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At this point, Wallace didn't intend to keep his Politoed alive any longer and commanded it to unleash another Hydro Pump.
Since its HP could hardly last until the third Hydro Pump, Aiden didn't get greedy and decisively commanded:
"Garganacl, Protect!"
The barrier formed by Protect arrived just in time to block Politoed's attack.
Meanwhile, Garganacl chewed on some Leftovers behind the protective wall, regaining some HP again.
As time passed, Politoed's HP quickly bottomed out.
And next, facing Wallace's next Pokémon, Milotic, Aiden's choice was...
"Salt Cure!"
"Protect!"
"Recover!"
Relying on the terrifying stalling ability provided by Protect + Recover and Leftovers, as well as the extra protection from Light Screen, Garganacl stood firm like an immovable mountain.
Even under the rain, Milotic's Hydro Pump wasn't lethal enough. In the end, Salt King wore it down completely.
Under the dual torment of Toxic and Salt Cure, Wallace's side had already collapsed.
In the end, Golduck and Ludicolo teamed up, barely managing to take down the hair-raising Garganacl with a critical hit Hydro Pump.
After all the twists and turns, the score came to 4:1.
Gliscor, who hadn't been on the field the entire time, finally made its late appearance. This Pokémon's weaknesses were very easy to exploit for Wallace's team.
However, by now, the remaining forces didn't have the capability to deal with it anymore.
One Dual Wingbeat, one Thunder Fang.
Gliscor easily brought Aiden a victory.
[WTF is this still Pokémon battling? Where did you drag me into?]
[Stop, this isn't battling at all!!!!]
[I pity Wallace for a second; such a nice guy, how did he end up matching with Azure, this fkn troll]
[Too scary, what do I do if watching this late at night makes me wet the bed?]
Even the chat couldn't bear it anymore and began to criticize Aiden's overly hellish tactics.
Garganacl was known as a good-natured elder in the Paldea ecosystem, and like Chansey, it was a helpful and enthusiastic Pokémon.
But in the hands of the streamer, each was more hellish than the other.
"Don't hate, can't you see how hard my Pokémon worked?"
Throughout the entire match, Aiden's smile never left his face for a second.
"To survive, they all struggled until the very last moment, not letting their guard down until the victory was secured!"
Although stall teams might lose friends, playing them was truly satisfying, especially in situations where there was such an information gap.
Real-life battles aside, Pokémon battling was essentially a game of information. Only when both sides had symmetrical information could there be a back-and-forth.
As for this battle…
Wallace didn't understand Aiden's Paldea Pokémon, but Aiden knew exactly what the members of his rain team wanted to do!
After years of development, these Hoenn Rain brothers' weaknesses were all open secrets to him.
With this give-and-take, how could he not be crushed?
It was precisely because of this extreme information gap that he could win so easily and joyfully.
However, for Aiden, matching with Wallace was purely coincidental, and this match lived up to expectations with a large margin of victory.
Since he had already put together this stall team, how could he not enjoy himself tonight?
Thus, Aiden opened ranked battles again and started his climb.
[When the streamer smiles, I know today's lineup won't be simple, but I didn't expect it to be this absurd...]
[Where are the Ultra Ball fam at? Is anyone brave enough to challenge Azure?]
[If you dare use this lineup, I'll Press F to pay respect!]
...
Wallace didn't know how to describe his current mental state.
If he had to say...
Numb?
If it was just losing a battle, it wouldn't cause much emotional fluctuation for him.
After all, it was just a game, and even if he lost, it didn't matter.
But the problem was...
"The opponent's methods were too absurd!"
If he guessed correctly, the six Pokémon in the opponent's team should each have their own tricks, and he had only seen a part of them.
And that alone had already made him feel sick.
Glimmora with Assault Vest and Toxic Debris, throwing Toxic Spikes when attacked and fiercely attacking otherwise;
Clodsire, starting with Yawn, using its endurance to lay two layers of Toxic Spikes and safely retreat.
Of course, if it was just these two, although indeed very annoying, it wouldn't make him completely lose his mind.
The key was that Garganacl he had never seen before!
How could there be such a wicked Pokémon in the world? Who can withstand Salt Cure + Toxic, and it can even regenerate to exhaust opponents to death!
And it just happened to counter his Water-type specialization...
Thinking about this, Wallace lost all strength and means, taking a deep breath silently.
When people are extremely speechless, even an angry expression won't appear on their faces, only a deep sense of helplessness.
But on the other hand.
If we set aside the seemingly intentional strange lineup, the opponent's commanding ability was also genuinely absurd...
He didn't play games often, only occasionally relaxing after helping Steven handle official duties.
Even so, he could easily dominate in the high-level Ultra Ball ranks.
Apart from a few exceptions, most trainers' gaps mainly lie in experience.
Whether it's understanding Pokémon or reacting in actual combat, it's all closely related to accumulating battle experience during growth.
That's why traveling becomes a very important part of a Pokémon trainer's life.
And Pokémon Champions had not been online for long.
Even in relatively high Ultra Ball and Master Ball ranks, most casual players' commanding abilities lagged behind true elite trainers.
So, there was no possibility of drastically improving commanding ability in a short time through this game alone.
Therefore, there was only one answer—
Judging from the performance just now, the opponent he encountered today was definitely a master skilled in using Poison-types!
Moreover, the Pokémon he used mostly came from the Paldea region.
"So, it should be some expert from the Paldea region, right?"
Wallace muttered to himself.
Come to think of it, Steven seemed to be in Paldea.
It was certain that his going there had absolutely nothing to do with the recent Dragon-type Master Tournament; most likely, some rare mineral veins in Paldea attracted him...
If only Steven could meet this "Azure Wings" offline, I shouldn't be the only one being tortured!
Wallace thought, collapsing onto the seat and looking up at the sky.
It seemed that tonight he could only continue handling official duties; sleeping would definitely be impossible...
Damn it, if only I hadn't started this game!
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