As Aiden started his live stream, a flood of viewers instantly poured into the chatroom.
[Ohhhhh! Teacher Azure has been so diligent lately; being one of Paldea's Eight Gym Leaders really makes a difference!]
[After all, his status is different now. Any Gym Leader or Elite Four member who comes by has to call him Teacher Azure. He definitely has authority in this area lol.]
[Yesterday, after watching Teacher Azure's live stream on the Beat-Up tactic, today there's another gym challenge to watch—it's awesome~]
Broadcasting the gym challenges publicly to all the chatroom friends actually brought quite a few benefits for Aiden.
Ever since he set an example for the audience last week through streaming, he rarely received negative feedback like "Is your Sunshine Gym too difficult? How are others supposed to pass?" or "Garbage gym, just trying to mess with challengers, right?"
After all, every move made by the challengers was clearly observed by an audience that often numbered in the millions.
From the first-person perspective, the viewers finally understood why Aiden sometimes felt mentally exhausted—
Even though he had obviously let them win, these students coming to challenge were still clueless!
Even the little trick of using the Pokédex openly to collect information during open-book exams only started being used by Paldea newcomers after last week's challenger named Kieran.
These students had challenged for so long and still weren't as quick-witted as that little kid from Hokkaido...
This is the worst batch of students I've ever taught!
If they can't even get past the first stage of the Sunshine Gym, how can they talk about collecting eight badges and challenging the Elite Four and Champion Geeta?
However, perhaps because of this, recent challengers have begun to intensify their efforts, studying battle strategies and even memorizing the Pokédex...
In a sense, Aiden could be considered successful in encouraging study.
To pass his gym test, these students' current level of effort far exceeds last year's, to the point where even Aiden was somewhat shocked.
The most direct impact of broadcasting the gym challenges was—
The approval rate of his Sunshine Gym on the League app miraculously began to rise!
Maybe if he kept working hard, he could slowly climb from being the last place in all of Paldea to becoming number one?
Thinking of this, Aiden was filled with determination.
Starting today, the Northern Expedition begins!
Right at this moment, soon came a knock on the gym door.
Knock knock knock—
"Teacher Azure, I've come to challenge the gym again!"
The energetic young voice outside made Aiden's lips unconsciously curl up slightly.
As expected, the first challenger (victim) has arrived!
Aiden quickly walked up to open the door, and soon a short youngster wearing the winter uniform of Naranja Academy appeared before him.
He felt a bit familiar...
"Kato?"
After pondering for a moment, Aiden uncertainly uttered a name.
[That name sounds familiar; I think I remember it...]
[Wasn't that the one who challenged the gym with the Prankster ability using Illumise last week?]
[Pfft—, I remember now. It was the one who got sanctioned with Prankster against Banette and then got tutored live by Teacher Azure, right!]
[Wow, this talent, coming back to challenge so soon?]
There was a genius last week who used Prankster Illumise against Banette, so his name stuck in Aiden's memory.
Among those who passed the Sunshine Gym test, none were as memorable as him.
Even many of the live stream bullet comments remembered him.
He had become famous in Aiden's eyes...
"Yes, yes!"
Little Kato quickly showed an expression of being greatly honored, his eyes seemingly sparkling.
Sure enough, his performance last week left an impression on Teacher Azure!
Though not necessarily a good one...
But being able to make Teacher Azure remember him with such outrageous moves was something to be proud of!
If he could pass Teacher Azure's test this time, he would surely leave a good impression!
Thinking of this, Kato was filled with confidence.
One day, I will become as strong as Teacher Azure!
Noticing his gaze, Aiden could roughly guess what this little student was thinking.
Students at this age indeed have a bit of chuunibyou in them...
But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Because the children in this world have a fiery spirit to face challenges head-on, champions who tear through the league at a young age can emerge.
"So, Kato, as the first challenger for this gym test, let's start with some questions."
"Yes!"
Kato nodded heavily.
As a veteran challenger of the Sunshine Gym, he was very familiar with this process.
Although Teacher Azure's tests seemed extremely difficult at first glance, correspondingly, he also gave a lot of hints.
If you could figure out this week's tactic through a few example questions before the match, you'd gain a significant advantage in the upcoming battle.
As Teacher Azure said, the gap in Pokémon battles was multifaceted. Besides the strength of both sides' Pokémon, the uneven level of trainers would cause a huge information gap, making the battle especially tough.
