Thanks to this special technique, this Slaking moved much faster than an ordinary one. Even though Xin Mu had allowed himself some extra time,
he still failed to create enough distance and reach safety.
The unexpected surprise attack left Squirtle no time to use a defensive move. He could only instinctively withdraw into his shell.
Clearly, this Slaking and the earlier Vigoroth did not belong to the same team of Pokémon. After Vigoroth's probing attacks, the Gym had already stepped up the difficulty.
Yet Slaking's attack failed to deliver its full force as well. As it swung its fist, frost began spreading over its body.
Squirtle's final Ice Punch had triggered a freeze after all, but before it took effect, Slaking had managed to throw a punch powered by Counter.
Slaking's Ability was common knowledge. Almost everyone would attack it with everything they had while it rested, and its Counter would return some of that damage.
It was just a shame that Slaking struggled to master Endure. Otherwise, with this Slaking's capabilities, its potential would have been even more terrifying.
Once bitten, twice shy. This sort of attack from Slaking would only work once. Having learned his lesson, Xin Mu no longer let Squirtle engage it at close range,
instead wearing down its stamina from a distance with Hydro Pump.
By relying on Protect and Dig to evade Slaking's powerful blows, Squirtle dragged the battle into a war of attrition. Only when he was panting for breath did he finally exhaust the last of Slaking's stamina.
"Squ... Squirtle... (The last time I was this tired... was back then. Why are these guys so hard to deal with...?)"
Squirtle vaguely remembered Gym battles being fairly easy before, without any particularly troublesome opponents.
Had he bothered to look into it, he would