A flash of red light appeared, and a pokémon emerged. Its body was primarily black with a red tail, silver-white claws, golden spots on its forehead and chest, and its left ear was red.
It was indeed the Ice and Dark dual-type pokémon, Sneasel!
"So you sent out a Sneasel? It seems you understand a bit about type advantages!"
Adrian smiled, but he wasn't worried.
While the Dark-type Sneasel is immune to Psychic moves, a real battle isn't a game; when it comes down to it, victory depends on the strength of both sides.
"Sneasel~"
Sneasel's gaze was fierce as it constantly rubbed its sharp claws together, ready to strike at any moment.
"Sneasel, use Quick Attack!"
Sneasel is a high-attack, high-speed pokémon. It was extremely agile, darting left and right as it ran.
With the boost from the priority move 'Quick Attack,' Sneasel's speed reached an extreme level, appearing as a mere afterimage to the average person.
In the blink of an eye, its body flashed with white light as it slammed heavily into Slowpoke.
"Ya-no."
Slowpoke was hurt, its face showing an expression of pain.
But at that moment, Slowpoke opened its mouth and quickly blew out a Yawn bubble.
Pop!
The point-blank Yawn hit its mark. As the bubble burst, Sneasel's originally fierce eyes immediately became bleary and hazy. An intense sleepiness washed over it, causing its body to sway unsteadily.
Before long, a sleep bubble appeared on Sneasel's nose, and it collapsed onto the ground, falling into a deep slumber.
Jacob grew anxious at the sight and shouted, "Sneasel, wake up quickly!"
The classic 'Revival Shout,' but it was useless!
However, even though Sneasel had fallen asleep, Slowpoke wasn't actually doing that well either.
Because Sneasel's attack power was so high, even a basic move without Same-Type Attack Bonus could cause significant damage to it.
Besides that, while Slowpoke's moves were powerful, they also had high energy consumption.
Though it had only used a few moves, its young body was already starting to feel the strain.
"Slowpoke, Slack Off!"
Adrian quickly issued an order, deciding to recover stamina and energy while Sneasel was dozing off.
"Ya-no~"
Slowpoke nodded and immediately stretched before lying down on the ground to rest, looking quite lazy.
As a white light emerged and enveloped Slowpoke, its body began to glow, and the injuries inflicted by Sneasel just now began to slowly fade away.
Before long, the light dissipated, and Slowpoke's stamina was fully restored, making it look energetic once again.
Looking at the Sneasel opposite it, the creature was actually still snoring away.
"How can this be?"
Jacob held his head, his emotions bordering on a breakdown.
So after fighting for so long, it all ended up being for nothing?
"Slowpoke, Water Pulse!"
Adrian smiled; he was finally starting his counterattack.
A pale blue elemental energy ball condensed in Slowpoke's mouth. When it flew into the air, it exploded violently, turning into a massive wave of water that swept out, repeatedly striking the still-slumbering Sneasel.
"Sneasel~"
Sneasel let out a cry of pain. The intense agony jolted it awake from its dream, and its body was pushed several meters away by the water wave.
It desperately wanted to pull itself together and stand up, but its dizzy head made it unsteady, and a string of little stars circled around its head.
Sneasel had fallen into a state of Confusion!
Normally, a Water Pulse move only has about a one-in-five chance of causing Confusion upon hitting.
But Slowpoke's Water Pulse was at the 'Perfection Level,' and the trigger rate for Confusion far exceeded the norm. Combined with the Same-Type Attack Bonus and its incredible elemental energy explosive power, it practically caused Confusion with every hit.
"Finish Sneasel off with Water Gun!"
At Adrian's command, Slowpoke once again fired a high-pressure, high-speed stream of water from its mouth, sending Sneasel flying.
"Sneasel~"
As its body hit the ground heavily, Sneasel's eyes turned into spirals.
Adrian reached out with a gesture of invitation and grinned, saying, "Next!"
But at this moment, no one thought Adrian was being arrogant.
Because his strength was indeed formidable; Slowpoke taking down two in a row was clear proof.
If things continued smoothly, a three-pokémon sweep wouldn't be a problem.
With a flushed face, Jacob recalled Sneasel and gritted his teeth as he released his final pokémon.
