"As for Camerupt—his Camerupt's strength should be about the same as the one you faced today. Though with Sunny Day boosting it, there might be some differences, hard to say."
"Oh right—watch out for Camerupt's Yawn. When you're down to your last Pokémon, that move poses a serious threat to all of you."
Everyone nodded, committing Peter's words to memory.
It had to be said—Peter's hard work these past few days had paid off. Things like Delphox's little habits when using moves—knowing versus not knowing really made for two completely different battle strategies.
Peter smiled, then flipped to the next page. The big screen now showed a guy with an utterly cold expression. Beyond that first impression, he gave off a thoroughly ordinary vibe.
An ordinary face, an ordinary hairstyle, even his clothes were just an ordinary black t-shirt. At a glance, there was nothing noteworthy about him.
"This guy—Lan Shikong. As I've mentioned, his Pokémon are Zoroark plus a Lampent."
"Strategy-wise, because of Zoroark's ability, there's a huge deception factor. He often leads with Lampent, then immediately uses Toxic—catches people completely off-guard. After all, Zoroark's reputation is too well-known."
(Zoroark's Ability [Illusion]: Disguises itself as the last Pokémon in the party when entering battle, deceiving the opponent.)
"Of course, sometimes he'll lead directly with Zoroark disguised as Lampent and go for an immediate aggressive assault. And in one match, he recalled Lampent then switched it right back in, making you think he'd swapped to Zoroark—causing a misread that let him execute his tactical advantage."
Auron nodded and picked up the thread. "Actually, in 2v2 format, Zoroark's ability isn't that hard to identify. After all, there are only two Pokémon total. So this strategy doesn't pose much of a problem for us. In fact, for a fragile hit-and-run type like Zoroark, directly using Toxic Spikes, Spikes, or Stealth Rock not only exposes Zoroark's Illusion ability, but also makes things very uncomfortable for Zoroark itself."
"Right, exactly what Master said. So Lan Shikong's battle strategy is to constantly switch Pokémon to wear you down through attrition. As long as you stay patient, he's not that hard to beat." After Peter finished, he continued pointing at Lampent on screen.
"But you still need to watch out—Lampent's ability is Effect Spore. You all understand what that means, right?"
Everyone nodded in unison. Anyone who made it into Skyspire had solid foundational knowledge.
Effect Spore ability meant you should try to avoid close combat with Lampent—otherwise you'd easily get hit with a status condition. After all, a 30% chance wasn't low at all.
(Effect Spore: When hit by contact moves, there's a 30% chance of inflicting paralysis, poison, or sleep. Sleep probability is slightly above 10%, paralysis is 10%, and poison is slightly below 10%.)
Among these, Paralysis wasn't so bad. But if you got Sleep or Poison—facing a Zoroark that could boost stats and hit-and-run would be really troublesome. The opponent definitely wouldn't pass up that opportunity.
Moreover, Effect Spore ability meant opponents weren't suited for close combat—which in turn gave Illusion Zoroark more opportunities. After all, while Zoroark could run mixed offense, with Nasty Plot boosting it, special attack builds were the norm. Dark, Poison, and Fire coverage wasn't lacking either.
"Tsk, this is also hard to deal with. Why is this guy so annoying? All this false and true stuff—what is this, rock-paper-scissors?" Jace smacked his lips and complained.
Actually, everyone understood with just a moment's thought why Peter had specifically pointed out the Effect Spore ability. But knowing was one thing—whether you could solve it was another matter entirely.
Simon and Serena on the side also looked somewhat grave. Auron and Jace had Fire-type Pokémon—they wouldn't have much trouble against either Lampent or Zoroark.
But the two of them were different. Simon's Haunter was weak to Zoroark. And while Haunter was faster than Zoroark, it was only by a little bit.
Add in Lampent's endless restrictive abilities plus Strength Sap, Giga Drain, and Moonlight for field presence—it made Haunter even more frustrated.
(Strength Sap: Restores HP equal to the target's Attack stat, then lowers the target's Attack by one stage.)
Compared to Simon's Haunter, Serena was in slightly better shape. She didn't counter her opponent and was countered by them, but her Cloyster had Spikes and Toxic Spikes. If necessary, she could just Shell Smash and go for pure offense. As long as she took care of Lampent, a lone Zoroark couldn't make much of a splash.
"Take a gamble—lead directly with Cloyster, then lay Toxic Spikes. Bet that he leads with Zoroark, making him reluctant to switch in Lampent."
Though Lena had been eliminated by her husband, she was still enthusiastically offering suggestions to her bestie.
"Mm, okay." Serena nodded seriously, apparently thinking Lena's idea wasn't bad.
"Oh? Having a meeting?"
Just as everyone was contemplating how to deal with Lan Shikong, Dax came down from upstairs looking like he'd just woken up, holding a Beldum plushie.
"Hello Uncle Dax (Hello Elite Four Dax)"
The messy chorus of greetings couldn't quite cover Auron's laughter.
"Uncle Dax, that outfit is... quite distinctive."
Pink floral pajamas plus the Beldum plushie in his hands completely shattered what little remained of Dax's already questionable image in everyone's minds.
Dax looked at his outfit, even did a little spin to check it out, then said proudly to everyone:
"What? Jealous? My girlfriend picked this out for me. You single dogs wouldn't understand."
Everyone was speechless. Only Simon quietly looked toward Lena.
Lena immediately understood, threw herself into Simon's arms and said: "Don't worry—I'll definitely make you look incredibly handsome."
Everyone choked. Another mouthful of dog food.
Dax also froze. Why does it feel like that person is specifically targeting someone?
"Hey? By the way, what are you all discussing?" Dax quickly changed the subject.
When it came to thick skin, his years as an Elite Four member weren't for nothing.
"We're discussing information on opponents we might face later." Auron rubbed his temples.
Basically everyone who'd made it this far had their own unique characteristics, their own battle tactics.
And what Auron and the others needed to do now was find their weaknesses and refine their own methods for facing them.
Not only that—they also needed to consider whether the opponents had anything hidden in reserve.
It really was incredibly draining on the brain cells.
Dax grinned. "I'll teach you. I am an Elite Four member, after all."