Sworn Enemies, Sandstorm Rising

Tetsuya and Norman took out the goggles they had prepared and put them on.

They were essential for entering this desert.

Otherwise, in a sandstorm, even Tetsuya could not guarantee that he would not become disoriented.

The power of nature had always been boundless.

He sent Blaziken out to stay by his side.

In the desert, Fire-type Pokémon could naturally perform ten to twenty percent better.

At last, Tetsuya's ace could unleash its energy with exhausting all strength.

Their previous battles had either been by the sea or in the water.

Blaziken had been extremely uncomfortable there.

"Blaze—"

It excitedly breathed a burst of flame into the sky.

Tetsuya was thankful that, at the very least, his Pokémon was not like Ash's Charizard, which liked breathing fire straight at its Trainer's face.

That would not have been a pleasant experience.

Meanwhile, Norman released a large white cat with red markings across its body.

The long black claws extending from its forepaws occasionally flashed with cold light, while its three-pronged tail slowly swayed behind it.

This was a relatively common Pokémon in the Hoenn Region: Zangoose.

Most people knew of it because of the mortal enmity between its species and another Pokémon, Seviper.

In truth, Zangoose had another trait that many researchers found endlessly fascinating.

Its normal Ability and Hidden Ability were contradictory to a certain extent.

The normal Ability of the Zangoose line was Immunity, allowing them to avoid being Poisoned or badly poisoned.

This was because these Pokémon possessed an extremely special mechanism within their bodies that could purge all kinds of toxins.

Many antidotes on the market had been developed with reference to this mechanism.

Snorlax and Gligar also possessed this Ability.

However.

The former's excessively obese physique caused this mechanism to collapse on itself, resulting in Thick