Accompanied by a flash of red light, a pokémon appeared with a massive mouth, four sharp teeth set in its upper and lower jaws, a mostly blue body, and purple wing membranes.
It was the Poison and Flying dual-type pokémon—Golbat!
"Golbat, use Astonish!"
Jacob still wanted to seize the initiative.
But to his disappointment, Adrian had no intention of letting him have his way this time.
Long before Golbat appeared, Slowpoke's Psychic power had already covered a range of over ten meters.
With a thought from Slowpoke, the terrifying Psychic power immediately transformed into Confusion, constantly invading Golbat's body and mind.
"Na~"
Golbat's face showed an expression of pain. Not only was the move it intended to use forced to an abrupt halt, but even its body in mid-air began to falter, swaying unsteadily.
Because Psychic-type moves are super effective against the Poison-type Golbat.
Combined with Slowpoke's energy intensity and terrifying explosive power, it simply couldn't hold on.
Golbat desperately wanted to flee, but it couldn't escape.
In the games, Confusion is a one-off Special Attack move; if you withstand it, it's over.
But in the real world, if a pokémon cannot break free from the Confusion, it becomes a lamb to the slaughter, its stamina constantly drained until it loses the ability to fight.
The Psychic type is just that dominant in the real world!
As time passed, Golbat unsurprisingly fell unconscious, dropping to the ground like a limp rag.
"Phew~ We won!"
Seeing the battle decided, Slowpoke immediately withdrew its Psychic power and spoke to Adrian via Telepathy: "Trainer, that was a truly pleasant battle!"
"My dear Slowpoke, are you trying to add insult to injury?"
The corner of Adrian's mouth twitched slightly; for a moment, he couldn't tell if Slowpoke was being sincere or just being sarcastic.
It was lucky that Adrian and Slowpoke communicated via Telepathy so others couldn't hear; otherwise, Jacob would likely have blown a fuse.
"So amazing! He actually swept through three of Brother Jacob's pokémon with just one Slowpoke. This outsider is really too strong!"
The group of kids were all talking at once, and a hint of admiration appeared in their eyes as they looked at Adrian.
As for Jacob, he no longer dared to mention challenging Lorelei.
With the interlude over, Adrian arrived at a detached villa located on the east side of Island Four; this was Lorelei's home.
In the villa's living room, Adrian sat upright on the sofa with a cup of hot tea placed before him.
Lorelei sat beside Adrian, her temperament elegant and gentle.
"Ahem~"
After a tactical cough, Adrian looked around and found that there were at least a dozen pokémon plushies in the room. There were pokémon Lorelei had caught and raised, such as Slowpoke, Lapras, and Dewgong, as well as common pokémon like Chansey, Pidgey, and Meowth.
So he quickly found a topic of conversation: "Miss Lorelei, you seem to really like plushies?"
"My usual hobby is collecting pokémon plushies."
Lorelei gave a sweet smile and immediately began introducing the origins of several plushies.
Adrian's heart stirred, realizing she was a big sister with the aura of a mature woman but the heart of a young girl. Although her strength was formidable, her mind was quite simple.
The two of them chatted like this while drinking tea.
In the courtyard of Lorelei's villa, there was a massive pool.
Even though the weather was hot right now, the pool had an icy chill to it. Wisps of cold air constantly rose from the water, forming a curling Mist.
Dewgong, Cloyster, and Lapras all possessed the Ice type. They loved the cold air of the pool and were swimming leisurely.
As for Slowbro, Slowking, and Jynx, they just stayed by the edge of the pool, occasionally playing with the splashes of water.
Outside, Adrian's Gyarados was undoubtedly a domineering presence.
But in this small pool, Gyarados could only huddle in a corner, feeling dejected.
Because it had been too rowdy when it first entered the water, it had been taught a lesson by Dewgong, Cloyster, and Lapras in turn.
It couldn't win!
It simply couldn't win at all!
"Yur~"
Dratini was currently lying on the grass, sunbathing.
Although it usually lived in the water, it didn't dare get too close to the pool right now, because the icy chill made it very uncomfortable.
"Ya-no~"
"Ya-dong~"
Slowpoke possessed extraordinary wisdom. It was currently communicating with Lorelei's Slowking, asking its senior for knowledge regarding Psychic powers.