The two beams of frozen light clashed in mid-air, eventually ending in a draw. The arena, however, became the ultimate victim, as what was originally a pool of water was transformed into a sheet of ice in the center.
"Lapras, use Ice Shards!"
"We use boulders too!"
Countless tiny ice fragments gathered around the two Laprass, and then flew out together. The size and number of the ice fragments were almost identical.
Ice blocks collided in mid-air, shattering into countless pieces. The shards fell like raindrops, eventually landing on the ice surface with a clanging sound.
Now Ash understood the reason why the monster is so difficult to deal with is because of Drake's leadership skills as a trainer.
If you don't know the opponent's skills, and you use the exact same skills to fight, and both sides have the same ability value and use the same skills, the result will basically be a draw.
Once Drake has thoroughly dealt with the opponent's Pokémon, he will use his own Pokémon to give Ditto a different command.
This is indeed a fairly correct way to use Ditto, but sometimes this approach can backfire...
"Lapras, use Thunder!"
"We use thunder too!"
Lapras is a Water/Ice-type Pokémon, and Thunder is one of the moves it can learn. If Thunder hits an opponent, the damage will be absolutely terrifying, and Thunder is not an easy move to use.
Skills that can cancel each other out.
Drake thought for less than a second before deciding to do the same as Ash and have Ditto use the Thunder move.
In terms of physical strength, Ditto has the advantage. Ditto is of a higher level and has more stamina. Even if both Ditto and Lapras are hit by a Thunder attack, Ditto will be able to take the full hit because of its higher level!
But the other party is a different story.
This single thunderbolt could potentially render the opponent incapable of fighting; that's the difference that comes with a level difference!
However, after Drake and Ash gave the commands, both Pokémon froze in place and did not move. No thunderclouds were summoned in the sky due to the electricity, and everything seemed as if nothing had happened.
Drake was stunned for a moment, before he could react...
As soon as Ash's Lapras showed an understanding expression, its body was instantly filled with golden lightning!
On the other side, Drake's Ditto was frozen in place, his face even showing an expression of holding his breath too hard, as if he was trying his best to use the skill, but he just couldn't.
Drake was dumbfounded. Wait, how come the opponent can use Thunder, but his Ditto, which he transformed into Lapras, can't?
This has never happened before!
"Now! Thunderbolt!"
"Ooh!!" Lapras cried out, and bolts of electricity surged from its body, striking the Lapras that Ditto had transformed into. Golden currents coursed through Ditto's body, causing it to let out a miserable scream.
A massive influx of electricity eventually brought hundreds of...
After being electrocuted and smoking, Lapras finally stopped, slightly out of breath.
"I see... Your Lapras doesn't know how to use Thunder. From the beginning, you wanted Lapras to use Thunderbolt, right? But you took advantage of my lack of this information, so you made Lapras use Thunder from the start to trick me into making Ditto use the same move as Lapras."
"If the same move hits, Ditto will definitely have the advantage, so are you sure I will use the same lightning-type move as Lapras? But in reality, Lapras doesn't know how to use lightning, so Ditto can't use it either."
"Snap!" Ash chuckled and snapped his fingers in response, "That's right, Mr. Drake truly lives up to his reputation as the top trainer. He can see things so clearly in an instant. My Lapras does not know the Thunder move, which is why I was certain that Lapras would understand what I meant."
After Ditto transforms, it can only use the skills learned by the opponent.
If a character doesn't have a certain skill, then even if Ditto is at a high level, it won't be able to use it.
Ash's Lapras did grow very quickly, but not fast enough to learn Thunder. To increase its coverage, Ash taught it Electric-type moves, but only mid-to-high-level moves like Thunderbolt.
Lapras isn't going to learn top-tier electric skills like lightning so quickly; he's still in the learning and cognitive stage and definitely can't use it yet.
Drake's idea of using the same moves as Ash to figure out Lapras's move set before using different moves is not wrong, but against a trainer of Ash's caliber, he can easily be misled, just like now.
In other words, Ash and Lapras don't yet have the same level of synergy as Pikachu. If it were Pikachu, the moment Ash says a move it doesn't know,
He will immediately react and then use another counter-attack skill to retaliate against the opponent.
Although Lapras paused for a moment, she reacted faster in the end and used Thunderbolt to strike her opponent first.
"Let's press our advantage! Lapras, use Freeze-Dry!" Freeze-Dry is an Ice-type move, but it's super effective against Water-type Pokémon. This means that Lapras, which normally has four times the Ice resistance, will only take normal damage after being hit by this move!
"Whoa!" Lapras took a deep breath, and icy cold air condensed in his mouth. The next second, a cold beam of light shot out from Lapras's mouth, heading straight for Drake's Ditto.
Ditto was still in a limp state. The damage from that Thunderbolt attack was indeed considerable, and he hadn't recovered yet.
"Boom!" The freeze-drying agent struck the target squarely.
A special energy was eroding Ditto's body, causing it to let out a painful howl once again.
"Ditto, pull yourself together, use Thunderbolt!!" Drake shouted at Ditto, trying to use an Electric-type move to counterattack.
"Let's try freeze-dry again!" Ash continued to use Ice-type freeze-dry.
This puzzled Serena, who was behind him: "Why did Ash use an Ice-type move instead of an Electric-type move? Ice-type moves should only deal a quarter of the damage to Lapras, which is eight times less than Electric-type moves!"
