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The battle was decided.
Staring at the prominent red "Defeat" marker before him, Wallace momentarily felt dizzy, sitting dazedly on the sofa in a daze.
In terms of command, he seemed to have been completely outplayed by Aiden...
Even with his ability to stand evenly against the Hoenn Champion, he couldn't quite keep up with Aiden's rhythm against that almost absurd command and prediction ability.
So this loss wasn't actually unjustified.
Compared to his helplessness against Salazzle last time, this time he was clearly more serious and had made several efforts to reverse the unfavorable situation.
Unfortunately, even in his most skilled Rain team system, he still couldn't match Aiden.
Wallace sighed inwardly.
"I actually think you performed quite well just now."
Steven on the other side decisively reached out, patting Wallace's shoulder and drawing his attention.
"In my view, your understanding of Rain teams is actually quite consistent. For example, both of you independently chose Mega Swampert as the core DPS, and both paired defensive walls and pivots to enhance team defensive synergy—these are all excellent strategies."
Was it that Wallace had learned a bit from Aiden's live stream, or that his comprehension ability was strong enough to quickly grasp the key points of Rain teams...
In any case, in Steven's eyes, Wallace's strength today was definitely much stronger than before—not just a little bit.
But even so, winning against Aiden head-on was still somewhat difficult.
The composition of both sides' Pokémon might have been somewhat similar—both were well-rounded teams with no obvious weaknesses.
Aiden's greatest advantage lay in his unique understanding of various types, allowing him to create all kinds of absurd strategies.
Like that Rain team mirror match god Ferrothorn just now—it was clearly Aiden's answer to "what if I encounter an opponent with the same strategy, how should I break through the deadlock?"
Ferrothorn with Grass+Steel typing, no longer extremely vulnerable to Fire-type attacks in rain weather, saw its tankiness relatively enhanced. Its immunity to powder, Grass-type, and Poison-type moves also made it nearly immune to any wearing-down methods.
Unless broken through head-on, it was the most dazzling presence in Rain team mirror matches.
Even thinking bigger—expanding choices beyond Rain team Pokémon—there didn't seem to be many effective counters to it.
Wallace being restricted throughout the battle was largely due to this sighing wall.
And such a perfect fit for Rain teams had actually never been considered before, only being brought to prominence by Aiden today...
Thinking of this, Steven couldn't help but sigh:
"Aiden's understanding of Pokémon is truly terrifying."
This included Scizor too—it was relatively more popular, but rarely chosen by trainers specializing in Rain teams.
The reason was simple—Rain weather only greatly enhanced Water-type Pokémon. Electric and Flying-type Pokémon might still be considered.
But other choices...
Indeed, they generally wouldn't be thought of, but the idea of using rain to avoid Fire-type weaknesses was absolutely correct.
This directly expanded the depth of Rain team members, making strategies centered around Rain teams more flexible and varied.
From this perspective, Aiden's thinking had already surpassed Wallace's by quite a margin.
"In terms of tactics alone, could Teacher Azure's level be above that of Champions?"
Steven subconsciously spoke out, giving an answer even he wasn't quite sure about.
When evaluating Aiden, Steven always felt it was a bit difficult to grasp the right measure.
Saying he was strong—Aiden was at most a newcomer who had been a trainer for less than half a year.
His Pokémon had indeed left a good impression on him at the time—especially that seemingly gentle but actually capable of serving as Champion-level attacker, Ogerpon.
However, looking at his team depth and overall strength, he wasn't even close to Champion level—wasn't he still a bit away from Elite Four level too?
Being able to cultivate a full team of 6 competent main Pokémon might qualify Aiden to serve as an Elite Four in Paldea, but he might still be a bit short of that now.
But saying he was weak was definitely not objective either.
What are you implying...
That a "super newcomer" who debuted three months ago, swept through Paldea students, molded them according to his template, and taught lessons to trainers worldwide—was actually weak?
What a joke!
Just being able to quickly secure his Gym Leader position was enough to prove his exceptional talent.
Moreover, his true strength never lay in surface-level power, but in his imaginative tactics and the growth potential brought by his extremely deep knowledge reserve.
In other words, because Aiden's trainer level was absurdly high, he would hardly encounter any "bottlenecks" on his growth path.
As long as his Pokémon's strength could keep up, he would continue to grow and improve.
From newcomer to Gym Leader, he only took two months;
Then how long would it take for the next Elite Four, Champion, or even "Battle Legend"?
This was too terrifying...
If he could maintain this, Aiden might very well become the youngest "Battle Legend" title holder currently, right?
