Afterward, Aiden chatted with Cynthia for a while and played a few ranked matches.
Once Cynthia, feeling sleepy, said her goodbyes, Aiden immediately opened a website to look up information about this Dragon-type Master Tournament.
Since these Ultra Ball or even Master Ball level events were too far from him, he had never really looked into them...
If it weren't for Cynthia mentioning it, maybe he would only hear some news when the competition was about to start?
The reason he was looking up this Master Tournament was simple—
To see the main Pokémon of these Dragon Tamers who were going to appear on stage.
Noble dragons are naturally powerful, but almost every one of them is notoriously short-tempered, difficult to capture, hard to train, and prone to injuring trainers.
Therefore, those who can become Dragon Tamers are basically the top-tier trainers in their respective regions.
Among the contestants already confirmed, Elite Four Drake and his Salamence, as well as Raihan, whom he had just defeated, appeared prominently on the homepage along with his Duraludon.
However, his target wasn't these two.
After some searching, Aiden finally found that familiar figure in the middle position.
Kanto Elite Four member, Lance.
Of course, the main Pokémon listed on the website for him was Dragonite.
As Kanto's signature "late bloomer Pokémon," Dragonite naturally has the credentials to compete alongside other masters.
Aiden was curious. If each participant had to send out two dragon Pokémon according to the rules...
What would Lance's other one be?
As Lance's League Card appeared, the answer was quickly revealed.
Lance directly brought two Dragonites to participate in the competition.
"Figures..."
Aiden's lips twitched slightly; in a way, this guy was rather pure.
Even the Blackthorn City Gym Leader Clair, also from a Dragon Tamer lineage, brought an additional Kingdra.
Still gotta be you, Lance.
...
After slacking off all day, another video from Aiden appeared promptly at midnight on Monday on the Pokémon TV homepage.
"The Charm of Skill Complementarity, The All-in-One Attack and Defense Substitute Toxic Strategy!"
Upon release, it instantly garnered countless likes, and within just a minute, numerous comments and bullet screens emerged.
[First! Azure's tactic went wild during the live stream, making Galar's Raihan nauseous beyond belief!]
[The later rounds were the most outrageous; I could easily reach Ultra Ball if I had half of the streamer's command skills...]
[Can confirm, I'm Pokeball elo.]
The video centered around the classic Substitute Toxic strategy exceeded everyone's expectations in popularity.
After all, compared to previous strategies, this one truly achieved a perfect balance between learning cost and entertainment value.
It featured outrageously dirty toxic stalling tactics, yet could pull out some bizarre offensive moves to instantly KO opponents when needed.
Especially since this tactic had a certain degree of universality, as shown by more than three Pokémon demonstrated in Aiden's video.
As long as they can learn both Toxic and Substitute, the rest isn't a problem.
Not to mention, the victim standing opposite Teacher Azure this time was none other than Raihan, Galar's number two and widely recognized "strongest Gym Leader"!
Relying on Earthquake and Gliscor's wide attack coverage, being able to attack and defend, the powerful stationary turret Gengar, and finally, Breloom using a priority move for a strong finish...
Aiden, who only plays high-level matches, once again presented the audience with a novel visual feast.
At the end of the video, Aiden's magnetic voice appeared again.
"This tactic may be useful, but it's not highly recommended to use it frequently."
"The specific reasons... you know what they are."
"And it's said that trainers who often use these 'high-quality' tactics tend to have no friends!"
[Gotcha, will use Substitute Toxic tonight to rank up.]
[Haha, now that I'm a trainer, friends are meaningless things that only hinder my path to becoming stronger!]
[Pros explained, what about the cons?]
That night, many trainers in the Poké Ball and even Ultra Ball tiers encountered an extremely awkward situation—
Confidently crafting a Substitute Toxic lineup mimicking Teacher Azure, thinking they'd dominate lower-tier battles.
Hey, guess what?
The opponent happened to be using the same strategy!
Then, both sides got stuck in hundreds of rounds of mutual quality play, leading to an embarrassing situation where bladders were ready to explode before finishing a match.
Only at this moment did countless water warriors in front of their computers or consoles suddenly realize, shedding tears of regret.
Teacher Azure, you should have told us about such severe consequences earlier!
...
Sinnoh region, Eterna City.
While eating breakfast, the new gym leader of Eterna Gym, Gardenia, happened to stumble upon a video on Pokémon TV.
"Substitute Toxic?"
After muttering the title twice, Gardenia immediately clicked in.
This streamer named "Azure Wings" wasn't appearing on the homepage for the first time.
Gardenia had watched his previous videos, which were absolutely mind-blowingly superior in quality compared to similar content.
Not only were they highly complete, but one could also see the creator's dedication at a glance.
But unfortunately, most of the content didn't have much relevance to her as a Grass-type gym leader.
Aside from the immensely impactful One-Punch Man Breloom tutorial, other tactics like Bug Baton Pass and Minimize weren't very useful to her.
However, the fact that he could consistently produce a scientifically effective tactic every week alone showed how solid this streamer's foundation was.
Definitely a genius in tactical arrangement!
But today's episode was different.
As we all know, Grass and Poison aren't that separate; many Grass-type Pokémon are also experts at using poison.
For example, her most trusted partner, Roserade.
There are plenty of Grass-type Pokémon that can learn Toxic!
"Finally, it's our turn, Grass-type trainers, to enjoy the good stuff!"
Gardenia suddenly felt touched and quickly finished watching this tactical streamer's video.
It could only be described in three words:
Too dirty!
Never thought the man who designed the One-Punch Man Breloom tactic could innovate further, showcasing a completely opposite quality tactic.
However, it perfectly fits with the fighting style of Grass-type Pokémon, especially Roserade.
Through continuous interference and attrition, wearing down opponents invisibly to secure victory—this is precisely the charm of the Grass type!
Gardenia quietly liked and bookmarked this latest masterpiece, silently calculating:
Starting this week, she would practice against some stronger challengers to slowly adapt to different styles of tactics.
For Gardenia, learning a relatively simple tactic and gradually integrating it in real combat might take about a month.
She couldn't even imagine how powerful Teacher "Azure Wings" really was!
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