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At 6:30 PM, Aiden's scheduled live stream time.
Perhaps because he had skipped streaming last week, today there were exceptionally many viewers waiting early in the live room for the broadcast to start.
[This damn Teacher Azure won't disappear again, right? I really need to control you properly!]
[So anxious! The promised Rain team content has been delayed for two weeks. If you're not preparing something big, I won't accept it...]
[Don't worry, old fans know that Teacher Azure guided Gym Leader Nessa from Galar long ago, making her have an epiphany and completely crush her lifelong rival Mr. Milo. So his understanding of Rain teams must be solid!]
[Now that the new version has Mega Evolution, it's hard to say. After all, Teacher Azure is from Paldea—what does he know about Mega Evolution...]
The chat messages kept rolling energetically. Just then, a dazzling white light suddenly flashed across the screen, causing many people to instinctively close their eyes.
At the same time, Aiden's cheerful voice quickly reached their ears.
"Long time no see, everyone! I've missed you all so much~"
When they opened their eyes again, Aiden's youthful and handsome face had already appeared on the screen, as if gazing at the viewers through the screen with a smiling expression.
[Great! Teacher Azure has finally appeared. We Rain team players are saved!]
[Does Teacher Azure know about the version update? Now that Mega Evolution exists, the battle environment must have undergone earth-shattering changes, right?]
[Yes! I've tried the Charizard Y that Teacher Azure mentioned when introducing Sunny Day teams—it's so powerful! How can there be such a handsome and strong dragon!]
[Camerupt too—the Sunny Day team Camerupt set that Teacher Azure mentioned is so satisfying. Opponents simply can't withstand that raging firepower!]
Noticing the rapidly scrolling chat messages, Aiden quickly smiled.
Just as he had expected, after the Mega Evolution version launched, most players' attention had focused on these Pokémon with evolution potential.
After all, Mega Evolution directly provided these Pokémon with an additional 100 points to their base stats in the game. Their stats saw significant improvements, and most of their abilities were further enhanced—just looking at them radiated strength.
"The news about Mega Evolution—Teacher Azure actually knew about it long ago."
"And... who said Teacher Azure doesn't understand Mega Evolution?"
"No one understands Mega Evolution better than me!"
Aiden wasn't actually joking about this.
After all, there weren't many trainers who had actually used Mega Evolution in battles. Only a few elite trainers from Kalos and Hoenn regions had experience, and they probably only knew how to use their own primary Pokémon after evolution.
As for the researchers studying Mega Evolution...
They don't battle—how would they know about the team compositions developed around these Pokémon?
These were complete strategies painstakingly researched by countless battle players from his previous life!
"So today, I'll show you the second weather-based team system after Sunny Day teams—the most perfect Rain team!"
"Of course, this time I'll also include Pokémon that can use Mega Evolution to enhance the team's strength."
[Mega users compatible with Rain teams? Then there seem to be quite a few choices.]
[Sharpedo, Swampert, and Gyarados can all work. Besides, Rain teams commonly include Pokémon of other types too...]
[Teacher Azure, stop keeping us in suspense! Give us the secret manuals quickly!]
"Mega Evolution..."
Mewtwo behind Aiden caught this keyword and subconsciously started thinking.
During these two days of playing the game, it had also witnessed this peculiar power.
It seemed to be a special phenomenon where Pokémon could temporarily break through their evolution limits using their bond with trainers as a medium.
Generally speaking, to use Mega Evolution, trainers needed to hold a Key Stone while Pokémon carried a Mega Stone.
But Mewtwo faintly felt there shouldn't be only this one path.
After all, evolution is the instinct of life. While the bond with trainers could certainly be considered a powerful force that bursts out temporarily...
What if a Pokémon's own strength was already powerful enough to break through evolution barriers?
In other words, if it was strong enough, could it use Mega Evolution power on its own without relying on external items?
After all, although it was a Pokémon, Aiden had acknowledged its qualification to become a trainer.
In human terms, wouldn't this be called exploiting a bug?
Mewtwo had a faint suspicion in its heart but didn't rush to speak up.
After all, Aiden seemed to be teaching other humans right now, so it would be better to ask him after the class ended.
Even if this path was feasible, with its current strength, it would probably be difficult to achieve.
While it was thinking, Aiden had already begun his introduction.
"We've already discussed Sunny Day teams before, so regarding the four known basic weather conditions, everyone should already have some understanding."