Thinking of this, Steven couldn't help but smile.
He was thinking too far ahead—better focus on the present and not jinx Aiden.
"Hmm, that doesn't seem wrong either."
Wallace lifted his head with relief, showing a helpless smile.
"But losing to Aiden twice in the game—if I get the chance to meet him in high-level tournaments, I must find an opportunity to repay these two debts!"
Loss was loss—Wallace didn't argue about the recent defeat.
It was precisely these two losses that made Wallace curious about a trainer after a long time.
After Steven, he had gained another opponent he must defeat.
"It seems I need to get serious!"
"Then, I wish you meet Teacher Azure soon."
Noticing his friend's ignited fighting spirit, Steven smiled slightly.
Of course, he wouldn't say the second half out loud.
If it's too late, I'm afraid the Teacher Azure you'll face will have terrifyingly increased combat power...
"By the way, if you want to specialize in battles, what about the Pokémon Contests?"
Steven suddenly remembered his friend's dream and teased.
After a moment of silence, Wallace revealed a confident smile again.
"Don't worry—I'll bring the most elegant victory to both Pokémon Contests and trainer competitions."
"These two things don't conflict at all, right?"
...
[Oh my god, Teacher Azure is too strong—even used a Rain team to crush Wallace who specializes in Rain teams?]
[I originally thought Wallace's Toxapex would be really dirty, but when it met Teacher Azure's Ferrothorn, it got fkn sanctioned instead!]
[How can there be such an unorthodox... powerful Pokémon like Ferrothorn? How can opponents break through when there's one in Rain teams—feels incredibly tough...]
[The person above above—do you think Wallace chose Toxapex for no reason? Wasn't it because Teacher Azure taught him a lesson before~]
[To be fair, really—in front of Teacher Azure, how can you win with these dirty tricks? This is a 'small dirty' meeting a 'big dirty'—you simply can't win!]
An exciting battle not only let both sides fight passionately, but also left the audience shouting for more.
Although they couldn't understand much by the middle, this didn't affect their intuitive experience of the strength of Aiden's Rain team.
After the battle ended, Aiden revealed a satisfied smile.
This battle was perfect material—couldn't be better.
Rain team mirror matches inherently tested command and prediction ability more, while also allowing his team's advantages to be maximally utilized.
Moreover, Wallace's strength was also very solid—it was just that his team composition and understanding of Pokémon were slightly inferior, leading to this rout.
The score seemed like a complete domination, but actually, he hadn't won that easily.
Of course, it wasn't that difficult either.
"Can any students tell me why Wallace lost this battle?"
After relaxing his mindset, Aiden didn't rush to start another ranked match. Instead, he suddenly spoke up, throwing a simple little question to the audience.
Because this battle's level had clearly improved by more than one tier, to prevent students from misunderstanding the Rain team playstyle just now, he needed to supplement some extra knowledge.
[Huh? You're asking me while I'm at Ultra Ball rank?]
[I know this one—it's Ferrothorn's divine power! Teacher Azure just lay there winning—Ferrothorn was the real MVP!]
[Because Teacher Azure used Future Sight—he completely predicted all of Mr. Wallace's intentions. With such obvious setups, how could the opponent win?]
Answers varied, but most weren't quite serious.
Just as Aiden frowned slightly, preparing to answer the question himself, he suddenly noticed a line of golden text appearing in the bottom left corner, his eyes brightening instantly.
[Blue: Could it be... rotation?]
"Correct~"
Finally hearing a satisfactory answer, Aiden led the applause first.
As expected of the future "five-minute Champion" Blue—his comprehension was indeed stronger than other newcomers.
However, Aiden hadn't expected...
Blue was actually in his live stream too?
But thinking about it, Blue and Red were indeed newcomers—belonging to his stream's main audience. It wasn't strange they would appear.
However, there were gaps even among newcomers—Blue, this "super true newcomer," had potential that was just a tiny bit higher.
"In my battle with Wallace just now, nearly half the time was spent switching Pokémon back and forth—looks very time-wasting, right?"
With a response, Aiden quickly continued.
[It really was like that—every time Wallace made rotation adjustments, Teacher Azure would follow suit, then it was endless nesting dolls until Scizor broke the deadlock...]
[Could there be some trick to this? Teacher Azure, I really want to improve—I really want to become a tournament champion—please give me the secret manuals!]
[What are you talking about—go tell this to my Brave Bird Aegislash!]
"Actually, the reason Wallace and I both did this is very simple—it's just the most basic tactical thinking."
