Aiden quickly locked in his starting lineup.
Onix and Cinccino.
The opponent chose an Intimidate-ability Arcanine as the starter, paired with Gastrodon.
"Feels like the opponent is quite skilled?"
Staring at the opponent's starting combination, Aiden gave a compliment first.
In this real world where Doubles are almost extinct, being able to think of using an Intimidate Arcanine as the starter, paired with Gastrodon which can tank water-type moves for it...
Just from this point alone, it's absolutely not possible for them to be a newbie.
This should be a young trainer with some strength and great creativity in battles.
However, our side isn't affected by this at all.
After roughly guessing the opponent's possible thoughts within a few seconds, Aiden immediately issued commands:
"Cinccino, use Fake Out on Gastrodon!"
"Onix, use Rage!"
As Aiden spoke, the opponent also acted simultaneously.
A pool of water surged under Gastrodon' feet, preparing to erupt towards the opponent's two Pokémon.
However, at this moment, Cinccino suddenly flashed in front of it, slapping Gastrodon so hard that it froze on the spot, failing to use its move due to flinching.
On the other side, Arcanine quickly gathered a ball of fiery red energy, making the sky clearer the moment it was released into the air.
Clearly, it was the Sunny Day move.
And right after, Onix revealed a ferocious face, hitting Arcanine with a Tail Whip up close.
(T/N: Tail Whip is a status move in game but when you have a rock snake that's 28'10" and 463.0 lbs, I'm pretty sure it can convert to a Physical move lol)
However, the damage caused was negligible.
[Wow, Cinccino slapped Gastrodon so hard that it got stunned LMAO]
[Intimidate is really useful. As long as the opponent has physical attackers, their damage drops significantly after being intimidated
[What are you doing bro? Is Onix really worthy of being the main attacker?]
[I don't understand why the opponent used Sunny Day; isn't this weakening Gastrodon' output?]
Aiden sighed.
The exploratory exchanges just now sparked intense discussions in the chat, but obviously, no one truly noticed the opponent's idea.
"The opponent's Sunny Day move was really well played."
It would be best if Gastrodon' Muddy Water hit, but being interrupted by Cinccino didn't affect much.
The key point is, facing the four-times-super-effective Muddy Water against Onix, we couldn't possibly bet on Onix dodging it. We could only use Fake Out to control the field.
And this gave Arcanine the chance to manually activate Sunny Day.
Next, Gastrodon still had the possibility to threaten Onix, and we also needed to guard against Solar Beam from Arcanine at any time.
Solar Beam is a grass-type Pokémon's ultimate move, which usually requires a long charge before unleashing.
But under the influence of Sunny Day, it can almost be instant.
And the support Cinccino could offer to Onix was actually not much.
Facing super-effective grass and water moves, Onix was at risk of being instantly KO'd at any time.
However, despite the unfavorable situation for himself, Aiden smiled and decisively commanded again:
"Onix, Protect!"
"Cinccino, use Encore on Arcanine!"
Thankfully, this game wasn't limited to four moves; otherwise, in this lineup where Cinccino was exclusively assisting Onix, there might not be room for Encore.
Not only was Aiden's command faster than the opponent's, but Cinccino's speed also led the entire field.
Arcanine belatedly charged Solar Beam, ready to unleash it violently on Onix when it suddenly was disturbed by an unknown force, uncontrollably using Sunny Day again.
Without Cinccino's interference, Gastrodon' Muddy Water successfully fired this time, but it was blocked by Onix's prepared Protect barrier.
Although the move also hit Cinccino, due to Sunny Day's unfriendly effect on water moves, this Muddy Water almost didn't cause effective damage to it.
[??? Encore locking Sunny Day, the opponent must be dumbfounded!]
[Perfect match, no matter what lineup the streamer plays, he always brings the same flavor POG!]
[Teacher Azure's reaction speed is so fast, does he really know how to play Doubles?]
The originally unfavorable situation instantly reversed due to a wave of preemptive commands.
Under Aiden's divine command, Arcanine directly lost its threat capability, and the opponent could only choose to switch out.
Taking this opportunity, Aiden finally had time to execute his tactics!
"Cinccino, use Tail Slap on Onix!"
"Onix, Rock Slide!"
Upon hearing Aiden's command, a storm of question marks erupted in the chat.
[??? Did Teacher Azure slip of the tongue? Why did he make Cinccino attack its teammate?]
[Useless thing, keeping you is worse than sacrificing you to me!]
Amidst the torrent of comments flooding the screen, Cinccino resolutely executed Aiden's order.
Its smooth tail, resembling a scarf, instantly swung out, continuously hitting Onix's body.
Once, twice.
Since normal-type moves aren't very effective against Onix, even with full force, each of its attacks could only cause minimal damage.
However...
With each attack, Onix's eyes gradually filled with murderous intent, its crimson eyes indiscriminately staring at all Pokémon on the field!
Soon, Cinccino's continuous Tail Slaps all hit Onix's body.
Countless rock fragments fell off its surface, and its body became lighter.
At the moment the opponent recalled Arcanine and switched to Charizard,
Onix's Rock Slide instantly descended from the sky, clearing Charizard's HP bar in an instant.
Even Gastrodon, which has excellent resistance to rock-type moves, had nearly a third of its health evaporated under this outrageously powerful Rock Slide.
At the same time, Gastrodon was startled by this sudden attack, flinching again and unable to use its move.
Chat once again erupted with question marks.
However, this time their focus was different.
[Huh? Is your Onix legal? Is this damage and speed correct?]
[This power (referring to luck) doesn't belong to you!]
[Gastrodon: I'm calling the police, why is everyone on the opposing side so scary!]
[Could it be that this was also within your calculations?]
Though Aiden found the unexpected joy of causing flinching with Rock Slide quite absurd, it really didn't have much impact on the situation.
Due to the effects of Rage and Weak Armor, plus this tactic not requiring high output from Onix itself, this Onix's abilities were actually more inclined towards endurance.
Even taking a direct hit from Muddy Water wasn't a big problem.
"Due to the influence of the Rage move and the Weak Armor ability, Onix has changed dramatically. Both its speed and attack power have surpassed the limits!"
"Onix's attack is over 9000!"
Aiden used Roar, which is super effective on the audience.
[Why are you shouting so loud!]
[My ears, my ears, Teacher Azure, compensate for my hearing!]
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