After a night of rest, Ace released Chansey the next morning. Then, to Chansey's astonished expression, Ace delivered a piece of news.
"Chansey, for a while, I need you to step down from the main battle position. From now on, you'll be playing support."
Facing Ace's words, Chansey was bewildered.
It was like telling Thresh, who could already one-shot tanks with his whip, that he shouldn't deal damage anymore and should just focus on protecting the AD with his abilities.
Was it frustrating?
Very frustrating!
But this was the fastest way Ace could think of to integrate Chansey into the team.
Only by preventing Chansey from charging headlong and having it focus on supporting other Pokémon could Chansey have time to observe the battle styles of the other Pokémon.
Only by understanding each other could they know when and what kind of help the other needed.
This heavily relied on tacit understanding, but clearly, Chansey lacked it, which was why Ace moved it to a support role.
Ace patiently explained the pros and cons of the situation to Chansey, and Chansey ultimately accepted reality with reluctance.
Since it was going to play support, Ace wasn't in a hurry to go to the Dragon's Den.
He picked three similar combinations from the outer area and released Crobat and Lapras.
Then, Chansey joined in, beginning its support coordination.
Watching Chansey start playing support, Crobat and Lapras were both shocked.
However, under Ace's command, they temporarily suppressed their confusion and engaged in battle.
And then... they were thoroughly defeated.
In their first attempt, the coordination between the three Pokémon was very problematic. Many times, Chansey's tempo couldn't keep up. When Crobat and Lapras needed healing, Chansey's Egg Bomb didn't follow through, causing the opponent to directly destroy the energy egg.
Or sometimes, the Gravity field was too large, suppressing the three Dragon-type Pokémon without considering Crobat's issue.
Crobat would make a sudden dash, then splat onto the ground, only to be taken out by a "grinning" Garchomp's Earthquake.
Or perhaps, when preparing Light Screen to block damage, it would directly place the Light Screen in front of Lapras.
Lapras was already resisting the opponent with Blizzard, but with the Light Screen in the way, the Blizzard bounced directly back, blowing all over Lapras.
Lapras immediately looked at Chansey with a mournful expression, making Chansey feel a bit embarrassed.
Although the first defeat discouraged everyone, Ace was all smiles.
Because during that battle, Ace had also focused a small part of his attention on Chansey. As Chansey played support, from being initially flustered, it gradually started to get the hang of things. Although it still dragged them down, Chansey was making progress.
As long as there was progress, Chansey's integration into the team was inevitable; it was only a matter of time.
For the following period, Ace stopped venturing into the Dragon's Den. Instead, he concentrated on honing the team synergy of his current Pokémon.
Not just Crobat and Lapras, Ace released all his other Pokémon as well.
Whether in doubles or triples, Chansey provided full support, familiarizing itself as much as possible with the battle styles of Ace's other Pokémon.
Among these Pokémon, Chansey felt that the one it got along with best was Mewtwo!
Firstly, Mewtwo's own strength was steadily increasing. The convenience of its psychic powers, coupled with Mewtwo's self-healing through Recover, greatly increased Chansey's margin for error.
However, Chansey and Mewtwo's coordinated battles were destined not to be too numerous.
Firstly, due to Mewtwo's desire for freedom, it was highly likely that Mewtwo would leave Ace after helping him defeat the Elite Four.
Even though Mewtwo's affection with Ace was already as high as 186, Ace understood Mewtwo's yearning for freedom even more clearly.
Currently, what bound Mewtwo was only its promise to Ace.
When the last task was completed, Mewtwo would definitely leave.
As for the future, Ace couldn't guarantee whether Mewtwo would return to his side, but Ace had a premonition that if he truly needed Mewtwo, Mewtwo would definitely return to him.
The weather grew colder and colder. Soon, continuous heavy snow covered the sunlight in the sky.
In the heavy snow, Ace wore a cold-weather suit. In front of him were a Haxorus and a Druddigon.
At this moment, Ninetales and Chansey were battling them. Ninetales held its six tails high, six fireballs rapidly converged, and a Flamethrower blasted towards the already panting Druddigon!
"Clang!"
Haxorus charged out, using Dual Chop to cut through the flames, blocking in front of Druddigon.
Chansey suddenly waved a hand, and a Light Screen blocked in front of Ninetales. Druddigon's Dragon Rage followed close behind, slamming into the Light Screen. After shattering the Light Screen, Ninetales behind it was completely unharmed!
"Whoosh!"
Chansey suddenly opened its mouth, and a stream of fire sprayed towards Ninetales. The flames were quickly absorbed by Ninetales, and a shimmering light flowed between its fur.
The next moment, six fireballs regenerated in front of Ninetales's tails, but then, the six fireballs merged in pairs. Three Flamethrowers shot out from the top, left, and right directions towards Haxorus and Druddigon!
Haxorus's eyes showed a helpless expression upon seeing this.
Its Dragon Claws converged, and Haxorus blocked one enhanced Flamethrower with its claws in front of it. The other two Flamethrowers instantly hit Druddigon behind Haxorus.
Druddigon, already at the end of its rope, was hit by two flames and immediately sent flying backward, landing in the distant snow, instantly kicking up a large amount of steam!
"Boom!"
The next moment, the snow exploded!
Chansey burst out like a cannonball. With only Haxorus left, it no longer needed to provide support!
The swirling snowflakes seemed to be drawn to Chansey at this moment, rapidly gathering around its body. An extremely cold aura converged on Chansey's right fist.
"Ice Punch!"
Accompanied by Ace's words, Chansey unleashed a punch, fiercely striking Haxorus's blocking Dragon Claw!
The next moment, Haxorus flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
It then slid five or six meters through the snow before finally coming to a stop.
Haxorus and Druddigon both lost their ability to battle, lying in the snow.
"Clap."
As Chansey walked back, Ninetales jumped up and high-fived Chansey.
Ninetales narrowed its eyes. Its coordination with Chansey was very smooth.
Ace, seeing this scene, also nodded. The efforts of these past days were now beginning to show results.
Chansey had gradually familiarized itself with the rhythm of the other Pokémon, and their coordination was becoming increasingly fluid.
At least, there wouldn't be incidents like before, where friendly fire occurred due to some mix-up.
The snowflakes gradually began to lessen, and Ace looked towards the Dragon's Den.
"After a month of intensified training... it's time to settle the score and meet those three guys!"
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