"Wait a moment... that move wouldn't be..."
At that moment, a guest dressed in a research lab coat suddenly stood up in the VIP area. On his coat stood out the image of a Snorlax.
"Professor Kaz, what's wrong?"
The other guests looked at him with curiosity.
"If I'm not mistaken, the move that Slowking used is Rest. I first discovered this move while studying Snorlax."
"After researching it, I confirmed that Rest allows a Pokémon to voluntarily enter a sleeping state, recover all of its stamina, and remove status conditions."
Professor Kaz looked solemnly at Slowking as he explained the effect of the move.
"Recover all stamina and remove status conditions?"
Hearing Professor Kaz's words, the guests sharply inhaled. The recovery effect of that move was too terrifying—it practically meant reviving on the spot!
"That's right. Of course, the move Rest also has very significant side effects."
"The first is that the Pokémon falls into a sleeping state. The second is that the consumption of mental energy is extremely high."
Professor Kaz nodded and looked at Slowking on the field again, then showed a puzzled expression.
In theory, Slowking should have fallen asleep. So what exactly was happening with the Slowking that was still fighting in the arena?
"A sleeping state and mental energy consumption?"
The other guests cast doubtful looks toward Professor Kaz.
Aside from having its eyes closed as if it were asleep, how did that resemble a Pokémon in a sleeping state?
"Could it be the move Sleep Talk?"
"But the effect of the move Sleep Talk is to randomly use one of the moves that the Pokémon already knows, and it can only be used while asleep."
"However, the Slowking we see now seems to use its moves at will. That doesn't resemble Sleep Talk at all!"
Even Professor Kaz himself began to doubt his hypothesis. What he was seeing was far too strange.
"It's over... Garchomp is also being suppressed!"
Seeing Garchomp constantly pressured on the battlefield, the spectators fell silent.
Just like earlier with Litwick, they once again could not understand that Slowking.
"It seems it has been a complete success. The combination of the moves: Calm Mind + Rest + Sleep Talk."
Seeing Slowking strongly suppress Garchomp, Ethan smiled faintly.
In the previous League tournament, Slowking had used a "double Rest" tactic.
The principle was that Shellder and Slowking would use the move Rest in turns, thus achieving alternating recovery of physical energy.
However, that strategy had obvious weaknesses. In addition to the enormous mental energy consumption caused by the move Rest, it also somewhat reduced Slowking's overall strength.
After all, the true foundation of Slowking's power lay in being able to rely on Shellder's mental energy, greatly increasing its own. And thanks to fighting two against one and the coordination between them, they could display battle capability far superior to that of a single Pokémon.
If Slowking or Shellder fell into a sleeping state, Slowking's overall strength could not compete against a Quasi-Elite level Pokémon.
Faced with this situation, Ethan tested numerous methods until he managed to have Slowking learn the move Sleep Talk, allowing it to continue fighting even while asleep.
Furthermore, he took advantage of the mental connection between Shellder and Slowking so that Shellder could interfere with the use of the move Sleep Talk, enabling it to execute specific moves instead of random ones.
After mastering the move Sleep Talk, Slowking could fight while using the move Rest to recover its stamina. It no longer needed to rely on the double Rest tactic; by itself it could execute the strategy of Rest + Sleep Talk.
In this case, Shellder was completely freed, allowing it to constantly maintain the state of the move Calm Mind to help Slowking recover mental energy.
At the same time, the other major side effect of the move Rest—the enormous consumption of mental energy—was perfectly compensated by Shellder's Calm Mind move.
Through the Calm Mind move, Special Attack and Special Defense increased, while mental energy was also recovered. Through the Rest move, physical stamina was restored and negative states were removed. Through the Sleep Talk move, they continued fighting.
With the coordination of these three moves, Slowking seemed to have become a perpetual motion machine. As long as the balance between the three was not broken, it was practically invincible!
"Finish it! Use Spiral Water Pulse!"
The moment Ethan's voice fell, Slowking and Shellder opened their eyes at the same time.
Suddenly, Slowking's figure disappeared. In its hand formed a violently spinning Water Pulse move, which it launched directly at a Garchomp that was already heavily worn down.
Boom!
A thunderous sound echoed through the stadium.
Garchomp was thrown into the air, covered by violent streams of water that battered its body without ceasing.
Already badly injured, after receiving that attack it could finally endure no more and fell heavily to the ground.
"Garchomp has also been defeated."
"But... that Slowking doesn't seem to show even the slightest sign of fatigue."
After saying that, the spectators around him fell silent. The atmosphere became oppressive.
That Slowking, which seemed to possess infinite mental energy and stamina, had completely surpassed everyone's understanding.
"Is Harvey... going to lose?"
At this point, the spectators could not help but face that possibility.
If Harvey could not find a way to defeat that Slowking, the battle seemed destined to end right there.
The fourth Pokémon entered the field. After a round of battle, Slowking once again entered the state of the Rest move while fighting with Sleep Talk. And when it woke up, it was once again a Slowking in optimal condition.
"Is it really going to end like this?"
As another Pokémon fell, the entire stadium sank into deathly silence.
Was Harvey... going to lose?
Lose to a trainer who was only 20 years old?
After all, that was Harvey! No one had ever imagined such an outcome.
(End of chapter)