After the match was successful, Aiden and Red each pressed the confirm button, and then both sides' lineups quickly appeared before their eyes.
When seeing Red's lineup, Aiden suddenly raised an eyebrow, realizing things might not be so simple.
Pikachu, Espeon, Snorlax, Venusaur, Charizard, Chansey.
At first glance, it indeed looked very much like his team—main core members basically complete, with a bit of his own small cleverness.
Venusaur itself was a bulky defensive team member. To showcase its offensive strength, it basically needed to be deeply bound with sun teams.
So Red chose Charizard as the weather setter. If there were no surprises, it should be the Charizard Y aggressive opening route. In the sun, Espeon could also continuously replenish stamina through Morning Sun.
As for Pikachu——this thing was faith. Anyone who could pull out this cute creature was a talented person.
Theoretically, Red's tactics should be a very standard sun-biased defensive team, but that extra Chansey made Aiden feel something was off.
Since the opponent was himself, every one of Red's Pokémon must have his own unique understanding.
Then——what would happen if you combined a Chansey that knows Minimize with an Espeon that knows Skill Swap?
Thinking of this, Aiden immediately became amused.
"Isn't this the prototype of the Scientific Minimize team? Truly worthy of you, Red!"
Although the other side might not necessarily think this way, being able to think of stuffing a Chansey into his team, what did that indicate?
It indicated that Red had long been marinated in Teacher Azure's tactics——
No, it indicated that this kid Red indeed had a knack for tactics, and had integrated his own new understanding from the Minimize team Aiden introduced back then!
Snorlax itself was the original soul member of defensive teams—just relying on Rest could disgust opponents to no end. Add Chansey, Venusaur, and Espeon, and it became even more dirty beyond belief.
No wonder he could become Champion—when it comes to pulling off plays, you have to look at him!
And his subtle expression change from initially somewhat solemn to suddenly smiling was naturally fully captured by the students in the livestream room.
[Oh no, this one really seems to be an honors student taught by Teacher Azure. Seeing Teacher Azure's gratified smile, you know he's not simple!]
[Now it's a small dirty meeting a big dirty—could Teacher Azure's students possibly be any proper people?]
[AOEing in the livestream room, but seems like it's not wrong either——]
[What's the background of this opponent? Haven't heard of him before, but someone who can make Teacher Azure sit up and fight him—could he be a genius youth from another region?]
Speculation about Red's identity instantly became a hot topic in the livestream room.
Of course, perhaps it wouldn't be long before they would know this teenager and firmly remember his new identity as Kanto Champion.
After thinking for a moment, Aiden ultimately chose the Gengar + Amoonguss opening combination.
Whether facing a sun team or a Minimize system that relies on durability to stall for time to take shape, these two could flexibly provide solutions, or at worst could rotate in time.
The backline chose Azumarill and Mabosstiff, momentarily making the audience unable to figure out his thinking.
Red's side also followed closely, quickly locking in his opening.
After the screen before them changed, they arrived at the center of the Battle Chateau in the Kalos region.
The Mega Evolution version was about to pass. Perhaps when the game next changed to the Terastallization version, the scene before them would also transform into the Paldea region.
While thinking to himself, Aiden watched his trainer image walk out of the contestant passage, coming before Red who was marked by his red-white cap and Pikachu on his shoulder.
The battle was about to begin, and four Poké Balls were thrown out in succession.
On Aiden's side, the purple chubby Gengar sticking out its tongue making ghost faces and the Amoonguss with a mocking expression appeared simultaneously, instantly making the art style become somewhat improper.
And Red's opening choice was Charizard and Snorlax.
"Because he knows his tactics focus on Perish Song, and Perish Song's release won't be affected by accuracy, so he didn't choose to open with Chansey Minimize?"
Aiden nodded, completely seeing through the underlying logic of these two opening Pokémon.
"However, since Charizard is on the field, that means this match the opponent is playing sun team with open cards, so——"
After pondering for a moment, he immediately spoke.
"Gengar, Mega Evolve, then use Thunderbolt on Charizard!"
"Come back, Amoonguss!"
This command, of course, the students understood—it was a very stable choice, also consistent with Teacher Azure's consistent tactical style.
Although Amoonguss had the "god-tier move" Spore that guaranteed sleep, its own speed was very slow. So if forcibly trying to sleep one opponent, it would likely be instantly KO'd by Mega Evolved Charizard.
Aiden was always known for his meticulous thinking, every step predicting in advance several moves ahead, so naturally he wouldn't recklessly rush at the opening.
And his thoughts quickly became reality: "Charizard, after Mega Evolution, use Fire Blast on Amoonguss!"
"Snorlax, use Yawn, target Gengar!"
The two trainers' avatars simultaneously raised their right hands, displaying the Key Stones on their wrists, and the first round of exchange thus began.
Before the white pillar of light formed, Aiden immediately withdrew the just-entered Amoonguss and sent out Azumarill to switch in.
From Red's command just now, this step choice was indeed crucial.
Fire Blast was terrifying for Amoonguss, especially when the move was used by a Charizard Y with explosive firepower and inherent sun.
But for the Water-type Azumarill, the damage basically wouldn't be too outrageous, and it could easily tank this move.
Without worries, Aiden's trainer image began focusing on Gengar.
Thus it completed Mega Evolution first, its originally cute square body transforming into a cannon-like form, its limbs landing on the ground like support frames, revealing a pair of evil charming eyes and a somewhat sinister smile.
At the same time, Gengar's shadow that merged with the ground also seemed to come alive, spreading outward at terrifying speed until the entire field was swallowed by it.
