To be honest, Qingyu was also rather puzzled.
At some point in his previous life, entry hazards seemed to have gradually become bound to stall teams.
But in the early days of competitive battles, setting hazards was actually a very common method to counter stall.
The reason was simple—
Ground hazards dealt percentage-based damage. Against bulky Pokémon, the damage was far more significant than against frail ones, making them extremely annoying for a large portion of defensive cores that relied on Leftovers to recover while staying on the field.
During that era, one of the main tactical purposes of setting hazards was to lower the KO threshold.
The hazard strategy Qingyu had just used was built entirely around this core concept.
Of course, his team was far from that simple.
What just happened was merely the appetizer—at best, it was only the first phase of a boss fight, more than enough to deal with opponents at the current rank.
After easily securing another victory, Qingyu once again clicked "Match."
Because opening with hazards was highly misleading, the next few opponents never expected him to be running an all-out offensive strategy.
One wave of anti-meta play later, he effortlessly claimed another ten-win streak—this time even faster than yesterday.
Three opponents surrendered the moment they saw him set hazards.Four tried to trade blows with him and lost outright.Another three disconnected and were judged as losses.
The efficiency was terrifying.
He had forcibly squeezed out an extra ten minutes of time.
Competitive games generally had one characteristic: the point change for a win and a loss was roughly equal, but win streaks granted significantly more points.
Two consecutive ten-win streaks pushed Qingyu's ladder rating up with ease, successfully reaching the Great Ball Tier.
[Bro, that's already 20 wins in a row counting yesterday—this is insane, isn't it?!][The streamer still looks super relaxed… he's not really going to charge straight to Master Ball, is he?][If he can pull out this many tactics, even reaching Master Ball feels totally normal. Honestly, I want to see how these strategies perform in high-level matches!][Yeah, for real.]
After nearly an hour of streaming, the number of viewers in Qingyu's channel kept rising, quietly breaking into five digits without anyone noticing.
Seeing that his plan was complete, Qingyu originally intended to end the stream right there.
But after checking the time and seeing there was still room, he quickly decided to play one more match.
Based on his experience from his previous life, the final game of a win streak like this was always "smart matched," throwing you against an expert capable of ending it.
In truth, compared to farming points through streaks, he much preferred encountering a genuinely skilled opponent.
Otherwise, battles were just too boring.
Perhaps his will had an effect. After a brief matchmaking period, the wheel stopped spinning, and the opponent's information appeared.
Trainer ID: Iono Below it, a line of official certification text: Paldea Levincia Gym Leader.
Well damn—he ran into a colleague.
[Holy crap, the streamer actually matched with Iono. Guess I have no choice but to defect!][Iono is adorable. Watching this streamer is just for fun—if you want cute, it's gotta be Iono!][Follow Iono meow~ Follow the Iono Channel thank you meow~]
The chat reacted even faster than Qingyu did, quickly becoming completely one-sided in Iono's favor.
Iono, just look at the army you've brought with you!
Seeing how brutally honest the viewers were, Qingyu's gaze instantly sharpened.
Sure enough. Rivals in the same field were always enemies.
He had originally planned to take it a little easy, but now it seemed he had no choice but to go all out and let these viewers know who the real big streamer was!
This was no longer an ordinary provocation.
Heavy punches were required!
…
Paldea Region, Levincia City.
Iono wasn't in a great mood today.
It all started when she woke up around noon and scrolled past a tutorial video with an absurdly high view count.
Given how popular Pokémon: Champion was at launch, this normally wouldn't have been a big deal.
After all, most trending topics these days were related to the game, and even she herself had once been lucky enough to hit the top of the charts.
But the growth rate of this particular video's views was outrageously high—so high that even Steven, the Hoenn Champion who rarely appeared online, personally helped promote it.
Clearly, this wasn't simple.
With a mindset of humbly learning, Iono decisively clicked into the video.
However…
After watching it, her mentality exploded.
Is this guy here to steal my job or what?! How can he be this evil?!
As a rookie streamer who had accumulated quite a few fans in just half a month, she knew very well what her advantages were.
The Pokémon battle category was basically a blue ocean, and combined with her looks—which were, frankly, pretty strong—she was able to attract so many viewers.
Those who were professional at teaching didn't know how to stream.Those who knew how to stream didn't necessarily have better tactics than her!
This category was clearly tailor-made for the great Iono-sama!
But now, a sense of crisis surged up.
He was also a Paldea Gym Leader. Even though she had never heard of this guy before, his teaching style was easy to understand and clearly backed by real skill—completely different from a pure newbie like herself.
If this continued, wouldn't a large portion of battle-loving viewers be siphoned away by him?!
And if the ones left were only staying because she was genuinely cute—
Then how was she supposed to promote the fame of the Levincia Gym?!
That absolutely would not do!
With competition pressure mounting, Iono even started her stream much earlier than usual today.
"Today's goal—Great Ball Tier!"
Heaven rewards hard work. If she worked hard starting today, there was no way she'd be surpassed by this guy!
Two hours later.
"Awesome—another victory!"
[Who are you? Where did you hide the cute Iono?!][I came to watch you meme around—are you actually pushing for Great Ball today?!][Promotion match already?! The streamer is way too strong!]
Though every match was hard-fought, an all-out Iono managed to pull off a rare ten-win streak today.
Just one more—just one more win and she'd reach Great Ball, proving her true strength to the viewers!
Staring at the nearly filled progress bar with burning eyes, Iono couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"All right! Today's final battle—let's end it with a perfect victory!"
As long as she could reach that place, it would be Iono-sama's victory!
With an excited heart, Iono clicked matchmaking with trembling hands, silently praying that her promotion match would pair her with a soft target.
The matchmaking gears slowly began to turn. After the metallic grinding sound circled three and a half times, the pointer abruptly stopped.
The instant she saw the opponent's ID, Iono's eyes widened instinctively.
Trainer ID: Azure Feather!
Just like her, there was also an official certification line below it: Paldea Sunlight Gym Leader.
What a narrow road for enemies—she hadn't expected to run into him so soon!
On one hand, Iono was shocked by how fast this potential rival had climbed the ladder, already reaching Great Ball Tier in just two days.
But at the same time, she had also grown stronger!
And if she could defeat him here, wouldn't that prove her strength was actually greater than his?
If so, she might even be able to ride this momentum and gain a huge wave of new fans!
Mm…
Looks like she has a reason she absolutely cannot lose.
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