Of course, Carver couldn't say these self-sabotaging words now. When An later encountered someone who could break this strategy, he would naturally return to the breeding house seeking solutions.
However, that would be another price altogether.
Unfortunately, the breeding house's currently teachable moves didn't include Roost, Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, and Spikes, or this Gliscor's moveset could be complete all at once.
"I'll see if I can get some moves from Steven's Skarmory later," Carver thought.
Teaching moves could be completed in a second, but to maintain appearances, Carver had to delay for a period based on the number of moves each time.
Faced with this situation, most trainers would choose to stay at the inn for a day or two.
This way, it could also bring some income to the breeding house.
An was no exception. Carver took the opportunity to show him around the breeding house's backyard and the Pokémon's daily diet, so he could come anytime if he needed Pokémon boarding services in the future.
An happily agreed to this.
The next morning.
With move tutoring complete, An left the breeding house full of confidence, preparing to head to Autumn Leaf Town to show his rival some color.
Watching his appearance, Carver was momentarily speechless. He really wanted to say this strategy wasn't complete yet and didn't need to be so dramatic.
But after a moment of silence, he only said: "When you have a chance, check some trainer trading markets to see if you can buy a Toxic Orb. The breeding house currently can't teach Roost, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock, but you can wait a while and come back to check."
"Alright, I'll remember!" An nodded repeatedly.
Gliscor also gratefully said goodbye to Carver.
Learning new moves made it very happy, so much so that Carver received a gift from its increased joy.
[Gliscor's mood improved. Joy Level +60. Received Gliscor's gift: "Substitute" TM.]
[TM (Substitute): Normal-type move. The user makes a copy of itself using some of its HP. The copy serves as the user's decoy. Uses remaining: 9999/9999.]
Substitute! Now the breeding house had all three moves for SubToxic complete.
"Go on!" Carver smiled at Gliscor.
Gliscor turned around and left the breeding house with its trainer.
Autumn Leaf Town, Pokémon Center.
After traveling for most of the day, the completely renewed An arrived here again.
He looked at his rival who was arrogantly training Pokémon in the Pokémon Center's backyard and said:
"Mao, let's duel!"
The young man named Mao turned to look at his fellow townsman. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow: "Are you sure?"
Both were trainers who had just started traveling this year, from the same place.
An had always considered the other his rival, but unfortunately, the other's strength always surpassed his.
An had always viewed his rival Mao as his goal, constantly chasing after him.
"Of course! This time Gliscor and I definitely won't lose!" An said.
"Hey, you didn't get your brain scrambled from losing last time, did you?" Mao said sarcastically.
"Who got their brain scrambled? We'll only know after a battle!" An pulled out Gliscor's Poké Ball.
Seeing this, Mao was silent for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "Really can't do anything about you. In that case, I'll just defeat you once more! Go, my partner!"
As white light flashed, a Crawdaunt appeared on the field.
Crawdaunt, the evolved form of Corphish—a Water and Dark-type Pokémon with tremendous power.
"In that case, we're up too!" An said: "Go, Gliscor!"
White light flashed, and Gliscor appeared opposite Crawdaunt.
Their gazes met, and this battle officially began!
"Crawdaunt, Bubble Beam! Show them some color!"
"Gliscor, Toxic!"
Both sides issued commands simultaneously.
Crawdaunt extended its large claws forward, and a fierce stream of bubbles gushed out, almost locking onto Gliscor's position.
Having fought this Pokémon many times, Gliscor had faced this situation countless times. While flying into the air to dodge the Bubble Beam, it sprayed purple poison from its tail.
"Splash!"
The next second, a large amount of poison hit Crawdaunt, successfully putting it in a badly poisoned state.
"Toxic? Did it learn a new move?" Mao narrowed his eyes but wasn't panicked. He just needed to defeat that Gliscor before its HP was depleted.
"Crawdaunt, Ice Beam!"
At the command, a beam radiating terrifying cold shot out from Crawdaunt's large claws in an instant.
If Gliscor, which was 4x weak to Ice, got hit, even if it didn't immediately lose fighting ability, it would be severely injured.
Moreover, with that Gliscor's speed, it couldn't dodge this attack at all. For this battle, Mao was determined to win.
However, hearing Mao use Ice Beam, An wasn't anxious but grinned instead.
"Hehe, I knew it would be this move! In that case, Gliscor, Protect!"
The moment Ice Beam struck, white light surged from Gliscor's body, blocking that Ice Beam.
Protect succeeded!
And it was predicted in advance!
Seeing this, both Mao and Crawdaunt were shocked.
How could this be?
But he quickly changed strategy.
"Protect doesn't succeed every time. Crawdaunt, Ice Beam again!"
However, this time, An and Gliscor didn't use Protect.
The moment Ice Beam hit, Gliscor's real body appeared safely on the other side.
That was... Substitute?!
Where did this guy learn that? He got smarter! Mao was shocked and quickly thought of countermeasures.
"No, using Substitute consumes Gliscor's HP. It can't use it multiple times consecutively. In that case—"
Mao didn't plan to give the opponent time to think: "Crawdaunt, Ice Beam again!"
"Gliscor, Substitute again!" An saw through the opponent's intention.
Ice Beam was blocked by Substitute once more.
Seeing this scene, Mao suddenly wasn't in a hurry.
He didn't attack again but calmly looked at An across from him, saying:
"Although I don't know where you learned this, how many more times can you use Substitute now?"
"That's none of your concern!" An grinned.
The next second, Mao saw greenish-purple light emanating from that Gliscor.
Within the light, Gliscor's HP was actually recovering!
What, what's happening?! Mao's eyes widened instantly.
An's face showed a smile.
Since they didn't have a Toxic Orb to trigger Gliscor's Poison Heal ability, they'd do it directly—have Gliscor use Toxic on itself to trigger the Poison Heal ability.
Crawdaunt, badly poisoned, began showing pain as time passed.
Watching that scene, An grinned.
This strategy was indeed powerful! Even incomplete, it could beat Mao completely helpless!
Now, it was time to counterattack!
"Gliscor, Swords Dance!"
"Crawdaunt, Ice Beam!"
Ice Beam swept over again, but now Gliscor was full of confidence. It actually dodged Ice Beam at an odd angle, then successfully used Swords Dance.
"Now, give it the finishing blow!" An shouted loudly: "Use our best move!"
Cross Poison!
Crawdaunt tried to make a final defense, but the bad poison tormented its body, making it half a beat slower due to intense pain.
Gliscor crossed its claws, carrying a dark purple glow, and heavily struck Crawdaunt.
The Ice Beam that hadn't been used yet misfired directly.
Crawdaunt's hard body finally collapsed powerlessly.
Finally won!
An and Gliscor were incredibly excited.