After the tournament entered the third round, the schedule was noticeably less packed than before.
However, because the remaining contestants were all elites, the duration of most matches actually dragged out much longer.
So, the overall timeframe didn't change much.
The morning featured the Top 8 elimination matches for the upper bracket, which Aiden watched with great interest.
Master Mustard naturally swept his match with another crushing victory without any surprises. So far, these two veterans, who had been violently rampaging from the start, showed no signs of stopping their output, seemingly intent on obliterating the new generation in their respective halves of the bracket.
As for his takeaway from watching: How many times did I have to say it—never try to play defensively against a fully evolved Urshifu!
How do people still not know that Urshifu's ability is Unseen Fist?!
However, Master Mustard's next opponents caught Aiden a bit off guard.
Through tacit defensive pivoting and an unexpected exploding Drifblim, Flint and Aaron actually managed to stage a comeback, defeating the duo of Lorelei and Misty.
"Why does that move look so familiar?"
Aiden's expression was very subtle at the time, and Cynthia's answer only confirmed his suspicions.
"They've been preparing it for a long time. Besides being a Fire-type specialist, Flint has also raised a few childhood partners."
"Besides Drifblim, I think there's also Steelix and Lopunny?"
Cynthia thought for a moment and added, "Come to think of it, it probably started right after they watched one of your videos—"
Aiden basically knew what was going on.
So the root of all evil was actually him?
The video about Self-Destruct seemed to be from right after he transmigrated.
Back then, he was quite nervous about using the Self-Destruct strat, preparing all sorts of disclaimers for fear that kids would blindly copy it and hurt their Pokémon.
But the truth was, Pokémon were much smarter than he thought.
Why were some moves, like Explosion, ones that many Pokémon refused to learn?
The answer, of course, was that they knew using it could easily lead to accidents—
The ones that could learn Explosion were mostly goofballs that loved to blow themselves up for fun when they had nothing better to do, like Graveler or Electrode.
Others that knew how to use it also had little tricks to mitigate the damage, so there was no need for him to worry at all.
The Drifblim Flint sent out earlier did look quite pitiful right after it exploded; the whole Pokémon deflated significantly.
But not long after, when the referee was announcing the result, it generated its own gas and re-inflated itself. Plus, Drifblim really was suited to suddenly pulling out to catch people off guard. On this point, Aiden completely understood Flint's thought process.
Just imagine it: the opponent's Drifblim had been spamming Special attacks for half the match—Shadow Ball and Thunder were looking incredibly fierce, putting on a lot of pressure.
But when both sides were completely exhausted of resources, entering the brutal final 2v2—
Aaron's Skorupi suddenly used Protect early on. Before Lorelei and Misty could react, they saw Drifblim suddenly start glowing.
Boom——!
And just like that, it literally blew up right in their faces.
When the referee announced the battle results, Lorelei's face was pitch black!
It probably wasn't blackened by the explosion; she just didn't expect the opponents to be so scummy, so she was absolutely pissed.
But there was nothing they could do. Doubles was just like that; there were simply too many viable strats.
Even if he had been on the other side, he probably would have reacted a split second too late.
It had to be said, the vibe of this tournament really was going in a weird direction.
It wasn't just because the two veterans were here smurfing; the other contestants also more or less had their own novel understandings that he had to watch out for!
With that in mind, Aiden and Cynthia walked out of the lounge and entered the competitor tunnel.
The next match was their battle against Caitlin. He wondered what kind of "hardcore dirty strats" they had prepared.
Honestly, Aiden was actually looking forward to it?
After all, it was Doubles! It's only fun when there are enough tricks involved!
Amidst the audience's fervent anticipation, the two pairs of contestants walked onto the field and exchanged a few "friendly" words.
"Just wait, Aiden. Our tactics this time will definitely give you a huge surprise!"
Caitlin looked brimming with confidence.
As for her obviously provocative words, Aiden only replied with a calm smile, saying mildly, "Heh, I wonder who it was that lost to me last time?"
"Don't forget, Caitlin, you're the challenger here!"
"You!"
Aiden really did have a knack for making Caitlin's hair stand on end.
As a result, not only did the atmosphere in the stands heat up, the tension between the players on the field was also rapidly rising.
Along with Caitlin's cheeks.
Unwilling to waste more words on Aiden, Caitlin immediately turned her head and took her position at the boundary line.
At this, Cynthia and Shauntal just exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.
Are these two still children?—
As the referee blew the whistle, four Poké Balls were thrown simultaneously.
Shauntal and Caitlin's Pokémon appeared first: Jellicent and Empoleon.
—Hmm?
Empoleon???
Aiden raised an eyebrow. This move was indeed outside his expectations.
After all, Caitlin was the future Psychic-type Elite Four of Unova. Aiden had even prepared for the possibility of her using a Gardevoir, which she rarely used.
But he never expected her to bring out an Empoleon.
