Heath watched curiously. He had never really studied Pokémon battles much, but after gaining Champion-level battling experience and techniques, he now counted as someone who knew a little about them. In his view, there was still a huge gap between Mr. Norman and the challenger opposite him. Sure enough, against Norman's Slaking, even the Hariyama his opponent had specially trained failed to accomplish much and suffered a crushing defeat, though Slaking was already Norman's last Pokémon at that point.
This was still a Gym battle with an adjustable difficulty level. Heath certainly did not think this represented Norman's true strength. Slaking was indeed Norman's ace, but Norman had also been holding back. Heath could tell that he was holding back very obviously, yet even so, his opponent was no match for him.
"Mr. Norman wasn't going all out." Heath smacked his lips. Of course he could tell Norman had not used his full strength. The Pokémon he had used earlier were all very ordinary and had only received average training, but that final Slaking was one of Norman's main Pokémon. Even so, the challenger's Hariyama had fallen to Slaking, leaving the surrounding spectators looking utterly shocked.
Heath even heard a child behind him ask his father why a Fighting-type Hariyama could not beat a Normal-type Slaking. Their teacher had told them that type advantages were extremely important, and finding a favorable type matchup could make a battle much easier. He even recited a section of the type effectiveness chart on the spot.
Type advantages were a very important part of battling. Heath remembered Ash telling him that. According to Ash, type effectiveness was a required subject once you attended Pokémon School. As a Normal-type Gym Leader, Norman was best at using Normal-type Pokémon, so most people chose Fighting-type Pokémon to