Before the rise of the Fairy type, the Dragon type had always been considered the strongest type.
Even Psychic-types and Ghost types ranked below it.
The reason was simple: excellent power and speed, tough enough to take hits and strong enough to dish them out! The Dragon type's excellent resistances, sturdy bodies, and broad elemental move coverage made them well-rounded fighters.
Aside from Ice-types and their own type, almost no types were especially effective against Dragon-types.
This had also created a complete pecking order in the Kanto Region: Lance dominated everyone, Lorelei dominated Lance, Bruno kept Lorelei in check, and Agatha had Bruno firmly under her thumb...
Of course, Clair thought so too. My mighty dragons are invincible. Could a mere potted plant really scratch me to death?
Gary: Yep~
Next, it was time to teach this young dragon lady a proper lesson!
If it were Duraludon, he would apply Will-O-Wisp, since Duraludon was immune to poison. Unfortunately, Kingdra had no Steel typing~
Once Toxic was applied, it was basically Cradily's defensive showcase.
"Substitute, Protect, and when Protect fails, Substitute~" Young Master Mao leaned back in his tactical recline, taking both hands off the keyboard.
At a Pokémon League tournament, he would have had to watch out for his opponent carrying Antidotes or switching Pokémon. Unfortunately, this was a Gym battle.
Besides, even if his opponent had brought a poison-curing Berry or an Antidote, Young Master Mao had also mixed in Stockpile to raise both defenses.
As long as you can't one-shot me, just wait for Substitute-Protect-Toxic to torment you to death.
At worst, I'll use Stockpile three times and spit it all in your face~
Without Z-Moves or moves that could bypass defenses, Substitute-Protect-Toxic really was a dirty strategy.
Clair bombarded Cradily for a full minute and barely scratched