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Time quickly came to Sunday evening at 6:30 PM.
This time slot was when Pokémon TV users were most active.
The reason was very simple.
It was time for a certain "sunny, cheerful big boy" to start his stream.
Countless viewers had already flooded into the live room early, holding their dinner bowls while waiting in the pitch-black stream room, ready to start eating at the first command.
[Great! Today's my favorite doubles format—I get to see Teacher Azure play all kinds of absurd strategies again!]
[To be fair, last week's Rain team mirror match left me completely stunned—I had no idea what was happening. For-fun lineups are probably more suitable for ordinary trainers like us...]
[I actually feel uncomfortable when Teacher Azure plays serious lineups—he should bring some dirty tactics!]
[Shut to ass up, do you want to ruin Pokémon battles!]
Just as viewers were happily chatting, the pitch-black screen suddenly flashed with light. Immediately after, Aiden appeared on screen with a smile, waving to greet the viewers.
[Brothers, get ready to eat!]
[I must start taking notes immediately—what kind of torturous strategy has Teacher Azure prepared today?]
[I don't think Rain teams have any dirty playstyles, right? Last week Teacher Azure played a very serious strategy—the most problematic was probably that slightly dirty Ferrothorn.]
[What nonsense are you talking—go tell this to my Mega Swampert's Ice Punch!]
"Hello everyone."
Aiden spoke simply, glancing at the viewer count in the top right corner.
Just seconds after going live, the stream room was already packed with tens of thousands of people, climbing at rocket speed.
For him, who was already the "only big streamer on Pokémon TV," this data had long become routine.
"Last week, Teacher Azure introduced the main concepts of Rain teams to everyone and previewed this week's strategy—"
"It's still Rain teams, but today we'll expand our thinking to ranked doubles, showing more flexible playstyles."
After a brief opening, Aiden quickly began his explanation:
"In singles, Rain teams have relatively flexible strategies—various Pokémon can be integrated into the rain system, playing their unique roles. Tactics mainly focus on rotation to gain advantageous matchups, making opponents expose weaknesses through defense."
"And Rain teams in doubles don't differ much in thinking."
"However, due to the wonderful chemistry between teammates, some special Pokémon can now take the field."
"So today, we'll play with some Pokémon we didn't use last week~"
Last week's lineup was a very serious Rain team—Mega Swampert, Pelipper, and other standard Rain team members had already appeared.
Strictly speaking, these two rain partners still had good dominance in doubles—their combat power was simply that overwhelming.
However, Aiden considered his streams mainly for education and helping trainers expand their thinking, so today's lineup would undergo a complete overhaul.
[Teacher Azure isn't playing Mega Swampert? Then what Pokémon can Mega Evolve in Rain teams?]
[Gyarados? Blastoise? Or... Sharpedo?]
[Sharpedo? That's very life-like—better than Mega Slowbro!]
[It doesn't have to be Water-type Pokémon, right? Maybe Teacher Azure will pull out some weird thing?]
"We won't be playing Mega Swampert today. We covered it pretty thoroughly last week—if I kept using it, wouldn't that just be winning purely through strength?"
Aiden smiled, quickly revealing the answer.
"Today, our Mega slot choice is—"
"Manectric!"
[Manectric? It's not even a Water-type Pokémon?]
[Electric-type is still a conventional choice for Rain teams, after all—it has Thunder which always hits in rain, and the power is quite good.]
[However... I've never seen Mega Manectric in ranked matches—even in singles ranked matches, Electric-types seem quite rare?]
[Probably because Electric-types have poor burst, and I can't think of any Electric-types with great offensive power...]
[I know this one—Vikavolt!]
For the chat's curiosity, Aiden only smiled faintly.
"If this were Singles, this Manectric definitely couldn't take the field."
"However, Doubles and Singles are very different environments—it's normal for Pokémon to have vastly different strengths in different environments."
"I'm adding Manectric to my team naturally because it fits well with the strategy I'm using today."
Aiden had many reasons for choosing Manectric, including wanting to show viewers more Mega Evolutions and the tactics they suit.