"Rain teams are teams built around rainy weather."
"The advantage of Sunny Day teams is their simplicity and directness—a quality Rain teams also possess, and they even have good counter-effectiveness against Sunny Day teams."
As he spoke, Aiden opened the game.
"Moreover, rain weather has an additional advantage that sun weather doesn't have—"
"In Sunny Day teams, speed boosts basically rely only on the Chlorophyll ability. Besides Scovillain, other Pokémon with this ability mostly aren't Fire-type, so they can't enjoy the explosive firepower of Sunny Day teams."
"But the rainy weather condition is different. Swift Swim users are Water-type themselves, with both speed and combat power being exaggerated."
"So in my opinion, rain weather should be the most balanced weather system."
The facts indeed supported this.
Among the four weather types, Sandstorm teams relied entirely on a few outstanding Pokémon to make their presence felt. Hail teams couldn't even sit at the table without Alolan Ninetales.
Over years of weather battles, Rain Dance teams not only steadily suppressed Sunny Day teams through type advantages but also stood out due to its excellent system design.
Of course, in the Scarlet/Violet version, the addition of Ancient Pokémon gave Sunny Day teams new possibilities.
However...
Capturing Ancient Pokémon might be just a "tiny bit" difficult.
Ancient Pokémon didn't have any sense of "holding back" —in battles, losing really meant being eaten as a snack by them!
With Area Zero now closed, research on them was basically blank, and naturally, they weren't in the game either.
After Aiden's brief explanation, viewers quickly praised his expertise.
[Huh? So Rain teams are strong because of this? I thought it was just about type advantages...]
[Type advantages are part of the reason too. Although Sunny Day teams usually include Grass-type Pokémon, their combat power is relatively average. Besides, Rain teams also have Pokémon with Ice-type moves to counter them.]
[As expected of Teacher Azure—I'm still figuring out which Pokémon is strong, while Teacher Azure has already researched the core mechanisms of Rain teams. Could it be that Teacher Azure is truly a weather master?]
As the chat messages scrolled, several golden lights suddenly flashed before Aiden's eyes again. Immediately after, several messages appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen.
[User "Cerulean Mermaid" donated ten Master Balls!]
[User "Nessa" donated twenty Master Balls!]
[User "Preparing for Three Consecutive Contest Championships" donated fifty Master Balls!]
"..."
Didn't this scene look a bit familiar?
Aiden was momentarily speechless.
Last time with Sunny Day teams, only Flint sent gifts. This time with Rain teams, three people appeared at once!
Moreover, they seemed to be competing over who sent more gifts, with the amounts getting larger and larger.
But for these Gym Leaders with independent assets, these should all be small amounts, right?
After routinely thanking the three "big bosses" for their gifts, Aiden's expression gradually became serious.
Since he had accepted their money, he had to deliver some satisfactory, practical content!
Aiden quickly opened the team editor.
"Last time I also mentioned that Rain teams commonly have two weather setters: Politoed and Pelipper. Both have the Drizzle ability and automatically set weather upon entry."
"And generally speaking, whether in singles or doubles, I recommend using Pelipper as the weather setter—it's simpler and more straightforward to use."
"As for Politoed... it has its own unique tactical positioning. We'll discuss it another time when I have the chance."
As he spoke, Aiden had already dragged Pelipper into the team.
With a weather setter secured, the next step was naturally selecting offensive Pokémon.
"There are many choices for Water-type attackers. Here I'll give everyone the simplest and most direct suggestion."
As everyone knows, there's only one big brother in Rain teams, and that is—
"Swampert!"
Swampert, one of Hoenn region's starter Pokémon, and also a core member of the Water-Ground family.
The Water-Ground typing is very special—it only has a quadruple weakness to Grass-type, with excellent resistances, making it very suitable as a defensive wall/pivot for team support.
However, Swampert took a completely different path.
Besides having a sturdy build, its attack capability was also not bad. Its combat power in rain weather wasn't low to begin with—only its speed held it back slightly.
But with Mega Evolution already available, this disadvantage obviously no longer existed.
The reason was simple—Mega Swampert's ability happened to be Swift Swim...
Decent durability, explosive physical attack, plus rain-boosted speed that surpassed even Rayquaza, and one Ice Punch that treated all Pokémon equally.
