The student who'd just stood up was now at a loss.
Snorlax's physical attack was monstrous, but its speed was atrocious. So the moment you could prevent Snorlax from getting off a single Belly Drum, the entire combo was rendered useless.
With that in mind, you could just kite it — slowly drag it to death from a distance.
But… Professor Liu had just laid down Trick Room, and Snorlax's biggest flaw was instantly covered.
Once its speed deficit was patched, even without the combo, Snorlax could simply trade blows and flatten whoever was standing across from it.
High attack, massive HP — it was built like a heavy-tank template. Your average glass cannon stood no chance in a direct exchange.
And other tank Pokémon simply didn't have that kind of raw offensive power.
So once Snorlax covered its speed, even without relying on tactics, it was still an absolute nightmare to deal with.
The student who'd stood up just moments ago scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin and sat back down. He was out of ideas.
Snorlax under Trick Room was genuinely annoying.
"Anyone else?"
Liu Xiangjun surveyed the class with a knowing smile.
The students below all dropped their eyes, staring at their desks. They'd only been formally studying Pokémon knowledge since high school, and it had only been half a year since any of them had actually obtained a Pokémon — so nobody had an answer ready. They'd all been stumped.
"Alright then — Lu Ze. You answer."
Seeing all her students ducking their heads, terrified she might call on them, Liu Xiangjun smiled with a hint of mischief, then directly named Lu Ze to answer her question.
"Uh."
Lu Ze looked up at Liu Xiangjun. The moment he caught the curve of her lips, he knew exactly what his grandmother was up to.
Lu Ze grinned back, then copied Liu Xiangjun's gesture — he threw a Poké Ball.
"Klefki, use Howl on Snorlax."
"Kyu?"
Klefki had been dozing inside its Poké Ball. It got tossed out suddenly, its brain still processing what was happening, and the move fired off at Snorlax before it had even blinked.
Klefki instinctively patted its front legs together twice. The Snorlax on stage looked completely baffled — and immediately used Recover again.
"Alright, Klefki, return."
The moment Snorlax finished Recover, Lu Ze called Klefki back into its Ball. At the same time, the effect of Howl on Snorlax was lifted.
Lu Ze ignored the bewildered Snorlax standing there in a daze, turned to Liu Xiangjun, and said:
"What if I use Howl on Snorlax after it's already used Belly Drum?"
Liu Xiangjun's eyes curved with approval. "It would simply take itself out."
Liu Xiangjun was thoroughly pleased. This question, she asked every single year — but not many could answer it. Every student who did answer it was someone with quick thinking and solid theoretical knowledge.
Watching her own grandchild show off in front of everyone? She couldn't be happier.
"A good answer. In Trick Room, even a slow Pokémon like Snorlax still has精灵 that are even slower than it."
"Take Klefki, for example. It can use Howl to repeatedly force Snorlax to Belly Drum — and even if the Wiki Berry provides some recovery, Snorlax's second Belly Drum will still drain its HP completely to zero."
"Coalossal can't quite force it to take itself out like Klefki does, but Clear Smog resets all stat boosts to zero — that's another way to shut the combo down."
"And Clefairy can do both: Power Swap can take Snorlax's maximum Attack and transfer it to itself, or it can use Magic Room before Snorlax uses Belly Drum to deactivate its held item."
Liu Xiangjun paused, then continued: "If there's a solution for Trick Room Belly Drum Snorlax, then there's obviously an even easier solution for Belly Drum Snorlax without Trick Room."
"For instance, what that student just said — Taunt. Beyond that, there's Whirlwind, Roar — forced-switching moves that pull the opponent off the field. Knock Off, Bug Bite — moves that strip away held items or deactivate them. All of these work."
She rapped the lectern to refocus everyone's attention, then continued:
"Every Pokémon's ability and held item can combine to produce qualitative changes — and even combos as strong as Trick Room Belly Drum Snorlax don't have an absolutely uncounterable situation. So — read more, study more, think more!"
"Yes ma'am!"
The class roared the response in unison.
Entry-level Pokémon competitions banned held items outright. Some even prohibited them entirely.
High-level competitions were too few and far between, and many of the weird strategies that appeared there confused even the commentators.
If the commentators couldn't follow what was happening, the audience was left just as lost.
So the moment they had a chance to learn about the various counterplay methods for held-item combos — they were all pumped.
"You can go back to your seat now. Thank you for the demonstration."
"No problem, no problem — happy to help."
Wang Siyuan waved his hand quickly, recalled Snorlax, and returned to his spot.
"Alright — class is now in session."
Liu Xiangjun's expression shifted. The playful energy vanished, replaced by the focused seriousness of a lecturer passing on real knowledge.
What had just happened was merely a pre-class exercise. Keeping it light helped students retain the information better.
But now — real class. She held herself to a strict standard as a teacher.
After class, anything went. But once class started, knowledge was sacred, and teaching was a craft to be honored.
Lu Ze settled in and listened attentively as Liu Xiangjun began the正式 lecture.
Although he'd played plenty of online battles before, he already knew quite a lot about held-item strategies.
Things like using and countering Belly Drum Snorlax, Choice Scarf Ditto, Choice Band Garchomp, Heavy-Duty Boots Shedinja — he was familiar with all of it.
Not to mention the two most common held items: Life Orb and Leftovers.
(Everything can go Life Orb!)
So as far as held-item strategies went, Lu Ze had a solid foundation.
But the world had changed — the talent pool had only grown deeper. The examples Liu Xiangjun wove into her lecture gave Lu Ze plenty of new insights.
From the initial reaction — Wait, that works too? That's insane! —
To the later — Learned it, learned it.
Lu Ze found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean of knowledge.
* *
At that moment, in Lu Ze's house — in the room where Sui Yan usually slept — on the bed, a small figure stared blankly at the ceiling overhead.
(So hungry… Isn't today the start of term? Why hasn't [he] come back yet?)
———
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