Of course, more importantly, it truly fit his strategy well.
With Palafin set as the main force in the Doubles lineup, rotation was necessary to maximize its power.
Manectric came with Volt Switch, had Lightning Rod before Mega Evolution to help teammates avoid Electric-type damage, and after Mega Evolution, its Intimidate ability could repeatedly enter the field to lower opponents' physical attackers' combat power—making it perfect for tactics requiring frequent rotation.
Abilities like Lightning Rod and Storm Drain were basically only deterrents in singles, but in doubles mode their effects were surprisingly good.
Water-type Pokémon only had Electric and Grass weaknesses. With Lightning Rod Manectric on the field, the team's defensive capabilities would be greatly enhanced.
While thinking to himself, Aiden opened "Pokémon Champion" and entered the team builder.
"We used budget Kyogre as the weather setter last week—today we'll use the other Pokémon with Drizzle ability, Politoed!"
[Pelipper? So is Torkaol budget Groudon?]
[You have it backwards—How does Groudon deserve to be mentioned alongside our Sun team's ace Coalossal!]
[smh...]
There were only three Pokémon with Drizzle ability. Excluding the real Kyogre that couldn't appear in the game, today he had introduced the other two.
In singles, Politoed was clearly suppressed by Pelipper in all aspects, but in Doubles it was slightly better—the positioning distinction between the two Pokémon was very clear.
Pelipper could bring powerful Hurricane to cover weaknesses, had decent combat power itself, and Tailwind could help teammates speed up—its role in doubles was also significant.
As for Politoed, its playstyle was more about 'quality'.
'Quality' sleep-inducing moves and Encore are its specialties, leaning more towards support than offense. Ensuring the opponent truly enjoys their time. Besides that, it also has Perish Song, which comes with its own special system.
However, the Rain Team Perish Song system was a bit too brain-burning.
Serious players only—don't learn this unless you're playing professionally.
Even if Aiden pulled out this strategy now, students probably wouldn't understand it.
So better keep it simple.
With a weather setter secured, Aiden quickly added three more Pokémon to the team.
The previously mentioned Manectric, the somewhat cute-looking Palafin whose combat power wasn't obvious at all, and...
Amoonguss, which looked like it wasn't drawn in the same style as other Pokémon.
[Palafin? What's its relationship with Kricketune?]
[No—Palafin is truly the "Hero of the Sea." What is Kricketune? How dare it imitate Palafin!]
[Compared to Palafin, doesn't anyone else think Amoonguss has a very creepy expression... how can there be such an ugly Pokémon, get out of here!]
[By the way, Teacher Azure mentioned this Pokémon before, saying it could learn Rage Powder which has similar effects to "Follow Me," making it quite good for support in doubles?]
"...How many times have I said it—don't judge by appearance, and that includes Pokémon!"
Aiden sighed helplessly.
"I'll briefly introduce Amoonguss—whether you use it or not is up to you. Teacher Azure has no right to interfere, right?"
To be fair, Amoonguss did look a bit... unique.
However, the creator of the Pokémon world, Arceus, was generally quite fair—Amoonguss traded its appearance for a unique special status.
"As a Mushroom Pokémon, besides standard Grass-type powder moves like Rage Powder and Stun Spore, Amoonguss can also learn the very rare Spore."
"Additionally, its durability is quite good, with the Regenerator ability and Synthesis providing sustainability—it's a very difficult defensive wall to handle."
As soon as Aiden said this, the chat immediately began changing its tone.
[...But speaking of it, since my Pokémon always have their backs to me anyway, I can't see this face—might as well use it!]
[To be fair, at first glance it does look quite ugly, but after what Teacher Azure said, I suddenly find Amoonguss more likable—it's actually quite cute]
[Yes, I've been an Amoonguss-only fan since birth—don't question my bond with it!]
[LMAO the person above is definitely a strength digger—I approve of your bond!]
For the "language charm" displayed in the chat, Aiden only smiled slightly.
Those who watched his streams were basically people who really enjoyed Pokémon battles.