Setting aside the Legendary Kyogre, Mega Swampert's combat power ranked among the top in Rain teams.
Especially in singles battles—it was undoubtedly the big brother of Rain teams.
Of course, if we only consider offensive output, Galar also had a number monster specializing in Fishious Rend whose strength surpassed even Swampert...
Besides Swampert, Aiden added Kingdra as a special attacker.
With these three Pokémon, the core of the Rain team was already formed.
[POG Teacher Azure really knows his stuff? I've tried it—Swampert is super useful!]
[When Teacher Azure says he understands, it means he really knows; only when Teacher Azure says "I know a little" should you worry if he's already reached a realm beyond human comprehension...]
[Teacher Azure's teams are always pleasing to the eye, but soon this one will be mine!]
Seeing the chat's teasing remarks, Aiden couldn't help but smile.
His team wasn't even finished yet.
Rain teams actually had another hidden advantage—he just hadn't mentioned it yet.
"Besides weather setters and attackers, Rain teams mainly focus on inclusiveness. As long as Pokémon can avoid Fire-type weaknesses in rain weather, they can basically be added to the team to expand coverage and defensive capabilities."
Like how the ocean gathers all the world's rivers, the member selection for Rain teams isn't fixed.
Even Archaludon, the core of Raihan's Sandstorm team, after its first evolution, actively chose to defect to Rain teams, abandoning its Sandstorm brothers to join the Rain team huddle, bringing its powerful Electro Shot to Rain teams.
Acceptable—this was high quality.
As for why this Steel+Dragon type Pokémon's core move was Electric-type—you'd have to ask Archaludon itself about its thoughts.
Zapdos: Tell me more!
In situations like mine where the Rain team core is already complete, it's time to consider adding some special Pokémon to enhance team rotation and defensive capabilities.
And Aiden's choice was also simple and direct.
Scizor, Gliscor, and Ferrothorn.
"Scizor's role in Rain teams is mainly for rotation. The rain system helps it avoid its fatal Fire-type weakness to some extent. It can come in during disadvantageous situations, take damage, then use U-turn to rotate out, allowing core Pokémon to safely enter."
"Gliscor is also an old friend—everyone should be familiar with its functionality. Not only can it use Substitute, Protect and Toxic to wear down opponents, it also has good support capabilities."
"As for this one..."
After introducing these two relatively common Pokémon, Aiden quickly moved his mouse to the last one—Ferrothorn.
Ferrothorn, Grass+Steel type, was a very common defensive team choice in his previous life.
But in the Pokémon world, its usage rate was surprisingly low.
The reason was simple—it had almost no speed to speak of, and its combat power was quite average.
If a trainer's skill wasn't sufficient to utilize its defensive capabilities, it would naturally seem quite useless.
But in Rain teams, it had an extremely special positioning.
"Ferrothorn—the god of Rain team mirror matches!"
One sentence was enough to summarize its function, so Aiden didn't elaborate further.
[Rain team mirror matches? Using one Pokémon specifically to counter mirror matches—isn't that a bit extravagant, Teacher Azure?]
[To be fair, looking at Ferrothorn this way—it's really tough. Its ability is Iron Barbs which reflects contact damage, paired with Rocky Helmet... it's practically a close-combat killer!]
[Wait, Rain teams can play this dirty too? As expected of you, Teacher Azure...]
With the team composition complete, items and abilities were quickly configured. Next came the test of actual battle.
Aiden decisively pressed the match button, beginning today's ranked journey.
Perhaps because Mewtwo had played on his account before, dropping some points and lowering his win rate, today his matchmaking was very smooth.
In just half a minute—even before he could open other mini-games—his first victim... opponent had already appeared.
The matchmaking success screen lasted for a few seconds before quickly disappearing. At the same time, Aiden's eyes immediately revealed the opponent's trainer appearance and ID.
A somewhat familiar flamboyant male figure—besides his seemingly confident aura, his high-slit and revealing swimsuit outfit made Aiden's mouth twitch.
Trainer ID: DefeatTeacherAzure!
This one was even more significant.
It was precisely Wallce, who had already faced Aiden in an online battle before but had been thoroughly tormented by Salt Cure.
It seemed he had deliberately targeted him after seeing his live stream?
Aiden's lips quickly curved into a smile.
Although this team wasn't as specifically targeted as before...
In Rain team mirror matches, he absolutely wouldn't lose!
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