However, thinking about it carefully, she was originally the lady of the Battle Castle. To give challengers more options, she had basically raised almost the entire Sinnoh Pokédex plus a good chunk of the National Dex.
Pulling out an Empoleon was actually normal. When she was a Frontier Brain, she frequently used Pokémon outside her specialty.
But looking at it this way, their tactics were actually quite bold.
Was it because they couldn't guess his tactics and didn't want a terrible type matchup, so they brought out an unconventional pick?
Interesting.
Aiden smiled, suddenly understanding where Caitlin's inexplicable confidence was coming from.
It was just a pity—
They picked the wrong opponent!~
Right after them, Aiden and Cynthia's Pokémon also appeared on the field.
Togekiss, which Cynthia had a high usage rate in various tournaments, took the stage first.
Its appearance didn't surprise Caitlin.
But the other Pokémon—
What on earth was that giant goldfish that looked like it was burning with flames and had two comma-shaped magatama patterns around its eyes?
Caitlin subconsciously looked up at the big screen.
Chi-Yu—
The name was quite fitting for its appearance. It seemed to be another one of the Four Treasures of Ruin.
In other words, it was a Legendary Pokémon with a completely blank information profile.
However, compared to the previous two, this Chi-Yu's typing was obvious at a glance.
Going by the deduction that all Treasures of Ruin should have the Dark-type, it should be Fire/Dark?
Caitlin suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, it's not a big deal.
If she had stubbornly sent out her standard aces, they would probably have been dead in the water by now, hard-countered by the Dark typing.
But right now, she was using Empoleon!
Typing-wise, it had the upper hand, making it an advantageous matchup.
The Forewarn ability isn't exclusive to Psychic-type Pokémon~
Sure enough, a Psychic's intuition is always accurate!
Even though she actually felt a bit of pressure from those magatama eyes, Caitlin chose to forcefully ignore it and rallied her emotions.
Don't overthink it. It's normal for Psychics to dislike Dark-type Pokémon—
It's just a Legendary Pokémon, it's not like we can't win.
Plus, Cynthia didn't send out the most troublesome Garchomp either. Everything was under control!
After quickly hyping herself up, Caitlin decisively opened her mouth, taking the lead with a commanding tone: "Empoleon, use Hydro Pump!"
Facing a Fire-type Pokémon, Caitlin planned to just play it straight and abuse the type advantage.
It was just a bit of a pity. It seemed the Treasures of Ruin's stat-lowering effect didn't work like Intimidate—it didn't apply directly to the Pokémon, but was more like a field effect.
Otherwise, her Empoleon would have triggered the Defiant ability right at the start, and a single Hydro Pump might have one-shot it.
Seeing this, her teammate Shauntal immediately followed up.
"Jellicent, Water Gun!"
Right off the bat, they chose a highly aggressive offensive strategy.
Exactly the same choice as Aiden's opponents yesterday.
However, their tactics were clearly very successful.
Because of the type disadvantage, there was no way Aiden wouldn't take precautions; not doing so would be no different from just handing Chi-Yu over to be killed.
And because Water Gun had a wide area of effect, and Jellicent's Water Gun was particularly explosive when at full stamina, even Ally Switch wouldn't save them from taking a hit.
This was their optimized strategy against Aiden's tactics, formulated after watching yesterday's battle!
Attacking shouldn't be too reckless, but as long as they could seize the initiative, they could easily control the pace of the match.
Only by not letting Aiden lead them by the nose could they find a sliver of a chance to win.
This was the victory equation Caitlin came up with after racking her brain!
"Chi-Yu, Protect!"
Faced with the fierce incoming attacks, Aiden decisively chose to block the offense first and figure things out from there.
As for Cynthia's side, she chose to tough out the Water Gun pressure and counterattack.
"Togekiss, use Air Slash!"
This was also a common combo that Aiden had commented on before—
Because of the Serene Grace ability, when Togekiss used Air Slash, the chance of flinching the opponent became extremely high.
Although in real life it wasn't as intuitive as the probability in the games and could almost be described as "RNG," but—
Cynthia chose to believe in her bond with Togekiss.
Compared to using Protect to nullify the attack, she preferred this more aggressive playstyle.
As long as it made the opponents afraid of Togekiss's attacks, it would have achieved enough of an effect.
Togekiss flapped its small wings. Being slightly faster, it successfully overtook them, firing off several wind blades right as the opponents were charging up, sweeping directly toward them.
"Hold the line with your spirit, don't be afraid!"
Caitlin clearly knew Cynthia's Pokémon very well.
So the moment Togekiss made its move, she immediately spoke up, trying to use sheer aura to inspire the two Pokémon on the field to endure the pressure.
She actually succeeded.
Under Aiden's dumbfounded gaze, Jellicent and Empoleon were hit by the wind blades one after another, but the Water-type energy gathering in their mouths didn't falter in the slightest.
