Pokemon: This Ash Is Too Versatile

Chapter 832 - 440: Belly Drum, Rest, Chesto Berry! This Is Snorlax’s Tactics!

Given what she knew about Ash, that was absolutely impossible!

If Ash did this, there had to be some other purpose behind it!

Facing Volkner’s skepticism, Ash not only showed no trace of panic, but the smile at the corner of his mouth actually deepened.

"Sore wa dou kana~ (You sure about that~?)" His voice was unhurried, then he flicked his right hand, "Snorlax, Rest."

"Snor~~"

Snorlax let out a lazy reply, those already squinted eyes slowly closing, and then that massive body leaned back, crashing down like a small mountain, making the ground tremble slightly.

The next second, steady and loud snores echoed through the Gym.

Rest—at the cost of entering a sleep state, it fully restores its own Physical Strength!

Snorlax’s face, which had turned pale from Belly Drum, visibly regained a healthy flush as it slept. The faintly weakened aura from its loss of Physical Strength also surged back to its peak within just a few breaths.

Its Physical Strength, was back to full.

"Rest?!" Ah Yi couldn’t help but cry out, "But if it falls asleep now, isn’t it just a sitting duck?!"

Volkner’s brows, however, furrowed. He said nothing, his gaze locked on the Snorlax lying on the ground snoring away, a strong sense of wrongness welling up in his heart.

Belly Drum, then Rest?

These two Skills together could indeed both boost ATK and restore Physical Strength, but the price was that Snorlax would fall asleep and be a completely defenseless target until it woke up.

With Manectric’s ATK, even with Snorlax’s thick hide and flesh, there was no way it could withstand several full-power rounds while asleep.

All that Physical Strength it had just recovered would be burned away in a blink; this kind of tactic could only be used if you utterly looked down on your opponent’s offense, right?

Did Ash think his Manectric was made of mud?

"This is your strategy?" Volkner’s voice dropped, a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes. "Trading half your Physical Strength for max ATK, then using Rest to refill it... how utterly disappointing."

Volkner had no intention of holding back. He wanted to crush Ash’s first Pokemon outright and use reality to tell Ash that Pokemon battles weren’t child’s play, and that someone who only knew how to talk big had no right to stand on the battlefield.

He raised his right hand, pointing straight at the massive figure in the center of the field whose snores boomed like thunder.

"Manectric, Volt—"

Before Volkner could finish his command, something suddenly changed on Snorlax’s side.

On Snorlax’s round belly, a gentle blue glow suddenly appeared, and a blue-brown berry slowly floated up from Snorlax’s body.

The berry was small and unimpressive at first glance, but when Volkner clearly saw what it was, his pupils tightened sharply.

Chesto Berry—when carried, it automatically triggers when the Pokemon falls asleep, instantly curing sleep!

"Don’t tell me..."

"Crunch." Snorlax’s mouth opened in its sleep, and it precisely chomped down the blue berry that had floated to its face.

A crisp chewing sound rang out in the Gym.

The next second, those squinted eyes snapped open!

Snorlax flipped and sprang up from the ground, its round body standing tall like a towering mountain.

"Snor!!"

It tilted its head back and let out a thunderous roar, pounding its fists against its own chest, proving just how awake it was now, as if that Rest just now had only been a brief illusion!

The extreme ATK from Belly Drum, the full Physical Strength restored by Rest, and the Chesto Berry snapping it awake—this was the tactic Ash had specially designed for Snorlax!

And only Snorlax could maximize the payoff from this tactic!

After all, this strategy came at the cost of sacrificing a held item slot; only a Pokemon with an absurdly huge pool of Physical Strength like Snorlax could get the most out of this combo of restoring Physical Strength and boosting ATK.

"Belly Drum to cut Physical Strength and raise ATK, then Rest to refill, and finally the Chesto Berry to cure sleep... you planned this from the beginning?!"

Facing Volkner’s question, Ash nodded and said, "Yeah. Even though it means giving up Snorlax’s held item slot, being able to push Snorlax’s Attack Ability Value to the maximum is worth more than any item."

This tactic was indeed powerful, but if they ran into some annoying Ghost Type Pokemon, then all that power Snorlax gained would have nowhere to be used.

On the other hand, if they faced a Pokemon that could fight head-on, as long as the tactic could be executed—then Snorlax... would have a complete advantage!

"Not bad, I underestimated you. But... can your Snorlax keep up with my Manectric’s Speed?" Volkner snapped his fingers. "Manectric, use Wild Charge."

Manectric let out a low growl, golden Thunder Light bursting from its four limbs.

In an instant, that dazzling golden light wrapped around its entire body. The next second, Manectric turned into a golden bolt of lightning, darting across the field.

The entire Gym was dyed gold by its Thunder Light, and that blue-and-yellow figure had already blurred beyond recognition.

Using Manectric’s Speed advantage to move at high velocity in random patterns, making it impossible for the opponent to predict its attack angle. When the opponent showed an opening, that would be the moment for a one-hit kill—that was the tactic Volkner had prepared.

Snorlax was shaking its head around, completely unable to track Manectric’s Speed; the gap in Speed was laid bare at this moment.

Against a heavy Pokemon like Snorlax, Speed was the most effective way to counter it!

What good was high ATK? Same as always: if you can’t hit, everything is meaningless!

"Snorlax, Earthquake." Ash wasn’t rattled by Manectric’s Speed; he quickly found a way to respond.

Snorlax stopped its pointless turning, its fat body leaping high into the air and then slamming down hard onto the ground.

"Boom—!!"

The entire Gym shook violently from that single jump.

Centered on Snorlax, countless cracks spread like a spiderweb in all directions, Ground Type energy erupting from beneath it and turning into a visible shockwave that engulfed the entire field.

When the attack covered the entire arena, no matter how fast you were, you couldn’t dodge.

Manectric, in the middle of its high-speed run, was slammed head-on by that shockwave. The golden Thunder Light around it suddenly stuttered, and its paws staggered over the ground for several steps, almost losing balance.

"Jump and attack!" Volkner reacted quickly as well. No matter how strong Earthquake was, it could only hit targets on the ground. As long as you left the ground, that energy couldn’t touch Manectric.

Manectric’s four limbs exploded with force, its body springing high into the air, tracing an arc midair. The Thunder Light around it not only failed to weaken, it grew even more intense, as it dropped straight toward Snorlax’s broad back!

A sharp gleam flashed in Volkner’s eyes. Earthquake was indeed a good way to break Speed-based attacks, but after Snorlax used such a big-area Move, its body would inevitably have a brief stiff interval.

Now that Manectric was attacking from Snorlax’s blind spot, Snorlax wouldn’t be able to react; with this offset, he could still take it down...

"Snorlax, High Horsepower." Ash’s voice rang out the moment Manectric jumped, but Volkner didn’t care.

It was already too late.

Reality, however, said otherwise. At Ash’s command, Snorlax’s bulky body suddenly twisted, moving at a speed completely unbefitting a Snorlax, and in the next second it was directly facing the descending Manectric.

Snorlax’s right arm swung high, its thick palm wrapped in a layer of earthy Ground Type energy!

Volkner’s pupils shrank hard. How was that possible! This was the kind of Speed a Snorlax could show? That couldn’t be right!

Forget that this Snorlax’s strength topped out at Mid-Elite Level—even at Champion Intermediate Level, a Snorlax shouldn’t be able to move like this!

This reaction Speed... was that Pokemon really a Snorlax?!