Although Serena is still a newbie, she has already memorized the type matchup chart and other information under Ash's guidance.
As Lapras is Ash's Pokémon, Serena naturally knows what type Lapras is, which is why she was puzzled as to why Ash used an Electric Pokémon that is twice as weak to it.
Why use ice-attribute moves that only deal a quarter of the damage instead of elemental moves?
Before Misty could explain, the result on the field had already given Serena the answer.
Both Lapras were seen charging up in place, one gathering ice-attribute power, the other flashing with golden lightning. But a second later, Lapras unleashed the Freeze-Dry power it had been charging up, while Ditto on the other side hadn't even used Thunderbolt yet!
This scene made Drake's pupils shrink, and he finally understood what was wrong with him, but it was too late!
Freeze-dry penetrated the terrain and struck Ditto hard once again. Ditto's charged Thunderbolt was interrupted, and it was sent flying backward, crashing into a protruding rock. Finally, it slid down helplessly, its body emitting a bright light as it returned to its original form.
"Ditto loses its ability to fight, Lapras...
wins!" The referee saw Ditto revert to its original form and immediately waved the flag to declare the result.
In normal battles, Ditto will only revert to its original form after it loses its ability to battle.
Therefore, when Ditto reverts to its original form, the referee will directly conclude that Ditto has lost its ability to fight. A professional referee should be bold in making such a judgment.
Indeed, Ditto had lost its ability to fight. At this moment, the surrounding audience and Drake himself were still somewhat bewildered. Had their first encounter ended so abruptly?
Where's the promised fierce battle? It seems like Drake was completely helpless and was easily defeated.
"Do you understand now?" Misty shrugged her shoulders, seemingly having anticipated this scene.
Serena's face went blank, and she shook her head somewhat woodenly: "I...I don't understand..."
"It's actually quite simple. Because Lapras is an Ice and Water type Pokémon, when using moves of its own type, not only are the moves more powerful, but they are also released much faster than moves of other types."
"So that's how it is! That's why Ash didn't let Lapras use Thunderbolt!" Serena immediately understood after Misty said that Ash chose to use an Ice-type move against Thunderbolt because it would be faster.
The opponent is a Ditto in disguise, and everything about it except for its stamina is the same as Lapras's, so there is no way that using Thunderbolt is faster than using an ice-type move.
"As for the eight-fold difference you mentioned... it's not actually that much of a difference. The Freeze-Dry skill can deal double damage to Water-type Pokémon, so against a Lapras with both Water and Ice attributes, it can deal the normal one-fold damage."
Serena nodded knowingly. To be honest, she understood this kind of battle much better than the previous battles between gods.
What kind of monsters were we fighting before?
They were always going to destroy the world. I don't even know if those skills and moves can be called Pokémon skills anymore. Each skill was more terrifying than the last.
If they hit the island, they would have wiped the entire island out in a minute!
This is what a normal Pokémon battle looks like now! And with an experienced gym leader explaining things to her, she can understand it!
"You're really something, Ash! I was careless. I even forgot such basic information... No, I shouldn't say careless. I should say I was a little flustered by your unexpected attack, which is why I made such a basic mistake. You're really amazing, Ash!" Drake praised Ash as he recalled Ditto.
If Misty could see the problem, how could Drake not see it? It's just that those involved are often blinded, while bystanders see things more clearly.
By the time Drake realized the problem, it was already too late.
"Lapras reacted quickly, and he trusts me a lot. Otherwise, he wouldn't have followed my instructions so decisively even knowing he was facing an Electric-type move." Ash smiled and nodded at Lapras, encouraging him.
"Now, here comes my second Pokémon… Go, Kecleon!!" Drake threw out another Poké Ball, and with a flash of light, a mixed green Pokémon that looked like a lizard appeared on the field.
Kecleon, a color-changing Pokémon, can change its color according to its surroundings, thus achieving an effect similar to invisibility.
The Pokémon Kecleon has two characteristics. One is color change, which does not refer to the color of its body, but rather the color change of its type.
When attacked by the enemy, the Kecleon's attributes of become the attributes of the other, but this feature is actually quite useless.
Because this attribute transformation is calculated after taking damage, meaning if the opponent attacks you with fire attribute, you must first take the fire attribute attack with normal attribute before you can transform into fire attribute.
Putting aside the fact that the attribute change is uncontrollable, the fact that the attribute can only be changed after the damage is calculated greatly reduces the value of this feature.
If the damage could be converted to the corresponding type before the damage calculation, then when the Kecleon is attacked by the fire type, it would have resistance to the fire type, although some skills would have an effect against the type, such as the dragon type.
However, this instant change attribute is clearly better than the change after being attacked.
This brings us to another characteristic of the Kecleon: its ability to change shape at will.
Like color-changing, the ability to change one's own attributes is also a characteristic, except that the latter requires enduring attacks, while the former changes its attributes based on the attacks it receives.
Moreover, the ability to freely change attributes means that at the moment of attack, one's own attributes are changed to the corresponding attributes, so that the skill attacks one launches can also receive the corresponding attribute boost.
Compared to color-changing, the ability to change colors freely is simply a god-like feature!
Drake's Kecleon only has the ordinary color-changing ability.
Seeing this, Ash recalled Lapras and then took out his second Pokémon: "I choose you, Snorlax!!"