After confirming that his opponent was Wallace, Aiden knew he had to take this match seriously.
Upon reflection, aside from Cynthia, who frequently gamed with him at night, this seemed to be the first time he matched with a champion-level opponent.
As the sole representative of a region, the title of Champion represents the pinnacle of power in that area.
Even Raihan, known as the "Strongest Gym Leader" and "Second to Leon" in Galar, didn't dare claim championship-level strength until he truly defeated Leon.
Wallace, however, was different.
Although officially just the Water-type Gym Leader of the Hoenn League, his strength was nearly on par with Steven's, and in one timeline (Emerald), he even took over the role of Champion.
Even if he wasn't an Elite Four member now, if someone asked, "What kind of Champion are you?" Wallace could proudly respond:
"I'm the World-Class Triple Champion of the Grand Festival!"
"Do the champions of your nine regions have as many Master-level trophies in the Grand Festival as I do?"
Matching against such an opponent, Aiden didn't dare joke around with the chat anymore. He quickly found his rhythm and fully immersed himself in the battle.
He was actually quite curious:
If we only look at commanding abilities, how much of a gap is there between me and the Champions of this world?
Aiden turned his gaze to Wallace's lineup.
Milotic, Gyarados, Seaking, Ludicolo, Tentacruel, and Politoed.
A pretty standard Rain team, though generally, it should include more Electric-type attackers and Pokémon resistant to Grass.
However, compared to Nessa's lineup, it was indeed much more complete.
"All Water-type Pokémon, but is that really a good thing for my lineup…?"
Theoretically, Garganacl posed a significant threat to them, but more than half of the team was weak to Water, making their defense easily breakable.
His lineup was slightly unfavorable. If not handled well and broken through, he would lose very badly.
Though losing to Wallace would still be acceptable to Aiden, ...
To assume defeat without even trying was too dispiriting!
After calculating in his mind, Aiden locked in his starter.
Toxapex!
Against this lineup, if he could bring a Grass-Steel type (Ferroseed), he would surely make Wallace feel despair.
Unfortunately, since he wasn't running a Rain team, he didn't have that option, so he had to use Toxapex to hold the field.
On Wallace's side, he went with a conventional starter, Politoed.
Politoed, like Pelipper, was a key player in Rain teams, also having the ability to start Rain upon entering the battle.
The Drizzle ability triggered instantly, and rain began to fall lightly over the battlefield in the game.
[It's similar to Nessa's Rain team; all Water-type Gym Leaders can only do this, right!]
[Toxapex can also benefit from the Rain, not bad.]
[Same Drizzle ability as Pelipper? Which Pokémon is better to use, Teacher Azure?]
"Although both are weather setters in Rain teams, Pelipper and Politoed have slightly different functions."
"Pelipper has stronger offensive capabilities; whether using Hurricane for damage or Tailwind to boost teammates' speed, the benefits are very clear."
"As for Politoed, because the moves it learns require more skill, its ceiling is extremely high."
Mainly due to its Perish Song, it's more suited for doubles and theoretically has infinite possibilities.
In his past life, there was a professional player skilled in the Perish Song system who could still win championships strongly even against the meta with his hidden Rain Perish Song strategy.
While explaining, Aiden immediately gave a command:
"Toxapex, Toxic Spikes!"
"Politoed, Weather Ball!"
Both voices fell simultaneously, and Politoed successfully took the initiative with its speed advantage, directly firing a Water-type charged Weather Ball.
Toxapex took the hit on its face and only lost about a quarter of its HP, not a big deal.
Subsequently, the first Toxic Spikes were thrown out, and the area near Politoed's feet quickly became covered with venomous spikes.
At the same time, the Black Sludge item effect carried by Toxapex triggered, quickly restoring some of its HP.
[What the CHONK is going on here? Took on that like it was nothing gaddamn]
[After watching the stream so much, I thought the opponent would start with a high-quality set-up!]
[Fun fact: Toxapex can learn Recover. At Politoed's current 'scraping' damage, it would take ten years to defeat it...]
"So, it's time to switch, right?"
Aiden muttered to himself while pondering Wallace's next move.
Wallace's good friend Steven was a master at setting up spikes, so Wallace must understand the importance of removing spikes in singles battles.
"In that case, the one coming in should be..."
"Tentacruel!"
"Come back, Toxapex."
Aiden decisively recalled Toxapex first and sent out Glimmora, the same model used by Paldea Champion Geeta.
Wallace's command was slightly slower, also making a substitution adjustment.
And as Aiden predicted, the one that followed was none other than Tentacruel, which wasn't afraid of stepping on Toxic Spikes!
[Is this? Has it started?]
[He finally stopped pretending LMAO when will you write a textbook on Battle Psychology? I'll definitely buy it!]
[It's quite reasonable, after all, the only ones on Wallace's side not afraid of Toxic Spikes are Gyarados and Tentacruel.]
Gyarados has a Flying-type, so even if it appeared, it wouldn't step on the spikes.
As for Tentacruel, facing the same Poison-type, Toxic Spikes naturally wouldn't have any effect, and even absorbed some.
However, for Aiden, the purpose of these Toxic Spikes had already been achieved.
"Caught you."
Aiden couldn't help but reveal a mysterious smile.
It didn't matter if the chat didn't know, but could he not understand what Wallace was thinking by sending out Tentacruel?
"Tentacruel, Rapid Spin!"
Wallace quickly gave a command.
Tentacruel soon began spinning in place, leaving behind streaks of afterimages.
As its tentacles extended beneath its feet, the spikes on its half of the field were quickly lifted by the continuous spinning force.
Rapid Spin, a very common method of clearing spikes.
This was the true purpose of Wallace sending out Tentacruel.
And because he knew how troublesome Geeta's Glimmora's Poison Point ability was, Wallace's Tentacruel didn't attack but focused on clearing its own field's spikes.
However, since Aiden had anticipated this move, he naturally had already thought of a countermeasure.
At the same time, Aiden decisively commanded:
"Glimmora—"
"Earth Power!"
Upon hearing the command, Glimmora immediately acted, directly channeling the accumulated energy into the ground.
In an instant, the ground began to rumble with explosive booms.
Since the move's coverage was almost the entire battlefield, Tentacruel had no possibility of dodging and was instantly overwhelmed by the unleashed Earth Power!
Want to remove spikes?
Talk to my Earth Power!
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