Therefore, Amoonguss had extraordinary appeal to them.
After all, who could reject an Amoonguss with its back turned, giving you complete peace of mind?
Even in his previous life, Amoonguss was basically a regular at every Master Tournament—a rare Pokémon honored with the "Triple Crown" title.
Pokémon Gratitude Textbook: My Triple Crown Teammate Amoonguss!
One crown might be coincidence, two crowns might involve some luck, but three crowns were definitely related to its own strength.
Even the corresponding ancient form Brute Bonnet performed excellently in later Master Tournaments, joining the ranks of champions.
The positioning of these four Pokémon was very clear. Aiden thought for a moment and added another two Pokémon to the team—Salamence and Whimsicott.
Salamence as the second Mega slot, with Aerilate-boosted STAB moves giving it terrifying suppression power against Grass-types—its thinking was similar to Manectric's selection.
Of course, Salamence's combat power was already exaggerated on its own—completely not needing to rely on the rain system.
As for Whimsicott... IYKYK.
As a versatile supporter, when you don't know what to bring, Whimsicott is always a safe choice.
[Teacher Azure still can't forget his evil cotton—I suggest you two lock yourselves up together!]
[When I heard Manectric, I originally thought Teacher Azure would use a very orthodox offense-focused lineup, but after seeing the completed team, why is it so dirty...]
[Whoever wants to play this ranked match can play it—I'd probably have a mental breakdown if I encountered Teacher Azure!]
[Wake up—with your rank, matching with Teacher Azure is still quite difficult lololol]
With the team composition complete, Aiden quickly adjusted the held items and abilities of the Pokémon, then quickly opened doubles ranked matches.
A qualified team always needed practical battle testing.
He didn't know if he'd encounter some quality opponents today, replicating last week's high-quality match against Wallace.
However, thinking about it, the difficulty seemed quite high.
After all, the current mainstream in the Pokémon world was definitely singles—even champions like Wallace or Steven would see their strength greatly reduced in doubles.
But he didn't have this concern—or rather, he might actually be better at doubles. This was his complete form?
If not intentionally messing around, with normal lineups Aiden conservatively estimated he had at least a 90% win rate against anyone.
91 wins to 9 losses—meaning he wins 91 matches while the opponent cracks completely.
Doubles mode had been online for over two months. After the initial craze faded, matching opponents at high ranks had become difficult.
About three minutes passed. Just as Aiden was boringly playing "Gold Miner," nearly mining a large diamond, the screen was suddenly completely covered by a pop-up window. The match success information made Aiden raise an eyebrow.
After lasting a few seconds, the interface immediately disappeared. The opponent's trainer appearance and ID quickly replaced it, appearing before Aiden.
A gorgeous black hime-cut hairstyle, paired with exaggerated protruding headphones extending upward like antennas, made the originally somewhat gloomy hairstyle look full of fashion sense.
Underneath the golden jacket, the already beautiful figure matched with fashionable clothing—just from clothing taste, it was very distinctive.
Moreover, on her shoulder rested a cute-looking Emolga.
Trainer ID: Shiny Beauty
The opponent's identity was already clear.
"Elesa?"
Aiden froze for a moment, subconsciously blurting out.
(A/N: Elesa—I prefer her Black 2 outfit over Black/White)
Actually, he had never had any contact with Elesa, whether online or offline.
However...
When he first started managing Sunshine Gym, Aiden had received Elesa's gym management guide from the system.
Though it hadn't been useful, from the perspective of gym leaders, their thinking was quite consistent.
Using the gym leader's own advantages to boost gym popularity, creating a "specialty" that was more distinctive compared to other gyms.
The specialty of Nimbasa Gym, guarded by Elesa, was Elesa herself—a popular model—so much so that the gym was even transformed into a sizable runway catwalk. Her apprentices were also fairly well-known models.
Therefore, it really did attract quite a few trainers "coming for fame."
[Wow, this one is really cute—is this Miss Elesa from Nimbasa Gym?]
[Yes yes, this is the face of our Unova region—Uncle Alder isn't familiar at all—we understand people's hearts better than Elesa!]
