Chapter 177: The Vicious Twin-Tails
On the plains south of Jubilife City.
Will was teaching Torterra the move Rock Tomb. The move's damage would be halved against a Toxicroak, but it was an excellent move for hindering its movement. A Toxicroak wasn't particularly fast, but it was still faster than a Torterra. If they could use Rock Tomb to change the flat terrain, it would be much more difficult for it to move around.
"Just like when you use Earthquake, channel the Ground-type energy into the earth, but switch it to Rock-type energy instead," Will explained. He knew both moves himself and was well aware of how similar their energy operation was. Since Torterra already knew Earthquake, learning Rock Tomb should be much simpler. It shouldn't be a problem for it to master it within a week.
But a battle isn't won just by learning one new move. They still needed practical training to allow Shigeru, as the trainer, to find his own counters and develop his own tactics.
"Torterra," the big Pokémon nodded, its voice now much deeper and more powerful since evolving. It also looked much more mature and intelligent.
"Try it out. After you've learned this move, we'll have you battle Meowscarada," Will said, then turned to Shigeru. "You stay here with Torterra. I'm taking Meowscarada to the training grounds to have a look."
Under Shigeru's confused gaze, Will left with Meowscarada. The best way to train was to study the opponent's battle style. The twin-tailed girl had said she would be in Jubilife for a week. With her competitive personality, the chances of her showing up at the training grounds were not small.
On the way there.
"Meow-meow~" Meowscarada was in a good mood, singing as she held Will's arm.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from a nearby bush. "Toxicroak, use Sludge Bomb."
Pew! xN
Will's ears twitched. He scooped up Meowscarada, and in the same motion, leaped backwards. BOOM! Seven or eight balls of mud exploded where they had just been standing, leaving several small craters in the ground.
"...So you dodged it. Interesting," the owner of the voice said, stepping out of the bushes.
It was, by chance, the very same twin-tailed girl they had been looking for. Her outfit today was similar to yesterday's, only her clothes were pink instead of white, and she was adorned with a bunch of gothic accessories.
"Are you looking to die?" Will's gaze turned icy.
The cold look in his eyes made the girl swallow hard and take half a step back, all her previous arrogance gone. This was the first time in this life that Will had been ambushed. It had almost triggered the combat-ready instincts he had honed during his time in Mt. Silver.
"Meow," Meowscarada's expression was also not good. She had been careless and hadn't noticed the sneak attack. If Will hadn't noticed that she was distracted, she would have been hit. Her resistance to Poison-type moves was not good; a Sludge Bomb would have been very painful.
"Croak," the Toxicroak, seeing its trainer frightened, quickly stepped forward to face Will's gaze. And then it realized... it was also a little scared. A normal Toxicroak is about 1.3 meters tall. His was a bit larger, at 1.5 meters. But in front of this giant lizard, he was a dwarf.
"Hmph! Battle me, Sceptile! With your great talent, you should be sitting with me on the throne of the world's strongest!" the twin-tailed girl said, her courage returning. She stepped forward and lifted her chin high. At 1.5 meters tall, she was projecting the aura of someone 2.8 meters tall.
A chuunibyou? Will frowned, unable to figure this kid out. But he understood her intention. She had seen his size, his impressive appearance, and assumed he was strong, so she wanted to capture him.
This kind of thing wasn't uncommon in the future. Many trainers would just go up and try to catch a wild Pokémon they encountered. But aside from the bad guys, very few would start with a sneak attack. Most would at least have their own Pokémon go up and get the opponent's attention first.
But this girl was different. Her style was that of a classic villain.
"You watch that Toxicroak's movements. Later, you'll go back and imitate its strategy to battle Torterra," Will said to Meowscarada.
Having her be Torterra's sparring partner was the perfect choice. A Toxicroak is not fast, but against a Torterra, its speed advantage is obvious. It would surely use that to its advantage, acting as a physical speed attacker. Or perhaps a special one. Torterra's physical defense is very high; the girl might have her Toxicroak avoid its strength and wear it down from a distance. But no matter which, with Meowscarada's stat distribution, she could perfectly imitate, or even surpass, the Toxicroak.
"Meow," Meowscarada nodded and stepped to the side. She had no doubt that Will would lose to this disgusting frog.
Will took two steps forward, stopping about ten meters from the Toxicroak, and gave it a nod.
"By the way, as a future partner, allow me to introduce myself first," the twin-tailed girl said with a curtsy. "My name is Nastina. I was born in the Unova region and am currently on a journey around the world. When I return to Unova, I will be the strongest trainer in the world! At that time, everyone will have to call me Queen! Yo-hohoho~"
"Cro-cro-croak~"
Nastina and her Toxicroak threw their heads back and laughed.
Will and Meowscarada were silent.
"...Hmph, how boring. A pure Grass-type Sceptile. I have the advantage. Toxicroak, use Swagger!"
"Waaah!"
At her command, the Toxicroak immediately sprang into action. It ran to within a few meters of Will and began to make all sorts of strange faces and noises. This move was generally used to enrage the opponent and confuse them. But in reality, it probably only worked on Pokémon that had poor control over their emotions.
For Will, it was completely useless.
Smack! Smack!
His response was simple. Two quick slaps to the face. The strikes were so fast that the Toxicroak didn't even react for a second or two after being hit. It was stunned. Then, a nameless fire began to burn in its heart. If Will had attacked it with a real move, it wouldn't have been so angry. But to be so casually slapped... the humiliation was unbearable!
"WAAAH!!"
"Toxicroak, calm down! Use Flatter!" Nastina quickly called out, reining in her Pokémon.
"Cro-croak~" The Toxicroak then began to circle Will, making all sorts of other noises. In short, it was constantly praising him, trying to confuse him with flattery. A Pokémon like Ash's Oshawott or Dawn's Piplup would have probably fallen for it instantly. But in Will's ears, the praise was too generic. It was just "you're so strong" or "you're so cool." He felt nothing.
So... smack, smack.
"...This isn't good. Toxicroak! Use Poison Jab!"
Nastina, seeing her Toxicroak's face getting redder and redder, steam practically coming out of its ears, quickly changed her command.
"CRO-GUNK!!" the Toxicroak roared, swinging its claws at Will.
I see... Torterra really isn't good at dealing with this kind of opponent, Will thought.
Nastina and her Toxicroak's fighting style was to use various harassing moves to inflict status conditions on the opponent, and then slowly wear them down. If it wasn't confusion, it was poison. If Will hadn't been immune to this sort of thing, she would have probably had it use Taunt, Mud-Slap, or Astonish.
Having figured out her strategy, Will had no intention of dragging this out.
[Focus Energy] + [Dragon Tail].
He spun, whipping his tail out. The massive appendage collided with the Toxicroak's claws, sending it flying back a dozen meters. With a heavy thud, the Toxicroak's eyes turned to swirls.
He didn't even need to use a setup move. A critical hit wasn't even triggered. With just the 20% damage boost from his Dragon Fang, he had one-shotted it.
Lv. 43 or so. 4 or 5 levels higher than Torterra. And...
Will glanced at his tail. The part that had collided with the Toxicroak's claws was already turning purple, and the color was spreading, albeit very slowly. In another minute or two, his entire body would be poisoned. But the effect on him would be very weak.
Its ability is Poison Touch... It seems Shigeru's loss wasn't entirely his fault. A Torterra really would have a hard time against this kind of opponent.
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