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On the field, Flutter Mane and Staraptor faced off in the air.
Staraptor's gaze was sharp and solemn, while Flutter Mane still swayed leisurely, its long body fur swishing, looking quite content.
Staraptor let out a high cry, and an invisible authority permeated the air—the Intimidate Ability.
White light scattered from Flutter Mane, and its physical attack was lowered.
However, for Flutter Mane, physical attack wasn't particularly useful anyway.
"Thunderbolt."
Mammon was the first to attack.
Golden electrical currents crackled and flashed on Flutter Mane, and Thunderbolt's electricity shot out.
The golden electric light was very bright and incredibly fast.
"Dodge it!"
Norman was very serious.
Staraptor was a Flying-type, weak to Electric, so being hit by Thunderbolt was no joke.
Staraptor cried out loudly, flapping its wings. Its majestic body soared upwards, its movements clean and swift.
"Excellent flying technique," Mammon raised an eyebrow, watching Staraptor fly high to dodge the Thunderbolt.
"Double Team!"
Seeing Staraptor successfully evade the Thunderbolt, Norman immediately gave another command.
Staraptor flapped its wings, and one 'Staraptor' after another appeared around it. A total of twelve Staraptor constantly crisscrossed in flight, creating a dazzling display.
"I see, using Double Team to confuse Flutter Mane's vision, making it unable to distinguish which is the real body and which is a fake?"
Steven understood Norman's idea.
"Moreover, this Staraptor has a very skilled grasp of the Double Team move; each clone's movements are different," Wallace added. Most users of Double Team make their clones' movements largely consistent with their own, making it difficult for opponents to discern.
But in reality, this is the most basic use of Double Team, and it can actually make it easier for opponents to observe subtle differences and find the real body.
However, this Staraptor's Double Team clones were controlled to perform completely different movements, which required expert skill.
Even for experienced Trainers, finding the real body at first glance would be very difficult.
"Without knowing which is the real body, Flutter Mane wouldn't know which way to dodge attacks," Wallace said excitedly. Was Mammon about to be frustrated? This was truly exhilarating.
"Theoretically, yes, but…" Steven nodded, but would such a move really work against Mammon?
"Tsk~" Mammon clicked his tongue, watching the twelve Staraptor begin to disperse in different directions.
Flutter Mane's eerie eyes scanned its surroundings, visibly starting to get agitated.
"Calm down."
Mammon soothed Flutter Mane.
Although there was a basic level of trust, having been nurtured for only a short time, Flutter Mane's composure was already lacking.
However, these were minor issues that could be gradually improved later.
"Brave Bird!" Norman swung his arm, initiating the attack.
Loud cries echoed one after another, as the twelve Staraptor encircled Flutter Mane, and fiery red Brave Bird auras began to swirl around their bodies.
The Flying-type move, Brave Bird!
This was one of the major Flying-type moves. Although powerful, it caused recoil damage.
"Flutter Mane, Thunder."
Mammon chuckled lightly and commanded Flutter Mane.
Flutter Mane instantly understood Mammon's intention. Golden lightning flashed and shot towards one Staraptor on the left with a loud roar.
The powerful lightning struck Staraptor's Brave Bird attack head-on, creating a huge explosion.
Thunder and Brave Bird clashed fiercely, the red Brave Bird frantically resisting Thunder's bombardment, but soon, the Brave Bird aura began to dissipate.
Clearly, Staraptor's Brave Bird couldn't withstand Flutter Mane's Thunder!
With a thunderous crash.
Thunder broke through Brave Bird and heavily struck Staraptor's main body. Staraptor let out a pained shriek, as the Thunder attack caused it significant damage.
"How could this be?" Norman was shocked.
"How did it find Staraptor's real body so precisely?"
Norman couldn't understand. With the constant shifting, even he didn't know which was Staraptor's real body.
But Mammon actually saw it at a glance??
Staraptor plummeted like a kite with a broken string, thick black smoke rising from its body, finally crashing heavily to the ground.
Staraptor tightly closed its eyes in pain, its body still trembling, and arcs of electricity still flickering on it.
"Thunderbolt."
Mammon had Flutter Mane deliver the finishing blow.
Flutter Mane shot another golden electrical current at Staraptor, swift, accurate, and merciless.
Another roar, and Staraptor's eyes completely turned into swirls.
"Staraptor is unable to battle. Flutter Mane wins."
The referee observed Staraptor, and after confirming, announced the battle result.
It was another battle without suspense, causing many spectators to exclaim in surprise.
They were all there to support Norman, but now... Norman recalled Staraptor, comforted it, and then frowned, looking at Mammon. He still couldn't understand.
"Using Double Team to interfere with Flutter Mane's judgment, preventing its speed advantage from being fully utilized, that was a good idea," Mammon noticed Norman's gaze and said with a smile.
