After a glorious stream, Aiden quickly received a message from Cynthia.
[I saw your battle footage with Flint. Very interesting Minimize tactic.]
[However, our Sinnoh Elite Four seems to have been tortured quite a bit by you. (Piplup smirking.jpg)]
Attached was a screenshot.
In the image, the young Elite Four member Flint sat slumped in his chair, eyes hollow and lifeless.
It looked like his own tactics had backfired on him.
Aiden scratched his head.
It was just a stall team—Aiden hadn't even gone full intensity yet. Was it really enough to make an Elite Four-level Trainer question their existence?
"Though, for a Fire-type Trainer used to fast-paced offense, it might indeed feel cruel?"
All their explosive damage felt like hitting cotton, only to be dragged out and worn down by the opponent…
Wow, that's kind of scary, bro.
Thinking about this, Aiden quickly typed out a response.
[The kid's mentality isn't holding up well. I suggest increasing the dosage so Azure can show him the cruelty of battles!]
[As an Elite Four member, if he can't handle stall teams, how is he supposed to guard the Champion Challenge?]
[Even if we take ten steps back, I'm doing this for Sinnoh's training, alright!]
[I may be in Paldea, but my heart belongs to Sinnoh!]
Loyalty!
On the other side of the chat, Cynthia couldn't help but smile at Aiden's message.
Although it was obviously a twisted logic, it was still cute.
[Then, Mr. Aiden, who's in Paldea but whose heart is in Sinnoh and who is the most loyal—]
[Would you be interested in letting me see your new tactics as well?]
"Huh?"
Aiden froze for a moment.
Once he realized what she meant, he immediately opened Pokémon Champions, entered ranked mode, and checked the leaderboard.
He didn't even need to scroll down—the first page already displayed a familiar Trainer profile.
Trainer ID: Ice Cream Indecision.
Rank: Master Ball
Current Ranking: 2
"Hiss—"
Aiden sucked in a breath.
Eh, me versus Cynthia?
Is this real?
A rookie streamer who's been active for less than a week vs. the strongest Champion of Sinnoh…
Could I win?
But if I really fought Cynthia, maybe I could contribute some counter-strategies?
Aiden had always wanted to include lessons on countering his own tactics in his videos.
But actually achieving that was pretty difficult.
Simply explaining verbally wasn't easy to understand, and ranked matches rarely matched him with opponents who could see through his intentions.
If it were Cynthia, maybe it could work?
Moreover, her account wasn't verified, so no one knew who she was…
"Screw it!"
Aiden gritted his teeth and typed two concise words:
[Let's go!]
---
November 7th, Start of Winter
Overnight, the video about Chansey—or rather, the Minimize tactic—swept across the entire internet.
[I've never seen such a dirty tactic in my life. Type 1 to check Azure's mental state!]
[I was there, the streamer's Chansey went absolutely berserk!]
[You're banned from playing Pokémon!]
Many on-site Trainers immediately dove into the video, leaving "thoughtful" comments in the barrage.
"So-called Scientific Shrink Squad revolves around the move Minimize."
"Although the playstyle leans toward stalling, with proper setup, it has the potential to sweep through teams."
Aiden's magnetic voice rang out, briefly summarizing the Minimize team's strategy before moving on to a recorded match at Ultra Ball rank.
Facing the explosive firepower of a Sunny Day team, Aiden's Chansey not only tanked all the damage but even shrank to a point where it became nearly invisible to the naked eye right in front of the opponent.
Afterward, almost none of the opponent's moves hit again.
Finally, using Seismic Toss and Toxic—two moves that could only be described as ultimate humiliation—he drove the opponent to rage-disconnect.
[Wha… Is this how Pokémon battles are played?]
[Humans understand less than 1% of how dirty Azure's mind truly is!]
[Streamer, stop slaughtering everyone, Mommy's scared!]
As usual, after watching the video where Aiden effortlessly swept through the opponent's team, the audience felt satisfied and prepared to close the video.
Just then, Aiden's voice rang out again:
"At this point, some comments might ask—"
"Azure, Azure, what do I do if I face this Minimize team?"
"Well, keep watching~"
[Wait, the progress bar hasn't ended yet? Am I under an illusion?]
[The streamer's video isn't short today? Long video before GTA 6?!]
The second half of the video was still a battle recording.
This time, however, it was Aiden who got crushed.
After Chansey's Minimize strategy worked as intended, it should have been its turn to torment the opponent.
But the opposing Trainer remained calm and collected.
"Garchomp, Dragon Rush!"
While Chansey was using Minimize, Garchomp had already taken the opportunity to perform a Swords Dance.
With piercing eyes, the empowered Garchomp flew high into the sky, locked onto Chansey's approximate location, and then crashed down violently, stirring up clouds of dust.
When the dust settled, Chansey was already lying on the ground with swirly eyes.
[Huh? My tiny Chansey, how did it get one-shot?]
[Wait… Isn't this opponent's ID… the super-strong Trainer currently ranked second?]
[So this is Azure's network, I'm in awe!]
"If the opponent is in Minimize status, moves that crush targets will be highly effective. This is also a good tactic against Minimize teams."
The focus of the barrage began to drift, but Aiden's commentary soon brought them back.
"Additionally, taking advantage of the opponent's Minimize to buff yourself, then using unavoidable moves for a one-hit KO, is also viable."
"That's all for today's lesson. Class dismissed!"
The progress bar quickly reached the end.
"The popularity of this episode is pretty high?"
After glancing at the video's view count, Aiden nodded in satisfaction.
As expected of me—I'm destined to become a big-name streamer!
It seemed that Nurse Joy from Los Platos really did forward this video to the Joy family group chat, as mentioned in the barrage.
Among the top-rated comments, Joys from various regions made up a large portion.
[Azure's tactics are very useful. Now I can use Chansey to punish poachers who disrupt order!]
[My Chansey loves Azure's videos, though I feel like it's been smiling strangely ever since watching them…]
One video earned Aiden the favor from many Nurse Joys, making him feel like he'd unintentionally done something meaningful.
Medical staff often face harassment?
Then why not nip the problem in the bud by dealing with the troublemakers directly? Problem solved!
I'm such a benevolent person.
Aiden smiled faintly, concealing his achievements and reputation.
Just then, someone knocked on the Gym door.
"Azure, are you here? I'm Nurse Joy from Los Platos, here to challenge the Gym~"
Nurse Joy's sweet and energetic voice drifted through the door into Aiden's ears.
A visitor?
And it's that Nurse Joy?
Aiden was a bit puzzled, but he was still happy that the Gym finally had another challenger.
[Nurse Joy has challenged you to a battle!]
If this were a game, a prompt like this would probably pop up, right?
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