[You Unovans are too... well, it seems my identity as Elesa's ten-year fan can't be hidden anymore!]
[My favorite fashion blogger meets my most hated teaching blogger—why am I having such a terrifying nightmare? Teacher Azure, can you go a bit easier on me? (/crying emoji)]
From his viewers' reactions, it was clear Elesa had very high popularity.
After all, who doesn't like cute things?
Nimbasa Gym had also become the most famous gym in Unova region, and Gym Leader Elesa herself had many fans worldwide. Many traveled thousands of miles to Unova to challenge her, wanting to learn fashion skills from her.
As for Aiden...
Their paths were quite similar—the difference might be that Aiden, who could have lived off his looks, chose to be a technical streamer?
"An Electric-type gym leader—perfect timing."
After stopping his wandering thoughts, Aiden's lips quickly curved into a smile.
If it were a normal Rain team, facing Elesa would definitely be very difficult.
However, with Lightning Rod Manectric as the main force, his team really wasn't afraid at all.
"I'm going to dominate!"
Aiden quickly made his battle declaration.
...
After the match success interface disappeared, Elesa's team quickly appeared on screen.
Emolga, Luxray, Eelektross, Wash Rotom, Lanturn, and Ampharos.
Another gym leader standard single-type team.
After a quick glance, Aiden quickly had his answer—
"Palafin won't be good against the opponent's Pokémon. If that Lanturn has the Volt Absorb ability, Manectric might not work well either."
The stranger the lineup, the harder it was for Aiden to guess what the opponent wanted to do.
Because in such situations, you generally couldn't use your normal thinking to speculate what the opponent's intentions were.
"Electric-type isn't a good defensive type, but it can't be denied—it has very few weaknesses, only the Ground type."
"If we also count Eelektross's Levitate ability, it can even achieve having no weaknesses when no abilities are in effect."
"It seems to pose a great threat to our Rain team."
While analyzing, Aiden quickly smiled.
"However, Electric-type's offensive abilities are relatively average in this match—the entire team combined can't do much to our Amoonguss."
"And on our side, we not only have Lightning Rod Manectric to tank, but also Salamence with Earthquake to cover weaknesses."
"So the advantage is with us!"
Aiden had added Salamence specifically for this consideration.
In the case where the opponent happened to be Electric-type gym leader Elesa, without this Salamence, the other five Pokémon seemed to have no good way to deal with the opponent.
It might easily turn into a bladder match, relying on Amoonguss to slowly wear down the opponent…
Rain team's only two weaknesses—Grass and Electric—could both be handled by Amoonguss sharing aggro, so there was no defensive pressure.
Salamence covered the offensive shortcomings against these two types.
After Mega Evolution, Aerilate-boosted Normal-type moves had terrifying power—one bite for each Grass-type kid. At the same time, Salamence also had Earthquake to counter Electric-types.
In doubles, this kind of defensive thinking was crucial.
Because 6v4 selection allowed flexible team adjustments, different tactical approaches could be combined against different opponents.
"Since Rain teams are hard to play against, then it's simple—"
"I'll just abandon rain altogether!"
Aiden casually said this, immediately confirming his lead.
Salamence + Amoonguss.
The backfield would be Manectric and Whimsicott.
[Are you there? Weren't you supposed to teach Rain teams—I mean, Teacher Azure, what are you doing?]
[Teacher Azure is right—Rain teams aren't so inconvenient. Even after optimizing out the rain brothers, it can still be called a Rain team!]
[Palafin: Am I the main character? I'm asking how I got optimized out?!]
[POG what are you waiting for—take notes quickly! When playing other lineups later, you can do this too—the opponent will definitely never expect it!]
Since he couldn't tell what kind of strategy the opponent was using, Aiden didn't try to predict this time.
While resting his chin on his fingers, thinking about the next move, he was also silently waiting for the opponent to confirm their lead.
Soon, both sides were ready.
The magnificent scene inside Battle Chateau appeared on screen.
