Gliscor possessed an excellent type combination of Ground and Flying. On the defensive end, it only had two weaknesses—Water and Ice—but had three resistances and two immunities.
Its base stats were also very excellent, and its Poison Heal ability combined with the Toxic Orb item could give Gliscor super strong sustain.
[Toxic Orb: A bizarre orb that badly poisons the holder.]
[Poison Heal: Restores HP if the Pokémon is poisoned, instead of losing HP.]
With such an ability combination, no Pokémon was more suitable for SubToxic tactics than Gliscor.
As long as it could successfully inflict Toxic on the opponent, Substitute and Protect could buy infinite time under Poison Heal's effect until the opponent was poisoned to death.
Although real Pokémon battles were different from games, Gliscor with flying ability could completely achieve first-strike Toxic and kite opponents through flight.
Combined with Spikes, Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, and Taunt—there was no dirtiest, only dirtier.
Even more terrifying was that reality had no four-move slot limitation.
This meant that while using SubToxic tactics, Gliscor could also learn Swords Dance, Earthquake, Agility and other moves, setting up with Swords Dance first to deliver powerful strikes to opponents.
If the opponent's Pokémon team didn't have specialized Pokémon to counter Gliscor, then once they encountered Gliscor, besides instant surrender, there would probably be no other options.
In just an instant, Carver already had a plan in his mind.
The young man in front of him looked at him hopefully and asked: "How is it, boss?"
Carver didn't answer immediately but asked: "How do you and Gliscor usually battle?"
The young man answered carefully: "Using Cross Poison and Fire Fang to attack fiercely?"
Carver felt somewhat speechless inside. He thought briefly, then said:
"I do have a set of tactics suitable for Gliscor, but it requires specific moves to use. My breeding house happens to be able to teach them—see, do you want to learn?"
The young man followed his gaze and saw many teachable moves on that sign.
"Odor Sleuth, Protect, Sleep Powder, Swords Dance..." he murmured the names listed.
"To be precise, it's Toxic, Protect, and Swords Dance—three moves." Carver grinned: "However, this set of tactics isn't free."
Trainers asking breeders to help create breeding plans for Pokémon required payment, so having someone ask him to help devise tactics definitely couldn't be free either.
"No problem!" the young man agreed immediately—he understood the business!
"Three moves plus that set of tactics—I'll charge you 40,000 League dollars total!" Carver calculated the bill, then looked up and asked: "What's your name?"
"An!"
"Alright, An. First board your Gliscor at the breeding house. Teaching moves takes about a day. During this time, you can go explore the town or stay at the inn." Carver said.
"I'll stay here for a day!" An said quickly—he still needed to learn tactics from the boss!
After he paid the move tutoring and lodging fees, Carver had Bewear lead Gliscor to the backyard.
An stood excitedly at the counter looking at Carver with anticipation.
"Boss, can you teach me now?"
"Of course." Carver nodded: "I call this tactic 'SubToxic.'"
"SubToxic?"
"Substitute, Protect, and Toxic."
An listened with partial understanding.
"In battle, you can first use Toxic to badly poison the opponent. After that, even if you do nothing, as long as you stall for enough time..."
"The opponent will lose fighting ability from poisoning!" An's eyes lit up.
"Exactly." Carver smiled: "Substitute and Protect can keep Gliscor safe. Of course, this tactic currently isn't complete—it's still missing several support-type moves."
"What moves?!" An quickly asked.
"Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, Taunt, Earthquake, Swords Dance, Roost..." Carver recalled while reciting these move names.
"If I'm not mistaken, your Gliscor's ability should be Poison Heal. With this ability, if you have a Toxic Orb item, it can continuously heal itself in battle, using this to maintain sustain."
"But even without a Toxic Orb, you can use Roost as a substitute."
"This way, opponents continuously lose HP from Toxic while your Gliscor can recover HP through Poison Heal and Roost, plus Substitute and Protect support..."
"Infinite recovery!" An felt his vision suddenly clear—a new door was slowly opening before him.
Genius! This tactic was pure genius! Simply invincible!
He couldn't wait to try it right now!
However, An still tried to calm down.
Recalling the other moves Carver had just mentioned, he couldn't help asking: "What do moves like Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rock do?"
"Do you know the effects of Toxic Spikes, Spikes, and Stealth Rock?" Carver smiled slightly.
"Toxic Spikes..." An recalled carefully and suddenly realized these three moves all involved scattering poison spikes and laying Stealth Rock on the battlefield to cause status conditions and damage to the opponent's next switched-in Pokémon.
"Using these three moves means that whenever opponents choose to switch Pokémon, they must pay corresponding costs." Carver explained.
Poison damage from Toxic Spikes, damage from Stealth Rock, plus damage from Spikes—who could withstand such a combination?
Only then did An finally understand what these words meant.
SubToxic plus Roost and Poison Heal for infinite recovery, combined with Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock interference...
Such a disgusting strategy! An couldn't help but think.
But immediately after came unprecedented excitement that made his whole body tremble uncontrollably.
If his Gliscor could learn this tactic, who could be their opponent in battle?
This money was well spent! An couldn't help thinking.
Mom, I'm about to become a Pokémon Master!
An began fantasizing about sweeping teams with just his Gliscor. From now on, let's see who dared call them fools!
Watching this kid's expression, Carver helplessly shook his head.
Although this tactic sounded invincible, it wasn't without countermeasures. One Taunt could directly break this so-called SubToxic strategy.
But this thing relied on catching people off guard and being annoying. When encountered without prior knowledge or preparation, unless there was a huge power gap between both sides, there was nothing to be done.