As Iono had reminded him, the main Pokémon Aiden had used in his previous two streams weren't particularly common in this region.
So, this time he decided to use a few Pokémon that were ubiquitous in Paldea.
Generally speaking, each region, apart from the fixed starter trio, also had Pokémon like regional birds, rodents, and bugs.
Their upper limits might not be high, but at least they had a stable lower limit and evolved early.
This made them very suitable for rookie Trainers to catch and train.
As for Paldea's regional rodent… well, it was quite interesting.
In the live stream, Aiden quickly opened the team editor and dragged a certain Maushold into his lineup.
"This Pokémon should be familiar to all Paldean locals, right?"
Though he called it a Pokémon, technically it wasn't just one.
Maushold usually consisted of two large rats and two small rats forming a household unit, though occasionally there were rare combinations of two large rats and one small rat.
An entire family squeezed into a single Poké Ball—a relatively rare sight in the Pokémon world.
It was a pity that despite being a family, they didn't have the Parental Bond Ability like Mega Kangaskhan.
How tragic—when will the rodent clan shine?!
[Bro???]
[Isn't that Maushold? You can find tons of them everywhere in Paldea]
[No flashy moves this time? Are we starting to teach how to use ordinary Pokémon now? But it feels like there's not much to say about Maushold…]
[I might only be Pokeball tier, but I'm not so bad that I can't even handle the regional rodent!]
Since the protagonist this time seemed overly plain and unremarkable, some Paldean viewers began questioning with raised eyebrows.
To this, Aiden simply smiled and ignored them.
"Who says the rodent clan can't have an emperor? Today, I'll show you the dominance of Maushold!"
Joking aside, did they really think regional rodents were weak?
Easily obtainable Pokémon often shared a common flaw—
Because their ecological niche was low, their upper limit of raw power was poor.
In other words, their base stats in the Pokédex weren't particularly high.
But base stats were only one factor affecting Pokémon battles—they didn't necessarily mean a Pokémon was weak.
For instance, what about Smeargle, which has a base stat total of 250? Would anyone call it useless?
So…
It's time for this rodent to shine!
Aside from Maushold, Aiden quickly added a few other common Paldean Pokémon to his team.
Meowscarada, Jumpluff, Talonflame, Corviknight, and Clodsire.
Technically, according to the Pokédex number, Paldea's regional bird should have been Squawkabilly.
But Talonflame's initial form, Fletchling, had such a wide distribution that Aiden could see them everywhere just by stepping outside.
Even Galar's regional bird, Corviknight, had a higher presence in Paldea than Squawkabilly…
So Aiden optimized his choices.
This lineup was very representative of Paldea, with balanced attributes and decent combat potential.
[Today's a Paldea special?]
[Azure never really mentioned it before, so I deadass forgot you're actually a Gym Leader in Paldea…LOL]
[Huh? Really?]
[You could've become a big-name streamer on PokéTV, but instead, you're stuck as a small-town Gym Leader in Paldea?]
After pressing the match button and noticing the barrage of comments, Aiden couldn't help but twitch his lips.
"Let me reiterate: I am the Gym Leader of the Sunshine Gym in Cabo Poco, Paldea, with official League certification!"
"If any local rookie Trainers want to improve their skills, feel free to challenge the Sunshine Gym~"
After promoting the Gym once more, Aiden soon faced his first opponent of the day.
Perhaps due to his winning streak, even though he was only in the Great Ball tier, his opponent was in the Ultra Ball tier—and their ELO wasn't low either.
However, why did the opponent's lineup look so familiar…
"Isn't this the Spikes team I taught everyone?"
After double-checking, Aiden burst out laughing.
[LMAO, the opponent ran into the original creator. If you lose, it'll be embarrassing.]
[Streamer, you've done too much evil—now the ranked matches are full of Spikes teams, all copied from you!]
[Legitimate Pokémon battles should involve hot-blooded, passionate attacks, not these underhanded tactics. But if you ain't snitching, I ain't either]
[Since Azure created this tactic, he must know how to counter it, right? I've already prepared to steal, cough, take notes.]
Judging from the barrage of comments, just one day of exposure had already caused Spikes to overrun singles battles?
Aiden raised an eyebrow but wasn't surprised.
After all, the advantage of Spikes in singles was enormous. The locals simply hadn't thought about these tactics before—it didn't mean they were dumb.
Once someone highlighted the strengths of this lineup, many would naturally awaken and join the Spikes army, possibly even optimizing it based on Aiden's roster.
Aiden looked forward to this development.
Hadn't the level of Pokémon battles in his past life improved precisely this way?
Still, given the current overall level of the game environment, he could still dominate effortlessly.
"Hmhmhm, using the tactics I personally taught against me? Nice try!"
"Chat just said that everyone taught by the same master can't break through, right? Today, I will teach you how to counter all Spikes tactics!"
With a smile, Aiden locked in his starting Pokémon without hesitation.
Soon, the screen flashed, and Aiden's Trainer avatar appeared on the battlefield.
Both sides threw out their Poké Balls simultaneously.
Maushold vs. Skarmory.
As a Normal-type Pokémon, Maushold didn't have an advantage over Skarmory in terms of type matchups.
The moment both Pokémon appeared, the opponent immediately commanded Skarmory to lay down Stealth Rock.
Given Maushold's speed, it would've been easy to act before the heavy Skarmory, but Aiden didn't rush to give orders.
"Is the formula I taught you working well?" Aiden chuckled.
"However, after today, opponents will probably think twice before using this move again."
"This formula is good, but don't apply it blindly!"
"Maushold, Encore!"
Skarmory, who had just scattered Stealth Rock across the field, couldn't dodge in time and was hit by the energy emitted by Maushold.
Due to the effects of the move, Skarmory could only continue using Stealth Rock for the next few turns.
And no matter how many layers of Stealth Rock were laid, they posed no threat to Aiden's side.
"The opponent hasn't switched, thinking Maushold can't damage Skarmory, and after locking in Roost, it'll be fully healed right…?"
After briefly observing his opponent and seeing no actions taken, Aiden smiled.
"You're still too young, buddy!"
Even if it weren't Maushold, swapping in any other regional rodent could nearly chew through Skarmory with Super Fang.
Not to mention, Aiden's side had a specific move designed to counter Stealth Rock.
"Maushold, use Tidy Up!"
---
A/N:
Some readers mentioned the issue of the Gym Leader having too few Pokémon. I actually considered this when I started writing the book, and my final decision was—
If I can't highlight the personality and unique traits (or cheats) of the protagonist's Pokémon, catching more Pokémon wouldn't mean much—they'd just be tools. This was a lesson from my last book -.-
So currently, the Sunshine Gym only has Eevee as its sole Pokémon, and the second one will likely be caught in the next plot arc.
As for the Gym having too few Pokémon, that can be explained. For now, the Gym rules are set to 1v1 battles, so it works~
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