"Caitlin..."
Staring at the 'legally loli' trainer image on the screen, Aiden's gaze was somewhat complicated.
Matching with this young lady, should it be called fate, or a disastrous fate...
Apart from the fact that this character was quite popular in his past life, the memories of Caitlin that involuntarily surfaced made him even more reflective.
I know Caitlin.
Around when I was twelve years old, a summer camp organized by Professor Rowan of the Sinnoh region took place in Celestic Town.
Due to some mishap, Caitlin got lost in the wilderness and triggered an uncontrollable psychic rampage. By coincidence, she met the slightly older Cynthia and fatefully became friends.
Of course, as a child, I didn't personally experience any of this; all the content was relayed to me by Cynthia.
But one thing is certain.
From the day Cynthia introduced me to Caitlin, I could vaguely sense that this noble young lady inexplicably harbored some hostility towards me.
Especially when I was close to Cynthia, I could clearly feel sharp glares coming from behind...
Little Aiden might not have understood the meaning of her actions, thinking only that she didn't like him.
Now, recalling these memories, Aiden could basically form a conjecture—
Could this little brat also have some ulterior motives towards my treasured Big Sister?
No, no, no, if that were true, it would be too melodramatic.
I must be overthinking it.
Aiden shook his head and reined in his wandering thoughts.
Taking advantage of the moment before deciding the starting lineup, he glanced at Caitlin's team.
Musharna, Sigilyph, Reuniclus, Gothitelle, Metagross, Bronzong.
The overall speed of the lineup was very slow, but thanks to the presence of Sigilyph, they could flexibly switch between Tailwind and Trick Room strategies.
They could either use Sigilyph and Metagross for offensive pressure under Tailwind, or rely on Trick Room to let Bronzong and Reuniclus gain the upper hand.
For a mono-type lineup, it was already very well-designed.
[Another Master Ball-level expert... But I haven't heard of this name?]
[Bruh you need to go out and touch grass. Elite trainers with some strength in Johto and Sinnoh should know her, the Sleeping Beauty of the Battle Castle.]
[It doesn't matter, as long as she's cute, I don't care who Teacher Azure is!]
Judging from the chat reactions, Caitlin probably hadn't yet gone to Unova to serve as an Elite Four member.
However, as the true owner of the Battle Castle, her strength was unquestionable.
But precisely because she was strong, Aiden could predict her thoughts.
"To hide tactics, we added several rain team members to our lineup. The opponent will definitely think we are a rain team."
"In the case where we can't seize the weather advantage, the opponent's lineup competing with a rain team for speed is a loss, so there's a high probability they'll open Trick Room."
"But it doesn't matter; we'll confidently use Kingdra as the starter!"
After locking in the starting Pokémon for this battle, the opponent quickly confirmed, and after a brief loading period, the battle officially began.
Both trainers' holograms simultaneously threw out their Poké Balls, and Kingdra and Bronzong appeared simultaneously.
Caitlin choosing to start with Bronzong meant that Aiden's prediction was correct.
She was likely going to activate Trick Room.
"Normally, you'd send out something with a Speed Boost ability like Blaziken or Ninja Boy as the starter, gather momentum while increasing speed, and pass on the boost to Kingdra."
"But since I predicted the opponent would open Trick Room, boosting speed would become a burden, so I just used Kingdra as the starter."
After briefly explaining his thought process, Aiden decisively gave the command without hesitation.
"Kingdra, Yawn!"
Upon receiving the command, Kingdra immediately yawned, and drowsiness wafted toward the opponent through the airflow from its nostrils, making Bronzong visibly sleepy.
Although Bronzong was drowsy, it still endured and detonated the accumulated psychic energy.
Under its telekinetic control, a strange intangible field rapidly enveloped the entire battlefield, affecting both Pokémon present.
Trick Room, a mystical field created using psychic powers.
Within it, Pokémon's speeds would reverse, allowing slower Pokémon to act faster.
It must be said, the psychic abilities in the Pokémon world truly could do anything.
No matter how absurd the effect of a move was, once it was Psychic-type, it instantly became much more plausible...
[Starting with Yawn, you call this a strong attack strategy?]
[That's the flavor! As expected of you, Teacher Azure, showing off your dirty tricks right from the start!]
Facing the teasing from the chat, Aiden could only laugh it off.
The chat was still a bit naive; they didn't know how effective Yawn could be at forcing the opponent to switch out.
Bronzong under Trick Room had quite a few nasty moves, and not forcing it out would be very troublesome.
Not to mention Steel-types, which Kingdra couldn't easily deal with.
"Come back, Bronzong."
After being hit by Yawn, Caitlin naturally wouldn't choose to stubbornly keep it, immediately recalling the sleepy Bronzong.
"I don't know why he didn't start with a rain team member but instead sent out Kingdra, but..."
"This must be your main Pokémon, I won't give you any chances!"
"It's decided, you're up, Gothitelle!"
Caitlin quickly sent out her ace.
"Kingdra, Focus Energy!"
Taking advantage of this precious rotation gap, Aiden began his performance.
After a period of Focus Energy, Kingdra with Scope Lens had incredibly sharp eyes, and it wasn't afraid at all facing the newly switched-in Gothitelle, instantly perceiving its weak points.
After landing, the shadow behind Gothitelle immediately spread across the ground and connected with Kingdra's shadow.
As expected, it was the Shadow Tag ability.
Aiden wore an expression of understanding.
Caitlin had indeed fallen for it.
From the beginning, I never intended to recall Kingdra!
"Kingdra, Draco Meteor!"
Ferocious dragon-type energy converged into a meteor, plummeting straight toward Gothitelle!
"Protect!"
Caitlin immediately set up a defense.
Two consecutive attacks landed, and the Protect barrier barely managed to block Kingdra's first wave of offense.
"Draco Meteor!"
Immediately following, another meteor descended from the sky.
"Mirror Coat!"
As a psychic, Caitlin's calculation ability far exceeded that of ordinary people, and in an instant, she estimated the power of this Draco Meteor.
Her Gothitelle was built for endurance; even if it landed a critical hit after focusing, it wouldn't be able to KO it instantly but would instead trigger its Sitrus Berry.
And with Mirror Coat reflecting back double the damage of Draco Meteor, Kingdra absolutely couldn't withstand it!
This was Caitlin's thought.
However, due to Aiden's rain team, she seemed to have overlooked one point.
Aiden's Kingdra wasn't the Swift Swim ability that could accelerate in the rain, but rather...
Sniper!
The Sniper ability, which guarantees critical hits and further boosts output, combined with terrifyingly powerful dragon-type moves.
With these three factors compounded, Kingdra directly transformed into a terrifying stationary turret.
The majestic Draco Meteor fell at light speed, instantly depleting Gothitelle's entire HP and causing it to lose the ability to battle at lightning speed!
"Mirror Coat? That's a good thought; under normal circumstances, it might have actually countered and KO'd you."
Aiden smiled faintly.
"But, all fear stems from insufficient firepower!"
"As long as my damage is high enough, I'm not afraid of whatever moves you use!"
"Because..."
"You won't have a chance to make a move!"
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