Therefore, this was probably Teacher Azure's way of subtly making the students realize this?
[To be honest, the Sunshine Gym's unique mini-game is doing questions. When I first found out, I really wanted to laugh lmao]
[It's because the students aren't living up to expectations. If everyone could understand Teacher Azure's thoughts, there wouldn't be a need for questions, right!]
[When the Sunshine Gym was still a regular gym, Teacher Azure's tactics were determined based on weekend streams. Now that he's taken over as a Victory Road examiner, giving away hints beforehand doesn't seem appropriate anymore...]
[So what tactic will it be today? Singles battles don't seem to fit Beat-Up, right?]
Under the curious gaze of the live stream viewers, Aiden quickly took out a brand-new test paper, handed it to Kato, and Rotom Phone automatically focused the camera on its content.
Kato took a deep breath and, before starting the questions, took out his Rotom Phone and opened the Pokédex function.
As usual, there were five questions on the test that weren't particularly complicated.
Question 1: There are many ways to increase a Pokémon's speed in battle. List three of them.
Question 2: If you want your teammates to also benefit from increased speed, what methods can be used?
Question 3: What is the effect of Kilowattrel's Wind Power ability?
Question 4: Briefly describe how speed affects the power of Electro Ball.
Question 5: How do you take the initiative against a team that uses Tailwind?
After quickly going through the questions, Kato soon frowned, realizing the questions weren't simple.
Although he was only a first-year student, through the Pokédex and his usual accumulation, he could quickly answer the first four questions.
Thus, Teacher Azure's question today was already clear—
Tailwind Team!
Although in previous streams, Aiden hadn't specifically discussed the practical use of this tactic, frequent viewers were certainly familiar with it.
Because Aiden once mentioned a strategy: using Talonflame's Gale Wings ability to reliably activate Tailwind first, thereby always keeping teammates one step ahead of the opponent in doubles battles—a stable tactic.
However...
Tailwind Teams seem to have more application scenarios in doubles, right?
And the Victory Road test is in singles mode. Activating Tailwind only speeds oneself up, and to allow teammates to benefit, active switching is required.
It seems a bit of a loss?
While Kato was thinking this, the live stream bullet comments also quickly reached similar conclusions.
[Singles Tailwind Team? I haven't seen Teacher Azure play this before. Why suddenly bring out a new tactic!]
[Many gym leaders use Tailwind. Flying-types are masters of Tailwind teams. The Kilowattrel hinted at in Teacher Azure's question is also one of the main forces of Iono, the Levincia Gym Leader. A Tailwind team does indeed have considerable killing power...]
[Hahaha, if Teacher Azure demonstrates this Tailwind team today, won't Iono catch a stray?]
[Iono: Oh no, they're coming for me!]
[To be fair, Teacher Azure seems to have given more hints this time. Compared to last week's tricky tactics, this Tailwind team is at least obvious in how he plans to play!]
The bullet comments began discussing animatedly, while Aiden silently smiled beside them.
His efforts in recent times hadn't been in vain. These viewers could now discuss the Tailwind system he pulled out.
When he first started streaming, these bullet comments didn't even know how to break Trick Room and only knew brute force attacks.
Now they could skillfully analyze tactics and consider the feasibility of his lineup.
Their progress could be described as rocket-fast.
Never mind whether they thought correctly or not, at least they were thinking!
As long as they formed basic battle awareness, their proficiency with more lineups would naturally improve, and their level would rise accordingly.
"Teacher Azure, I've got it!"
While Aiden was pondering, Kato, who had been meditating with his head down, suddenly clapped his hands and revealed a look of realization.
"I know how to pass this gym challenge!"
Looking at Kato's confident expression, Aiden immediately became interested.
"Tell me."
"Alright!"
Kato nodded and, while walking with Aiden towards the battlefield outside the gym, excitedly shared his idea:
"The core of the Tailwind team is to speed up our side. As long as the Pokémon we switch in isn't particularly slow, generally we can stably surpass the opponent in speed."
"If that's the case, then I'll just use Trick Room to handle it, won't I!"
"Because of Trick Room's influence, the faster the Pokémon, the slower it acts, so it can completely reverse the pressure on the opponent!"
After listening to Kato, Aiden quickly smiled.
"It does make sense."
"However... theory is one thing, but in actual combat, there are many other interferences. Show me all your ideas in the real battle!"
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