In Hulbury of the Galar region, a dark-skinned girl wearing the Hulbury Stadium uniform walked along a small path in the commercial district, her hair naturally cascading down almost to the ground.
"Miss Nessa, good luck in next week's ranking battle!"
"Little Nessa, I'll cheer for you! Take revenge on Mr. Milo from Turffield and show them that the Pearl of Hulbury isn't easy to mess with!"
"Hey, don't put too much pressure on Little Nessa; let her prepare well for the battle!"
Along the way, most of the townspeople greeted her warmly, and Nessa kept a gentle smile, waving back to their enthusiastic cheers.
The Galar region had always maintained a strong battling culture. Even locals who hadn't caught any Pokémon were passionate about live matches, gradually forming the unique League system.
For the residents of Hulbury, the new Gym Leader of the Hulbury Stadium, Nessa, was the soul of this small town.
After briskly walking through the commercial street and leaving behind the cheers and encouragement, Nessa finally took a deep breath.
This was her first year participating in the League ranking battles.
With the season nearing its end, her ranking was decent, at least ensuring that Hulbury would remain among the top-tier Gyms next year.
However, before the Champion Cup began, her season finale would once again face Milo, the Gym Leader of Turffield.
Thinking about this, Nessa couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Milo was an expert in using Grass-types, having both type advantages and commanding experience over her.
Last time, during her home game, she suffered a crushing defeat to his Appletun.
Although everyone in Hulbury hoped for a glorious revenge, honestly, Nessa herself had no confidence at all.
"At this point, it's impossible to say I can't do it anymore..."
Fully immersing her body in the pool at the center of the arena, Nessa briefly gave up thinking.
Ever since she was young, she loved this way of relieving stress; just touching the water could relax her mind and body, clearing away all distractions.
"I can't let everyone down, so I have to work even harder."
After calming down, Nessa's eyes gradually became resolute.
Returning from the pool to the venue, her body still wet, she sat on the mat, wiping herself with a towel while turning on her gaming console.
To become stronger, she needed to prepare more suitable tactics.
The recently popular Pokémon Champions was a perfect platform.
President Rose of the League immediately recognized the value behind this game, making it highly suitable for training tactics and promoting it widely in the League.
Thus, nearly everyone in the Galar League had high rankings.
"If only I could encounter a skilled Grass-type Trainer..."
Nessa murmured.
Her rank was approaching Master Ball, often matching her with Gym Leaders and Elite Four members from other regions. She hoped to meet a good opponent today as well.
Finally, after successfully matching, the opponent's information popped up instantly.
"Azure Wings...?"
Nessa softly read out the opponent's ID and quickly noticed the Breloom in his team.
A smile soon blossomed on her face.
"Just right, a suitable opponent~"
...
"Their Rain team is so pure; the lead should be Pelipper, right?"
"So we'll just send out Breloom directly!"
As he spoke, Aiden swiftly confirmed his starting Pokémon.
The barrage quickly erupted into a storm of question marks.
[Bro what? Why are you sending it out if you know it's Pelipper? Aren't you afraid a single Hurricane will KO?]
[Streamer, if you want to play Breloom, just say so, don't make excuses!]
[LOL Facing four times weakness to Flying with Breloom? Looks like it's you who needs to go back to school]
"Don't worry, it's not your points dropping, what are you afraid of!"
"Our Breloom master has abundant martial virtue, with an attack stat as high as 130; a mere Rain team is no match!"
Aiden smiled faintly, watching the screen load, and both Trainers entered the field.
Both sides quickly threw out their Poké Balls.
As expected, Nessa's starter was the weather setter, Pelipper.
Due to Pelipper's Drizzle ability, the moment it appeared, the sky was covered by a layer of clouds, and soon drizzling rain began to fall.
Under the rain, besides the boosted power of Water-type moves, Thunder and Hurricane also became nearly unavoidable due to the weather effect.
Knowing this, Nessa immediately commanded:
"Pelipper, Hurricane!"
With Breloom's fatal four-times weakness to Flying, being hit by a Flying-type move would mean even ten lives wouldn't be enough to withstand it.
So Aiden almost simultaneously shouted:
"Breloom, Spore!"
Breloom spread its hands, and together with the mushrooms on its head and tail, it indiscriminately sprayed spores imperceptible to the naked eye in all directions.
Pelipper flapped its wings, preparing to gather strength with the storm when it suddenly felt an inexplicable drowsiness invade, halting its movements.
A few seconds later, sleepiness overcame its will, and Pelipper actually fell directly from the sky.
[??? You call this abundant martial virtue?]
[This is too dirty, bro doesn't even hide it]
[No, this isn't Hypnosis—it doesn't rely on accuracy checks at all…]
"This is not Hypnosis, but our Mushroom Pokémon's 'Spore,' a move only destined ones can learn!"
[LMAO Mushroom Pokémon have arrived, is there also Cute-type, Cat-type, Dog-type?]
[Destined ones? Such a dirty move, it's clear only perverted Pokémon can learn it]
Unlike easily dodgeable Hypnosis, Spore had a very wide range of effect, making it hard to avoid once the target was determined.
Of course, it doesn't work on Grass-types, those with the Ability Dustproof, or Pokémon holding Safety Goggles.
Taking advantage of the opponent's sleep, Aiden commanded again:
"Breloom, Substitute!"
By consuming some HP, Breloom created a very similar decoy and placed it in front of itself to block the opponent's upcoming attacks.
Meanwhile, due to the HP reduction, its Poison Heal ability activated, slowly recovering the lost HP.
Toxic Orb + Poison Heal, a classic and simple yet effective combination.
But very useful.
Since Substitute could at least block one attack and Pelipper couldn't wake up immediately, Nessa decisively chose to recall it.
Weather setters needed to stay alive as much as possible; even if asleep, they could trigger Drizzle again upon reentry to continue the rain.
Right as she threw out another Poké Ball, Aiden smiled.
He had been waiting for this exact moment!
"Breloom, Focus Punch!"
---
A/N:
Galar is modeled after the UK, so the ranking battles and Champion Cup of the Galar League correspond to the Premier League. The game distinctly conveys that local football atmosphere, though both the game and anime storylines feel somewhat lacking...
However, Sword/Shield and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl put real effort into NPC tactic design. Many well known appeared in the games, and Gardenia in BDSP used the same old tactics as the protagonist here~
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