Bonus Chapter for reaching 50 powerstones!
--------------
The situation might be far worse than Leon had imagined...
As Aiden's in-game avatar spoke on-screen, the Mega Stone linked to Gengar shimmering with light, Leon could only offer a wry smile.
He had no real choice left—only to fight desperately.
It was clear now: from the very beginning, Aiden had been meticulously setting the stage for this exact moment, and only now had he finally bared his fangs.
The Hypnosis targeted specifically at Rillaboom forced Leon to switch it in—giving Espathra the perfect opportunity to Baton Pass.
The terrifying Speed boost from Baton Pass, layered atop Gengar's already impressive base Speed, meant that once Trick Room was canceled, Leon had absolutely no way to stop it.
And after Mega Evolution, Gengar's ability would change to Shadow Tag—locking all of Leon's on-field Pokémon in place, preventing any switches.
But Gengar's Shadow Tag worked slightly differently from the other two Pokémon that shared this ability.
Because Mega Evolution took a brief moment to activate after Gengar entered battle, Leon still had a tiny window to recall Mr. Rime and bring in Charizard to fight Gengar head-on with raw firepower.
So…
Leon didn't hesitate. He immediately gave his command:
"Mr. Rime—come back!"
"Torkoal—Overheat on Gengar!"
Without Trick Room, Torkoal would almost certainly move last, meaning it would take hits before it could strike.
Eruption—which scales with HP—was out of the question. Heat Wave was an AoE move, but splitting damage with Gengar's partner wasn't ideal; it was better to focus fire and OHKO Gengar first.
Yes, Overheat came with a nasty Special Attack drop—but under Sunny Day, its power would be absolutely devastating. Even if it didn't finish Gengar off, it would leave it on dangerously low HP, opening a window for a potential comeback.
In fact—Teacher Azure probably didn't even know Torkoal was holding a Life Orb. Combined with Sunny Day, the chance of OHKOing Gengar was extremely high.
Once Gengar fell, Aiden's team would lack reliable knockout power.
Leon would finally catch his breath—and the pressure from the Sleep strategy would vanish instantly.
After all, without strong offense, even a sleeping opponent couldn't be swept. And if Leon could seize the moment Gravity ended—letting either Torkoal or Charizard land one clean hit—he might still turn the tide and sweep back.
This was Leon's only remaining path to victory.
But…
Aiden had chosen Gengar precisely because he anticipated this.
Or rather—he'd been waiting for Leon to make this exact switch.
As Gengar was engulfed in white light and reappeared with a ghostly white form, a third eye glowing on its forehead, it grinned wickedly at Torkoal.
Of course! Gengar without its shiny form had no soul!
Just seeing this familiar Pokémon filled Aiden with joy—and he immediately followed up with his next command:
"Gengar, use Sludge Wave!"
"Sableye, Rain Dance!"
As he spoke, all three Pokémon on the field had already prepared themselves, looking ready to launch an attack at any moment.
And just as Aiden expected, Leon—having recalled Mr. Rime—immediately sent out his final reserve:
Galar Champion Leon's ace—Charizard!
If Charizard had appeared before Aiden's command, viewers might've thought the match still had hope.
But now?
[??? HOLY—Sableye knows Rain Dance?!]
[Torkoal has already appeared. Even if Charizard uses Mega Evolution right now to become Mega Charizard Y, which can trigger Drought again, it seems too late, doesn't it?]
[Definitely too late—Gengar's already charged up, and Sableye is ready to move!]
Because Aiden had thoroughly covered Sunny Day teams before, his viewers were very familiar with Drought users.
In particular, the Torkoal + Mega Charizard Y combo was the undisputed king of weather control—a fact clearly demonstrated in Aiden's previous match against Lucian.
But just as Mega Gengar's delayed Shadow Tag gave Leon a brief window to switch out the useless Mr. Rime, Charizard's entry also came with a fatal timing gap.
Since Torkoal had already activated Drought upon entry, Gengar's partner—Sableye—was now perfectly positioned to exploit that split second when Leon couldn't react.
And so—Sableye unleashed Rain Leonce.
This rain might only last a few seconds—but for Aiden, that was more than enough.