Aiden continued quickly.
"The fundamental purpose of rotation is to gain advantageous matchups. Because Wallace is a very excellent trainer, his rotation adjustments were also much more decisive than other opponents."
"But correspondingly, because his Pokémon's functions were relatively limited, it was easy to guess his rotations. I could also choose to recall my Pokémon with him, again sending out starters that pressured his choices."
The principle really wasn't complex—in fact, it was almost too simple.
There were certain type advantages between Pokémon—even elementary school students knew this.
But precisely because of this, Aiden's casual words quickly triggered the chat's desire to complain.
[Teacher Azure, please rein in your powers—no one has your absurd reaction and prediction abilities. You know whether you opened it or not!]
[My eyes say I learned it, but my brain just can't keep up—what should I do?]
[Huh? I—I can predict the opponent? Maybe it's basic knowledge for Teacher Azure, but isn't it a bit too advanced for us...]
[Noted—as long as I learn to rotate with the opponent, I can always pressure them!]
It wasn't strange that the chat reacted strongly.
Every trainer understood the principle, but how to catch the opponent's Pokémon and always stay in an advantageous position was like suddenly jumping from 1+1 to solving complex math problems.
Those who understand don't need teaching—those who don't can't grasp it.
Of course, Aiden knew this might indeed be a bit difficult.
"No problem, students—as long as you battle more times, you'll develop instinctive reactions when facing similar opponents later, and your brain will become much more flexible~"
"So you still need to practice more to grow—whether it's online games or offline battles, it's the same principle!"
As Aiden spoke, Mewtwo, who had been silently standing behind him, couldn't help but nod slightly.
I see.
As long as I practice more and battle other excellent trainers, my trainer level can steadily improve?
It seems Aiden hasn't battled many people before either...
As Mewtwo thought this, its gaze became even more focused.
As expected, Mew sent me here for additional reasons.
Aiden wasn't just a human friendly enough to accommodate me and the cloned Pokémon—he was also an excellent teacher.
From him, I can apparently learn many things I lack.
Especially on the path to becoming a trainer—with Aiden's help, I should be able to avoid many detours.
So from today, I need to increase my online practice time and align with Aiden's level as soon as possible...
Mewtwo quickly set a small goal in its heart.
...
After defeating Wallace and giving students a simple lesson, Aiden began his ranked journey again.
As the main contributor to the first battle, Ferrothorn seemed to only fight tough battles.
Therefore, when facing other relatively average-strength Pokémon next, Mega Swampert—who hadn't shown its strength in Aiden's team—quickly took over the flag, showing the audience what "the beauty of numbers" really meant.
[What? One Ice Punch almost one-shot a Multiscale Dragonite? What kind of attack power is this...]
[Fast as lightning while also having extremely absurd combat power—is this the Rain team big brother Teacher Azure had to wait a week for? So powerful!]
[You—go fight Kyogre!]
[Kingdra is not bad either—Rain-guaranteed-hit Hurricane and the terrifying Draco Meteor are both strong. But I thought I'd see Sniper Kingdra again...]
[How can there be such a perfect Pokémon as Scizor? Handsome and powerful—one Bullet Punch for each low-HP opponent is so satisfying!]
In one hour, Aiden completely showcased the combat power of Rain teams, giving the audience a deep understanding of his conclusion that "Rain teams are the first weather."
Fast speed and high burst power—indeed a bit stronger than Sun teams...
Moreover, compared to the previous sun team's forward momentum, this Rain team was clearly much more versatile.
When needing offense, it could explode; when needing defense, it had excellent resistances and rotation capabilities.
After an hour, the audience shouted for more, and Aiden also played very happily.
Finally, under the audience's enthusiastic expectations, Aiden glanced at the time.
"Happy times are always short—it's time to say goodbye again~"
"Then, see you next week~"
[???? What the hell—how did an hour pass already?]
[Teacher Azure, can you do one more match? I'm begging you, brother—I'm really addicted—just one!]
[This damn f*cker—impossible to stream one more minute...]
Amid the chat's "high praise," today's stream ended successfully.
Seeing Aiden go offline, a group of handsome guys who felt they were competent again quickly formed their teams and threw themselves into ranked matches.
Then...
Facing two almost identical Ferrothorns at the start, both sides simultaneously fell into deep thought.
Help!
Teacher Azure didn't teach how to counter Ferrothorn...
How can there be such a disgusting Pokémon! (referring to the opponent)
(T/N: Whoever has the better bladder wins lmao)
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