The Draco Meteor crashed down with a thunderous roar, its energy waves stirring up countless clouds of sand. The battlefield, already obscured by the sandstorm, became entirely blurry.
When the dust finally settled, Aiden's side revealed a health bar still glowing with a healthy green.
After blocking the deadly attack meant for the real body, Gliscor's Substitute had disappeared.
As for the opposing Duraludon, it had fallen into a weakened state due to the excessive energy consumption from using Draco Meteor, significantly reducing its offensive capabilities.
[Wow, can Substitute really block even Draco Meteor?]
[Is this what Teacher Azure meant by SubProtectToxic? Such a disgusting tactic; if I were the opponent, I wouldn't want to play anymore!]
[By the way, are there any Gliscor in Paldea? How does Teacher Azure know the tactics for this Pokémon?]
"Using Substitute to block it...?"
Raihan was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered.
He realized he was playing a game, not engaging in an actual Pokémon battle, so some things that seemed counterintuitive were still reasonable within the context of the game.
If anyone dared to use such an audacious tactic in the Hammerlocke Gym, his Gigantamax Duraludon would surely show them what it means to break through everything with sheer power.
Whether Substitute or Protect, in the face of absolute strength, they were merely useless tricks.
Unfortunately, the game didn't have Dynamax yet, and his proud statistical superiority couldn't be showcased in battles.
"This is troublesome..."
Raihan shook his head helplessly. When Draco Meteor hit Gliscor's Substitute, it also meant Duraludon had completely lost its positioning ability.
"Gliscor, Earthquake!"
While Aiden issued a command to try and finish off the opponent, Raihan chose to switch out again.
After recalling Duraludon, he sent out Flygon, which could avoid attacks thanks to its Levitate ability.
It was only at this point that Raihan realized the true challenge posed by this Gliscor.
Most members of his team were part of Sun and Sandstorm teams, almost completely lacking ways to restrict Gliscor.
If he had started with Torkoal, perhaps he could have used Venusaur's Sunny Weather Chlorophyll Sleep Powder tactic to cause some interference?
No, that wasn't right!
He suddenly realized another layer of meaning behind the opponent's Poison Heal ability.
Because they had preemptively inflicted themselves with Toxic status, they had strong resistance against other status conditions like paralysis and sleep!
Using poison against "status," even sleep tactics might not work...
Raihan couldn't help but admire the imagination of this small gym leader.
However, no defense could be without weaknesses. Even if breaking through via type advantage wasn't possible, there were other methods.
"Flygon, Tailwind!"
As a seasoned trainer who had fought countless battles and possessed keen instincts, Raihan quickly discovered the weakness in the opponent's routine.
If speed wasn't fast enough, every time moves like Toxic and Substitute—which required preparation—were used, they inevitably exposed vulnerabilities!
Even though Gliscor had the Poison Heal ability to continuously recover HP, it couldn't withstand the endless onslaught of his dragon army.
[How dare you use Tailwind, quickly use Toxic to drive him mad!]
[Raihan must have had the worst luck to encounter such a dirty tactic from the streamer first...]
[Didn't someone say Teacher Azure couldn't win earlier? Clearly, underestimating Teacher Azure and dirty tactics' bond was a mistake!]
"Hmm, the opponent's thoughts are quite good."
Seeing Raihan decisively command Flygon to use Tailwind, which would bring its speed to terrifying levels under the sandstorm, Aiden couldn't help but smile faintly.
"But, since you already know my Gliscor isn't purely a defensive team, haven't you taken any precautions?"
"You still need practice, Mr. Raihan!"
"Gliscor, Ice Fang!"
Hearing Aiden's command, Raihan was slightly taken aback.
Raihan doesn't have much knowledge about Gliscor, being from Galar, but…
You mean this Gliscor, four times weak to Ice, can use the Ice-type move it hates the most?
Is that correct?
As Aiden had mentioned earlier, Gliscor was indeed an excellent pilot for the SubProtectToxic strategy.
In the previous life, limited by four moves, it still had Earthquake to deal with Pokémon difficult for this tactic.
But in the current gaming environment, there was no restriction on moves, so it had another terrifying advantage that people hadn't paid attention to—
Its move pool was incredibly versatile!
There were legends in Sinnoh.
Leaving aside the godlike move pools of top-tier Pokémon like Infernape, there were also experts like Lopunny and Gliscor with extremely broad move learning capabilities.
Aside from SubProtectToxic, Gliscor also had control moves like Spikes, Taunt, and Tailwind in its pocket.
On the offensive end, the variety of moves it could learn covered fifteen types, focusing on versatility.
It could even learn Ice-type moves that it was quadruple weak to...
A traitor has emerged among us (referring to the four-times-weak-to-Ice family)!
With ice shards, one steel bite targeted the Flygon attempting to stir up fierce winds, instantly inflicting heavy damage.
"While it's called SubProtectToxic, it's not entirely that."
While issuing commands, Aiden took the opportunity to explain his thought process.
"Pure defense is too easy to see through. Against skilled opponents like Mr. Raihan, countermeasures would quickly emerge."
"But if we suddenly change gears and go on the offensive at this moment, the opponent's original train of thought following our tactical setup will be easily disrupted."
"Psychological warfare is an important aspect of Pokémon battles. And since we've already led the opponent by the nose—"
"Victory is already in the bag!"
After commanding Gliscor to once again decisively take down Flygon with Ice Fang, Aiden prematurely declared victory.
Indeed, as he had said, the subsequent battle was almost one-sided.
Gliscor's unpredictable style—sometimes passively defending, sometimes actively attacking—left Raihan very troubled.
Ultimately, after sacrificing the main axis of his sandstorm team, the legendary resilient Gliscor finally ran out of stamina and was recalled by Aiden.
However...
Not pausing for even a moment to mourn the fall of Gliscor, immediately arriving on the battlefield was—
SubProtectToxic Unit Two, the highly popular cute purple balloon.
Gengar!
(Gengar is so cute~)
That's right, every single Pokémon in Aiden's team could independently utilize the SubProtectToxic strategy, and more importantly—
They weren't limited to defense; when needed, they could also unleash considerable offense.
For instance, the cute purple balloon present in almost every region was one of the best, each having its own strengths and weaknesses compared to Gliscor.
Gengar's firepower was no weaker than Gliscor's, and it had a significant advantage in speed.
As for its slightly weaker endurance...
The opponent didn't even have a chance to hit it, so did it matter?
The pressure from Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb, combined with Toxic and Protect, forced Raihan to choose aggressive attacks.
The same routine continued to unfold.
What was essentially a simple SubProtectToxic tactic, easily seen through at a glance, was played with finesse in Aiden's hands, making it impossible to guess what command he would issue next.
Under the repeated torment of Gliscor, Gengar, and the later Breloom, Raihan's last Pokémon, Milotic, quickly fell.
The final score was locked at 6:2.
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