Jacob was quite surprised to see that Kyle's Rockruff had actually evolved into a Lycanroc. It seemed yesterday's defeat had significantly impacted the Rock-type Pokémon.
Noticing the surprised look on Jacob's face, Kyle felt quite satisfied. This was exactly the reaction he'd wanted. He couldn't help but display a smug expression, confident about winning today's battle. "I told you today would be my revenge day. Admit defeat, Jacob."
Jacob didn't particularly care about winning or losing. After all, this was just a friendly competition, not a life-or-death battle. Victory or defeat was secondary—the key was training their Pokémon.
"Noibat, the opponent has become stronger. Are you still confident?" Jacob asked his Pokémon.
"Noii..." Noibat responded with a hesitant cry, clearly intimidated.
In previous battles against Rockruff, Noibat had been defeated without exception, which had made it somewhat apprehensive toward the Rock-type Pokémon. Now that Rockruff had evolved into the Dusk Form of Lycanroc, the gap in strength was even greater, naturally making Noibat more nervous.
"Don't be afraid. It may be stronger than you now, but you'll definitely become stronger in the future. If you don't even have the courage to battle, you'll never grow stronger," Jacob first comforted Noibat, then continued to encourage it, trying to cultivate a brave character in his Pokémon.
"Noii!" Hearing Jacob's encouragement, Noibat responded again, this time with a louder cry. There was a hint of determination in its gaze as it faced Lycanroc.
"That's the spirit," Jacob nodded approvingly.
"Hey, hey!" Kyle shouted from the opposite side. "Why do I feel like I've become the villain here? How much longer are you going to keep this up?"
"Sorry for the delay, Kyle. Let me show you the bond between Noibat and me." Jacob encouraged Noibat loudly, though he knew in his heart that Noibat would likely be defeated quickly by Lycanroc.
Kyle could no longer contain his impatience and ordered Lycanroc to attack: "Lycanroc, Rock Tomb!"
"Noibat, use Supersonic!"
Kyle wanted Lycanroc to use Rock Tomb to defeat Noibat in one move, but Jacob wanted to give his Pokémon a fighting chance. If Noibat could land the Supersonic attack, there might be a chance of winning.
Lycanroc and Noibat attacked almost simultaneously. Lycanroc commanded the rocks on the ground to fly toward Noibat, while Noibat released Supersonic waves at Lycanroc.
"I've been on guard against that move of yours. Lycanroc, dodge it!" The two trainers had battled many times, and Kyle had long been troubled by Supersonic, so he was naturally cautious about it.
When Noibat released its Supersonic attack, Lycanroc immediately moved with impressive speed, easily avoiding the sound-based move thanks to its superior agility.
In the Pokémon games, although Supersonic is powerful, it also has a fatal flaw—its low accuracy of only 55%.
In reality, sound-based moves like Supersonic also had disadvantages. They could be countered by other sound moves or dodged by faster Pokémon, making them situational at best.
After evading Supersonic, Lycanroc controlled the rocks to fly toward Noibat, bombarding it and easily securing a victory.
"Return, Noibat."
This round predictably ended with Noibat's defeat. Jacob recalled Noibat and placed its Poké Ball aside, allowing it to rest. He hoped that over time, Noibat would learn from Treecko, particularly its backbone and courage.
Despite only defeating one Noibat, Kyle was grinning happily. He looked at Jacob in a pretentious manner and said, "Your talent as a trainer is the best I've ever seen—except for me, of course. But you're still slightly inferior to this genius trainer. Come on, release your second Pokémon."
When it came to showing off, Kyle truly had a talent for it.
"Go, Treecko!" Jacob's second Pokémon was, naturally, Treecko.
When Treecko saw its opponent was an evolved Lycanroc, a hint of surprise flashed in its eyes, but was quickly replaced by a strong desire to battle. This was Treecko's character—unlike Noibat, the stronger the opponent, the more excited it became.
"Treecko, the opponent is stronger than yesterday. You need to give it everything you've got," Jacob advised.
"Tree." Treecko made a short sound in response to Jacob, its eyes never leaving Lycanroc.
"Time to take action, Kyle," Jacob announced.
"Just prepare to lose," Kyle responded confidently.
"Treecko, Grassy Terrain!" The difference in strength made tactical choices extremely important. It was obvious that Treecko couldn't defeat Lycanroc quickly, so after preparing for a prolonged battle, Jacob chose to have Treecko use Grassy Terrain.
[Grassy Terrain]: A Grass-type field move that turns the battlefield into a grassy field for 5 turns. Pokémon on the ground recover health each turn, and Grass-type moves receive a power boost.
This was the effect in the games. In reality, Grassy Terrain worked similarly, with the main difference being that the duration was influenced by the user's strength and could be disrupted by certain moves.
As intense Grass-type energy erupted from Treecko's body, the ground instantly became covered with lush green grass, and Grass-type energy surged throughout the battlefield.
"Howl, Lycanroc!" Kyle was acting completely different from his usual straightforward self. Instead, he was being extremely cunning. Having battled Jacob so many times, he had long anticipated that Treecko would use Grassy Terrain at the first opportunity. Therefore, he chose to have Lycanroc use Howl to boost its attack power.
[Howl]: A Normal-type status move. The user howls loudly to build up its fighting spirit, raising its Attack stat by one stage.
As Lycanroc howled, its attack power was enhanced, making the already formidable Pokémon even more threatening.
Both sides adopted enhancement tactics in the first round and appeared extremely cautious. Although this was just a friendly competition, both trainers were taking it very seriously.
"Lycanroc, Accelerock!"
After strengthening, it was time to capitalize. Kyle chose to have Lycanroc use Accelerock.
[Accelerock]: A Rock-type physical move where the user smashes into the opponent with quick speed. It has priority and always strikes first.
Kyle selected this move for several reasons: first, like Quick Attack, it was a priority move and extremely fast; second, Rock-type moves received a Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) for the Rock-type Lycanroc; third, Dusk Form Lycanroc's Tough Claws ability boosted the power of contact moves. Combining these three factors, Accelerock was undoubtedly the optimal choice.
Lycanroc's body became shrouded in Rock-type energy as it slammed into Treecko with such speed that the Grass-type Pokémon had difficulty reacting.
"Treecko, use Leech Seed," Jacob commanded calmly. Since dodging wasn't an option, he might as well counter-attack when Lycanroc came within range.
"BOOM!"
Lycanroc crashed into Treecko, sending it flying backward. The combination of STAB, increased Attack from Howl, and the boost from Tough Claws amplified Accelerock's power to an extremely high level, severely damaging Treecko with a single blow.
However, Treecko took advantage of the brief contact between the two Pokémon to deploy its opportunistic Leech Seed.
Leech Seed in reality differed slightly from the games. In real battles, Leech Seed could be deployed in two ways. The first method had the same effect as in the games—throwing small seeds that parasitized the opponent and restored health to the user. The second method involved forming a seed net to directly trap the opponent, similar to Ash's Greninja in the anime. This second method only worked on significantly weaker Pokémon; otherwise, the opponent could easily break free.
In this situation, Treecko naturally used the first method, as the second would have been ineffective against Lycanroc's superior strength.