🎆 Happy New Year! 🎆
Thank you all for the amazing support throughout this year. 💙To celebrate the arrival of the new year, here is a special New Year code:
🎁 Code:NewYear: F3B16
📅 Code validity:
Start: December 30, 2025 at 11:55 p.m.
End: January 2, 2026 at 11:00 p.m.
Enjoy it and let's start this new year strong. 🚀✨Here's to an amazing 2026! 🎉
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"Slowking, use Heal Pulse on yourself!"
Seeing it, Ethan Black's eyes shone.
Originally, the move Heal Pulse was meant to be used on an ally other than the user itself, so it couldn't restore the HP of the one executing it. Of course, if the target was under the effect of the move Magic Coat, then it could bounce back onto the user.
However, in reality, this move could be trained in such a way that it could also be applied to the user itself. In the anime, for example, Sawyer's Clawitzer managed to use the move Heal Pulse on itself, which was clearly the result of arduous training.
What was remarkable was that Ethan Black's Slowking had learned the move Heal Pulse right upon evolving, without any prior practice, and it was already able to apply it on itself! This proved that Slowking's talent was truly exceptional.
It was only logical then that, when that man in black chose the original Slowpoke as his Pokémon, he had done so after very careful selection: both its talent and potential were top-class.
After all, that choice had been made so that one day it would evolve into a Slowking. And now Ethan Black had reaped the fruits of that effort, gaining great benefit unexpectedly.
"With a means of self-healing, even without being a Ground, Rock, or Steel-type Pokémon, and without needing the abilities Overcoat or Magic Guard, Slowking can also perfectly endure Sandstorm weather."
Ethan Black's heart filled with joy: under these conditions, Slowking could still naturally integrate into his Sandstorm team.
As he thought, the battle on the field continued. Thanks to its powerful psychic strength, Slowking reacted with great speed. Not even the extra speed of Sandslash — boosted by its ability Sand Rush — could land an effective attack, as Slowking could evade with the move Teleport.
On the other hand, Slowking also failed to easily catch Sandslash with the move Psychic, due to the opponent's agility and its ability to burrow underground. The battle reached a stalemate.
Meanwhile, Ethan Black didn't stay still: he analyzed the combat data in real time, adjusting and refining Slowking's training plan.
When speaking of Slowking, one inevitably had to compare it with Slowbro. Both were alternate evolutions of Slowpoke. Beyond its intellectual superiority, their attribute differences weren't huge.
In the games, the main difference lay in their defenses: Slowbro excelled in Physical Defense, while Slowking excelled in Special Defense.
But for Ethan Black, in reality, Slowking's Special Defense was far more valuable than Slowbro's Physical Defense.
With its psychic perception and the move Teleport, Slowking could keep enemies at a distance, preventing them from closing in. In such a scenario, it was enough to withstand ranged attacks to perfectly cover the defensive role.
Moreover, although its Physical Defense was inferior to Slowbro's, it was still excellent compared to most Pokémon.
Therefore, both Slowbro and Slowking could function as shields, differing only in their focus. And both could flawlessly execute classic tactics such as: yawning, forcing switches, recovering HP with moves or abilities, and wearing down opponents with attacks.
Thanks to its wide range of moves, the Slowpoke evolutionary line had multiple styles and combinations.
In the games, the three most common styles were: the offensive, the one centered on the move Nasty Plot, and the one oriented toward field control.
In its offensive variant, Slowking could opt for the move Fire Blast or the move Ice Beam as its main coverage moves, accompanied by STAB and utility options such as the moves: Scald, Surf, Psychic, Psyshock, Grass Knot, or Future Sight.
In the variant centered on the move Nasty Plot, its Special Attack increased enormously, which, combined with its natural mental strength, turned it into a terrifying attacker.
But there was a limitation: the move Nasty Plot only boosted Special Attack, and if Slowking didn't act first, many times it couldn't land the damage, as was happening in its current battle against Sandslash: having great power but not hitting was useless.
In the games, to compensate for this flaw, Slowking usually combined the move Nasty Plot with the move Trick Room. It could also complement with the moves: Scald, Surf, Psychic, Ice Beam, or Fire Blast.
Ethan Black, however, wasn't too worried about that in reality. With Shellder on his team, Slowking could rely on it to control the pace of the battle and increase the accuracy of its attacks.
Even so, Ethan Black wished for Slowking to also learn the move Trick Room.
The move Trick Room created a strange space in which, for five turns, the slower Pokémon acted first.
The synergy of Trick Room with a Sandstorm team was perfect: most of its members — Rock, Ground, or Steel-types — were very slow, so they were often vulnerable to "kiting" strategies. With the move Trick Room, that disadvantage turned into an overwhelming advantage.
As for abilities, Slowking could have: Oblivious, Own Tempo, or Regenerator.
The ability Oblivious protected against the moves: Attract, Captivate, and Taunt, as well as the effects of the ability Cute Charm.
The ability Own Tempo made it immune to confusion.
And the ability Regenerator restored HP every time it returned to its Poké Ball.
Of all of them, the most useful was undoubtedly Regenerator, especially in prolonged survival: maintaining enough energy was more valuable than anything else.
The problem was that Regenerator was a hidden ability, very rare to obtain.
Ethan Black's fortune was that his Slowking possessed it, a detail that clearly showed how much the man in black had invested in this Pokémon. Now, all that effort had turned into an unexpected gift for Ethan Black: reaping what he himself hadn't sown.
In conclusion, Slowking could occupy many roles within the team: special cannon, Trick Room setter, attacker, booster, pivot, physical shield, special shield, or water tank. It could perform all those roles perfectly!
(End of chapter)