The moment Charizard appeared, Sableye—powered by Prankster—immediately hurled a burst of energy skyward. Dark clouds gathered instantly, blotting out the scorching sun, and rain began to fall, chilling the battlefield.
Amid the drizzle, Mega Gengar blasted forth a wave of toxic purple energy—Sludge Bomb—that surged across the opponent's half of the field, dealing significant damage to both Torkoal and Charizard.
Though not as fast as before (thanks to the earlier Speed boosts), Mega Gengar's offensive power was still fearsome. Even split between two targets, Sludge Bomb dealt over 50% damage to both—leaving them in critical condition.
In terms of raw damage, Gengar already had the advantage. Its Speed ensured it could fire a second Sludge Bomb before either opponent could strike back—wiping out this Sunny Day duo in one go.
Neither Charizard nor Torkoal had any priority moves to threaten Gengar.
That meant—if Torkoal failed to KO Gengar this turn, Leon was completely out of options. He'd have no choice but to watch Gengar go on a rampage.
So… could Torkoal pull it off?
Not a chance!
Under Sunny Day, a Life Orb Torkoal might've OHKOed the relatively frail Gengar.
But thanks to Sableye deploying Rain Dance at the perfect moment, Torkoal's firepower was completely neutered. Its desperate Overheat, launched under the rain, looked utterly pathetic.
What should've been a finishing blow instead dealt only about 30% damage—barely a scratch to Gengar.
"…"
Seeing the tide turn irrevocably, Leon shook his head in resignation.
He knew it was too late—even Mega Evolving now wouldn't help.
The rain had already done its job. Even Mega Charizard, despite its power, was still slower than Gengar. A double KO was inevitable.
"Guess I still don't fully grasp Mega Evolution mechanics," Leon muttered.
"If we were using Dynamax, Gigantamax Charizard—with its huge HP boost—could've tanked a second Sludge Bomb and finished with G-Max Wildfire for the comeback."
"But… alas, the game doesn't support that yet."
Leon grumbled quietly.
Still, even without his signature Dynamax, his deep understanding of Mega Evolution and raw skill had kept him firmly in the top five of the global rankings.
Which meant… it wasn't that Leon's Mega usage was shallow—it was that Aiden's understanding ran even deeper.
After all, Paldea—like Galar—shouldn't even have access to Mega Stones or Key Stones. Yet Aiden had not only grasped the timing quirks of Mega Evolution but exploited them to amplify his advantage relentlessly.
What an admirable opponent.
Quickly brushing off his earlier frustration, Leon's expression turned excited.
"Well, I'm clearly losing—but it's just a game. I doubt President Rose will mind."
"Besides, my goal was to assess 'Teacher Azure's' strength. I might as well enjoy the show while completing my mission."
…
Soon, Leon had his remaining Pokémon fight to the bitter end.
Though he knew it was futile, he refused to surrender, battling on stubbornly.
But under Gengar's relentless Sludge Bomb assault, his Sunny Day duo was swiftly eliminated.
As for his remaining bench—Rillaboom and Mr. Rime…
Rillaboom, still fast asleep, took a super-effective Sludge Bomb to the face and instantly joined its teammates in dreamland—permanently.
Mr. Rime, benefiting from type resistance, survived the hit and held on a bit longer—but was eventually felled by Gengar's next Shadow Ball.
In just a few turns, Aiden used Gengar to secure four KOs and sweep Leon's entire team.
A clean, decisive 4–0 victory.
[Dang! Even Leon got completely stomped by Teacher Azure!]
[Stomped? More like psychologically devastated!]
[If even Champion Leon can't stop Teacher Azure's troll tactics… who can?!]
[Though honestly, for a "Sleep Team," there wasn't much actual sleeping—just Rillaboom once.]
"Well…" Aiden added with a smile, "Gengar can actually learn Hypnosis too. But honestly, why drag things out with status when Sludge Bomb can just delete the field?"
He began reviewing the match almost instinctively.
"It might've looked easy on my end, but if Leon had taken out Gengar, we would've been the ones getting swept."
"The score doesn't matter—what counts is the process. Leon had some really interesting ideas; I just happened to read them correctly."
