The Kanto League lounge.
Sitting beside Red, Blue was also frowning in thought, trying to find a way to defeat that monstrous Misdreavus.
(Red & Blue)
"What about sending out Primeape with the [Defiant] Ability? That way, Misdreavus couldn't lower Primeape's Attack. I'd just have to boost it enough to knock Misdreavus out in one or two moves."
Red: "..."
Blue dismissed the idea himself. "No. For one thing, I haven't trained my Primeape for long, so it's not strong enough. And it only knows [Bulk Up], not [Swords Dance]. Setting up would take too long. That won't work..."
Red: "..."
With a mounting headache, Blue turned to the rival his grandfather had hailed as the [Battle Man]. "What do you think, Red? What would you do?"
After a brief silence, Red said quietly, "Misdreavus dodged [Dragon Tail] just now."
Blue froze. Had that happened?
He quickly caught on. "You mean it's afraid of moves that force it out... because its special power is some kind of stat boost!"
Blue muttered, "But that doesn't add up. Misdreavus clearly didn't have the golden glow that indicates a stat boost... Could Xia Chi just want to pull off a one-Pokémon sweep, and that's why he doesn't want Misdreavus leaving the field?"
Red said calmly, "That's a smokescreen. The real reason is that he doesn't want Misdreavus to lose its boosts by leaving the field."
Blue didn't know why Red was so certain, but his childhood friend's instincts had always been accurate.
He nodded. "I get it. Blastoise can learn Dragon Tail. Two days should be enough."
Red shook his head. "That's only a reactive option."
The implication was that he had a more proactive option, too.
Blue was startled. Only a minute or two had passed, and Red had already thought of