Pokemon: Master of tactics

Brock went to Rhyhorn in a hurry and used a [Super Potion] on him without paying any attention to Alex's words.

Seeing this, Alex sensed that Brock genuinely loves his Pokémon. At least, he respects them more than most of the trainers, even though he was neglecting his Pokémon.

'Maybe neglecting is a bit too harsh a word. Just because Brock hasn't trained his Pokémon for a long time doesn't mean he's neglecting them. But as a trainer, not training your Pokémon to their full potential because you are lazy is really selfish. He may not be harsh to his Pokémon and genuinely cares for them, but he isn't doing his best for them either.'

He could see from Brock's reaction that Brock was not acting like this for the camera and that he really cares about the health of his Pokémon. Though he can't prove it, this is just his guts speaking.

Brock called Rhyhorn back to the Pokéball after healing him. Then he looked at Alex and said with contempt, "Don't talk to me like you know how well I train my Pokémon."

Alex saw one good side of Brock, but that didn't mean he would do 180 on his attitude.

"Just because you treat your Pokémon well doesn't mean you're a good trainer," spoke Alex with a scornful expression and a cold tone.

"To be a good trainer, it's not enough just to love Pokémon—though it is indeed a very important trait. If you want your Pokémon to take part in battles in the future, you must take responsibility for them too. You have to bring their absolute strength to the front without tiring them mentally or physically with excessive or tedious redundant training methods. A balance is crucial. You also have to understand the character of your Pokémon well to be able to modify the plan accordingly."

He knew that what he said before was just the tip of the iceberg, but he didn't want to talk about this topic anymore. That would take way too long to just address the obvious issues.

Brock was shocked at the moment and didn't know what to say.

He didn't think that Alex, as a rookie, would talk such things about training methods. It felt like the words of a Pokémon professor.

Brock stopped thinking about Alex's words and said, "Don't talk about training methods when you are just a rookie. I don't need any advice from you."

Alex, who saw how Brock ignored his advice and chose to rebut, suddenly felt that there was no hope for Brock.

Brock said aloud, "Focus on the fight rather than blabbering your mouth," and called his next Pokémon.

Alex couldn't understand Brock. 'Is your "pride" or whatever that you believe more important than the chance to learn something new or to question and test your previous knowledge.'

He looked at Brock and thought, 'Well, we don't have a good enough relationship for him to even heed to my words. Not to mention, he thinks of me as a rookie. So he probably doesn't even want to talk to me, even though I find this attitude questionable. Haha! Apart from that, not everyone is like me, talking so much about Pokémon training—especially in the middle of a fight.'

An Omastar appeared in the arena, and Alex immediately looked at the info of the Pokémon.

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Pokémon: Omastar

LV: 49

Type: Water/Rock

Ability: Shell Armor

Gender: Male

Potential: Shallow Gold

Moves:

- Constrict, Withdraw, Leer, Water Gun, Bite [E], Rock Throw, Protect, Rock Slide, Ancient Power [E].

- (Innate Talent) Spike Cannon [E], (Innate Talent) Seismic Toss [E], (Innate Talent) Scald [E].

- (TM) Headbutt, (TM) Toxic, (TM) Facade, (TM) Surf, (TM) Blizzard, (TM) Substitute, (TM) Reflect, (TM) Hyper Beam, (TM) Stealth Rock.

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Alex felt that this Pokémon was most likely a Pokémon from Brock's Main Team due to the relatively many Expert-rank and TM moves. Also, this Pokémon's level was almost LV 50.

Brock said nothing and waited for the referee.

"3,2,1, GO!!"

Alex and Brock gave their commands at the same time.

"Scizor, use Metal Claw."

"Omastar, use Reflect."

Alex didn't even have to tell Scizor to start running in the direction of Omastar while preparing the move. Scizor had immediately understood Alex's intent, and he did it without Alex's command.

Omastar, who could not move while preparing, could not create any distance or, at least, try to make it difficult for Scizor to get within range too fast.

Scizor came in range quickly, and his move was finished preparing, too.

He used [Metal Claw] and sent Omastar flying 2 meters. Even though it wasn't a super effective move, he still lost 20% of HP from this hit.

Although Scizor is reinforced by [Sword Dance], Omastar's Def and level advantage caused the damage to be so mediocre.

Alex smiled as he said, "Now, use Brick Break."

He let Scizor use [Metal Claw] first, even if it does lesser damage than [Brick Break]. This way, Omastar will waste a move with [Reflect].

Now that Omastar was 80% done with the move preparation, Alex was ready to use this move now. It didn't matter to him now whether Brock would cancel this move or not; it wouldn't matter much anyway.

Not to mention, there was a bonus to it.

Brock said as he watched Omastar use [Reflect], "So you can use this move, but it doesn't matter."

"Omastar, now use Scald while running away from Scizor."

Brock didn't think [Brick Break] was an Expert-rank move, so he wanted to take advantage of it. After all, if [Brick Break] is on the Expert-rank, why use [Metal Claw] that does a lot less harm.

And this is exactly what Alex was hoping for. Although there was a chance that Brock would be a bit more careful, Brock didn't disappoint him.

But the next moment, Brock saw Scizor run towards Omastar as he prepared his move and felt that he was unlucky.

"You lucky bastard!!" spoke Brock as he gritted his teeth.

Alex looked at Brock and said in a playful manner, "You don't seem to understand what luck is, do you?"

Brock looked at Alex as if he was an idiot and said, "Are you the kind of guy who would say that every move of yours was carefully planned and not pure luck? Hmph! What a liar!"

Alex simple smirked in the reply.

While this conversation was going on, Scizor finished his move and used it immediately.

Not only did it destroy the invisible protective layer of [Reflect], but it did a lot of damage.

Almost 40% of HP was lost from this hit.

Alex said briefly, "Scizor, again."

Omastar got done shortly and didn't waste time in using [Scald].

Scizor was too close and was hit lightly and pushed a few meters away from the hot water beam.

Not only did it take away 30% damage, but Scizor also got a [Burned] status.

Alex thought, 'Now, THIS is bad luck. Hmm... Though with a level difference, the chance of status effects is higher, and the general chance with this move is also not bad. Apart from that, it is an Expert-rank move. Hmm, I made a mistake by not using [Protect] immediately after Scizor landed his move. I will keep this in mind from now on."

Brock smiled seeing this. "Once more, Omastar."

Scizor finished first and hit Omastar with his move again, even if it only caused 25% HP damage this time.

Alex, who saw that Omastar was almost finished, said, "Scizor, use Protect and then use Brick Break again."

Scizor used [Protect], but the shield only barely managed to absorb all the damage.

"Omastar, use Scald."

Brock also wanted to use the (Scald + Blizzard) combo. But after thinking of the resistance Scizor has against it, he thought it would be a waste of move. Only [Scald] was doing good enough damage.

Scizor and Omastar were finished almost at the same time, even if Scizor was finished a bit earlier.

He met Omastar, who immediately afterwards pushed him a few meters away with a jet of hot water.

Omastar suddenly felt extremely dizzy and started losing consciousness.

"Omastar, it's ok. You've done enough."

After hearing this, Omastar didn't strain his body to stay awake and passed out as his body fell on the ground.

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