Cliff observed the interface for a while and realized that while the game was designed to bleed money, it was technically possible to unlock the heavy hitters for free. Dream Factory ran cyclical events that threw scraps to the "Free-to-Play" peasants. If you ground your life away for months, you might eventually scrape together enough gems for a single Red-Tier Pokémon.
But there was a catch: the unlocks were randomized. You could spend half a year grinding only to unlock a Red-Tier Pokémon you absolutely hated.
"If you want a coherent team, kid, just open your wallet," Cliff muttered, mimicking a corporate shill.
He looked at his beginner's reward: a "Specific Purple-Tier Unlock" card. While he had enough cash to whale out and buy every legendary in the game, he had no intention of doing so. One of the core charms of Pokémon was that there were no "useless" species, only unimaginative trainers. Even the most overlooked Pokémon had a niche that could anchor a strategy and produce terrifying results.
He scrolled through the Purple-Tier list. He saw Scyther, Magmar, solid, but popular and predictable. Then, a familiar shape stopped his scrolling.
Two yellow eyes set in sharp protrusions, surrounded by blue, crystalline petals that pulsed with a strange light. The Ore Pokémon: Glimmora.
Cliff blinked. "They put Glimmora in the second-tier purple bracket?"
He couldn't wrap his head around it. In the high-level competitive circuits of his old world, Glimmora was a Top 30 staple, the signature hazard-setter of the Paldean Champion, Geeta. Its ability to seed the field with Toxic Spikes just by being touched was a nightmare for any opponent.
The developers here... they really don't understand what they've built, Cliff realized. To them, Glimmora was just a weird rock-type. To him, it was a tactical nuclear device.
He used his reward card to unlock Glimmora instantly. But as he went to customize its build, he hit another wall. The item list was a wasteland. Critical competitive tools like the Focus Sash or the Power Herb, the latter being essential for Glimmora, were nowhere to be found.
"No wonder it's ranked so low," Cliff whispered. "A Glimmora without a Power Herb is a completely different beast."
In the real competitive meta, a Glimmora carrying a Power Herb could use Meteor Beam to skip the charging turn, nuking an opponent instantly while gaining a +1 Special Attack boost. With a base Special Attack of 130, a boosted Glimmora became a mobile heavy artillery platform.
But the ignorance of this world's developers was Cliff's greatest asset. They didn't even have Glimmora's Hidden Ability, Corrosion, as an option. The less they knew, the harder his eventual games would hit the market.
"I don't need the Power Herb anyway," Cliff grinned. "I'm not using Glimmora as a cannon. I have something much nastier in mind."
He quickly set Glimmora's EVs and moves. Then, he turned to the "Trash Tiers." White, Green, and Blue-Tier Pokémon were free to use, and most players ignored them because of their low base stats. Cliff searched for two specific faces:
Dedenne, the small, round Electric-mouse. And Ambipom, the purple monkey with twin, hand-like tails.
These two "weak" Pokémon were going to be the heart of his psychological warfare. He rounded out his six-man roster with Pidgeot, Quagsire, and Dugtrio.
With his team of "misfits" locked in, he opened the PvP interface. Battle Path divided play into 1v1 Singles and 2v2 Doubles. The ranks climbed from Poke Ball to Great Ball, Ultra Ball, and the prestigious Master Ball and Top Ball tiers.
Most average players stagnated in Great Ball. Ultra Ball was for the talented. Master and Top tiers were reserved for Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, and Champions.
Cliff took a deep breath, hovered over the 2v2 Doubles Matchmaking button, and clicked his livestream 'Start' button simultaneously.
His stream title was a declaration of war:
[PRO CHALLENGE: $0 ACCOUNT TO MASTER BALL RANK. 100% WIN RATE!][LOSE ONE GAME = $100,000 GIVEAWAY!]
"Alright, world," Cliff whispered, a dark glint in his eyes. "Let me show you why you should fear the 'weak' ones."