How strong was Leon?
Undeniably elite. Among all in-game Champions, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Red and Cynthia as a true tactical master.
As the reigning Master Tournament champion, he was widely regarded as the world's strongest.
Especially with Dynamax in play—his G-Max Wildfire Charizard had left a deep impression on Aiden during their first encounter.
But Double Battles and Mega Evolution weren't Leon's specialties, so his strategy this match was relatively straightforward—and thus easier to counter.
He'd planned to use Mr. Rime's Trick Room to unleash the devastating firepower of Torkoal and Charizard. Once set up, it would've been unstoppable.
But once Aiden saw through the plan, both Trick Room and Sunny Day became easy to disrupt.
Of course, the reverse was also true.
"If Leon wants to break this, giving Mr. Rime a Mental Herb would've been smart. After all, the most important thing for a support Pokémon is avoiding disruption."
"If Encore failed, Trick Room would stay active—and under Gravity, Hypnosis would've 100% hit Gengar the moment it appeared, putting it to sleep before it could even act. That would've crippled Aiden's entire plan."
"With Gengar neutralized, *I'd* be the one getting swept."
Looking at Leon's team, Aiden suggested improvements—then quickly shook his head.
"But… no. Leon—or really, most Trainers—wouldn't build a team so blatantly counter-specific."
That would ruin the fun.
After all, his own team was meant to be entertaining. The Gravity Sleep strategy was intentionally easy to counter.
Knowing he'd chosen Gengar, opponents could've easily brought Chesto Berries or Mental Herbs to disrupt his rhythm and swing the match heavily in their favor.
But Leon hadn't done that.
This was the Pokémon world, after all. Trainers—especially the "veteran regulars" in his stream—were generally sportsmanlike.
Though everyone claimed they wanted to "snipe" him for victory, Aiden had yet to encounter anyone who openly brought hyper-specific counters just to troll his stream.
He understood why.
"Trainers all have their own pride. If you can't have 100% confidence in your own strategy, you'll never become truly strong."
But then… what was his own conviction?
Aiden didn't have an answer yet.
…
Meanwhile, in the Galar region.
Before Leon could even stand up after his loss, the door suddenly swung open.
"Yo! I just watched the stream—you lost to Teacher Azure too, huh?"
A stylish dark-skinned young man with an orange headband strolled in casually and waved at the bewildered Leon.
"How'd you get in here?" Leon asked, blinking in surprise as the visitor helped himself to the sofa and brewed a cup of tea like he owned the place.
"President Rose sent me," Raihan said with a helpless shrug.
"You probably heard before I did—he wants me to pause my Gym duties and go to Paldea for 'exchanges' with their Gym Leaders."
"…"
Only President Rose.
Leon felt a fresh wave of respect for him.
It had been barely twenty minutes since Rose left!
Yet in that time, he'd not only coordinated with Paldea but already secured Raihan's participation—and launched his "Gym Challenge Tour"?
No wonder he could manage an entire region single-handedly. That level of execution made him a true master of time management…
"By the way," Raihan turned suddenly, "you just battled Aiden in-game—how strong is he really?"
Leon sighed inwardly.
"He's incredible. I've never seen a newcomer with such clear strategic thinking—and his team-building is top-tier."
Even though he knew why Raihan was asking, Leon's tone was tinged with resignation.
"But no matter how much I praise him, you're still going to challenge him anyway, aren't you?"
"Bingo!" Raihan snapped his fingers with a bright grin, flashing perfect white teeth.
"If even our strongest Champion Leon can't stop raving about him, I'm really looking forward to a real-life battle!"
"After all… I still remember losing to him in-game!"
Just as Leon expected.
He sighed again.
As longtime rivals, no one understood Raihan better than Leon.
The more highly Leon praised Aiden, the more curious—and competitive—Raihan became.
And since he'd already lost to Aiden once, he'd been itching for a rematch. Now that he finally had a chance to meet him in person…
He'd probably march straight to Aiden's Gym the moment he landed in Paldea.
But Leon didn't say a word to dissuade him.
Once Raihan was in "battle mode," not even Leon could change his mind.
So…
He could only hope Raihan would still be smiling when he came back!
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)