Focus Punch.
This was undoubtedly the ultimate killing move for Fighting-types, with an exaggerated power of 150. However, due to its unique mechanics, few people chose to use it.
Pokémon using this move would quickly enter a focusing state within one turn, and after accumulating enough energy, unleash it all at once.
At first glance, it seemed similar to moves like Solar Beam, but it had one fatal flaw—
Once attacked during the process, the Pokémon's focus would inevitably be disrupted, causing the move to be interrupted.
Therefore, the conditions for using it were extremely stringent, making it a "useless move" that even elite Trainers avoided.
However, with the meticulous setup Aiden prepared for Breloom, executing this ultimate move became much easier.
The principle was simple: by creating a Substitute beforehand to block an attack, Breloom could safely accumulate power while the opponent attacked, allowing it to unleash a super-powerful STAB move.
And the HP consumed by the Substitute was replenished by Poison Heal + Toxic Orb, achieving seamless operation.
Of course, this strategy had a rather fatal flaw…
[Holy cow, Focus Punch! I've never seen any streamer use this online before…]
[No wonder the streamer put the opponent to sleep right at the start, it was all preparation for this? WTF is this sleep jumping?]
[How can there be such a dirty Pokémon like Breloom? Nah put it in jail]
[It's not the Pokémon that's dirty, it's a certain Trainer with a dark heart, alright!]
Breloom wasn't particularly fast, so it needed to control the tempo and summon a Substitute with minimal loss. In this case, Spore was the best choice.
Back to the live stream scene.
"Breloom, Focus Punch!"
As Aiden gave the command, Breloom was already prepared, immediately hiding behind the Substitute to begin gathering strength.
Meanwhile, Nessa's next Pokémon had already appeared on the field.
A blue-purple marine creature resembling a starfish flew out from the red light, locking eyes with Breloom's incredibly determined gaze as soon as it landed.
"Hah!"
Breloom unleashed a punch full of momentum, its attack moving so fast it left a white arc in the air!
The iron fist, charged with the power of ten thousand horses, struck Toxapex before it could react, sending it flying backward. It barely managed to stabilize itself at the edge of the field.
[Whoa, that punch felt like it came with special effects; is it really that exaggerated?]
[What's the point of being cool if the damage is still just scraping the surface...]
[Indeed, that awesome punch only dealt that much damage? I thought it was an instant KO!]
After being reminded by chat, the audience snapped back to reality and turned their heads to see that this Toxapex had only lost about 1/3 of its HP.
It wasn't even enough to offset its recovery.
"This…"
Now it was Aiden's turn to feel awkward.
In fact, he had roughly guessed that Nessa would send out Toxapex for a defensive switch.
After all, at the Gym Leader level, unless they were stunned by his tactics like the previous few opponents, they would quickly figure out countermeasures.
Nessa's Toxapex was clearly set up as a shield, possibly even with Regenerator ability…
At its current output, it would take half a year to knock it out.
That was the awkward part of this strategy: once it encountered Ghost-types or physical walls that could tank hits, it easily fell into a stalemate where both sides just stared at each other.
But Toxapex also had no real way to deal with him.
After all, Breloom was already poisoned, and with Substitute as a barrier, its defense was basically maxed out.
If both sides insisted on playing it out, they could grind until the system automatically declared a loss.
So Aiden decisively changed tactics.
"Breloom, Spore!"
Your poison has no effect on me, but I can still put you to sleep!
Toxapex spat out a mouthful of poison, which was completely blocked by the Substitute. Soon after, it inhaled the mushroom spores Breloom spread around and began to feel drowsy.
This sleep-inducing move was truly dirty, directly causing the opponent's operations to stall for a moment, seemingly thinking about how to deal with this move.
Of course, it might have been that she was simply stunned.
[How dare you deceive us again, streamer? Is this what you call One-Punch Man?]
[I get it now; when you said Breloom was powerful, you meant Spore, right?]
[One punch refers to the Hypnosis Punch (exclusive to Mushroom-type)]
[Streamer, if you want to play a Sleep Team, you can say so directly without disguising it...]
Seeing chat begin to criticize him for being too dirty, Aiden couldn't help but laugh.
"Do you think my Breloom doesn't want to be a One-Punch Man? If the opponent doesn't give me a chance to break through, there's nothing I can do!"
"Let me ask you this: are Sleep Powder and Spore Grass-type moves? Is there anything wrong with my Breloom using them?"
"Since our creator Arceus designed it this way, status moves are naturally an inseparable part of Pokémon battles, right?"
"Sir, times have changed! Who uses fancy moves anymore!"
For victory, I can even abandon the dignity of a Fighter!
Oh, wait—I was never a Fighter to begin with.
Never mind then.
[Hol up, I actually think you're right?]
[Though I'm not happy about it, I can't find a reason to refute it. If you just spammed attacking moves that would be even more boring...]
[Oh no, after watching the streamer's broadcasts for a few days, I've become dirty too!]
Seeing chat getting on board, Aiden couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.
Just one Breloom did this. What if they encountered Amoonguss later? Wouldn't that scare people to death?
While he was bantering with chat, Nessa finally finished thinking.
She decided to switch again, this time sending out Golisopod, whose speed was lightning-fast under the rain.
However, it also only had one chance to act.
After breaking the Substitute with a single Ice Fang, Golisopod immediately followed in the footsteps of its two teammates, falling into a deep sleep.
It was quite coincidental—Nessa's Rain team had very slow overall speed, continuously giving Aiden the opportunity to go first.
The only fast Pokémon, Golisopod, didn't pose much pressure on Breloom.
In theory, a Rain team shouldn't leave itself vulnerable to highly threatening Grass-type Pokémon, but Nessa clearly hadn't considered this, giving him free rein.
The opponent obviously realized this as well.
After the final attempt still failed to yield results, Nessa decisively chose to surrender.
Chat fell silent for a moment.
[Stop it, this isn't even a battle!]
[Too torturous; if I were the opponent, my mentality would have completely exploded...]
[Wait, streamer mentioned using Breloom as a Gym test question... Are you sure you won't get beaten up offline by chat]
"Don't worry, the Breloom in the Gym assessment isn't as strong as you think. If you're really scared, just equip your Pokémon with Safety Goggles."
After securing a smooth victory, Aiden stretched lazily in his seat.
"Besides, it was just good luck. I happened to encounter a Gym Leader who seems not very skilled at dealing with Grass-types. If it were someone else, it might not have been so effective."
After modestly boasting a bit, Aiden was about to continue his ranked climb when a striking red message appeared on the screen.
[Nessa: Streamer, you're absolutely right. I'm indeed not good at dealing with Grass-type Pokémon. Do you have any advice? This is very important to me!]
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