truly impressive that you could train Butterfree, but you seem to have forgotten the Pokémon type effectiveness chart. Butterfree is Bug-type and Flying-type, meaning it's quadruply weak to Rock-type. As long as my Geodude lands one hit on you, it's over," Brock suddenly changed the subject.
The Geodude he sent out was an advanced-level Pokémon. For ordinary beginners, it was an impossible opponent to defeat. After all, even with Ash's speed in raising Pokémon, it took him nearly ten days to raise a regular Pikachu to an advanced level.
If it were an ordinary person, even tripling that time might not be enough to achieve what Ash did.
So, in terms of level alone, the beginner's challenge was already very disadvantageous, even if this challenge level was the Gym's lowest difficulty.
And Ash's Butterfree was only at peak normal strength, not to mention being completely countered by Rock-type in terms of type. Its chances of winning seemed extremely slim, but for Ash, it wasn't so.
"Level and type are indeed the most crucial factors in battle, but even more important is the Trainer commanding the Pokémon. Let me show you mine and Butterfree's tactics! Butterfree, use Sleep Powder!"
"Bilibili~~" Butterfree flapped its wings, and countless powders scattered down, aiming directly at Geodude.
"Sleep Powder? Geodude, use Rollout!"
"Punch~" Geodude curled into a ball, then spun rapidly in place, charging forward with a sudden burst!
By the time the Sleep Powder fell, Geodude had already left its original position.
"That slow Sleep Powder won't hit my Geodude! Just use Rollout to attack Butterfree!" Brock waved his hand, directly launching an attack on Butterfree.
Rollout's power increases with the duration of its rolling. With Geodude's higher level than Butterfree, the increased power of Rollout, and the quadruple type advantage, this move might just directly incapacitate Butterfree!
However, under Brock's shouts, Geodude didn't bounce towards Butterfree but continued its straight-line Rollout charge, though its rolling speed had already slowed significantly.
"What's wrong, Geodude?!" Geodude's unusual behavior left Brock puzzled. What happened? Why wasn't Geodude listening to his commands?
The next second, Geodude gave Brock the answer.
Geodude, still in its Rollout state, crashed into a rock pillar on the field, then finally stopped rolling and remained still on the ground.
"This is… asleep?! How is that possible! Geodude clearly dodged the Sleep Powder just now!" Brock exclaimed in disbelief.
Sleep Powder's range wasn't large, and its speed was slow. Without a feint, it was relatively difficult to hit.
So Brock hadn't paid attention to Butterfree's Sleep Powder. An attack of that speed, even for the very slow Geodude, could be dodged with Rollout.
But what was happening now? Why was Geodude hit by Sleep Powder?
"Hehe, because my Butterfree's ability is Compound Eyes," Ash said proudly, rubbing the tip of his nose.
A few days ago in the forest, Ash finally understood how to use Butterfree in the group chat and what a support Pokémon meant.
Butterfree with the Compound Eyes ability can increase its accuracy by thirty percent. This increase isn't just on a statistical level; why does Compound Eyes increase accuracy by thirty percent? Because with this ability, Butterfree observes other Pokémon as if they are moving in slow motion.
This allows it to precisely land its moves on opponents that appear to be in slow motion.
This was also what Tactician Xiao Zhi taught him: the core tactic for using Butterfree—Compound Eyes Sleep Powder!
Under Compound Eyes, the hard-to-hit Sleep Powder would have its accuracy greatly increased. Unless there was a vast difference in strength between the two sides, the first Sleep Powder would be very easy to hit if the opponent didn't realize Butterfree had Compound Eyes.
The result was indeed as such. Brock confidently believed Geodude could dodge Sleep Powder, but in reality, Butterfree had already observed the opponent's trajectory when it used Rollout and then sprinkled Sleep Powder on its inevitable path.
This was why Geodude fell asleep.
"Compound Eyes ability… You can even understand and skillfully apply a Pokémon's ability. Are you really a Rookie Trainer?"
"Of course, I'm a genuine newcomer, but this newcomer of mine… is just a bit amazing! Butterfree, use String Shot!"
"Bilibili~" Butterfree opened its mouth slightly and spat a stream of white silk at the sleeping Geodude.
The white silk directly wrapped around Geodude, encasing it tightly.
The second move after putting the opponent to sleep: lowering their speed!
Normally, Tailwind should be used at this point, but Butterfree hasn't learned Tailwind yet, so it can only use String Shot to lower the opponent's speed.
According to relativity, if the opponent's speed decreases, it's equivalent to our speed increasing!
When the level is insufficient, one can only use this relatively low-budget tactic.
"Sleep Powder… String Shot… First sleep, then slow down? That's a good tactic." Brock also admired Ash's tactics. A Trainer who just started out is already using this level of tactics?
Who exactly is this guy?