[Hell yeah—my favorite streamer is finally live!][Ten-year loyal fan checking in uninvited!][Hey now, that line might fool the bros, but don't fool yourself—he only started streaming yesterday, okay…][Streamer, streamer! Your Reckless Aron build is really strong, but it's too execution-heavy. Is there a simpler, more straightforward lineup?][Hurry up and serve some interesting new tactics—I've been waiting forever!]
Dense waves of chat messages flew across the screen.
Qingyu was completely stunned.
Just yesterday, the stream had been practically deserted. When he ended it, the viewer count had barely broken four digits.
And now?
Just a few seconds after going live, the viewer count shot up like a rocket—straight to 2,000!
There were even plenty of people who had been camping in the stream, waiting for him to start.
Steven's friendly shoutout effect was way too insane…
If nothing unexpected happened, at least five digits' worth of viewers would stick around after this stream.
Even back in his previous life, at his peak traffic, he didn't think he'd ever enjoyed treatment on this level.
And this was only his second stream!
The sudden surge in popularity made Qingyu feel a little lightheaded with happiness, but his professional streamer instincts quickly kicked in and pulled him back.
"Small scene, small scene—this is just the beginning."
"My brain is full of decades' worth of tactics researched by trainers from my previous life. Against this pure and simple Pokémon world, that's a straight-up dimensionality reduction strike, okay?"
"I'm the chosen one—and the future's one and only top Pokémon TV streamer!"
After muttering a bit to hype himself up internally, Qingyu quickly calmed down.
"If you can really learn today's tactic, forget Master Ball—climbing to Ultra Ball should be a breeze."
After glancing at the chat and delivering a short opening line, Qingyu opened Pokémon: Champions and entered the team editor.
"Alright then—today, we're playing a hazard-stacking team!"
A hazard team, as the name implies, is a lineup built around spike-type moves.
"Spikes" here refers collectively to battlefield control moves like Spikes, Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, and even Sticky Web.
If they aren't removed, these moves persist throughout the entire battle, and in full 6v6 matches they can effectively wear down and disrupt the opponent.
Just hearing it, you could tell—this was a very "quality" tactic.
You could even say it was the soul of singles teams.
If I don't scatter a bunch of spikes, how would I know you're playing singles?
As Qingyu placed the first Pokémon—Skarmory—into the team, the chat immediately started roasting him.
[That's it? That's it?? This isn't nearly as eye-catching as Reckless Aron—hasn't Steven already played this tactic to death?][Forget Steven—even Johto's Steel-type Elite Four member Jasmine uses hazard teams. Can we get something interesting?][What if the streamer's hazard team is different from everyone else's? Let's watch first.]
Qingyu didn't pay much attention to the sharp commentary.
People in this world were just a bit simple and tactically behind—not actually stupid.
A tactic as simple and effective as hazards had obviously been developed a long time ago.
It was said that Hoenn Champion Steven had forced his way through the Champion's Road with sheer durability, relying on hazards plus a Steel-type army.
And then there was Paldea's top Champion, Geeta—her Glimmora lead had already reached near-perfection. If she wasn't holding back, opening with Toxic Spikes alone could disgust plenty of challengers.
With such examples already setting the bar, pulling out a hazard team really did feel a bit like reinventing the wheel.
But still…
"Don't rush it. My hazard team is different from everyone else's."
Qingyu smacked his lips.
Just thinking about it made it obvious—how could he possibly use a worn-out, street-corner tactic as teaching material?
Ever since hazards debuted in Generation II, this evergreen singles strategy had gone through countless balance updates, evolving who-knows-how-many times already.
Teams built around hazards were practically endless, and every single one could bring opponents an infinite amount of pleasant surprise, yeah!
So now—
How should we carry out this delightful torture?
A full lineup was quickly selected by Qingyu.
Skarmory as the lead, with the remaining teammates being Forretress, Metagross, Mamoswine, Bronzong, and Magnezone.
[What's different about this? Isn't this just Steven's classic "set hazards and stall them to death" team…][I'd rather you keep playing the Reckless build—I want to see Reckless Donphan!][It's over, the streamer's about to start torturing viewers. A pure defensive team like this is at least a 30-minute game, right?]
At first glance, the lineup really was packed with Steel-types boasting excellent resistances—perfectly aligned with Steven's philosophy.
But thinking that would be a mistake.
"What are you thinking? Did you see my stream title? I'm on a time limit, rushing Master Ball. Who has time to play a stall team?"
Qingyu laughed as he queued up for ranked.
As expected, the audience's understanding was still a bit behind.
The true tactical value of hazards was never about dragging out the match and slowly draining the opponent—it was about controlling tempo.
When used properly, hazards could actually speed up battles.
Sure, stall teams would make for better content right now, but the good stuff should be saved for critical moments.
Right now, he was still just a Poké Ball–rank "newbie." Stall teams that dragged games into bladder-bursting marathons were more than he could handle—and torturing random ladder players wasn't very fun anyway.
This lineup might be mostly Steel-types, but it was absolutely loaded with firepower—an unquestionable ladder-climbing weapon.
With that said, even though the chat still had some complaints, most viewers chose to stay quiet and wait for Qingyu to show his stuff.
At low ranks, it was easy to match with evenly matched opponents.
Soon enough, Qingyu met the first unlucky victim of the stream.
The opponent's lineup appeared one by one:
"Gardevoir, Tsareena, Lopunny, Primarina, Hatterene, Meowscarada."
"And the trainer ID is… 'I Love Pokémon the Most'???"
"May I ask—do you love them in a proper way?"
Qingyu scratched his head.
As expected of low ranks—even someone with a premium PeachHub account could show up here.
"This lineup… sure, it's got some strength, but what kind of synergy do these even have?"
[Of course they do. No need to talk tactics with a meta slave like you—they're all my wives~][Sounds like you want Officer Jenny to give you a firm lesson with her baton!][Human nature.][Actually, that's not true!]
The virtual battlefield loaded in, and both sides' leads took the field.
Skarmory vs. Tsareena.
Skarmory was a dual Steel/Flying-type Pokémon with excellent resistances, only weak to Fire and Electric.
Knowing that Tsareena posed no real threat to Skarmory, Qingyu decisively issued the command:
"Skarmory—Stealth Rock!"
Advance 80 Chapters available at: patreon.com/Hoshino_Sora