Although this tactic was a bit unpretentious, it was actually quite effective. If you couldn't determine which was the real attacker, how could you dodge?
While one could use an AoE attack to cover all directions, hitting both the main body and the clones to break through, an AoE attack might not necessarily stop Staraptor's main body from charging in.
At that point, dodging would not be easy either.
"However, I am an Ability user, so finding the real body is an easy task," Mammon shrugged, not hiding anything.
That's right, Mammon could tell at a glance which was the real body, as Staraptor's clones did not possess life characteristics.
The Double Team move, like Zoroark's Illusion, is purely visual trickery, but in reality, there's nothing there.
The Power of Arceus could easily sense this; only that which possesses life energy is the real body, making it very easy to distinguish.
"..."
Norman fell silent. The problem, it turned out, lay with Mammon himself.
"Too cunning! To have such a special ability."
Wallace was very displeased. He had thought he might see Mammon get frustrated for once.
"Viridian Power… does it have such an effect?" Steven pondered.
Mammon being an Ability user was no secret, but Viridian Power had this function?
Steven had originally thought that Viridian Power only possessed the ability to communicate with Pokémon, and also healing power.
Because Giovanni had told him so back then; Giovanni was also a wielder of Viridian Power.
"Then, my last Pokémon will be it!"
Norman quickly adjusted his emotions and cautiously threw out his last Poké Ball.
"Slaking!"
A white light landed, and a Pokémon resembling a baboon and a gorilla heavily landed in front of Norman.
However, its entrance was remarkably different from other Pokémon, as it appeared lying on its side, propping its head with one arm.
Hmm, it looked very much like it was taking a nap.
This was the final evolution of Slakoth, Slaking!
"Slaking, huh~ I heard that Mr. Norman, you are the world's best Slaking Trainer. Today, I'll get to experience it firsthand," Mammon said to Norman with a smile.
"These are just exaggerations by outsiders. There are countless strong individuals in the world, and my special training is still far from enough," Norman was very humble.
"Mr. Norman is too modest. Let me see how strong your Slaking is," Mammon gestured to Norman with his hand.
"Then I won't hold back." Norman's expression was serious and earnest.
"I didn't expect anyone to actually use Slaking as a main force. I wonder if this Slaking has overcome its laziness," Iono curiously watched the Slaking lying diagonally on the field.
Slaking was quite a famous Pokémon because it truly was an indescribable Pokémon.
According to statistics, out of ten Slaking Trainers, nine would be driven to frustration and madness by Slaking's performance in battle, and one would simply give up completely.
The Pokémon Slaking actually has very high stats. Someone did research.
If a Slaking of the same level were to simply arm wrestle with a Salamence, Slaking could firmly suppress Salamence!
That was a pseudo-legendary Dragon-type Pokémon, Salamence!
This shows how exaggerated Slaking's Machamp-like strength is. And it's not just strength; Slaking's stamina, physical defense, speed, and special attack are all very good, especially its stamina, which is extremely robust.
Overall, Slaking's only weakness is its special defense; its special defense is indeed relatively weak, but its robust stamina compensates for this flaw.
So, Slaking's overall strength is actually very high, even higher than pseudo-legendary Pokémon if other factors aren't considered.
But the problem is... Slaking's Ability is Truant, and it only has this one Ability.
Truant in the game: After using a move, it rests on the next turn.
Simply put, it acts one turn and rests one turn, and this rest is very exaggerated.
For example, Dig. Dig is a charging move, meaning it goes underground on the first turn and attacks on the second turn.
But if it's Slaking, it can act and charge on the first turn, but on the second turn, because the Truant Ability takes effect, it will rest, and Dig cannot be successfully used!
Because Slaking cannot perform any actions during its Truant turn, unless it's recalled to its Poké Ball, which is particularly absurd.
In reality, the effect of Truant is actually similar: it acts for a while and rests for a while.
So in battles, Slaking can sometimes truly infuriate its Trainer, because this Truant is almost impossible to overcome.
You can only try to reduce the rest time of Truant through special training.
Because in reality, Slaking's Truant sometimes isn't just a so-called 'one turn'… Iono remembered seeing a video where a girl participated in a regional competition with Slaking. After Truant triggered, this Slaking simply fell asleep on the battlefield… It couldn't be woken up no matter what, and even when the opponent attacked Slaking, Slaking refused to fight back due to Truant.
This directly made the girl cry, and she naturally lost the match.
It is precisely because there are so many of these classic cases that everyone knows Slaking is strong, yet no one chooses to train Slaking.
Because there are simply too many stark examples. Some people always think that with good special training and developing a bond with Slaking, they can make their Slaking overcome Truant.
But the reality is that they eventually get frustrated by Slaking's performance in battle.
"Truant, it really is the worst Ability, isn't it~"
Iono looked at the leisurely reclining Slaking on the field. If there had to be one absolute worst Ability in this world.
It would definitely be Truant, a purely negative Ability.