In the center of the battle field, Aiden and Elesa's trainer avatars stood in position, quickly throwing out four Poké Balls.
Aiden's side had roaring Salamence and Amoonguss with its back to the audience.
Elesa's side chose Emolga and Wash Rotom as leads.
After appearing, both Pokémon were immediately affected by Salamence's Intimidate ability. But for Electric-types that mainly used special attacks, this could almost be ignored.
"Did she guess I'd use Ground-type moves to cover weaknesses?"
Aiden raised an eyebrow, muttering softly.
Dragon-type Pokémon, especially pseudo-legendaries, were deeply recognized for their strength, and Salamence was particularly well-known.
Such a Pokémon—the opponent would definitely take precautions, and both Emolga with Electric+Flying typing and Wash Rotom with Levitate ability could completely avoid Earthquake's effects.
So there was no obvious counter relationship between the leads.
However, for Aiden, this was enough.
Trench warfare was actually the situation he most hoped to see, because...
"Salamence, break through your limits!"
"After Mega Evolution, use Dragon Dance to boost yourself."
As Aiden commanded, his virtual avatar on screen immediately raised its right hand, gripping the shining Key Stone on its chest.
Salamence's speed wasn't slow to begin with—it was only slightly slower than Emolga, the fastest on the opponent's team. After Mega Evolution, breaking through its limits gave it absolute first strike.
First strike + Dragon Dance—relying purely on brute force. Once boosted, it could sweep opponents even without type advantage.
Of course, Aiden was being so obvious that Elesa on the other side immediately reacted, adding counter commands.
"Rotom, Thunder Wave!"
"Emolga, Encore!"
Both commands targeted Salamence.
If locked by Encore after Dragon Dance, Aiden's side could only recall it to temporarily avoid the edge.
However, affected by Thunder Wave, even after returning to the field, Salamence's speed would be greatly reduced, completely losing first strike.
In Aiden's lineup where Salamence was basically the only source of damage, any hit would be extremely fatal.
However, with Amoonguss as the ace supporter, Aiden didn't need to think about these problems.
"Amoonguss, use Rage Powder on yourself!"
Aiden quickly smiled.
Because Amoonguss's speed was extremely slow, Aiden didn't command it simultaneously with Salamence.
The purpose was to wait for Elesa's reaction.
After confirming her commands, Aiden also breathed a sigh of relief.
Amoonguss's speed was indeed very slow, but Rage Powder had very high priority and the same effect as "Follow Me."
It could redirect all single-target moves aimed at teammates to itself, providing a safe boosting environment for teammates.
Coincidentally, the moves used by Elesa's two Pokémon were both within Rage Powder's influence range.
Both sides' Pokémon moved simultaneously. The last-moving Amoonguss actually used its move first, opening its arms and mushroom cap, spraying countless irritating yellow powder.
Affected by the move, the two Electric-type Pokémon that originally targeted the about-to-complete-Mega-evolution Salamence strangely turned their heads, firing two differently colored energy balls at the 'shining, justice-filled' Amoonguss.
Encore and Thunder Wave hit in succession. Amoonguss's body quickly showed slight static electricity—it was clearly now paralyzed.
But with the opportunity Amoonguss created, Salamence completed its Mega Evolution and immediately used the noble Dragon Dance to boost itself.
"Thank you, Amoonguss!"
"Your sacrifice has meaning!"
Aiden couldn't help but speak up, making a tear-wiping gesture.
Amoonguss, you're so great!
Having such a hardworking, self-sacrificing good Pokémon for teammates—wasn't this the whole team's blessing?
Who said Amoonguss was a sneaky Pokémon—in Aiden's eyes, it was simply a warrior of justice, a sunny Pokémon that sacrificed itself to warm teammates!
[...If I remember correctly, wasn't it Teacher Azure who commanded Amoonguss to use Rage Powder, not Amoonguss itself? And you're crying now?!]
[Exactly! You're making me laugh—how did Amoonguss end up with such an unorthodox trainer like Teacher Azure!]
[Forced negativity—Teacher Azure definitely asked Amoonguss first, and it said it had no objections.]
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