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"Snorlax, is it the only Pokémon that didn't fight back when Team Rocket was being destroyed?"
"Except for the Haunter and the newly captured Eevee, Eddie's weakest Pokémon is this Snorlax."
Erika had only seen Eddie's Pokémon once before, and she remembered the strength of Eddie's team at that time. Excluding the Haunter that was obviously just recently caught and trained, and the Eevee that was captured just yesterday, the Snorlax standing before them seemed to have the lowest bond with Eddie. So it wouldn't be wrong to say that it was the weakest Pokémon in Eddie's team, aside from Haunter and Eevee.
In fact, this assessment was accurate. The overall strength of a Pokémon also depends on the bond and understanding between it and its Trainer. The stronger the connection between a Pokémon and Trainer, the more their combined combat power exceeds the individual strength of the Pokémon itself.
Eddie had caught this Snorlax just two days ago. When he had released it to fight Team Rocket, the massive Pokémon had been in the middle of using Rest. This battle would be Eddie's first time properly commanding Snorlax in combat. The understanding between them might even be lower than what he shared with his newly caught Eevee.
"Snorlax! Use Fire Punch!"
Even if their bond was still developing, Eddie knew he could work on building that connection gradually. Snorlax was naturally powerful, so Eddie didn't want to waste time with lengthy explanations. He launched the first attack directly.
Snorlax responded to the command and raised a fist larger than a sandbag. Flames began gathering around its massive knuckles as it charged toward Victreebel, preparing to deliver a fiery physical blow to Erika's Pokémon.
"What? This Snorlax knows Fire Punch?"
Erika wasn't surprised by Eddie's aggressive opening move. After all, the battle had officially begun, and either trainer could attack first. However, the fact that Snorlax could use Fire Punch genuinely shocked her.
Snorlax doesn't naturally learn this move through leveling up, so for this large Pokémon to know a technique like Fire Punch, its Trainer would have had to teach it directly through dedicated training. Everyone knew Snorlax's typical personality - they spent most of their time eating and sleeping. How many Trainers could actually motivate such a laid-back Pokémon to wake up and train properly?
Besides, learning moves outside of a Pokémon's natural movepool was never an easy task. It required patience, skill, and considerable effort from both the Trainer and Pokémon.
But Eddie had managed it, getting a Snorlax that clearly didn't have perfect cooperation with him to master Fire Punch successfully.
"This might also be due to the Power of Viridian's influence. The communication with Pokémon becomes much smoother, and even recently caught Pokémon can bond well with their Trainer. This would naturally make training twice as effective with half the effort required."
"But even with the Power of Viridian's help, Eddie must have put in tremendous effort to successfully train Snorlax to this degree. He really is the man I've come to admire..."
Erika immediately attributed these impressive results to the Power of Viridian, and her respect for Eddie continued to grow. However, her thoughts were moving quickly. Although Erika found herself thinking about matters not directly related to their current battle, she didn't forget that they were in the middle of combat.
"Victreebel, use Double Team!"
Victreebel became visibly nervous when it saw Snorlax's flaming fist approaching. Fortunately, Erika's quick command allowed it to use Double Team to evade the incoming attack.
"So Victreebel knows Double Team as well. It seems Erika is quite skilled at training her Pokémon too. Unfortunately, this particular move is one I use frequently myself. Snorlax, use Earthquake!"
Eddie was well-versed in using Double Team for tactical advantages, so he naturally knew the most effective way to counter such techniques.
Snorlax let out another lazy-sounding cry and stomped down hard on the battlefield with tremendous force. As the ground began to shake and vibrate violently, all of Victreebel's illusory Double Team copies, which couldn't actually move independently, were immediately dispelled by the area-of-effect attack.
"It can even use Earthquake? As expected of Eddie, I absolutely cannot let my guard down here. If I don't fight with everything I have, I might end up losing badly."
Through just these two quick exchanges, Erika was able to gauge Eddie's considerable skill level, and she resolved to use her full current strength in response.
"Victreebel, use Toxic!"
Erika had battled against Snorlax-type Pokémon before and understood that such formidable opponents could only be defeated through two main strategies: overwhelming them with extremely powerful direct attacks, or gradually wearing them down using various status conditions.
She decided to have Victreebel use a move that could poison its opponent, attempting to inflict the poisoned condition on Snorlax.
Toxic was a move that would cause the target to fall into a severely poisoned state. When used by Poison-type Pokémon, this move would never miss its target.
Coincidentally, Victreebel was a dual-type Pokémon with both Grass and Poison typing, so when it used this technique, Snorlax would definitely be affected by the Toxic condition.
"Haha, I knew you would try that move! Snorlax, use Body Slam!"
Eddie laughed heartily upon seeing Erika's strategy. Rather than having Snorlax dodge Victreebel's attack, he chose to launch another offensive move instead.
"You're not going to dodge? Since you know you can't avoid it, are you planning to defeat Victreebel with this single attack? Let's see if your offensive can finish this in one hit! Victreebel, go for it!"
Erika frowned, thinking that Eddie's approach seemed somewhat irrational. A Snorlax of similar strength level couldn't realistically defeat Victreebel with just one attack, and an experienced Trainer like Eddie should understand this tactical reality.
However, regardless of her concerns, she wouldn't back down at this crucial moment in their battle. She directly ordered Victreebel to withstand Snorlax's incoming attack while continuing to execute Toxic.
Snorlax maintained its characteristic cheerful expression, almost seeming to laugh at Victreebel's tactical choice. Despite its enormous size, it managed to leap into the air and came crashing down toward Victreebel with its full body weight.
Victreebel watched the massive Body Slam attack approaching and, despite breaking into a nervous sweat, chose to endure the incoming damage because of Erika's command. It extended its vine whips, which were infused with toxic poison, and struck Snorlax's large belly with considerable force.
Then Snorlax's aerial attack connected from above, hitting Victreebel directly. After letting out a cry of pain, Victreebel was knocked backward a significant distance by the impact.
However, just as Erika had predicted, Snorlax's Body Slam couldn't defeat Victreebel in a single blow. At most, it had taken away roughly half of Victreebel's remaining HP. As long as it remained conscious and standing, its combat effectiveness wouldn't be severely reduced.
"Snorlax has been hit by Toxic and should now be suffering from the poisoned status condition. The outcome of this battle should become clear very soon."
Erika planned to continue having Victreebel dodge Snorlax's attacks using various evasive techniques, while Snorlax would rapidly lose HP and combat capability due to the progressively worsening poisoned condition.
Therefore, although something felt slightly off about the situation, she confidently declared that victory would be hers.
Then she watched as Snorlax calmly attacked Victreebel with another Fire Punch, but for some inexplicable reason, Victreebel seemed unable to move and took the hit directly.
Victreebel, which had already sustained considerable damage from the previous exchange, was struck by the Fire Punch - a move that was super effective against its Grass typing - and became critically injured almost instantly.
Snorlax took advantage of this opportunity and immediately followed up with a Flamethrower attack, striking Victreebel for a second consecutive time.
After Victreebel cried out in pain for several seconds, it finally collapsed with swirls in its eyes, clearly knocked out.
"Ding! Eevee gains experience! Level increased by 5, now at Level 36! Learned Baton Pass!"
"Ding! Haunter gained experience! Level increased by 2, now at Level 42!"
Looking at Snorlax, which showed absolutely no signs of being affected by the poisoned status condition, and then at her defeated Victreebel lying motionless on the ground, Erika found herself completely bewildered by what had just transpired.