Upon arriving at the habitat of the Florges, Maki realized that the number they had mentioned earlier was an understatement. Counting them all, there were about twenty Florges living here.
What surprised Maki the most, however, was that at least seven or eight of them had reached Ultra Ball-level strength.
The few Florges that had first appeared flew back to their group, seemingly explaining the situation to the others.
The process wasn't entirely smooth. For the Florges, who had grown accustomed to their peaceful lifestyle, making a change was not an easy decision.
Several of them showed clear reluctance—they simply did not enjoy battling.
However, after some persuasion from their companions, they eventually changed their minds.
"How many Malamar in the group are as strong as that Absol from earlier—or even stronger?" Maki asked.
"Fla~"
"Sa!"
The answer he received was four. In other words, if the Malamar he encountered today was part of the group the Florges had mentioned, there were likely still three more Malamar of the same strength.
But Maki couldn't help thinking: That's it?
It wasn't that he had become so powerful that he could completely disregard those Malamar—it was just that these few Malamar didn't seem like they could possibly be a match for the Florges.
Not to mention, with moves like Draining Kiss, a single Florges could drain a Malamar dry with just one use.
And that wasn't even their greatest strength—Florges were natural supporters. Even the less combat-oriented ones could contribute simply by staying in the back and using healing moves.
If some of them had the ability Healer, a single Florges' healing efficiency could be equivalent to several others combined.
Now that they understood Maki had come to help, the Florges were cooperative with his proposal. Maki took the opportunity to assess their abilities and traits.
His initial judgment had been correct—there were a total of eight Ultra Ball-level Florges. Three had Healer, four had Flower Veil, and one had Natural Cure.
The Flower Veil ability was completely useless to Florges since it only prevented allied Grass-type Pokémon from having their stats lowered or suffering status conditions. Despite its name and plant-like appearance, Florges was a pure Fairy-type.
That meant Flower Veil provided no benefit to them whatsoever—it was a completely useless ability in this case. On the other hand, Natural Cure, which allowed a Pokémon to quickly recover from status conditions, was at least somewhat useful.
Still, neither of these could compare to Healer.
It wasn't that Healer was exceptionally strong—after all, while it allowed healing moves to gain +3 priority, the number of relevant moves was quite limited, and its utility was nowhere near as broad as Prankster. If you gave a Charizard or a Mawile Healer, it would be completely useless.
But for a Pokémon like Florges, it was the perfect ability.
The synergy between a Pokémon and its ability was crucial. A seemingly weak ability might just need the right Pokémon to bring out its true potential.
For example, take Regigigas' ability Slow Start—a purely negative trait, something almost unheard of in the Pokémon world.
But if Slow Start were given to a slow, Trick Room-oriented special attacker, it might end up having an unexpectedly powerful effect.
If that negative example isn't convincing enough, here's a positive one:
The beloved Pokémon waifu of countless trainers—Mega Lopunny!
Mega Lopunny's ability is Scrappy, which allows Normal- and Fighting-type moves to hit Ghost-type Pokémon.
At first glance, this ability doesn't seem particularly impressive. But don't forget Mega Lopunny's typing—Normal/Fighting!
Normal/Fighting actually has excellent offensive coverage. The types that resist Normal, like Rock and Steel, are weak to Fighting, while the types that resist Fighting, such as Flying and Psychic, can be handled with Normal moves.
The biggest issue with Normal/Fighting is that neither type can hit Ghost Pokémon. However, Scrappy completely eliminates that weakness, making Mega Lopunny's offensive coverage nearly flawless.
Of course, as impressive as that sounds, a truly powerful ability is still a powerful ability. If you gave Mega Lopunny Parental Bond or Wonder Guard, who would even care about Scrappy?
Beyond the strongest eight, the remaining twelve Florges included five more with Healer, making them excellent support units.
Maki then asked, "Do you know any Fairy-type moves? Other than Draining Kiss?"
Draining Kiss was a move that all Florges could naturally learn. Though its power was low, when combined with Healer, it could be spammed even more effectively than a Cottonee with Prankster, making its low power negligible.
However, not all of these Florges had Healer, so they would need a stronger move to compensate.
Against Malamar, there was no need to overthink things—just hit them with high-power Fairy-type attacks. Given their numerical advantage and type matchup, Malamar didn't stand a chance.
Fortunately, despite their lack of battle experience, these Florges had still learned a solid range of moves—most of them knew Dazzling Gleam.
That was the strongest Fairy-type move they could use, as Florges were unable to learn Moonblast.
It was out of the question for Maki to personally train these Florges. For one, he didn't have the time—he couldn't stay here forever, and Mohn would start to worry about him if he was gone too long. He could only remain here for a limited time.
Second, and more importantly, there was no need.
These Florges were already strong enough—the problem was that they simply weren't using their strength effectively.
Maki's role was to lead them in battle and help them reach their full potential.
With their help, along with Charmeleon's assistance, defeating those Malamar would be a piece of cake.
Then, a thought suddenly flashed through Maki's mind. While he already felt confident in their chances, if he could increase their odds even further, why not?
"Hm… Let me ask you something. Do any of you know the move Ally Switch?"
The Florges glanced at one another, unsure of what Maki was planning. But a few of them stepped forward voluntarily, unaware of just how dirty Maki's strategy was about to get.
-----------------------
Want to read ahead of schedule?
Join here for advance chapters: PATREON.COM / PRIMALDEMON