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"Come out, Weavile!"
"Wea!!"
With a flash of white light, Weavile's small figure landed on the field. It looked up at its opponent—a towering Snorlax—and a trace of disdain flickered in its eyes.
"Hahaha! Are you giving up or what? Pulling out such a tiny Pokémon to go up against my Snorlax? If you're really going to forfeit, just hand over the Fire Stone. No need to beat around the bush. That way, your little guy won't have to get hurt."
The burly man burst into laughter the moment he saw Weavile, clearly looking down on its small stature.
Even the onlookers around weren't optimistic about Weavile's chances.
"What Pokémon is that? Why haven't I seen it before?"
"I think there's a Pokémon in Johto called Sneasel. This one kinda looks like it. Not sure if they're related."
"What's the point of over analyzing? That little thing's clearly got no stamina, no power. Maybe it's fast, but how is it going to take on a tank like Snorlax?"
"Sigh… Looks like the Fire Stone is a lost cause this time…"
"Exactly!"
The crowd buzzed with heated discussion. Most of them, after seeing Weavile, shook their heads in disappointment. Some even started to walk away.
"Heh, Weavile, looks like they're seriously underestimating you. That won't do. I guess it's time we showed them something. Bigger doesn't always mean better."
Liam chuckled at the spectators' comments and spoke lightly to Weavile.
"Weavile!"
Hearing Liam's words, Weavile gave the onlookers a brief, disdainful glance. Then it extended one of its sharp claws to its mouth and gave it a slow lick. Turning its attention back to Snorlax, its eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.
"Snor..."
Snorlax flinched under Weavile's intense gaze, visibly uneasy as it instinctively took a step back.
"Hm? What's wrong, Snorlax? Hmph! Both Pokémon are already on the field—are we battling or not? Don't tell me you're stalling for time?"
Though puzzled by Snorlax's retreat, the burly man brushed it off and shouted impatiently at Liam.
Liam smiled faintly at the man's words and extended a hand with a calm gesture.
"After you."
As soon as he finished speaking—
"Snorlax! Use Rollout!"
"Snorlax!"
Before Liam's voice had fully faded, the burly man issued his command, and Snorlax instantly curled into a massive ball and barreled toward Weavile at high speed.
"Weavile! Double Team, then Hone Claws!"
Liam's voice remained cool and composed, even as Snorlax came crashing down like a truck.
"Wea!"
Watching Snorlax rumble toward it, Weavile smirked and blurred into motion. In the blink of an eye, dozens of afterimages filled the field. Then, all of them simultaneously began to sharpen their claws until they gleamed ominously.
"Incredible! I've never seen Double Team create that many copies before! This little one might not be as weak as we thought!"
"Yeah! That trainer clearly knows what he's doing. He wouldn't dare set up a battle stage here otherwise—this is gonna be good!"
"Totally!"
The crowd's mood shifted. Shocked by Weavile's display, those who had already dismissed the match were now glued to the field.
"Snor!"
Snorlax barreled through the field, smashing through a number of the afterimages before stopping, looking confusedly around at the Weaviles scattered everywhere.
"Ignore the illusions, Snorlax! Keep using Rollout! Flatten every last one of those clones!"
The burly man showed a flash of battle awareness and didn't fall for the decoys, quickly issuing another command.
"Snor!"
At its trainer's command, Snorlax nodded and resumed rolling, this time at even greater speed and force, tearing across the battlefield again.
"Weavile! Screech, now!"
Liam called out loudly.
"Weavaaaaaiiiile!!"
As soon as it heard the command, Weavile opened its mouth and unleashed a shrill metallic screech. Snorlax shuddered violently mid-roll, clutched its ears with both hands, and came to an abrupt halt.
"Follow up with Leer!"
Liam gave his next order without missing a beat.
"Wea!"
With that, Weavile and all of its afterimages surrounded Snorlax in a tight ring, every single one of them glaring with terrifying intensity.
"Snor?! Snor!!"
Startled again, Snorlax flailed its arms wildly, shattering several clones—but none of them were the real Weavile.
"Damn it! Are you messing with me?! Fight me head-on! What's with all this running around and trickery?!"
The burly man was clearly starting to feel something was off, but couldn't put his finger on it. Frustrated, he bellowed at Liam.
"Having a brain helps in a battle. Shame you don't seem to have one. Who cares how I fight—as long as I win in the end."
Liam shot the man a disdainful look and replied coolly.
"Hmph! You really think you've already won?! Don't underestimate us! Snorlax, use Body Slam!"
"Snorlax!"
Snorlax ignored the clones this time. With a thunderous stomp, it launched itself into the air and came crashing down, belly-first, toward the field.
"Hm? Weavile, dodge it first!"
Liam raised an eyebrow at the move—he couldn't figure out the point of it. A move like Body Slam would never connect with Weavile anyway.
"Wea!"
Weavile looked equally puzzled as it darted out of the attack's range in a few quick steps. Then it watched as Snorlax crashed into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and obliterating all the nearby clones.
"…Something's off."
Liam narrowed his eyes at the dust cloud that now shrouded Snorlax, muttering quietly.
And then—suddenly, massive chunks of stone burst out of the dust cloud, surrounding Weavile like a prison. Countless smaller rocks spun around the stones, sealing her in completely.
"This—this is Rock Tomb?! How's that possible?!"
Liam instantly recognized the move, but Snorlax shouldn't be able to learn Rock Tomb—not through leveling, not through breeding. Unless… Realization struck him, and an image of Giovanni flashed through his mind.
"Hahaha! Thought you could just run circles around me forever, huh?! I know my Snorlax's biggest weakness is its speed—and I fixed that yesterday! All thanks to the good ol' Technical Machines from Silph Co.! Sure, it was pricey, but totally worth it! Hahahaha!"
The burly man burst out laughing, proudly waving a TM labeled Rock Tomb.
Liam facepalmed with a long sigh.
"Seriously, Giovanni? I've only been out for two days! Couldn't you have waited until I was done with the League to release those? Now you're just making things harder for me!"
Even the surrounding crowd was shocked and began whispering excitedly again.
"I know what a TM is! They're sold in shops everywhere! But they're expensive—the cheapest one is like 10,000 PokeDollars! I always thought they were a scam. Turns out they really do let Pokémon learn moves they normally can't!"
"This is a game-changer! I gotta go buy a few of those as soon as I get the chance. Huge power boost!"
"No kidding!"
The burly man grinned as he looked at Liam's clearly annoyed expression.
"Don't be so down! Losing to real strength isn't shameful. Now get that Fire Stone ready! I'll show you another one of my Snorlax's secret techniques—this'll make you admit defeat fair and square! Snorlax, use Zen Headbutt!"
"Snor!"
At his command, a psychic aura shimmered around Snorlax as it rose from the ground, then charged toward Weavile like a missile.
Liam glanced at the oncoming Snorlax, then turned to the burly man with a pitying look.
"Yeah… with that level of intelligence? There's no saving you."