While Mawile and Seaking were taking a break, Juan raised another question.
"What do you think are the keys to Offense as Defense?"
"Timing, control over your moves..." Baimu answered softly. After a pause, he added, "And enough experience?"
The middle-aged gentleman smiled approvingly. "Exactly. To control an opponent's moves as you please, you need to understand as many moves of different types as possible, along with the differences in how Pokémon use the same move."
He suddenly tossed out another Poké Ball.
Bang!
Light flashed.
A catfish with a deep-blue body, pale-yellow belly, thick lips, and a W-shaped marking on its forehead splashed into the pool.
"Use Tickle on the water."
"Namaa!"
Whiscash used its glowing whiskers to stir the water's surface.
"See that?" Juan said. "Milotic uses its tail fins for Tickle, while Whiscash uses its whiskers."
Whiskers? How are those whiskers? They're obviously tentacles!
Baimu silently watched Whiscash move its "whiskers" at will. He remembered that it had even bound Swellow with them in the anime, then used Tickle with precise movements of their tips.
"Understanding things like this is essential to mastering Offense as Defense," Juan said softly. He took a USB drive from his pocket. "I had someone edit together footage of different Pokémon using different moves from multiple angles. Keep it."
"Thank you, Teacher Juan."
Baimu accepted it, overwhelmed by the gesture.
Porygon2 had been finding similar footage for him all along, but most of it could not compare to Juan's compilation, which had been edited specifically for training in Offense as Defense.
"Footage can never teach you as much as practice. That's one reason I became a Gym Leader."
Juan folded his arms and reminded him, "But there's no need to rush. Seeing more Pokémon and battling them is a long road every