Soon, the two Water-type Pokémon simultaneously fired off powerful jets of water, aimed directly at Chi-Yu and Togekiss.
This—wait, seriously?
They literally yelled the Pokémon back to their senses!
His eyes held a hint of grievance, but he quickly calmed down.
Fortunately, he never liked to gamble. Even in the games, he rarely used moves with a 95% hit rate.
So, even if their offensive wasn't interrupted, his Chi-Yu could still barely block their moves with Protect.
By the time the opponents' attacks faded, seeing that the transparent barrier in front of Chi-Yu was still holding strong, Aiden silently let out a breath of relief.
Only Togekiss was slightly grazed by the splash damage from Water Gun, but thankfully its bulk was solid enough that it wasn't a big issue.
However, this tiny reaction of his was immediately caught by Caitlin.
"Hehe, seems like we really did put quite a bit of pressure on Aiden."
Caitlin finally felt much more at ease, flashing a smile at Shauntal that said "everything is going according to plan."
When had Aiden ever been pressured into sighing by someone?
At least in her memory, she had never seen it.
But today, not only did she, Caitlin, easily accomplish this, but she also did it right in front of Cynthia, thoroughly sweeping away Aiden's face!
Moreover, their offensive was going to keep going!
Even if Chi-Yu could block the first wave, what did it matter?
Weren't they just going to get focus-fired and instantly deleted anyway!
If you have the guts, just keep using Protect. If you can block it indefinitely, I'll count that as your win!
With that thought in mind, Caitlin launched the second wave of attacks without hesitation: "Empoleon, use Hydro Pump again!"
Catch this, Aiden!
This is my revenge!
"Jellicent, Water Gun!"
Shauntal immediately and tacitly followed up in sync.
Watching Aiden's expression gradually turn strange, Caitlin couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile.
That's right, it's exactly that expression of being about to lose to me but not wanting to accept it!
She felt like she had victory in the bag, even starting to imagine Cynthia looking at her with an incredibly amazed gaze.
However—
When everything seems to be going perfectly, accidents tend to be highly probable.
"Chi-Yu, Dark Pulse, target Jellicent."
"Togekiss, Follow Me."
The four trainers spoke in succession. After a brief charge-up, the Pokémon each made their moves.
First was Follow Me, which required no charge-up and had zero startup frames. It successfully drew the attention of both opposing Pokémon.
And then came Chi-Yu, this little goldfish that didn't look like it had much suppressing power.
The moment it made its move, Caitlin suddenly frowned.
Her instincts told her something bad was about to happen.
But—it couldn't be, right?
Even though Dark-type moves were indeed super effective against Jellicent, its bulk was no joke.
Relying solely on Dark Pulse to instantly take out her good teammate was almost impossible!
That was originally what Caitlin thought.
But when that seemingly ordinary energy wave suddenly blasted out and instantly made Jellicent let out a shriek that echoed throughout the entire venue—
Caitlin froze.
As Shauntal's ace, the reasons it secured the lead position—aside from an unexpected Will-O-Wisp and Destiny Bond—were its outstanding endurance in prolonged battles.
Even if its HP wasn't healthy, it could slowly recover its condition with Recover and look for opportunities to continue stalling out the opponent.
When she first fought Shauntal, Caitlin had been absolutely grossed out by it.
But this time, Jellicent's prided durability didn't play any role at all.
One-shot? It got one-shot?
Looking at Jellicent lightly fluttering to the ground on the field, eyes already spinning in circles and completely losing its ability to battle, Caitlin was utterly dumbfounded.
Actually, there was a reason Aiden sighed earlier, because—
You guys are really brave. Your speed can't even beat Togekiss, yet you dared to come looking for trouble with Lord Chi-Yu?
Who gave you the courage?!
Using Protect sometimes wasn't just because he was playing scared; it was more often to observe the situation.
For example, his defense just now was actually a probe—to ensure he could achieve the absolute best visual effect, the item he gave Chi-Yu was a Life Orb.
Having watched so many matches by now, Aiden had a profound understanding of the "research spirit" of the contestants in this tournament—no, these "inventors."
That was why he didn't dare to gamble.
What if Caitlin and Shauntal actually researched the right answer and came up with some black tech like a Choice Scarf or even straight-up use Extreme Speed, allowing Empoleon or Jellicent to outspeed him?
Chi-Yu was actually quite frail. As a glass cannon, it had to ensure it moved first to intimidate the opponent.
But in reality, it seemed like they were just purely brute-forcing it—
No, it should be said that no one could have predicted that he would suddenly change the tempo, abandoning the defensive counter-attack strategy from the past two days and directly firing off a fierce nuke.
Seeing Caitlin's face instantly crumple into a bitter expression, Aiden felt incredibly delighted.
I'm done pretending, I was hiding a nuke!~
And it was a super bomb specifically tailored to counter you guys!
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