The Snorlax and Charizard on the opponent's field seemed not yet aware that their shadows had been completely locked by the opponent, unable to be actively withdrawn by their trainer using Poké Balls.
And soon, electric light immediately intertwined in Gengar's mouth, rapidly spraying out a powerfully electric voltage, shooting straight toward Charizard's direction!
But the moment the move was launched, Aiden could clearly feel the screen brightness before him suddenly increase considerably, while the evolution radiance on the opponent's half also gradually dissipated.
Clearly, Charizard had also completed Mega Evolution, displaying its most powerful side.
The king of the sky, spreading its wings in the air, bathing in increasingly intense sunlight, let out a clear roar toward Gengar's direction.
Thunderbolt hit accurately, but Charizard Y after Mega Evolution had greatly increased resistance to special attack moves—even a super effective move didn't seem fatal.
After hard-tanking the opponent's move with its body, it disdainfully flapped its wings and shifted its gaze to Azumarill beside it, then without hesitation launched a zero-frame startup, blasting out a scorching flame.
After the burning fireball sprayed out, it went straight to the unprepared Azumarill, instantly extending in five different directions simultaneously when exploding, displaying the move's essence of the "big" character shape.
If it were Amoonguss, it probably couldn't withstand this move at all.
But fortunately, Aiden had predicted this moment in advance and immediately made the rotation, thus using Azumarill to successfully resolve the opponent's first wave of offense.
After the two Mega users acted in succession, the always-half-a-beat-slow Snorlax finally arrived belatedly, letting out a loud yawn toward the distant Gengar, then lying down again.
In one exchange, both sides had tested each other in the first round, with neither side's stamina loss being too great.
Purely from the results, Aiden had undoubtedly profited—after all, Charizard as the sun team's weather setter and core output had its stamina suppressed considerably by one Thunderbolt. If gambling, there might be a chance to instantly KO it.
But because of the Yawn from Snorlax, Aiden now had to consider whether to compromise—should he stay on the field to first eliminate Charizard, or immediately retreat to preserve his Shadow Tag Mega user?
The answer was actually very simple.
"Come back, Gengar!"
"Azumarill, use Belly Drum!"
Aiden immediately made a decisive command, withdrawing Mega Gengar to the backline and sending out Mabosstiff to replace it.
He was very clear that at this moment, he absolutely couldn't be greedy.
Because if forcibly staying on the field and letting Charizard use Protect to stall for time, making Mega Gengar fall asleep, this match would already be a lost cause.
So even if he suffered some small losses next, he couldn't lose sight of the bigger picture and let the most crucial core of his team directly lose combat capability.
And Red's command voice also transmitted at this moment: "Charizard, Protect!"
"Snorlax, use Body Slam on Azumarill!"
When facing Aiden, Red also made a relatively stable choice.
The thousand-layer mind games between the two, although the audience couldn't completely understand, could roughly judge what was happening.
[Teacher Azure seems to have predicted the opponent's thoughts again, just ridiculous!]
[The opponent is also afraid Teacher Azure won't play by the book, so played it safe, resulting in nothing happening on both sides——]
[Isn't this obvious—the opponent is Teacher Azure, if you dare to play flashy you'll lose in minutes, of course you have to play it safe!]
[Teacher Azure's predictions are still so artistic, but this time the opponent's performance is also quite good, worthy of being a newcomer recognized by Teacher Azure, strong as a monster——]
Amidst the bullet comment storm, the Azumarill on Aiden's field had already fully patted its belly, playing a completely unstructured Belly Drum.
After using this move, although its stamina instantly shrank by nearly half, it became visibly spirited, even the muscles on its arms clearly visible.
Belly Drum Huge Power Azumarill—this was a simple and practical tactic that anyone who played Pokémon Champions would eventually encounter.
And after Belly Drum, Azumarill pulled out a Sitrus Berry from behind, swallowing it in a few bites, instantly recovering the stamina lost from Belly Drum to a healthy state.
Until it finished acting, the slow Snorlax, due to its size and personality finally arrived belatedly.
It suddenly exerted force with its feet, stepping out a deep mark on the ground, then its obese body suddenly and nimbly leaped into the air, transforming into a black shadow, falling toward Azumarill's direction.
Boom—!
Snorlax's weight of up to half a ton was absolutely a weight that most lifeforms could hardly bear normally, not to mention it also used gravity in the air to further strengthen the move's power.
For smaller Pokémon, being crushed into a meat pancake by it at this moment wouldn't be strange.
Even Azumarill with great strength similarly couldn't withstand its "meatball impact," immediately being pressed underneath, its stamina also decreasing.
However, the good news was that at least it wasn't pressed to the point of damaging its organs, so it didn't fall into paralysis.
At this time, Red's target naturally locked onto Azumarill.
On one hand because its stamina wasn't healthy, on the other hand because for Charizard Y, its threat after Belly Drum was really too great—one Aqua Jet might instantly KO it.
Therefore, Red before the computer almost without thinking immediately intended to make the command—
Azumarill's combat power was strong, but it also had a fatal problem: its speed wasn't fast, so it couldn't seize the initiative before Charizard Y.
And under its inherent sun system, Charizard Y only needed one Solar Beam to instantly clear its remaining stamina, thus continuing to fulfill its cannon duties.
But the words reached his lips, yet Red forcibly swallowed them back.
Because he instinctively felt there was something fishy here.
With Teacher Azure's tactical literacy, it was impossible not to know Azumarill would be counter-killed by Charizard.
Yet he still sent out this Azumarill.
In a sun team, it not only couldn't match up against Charizard, but would also be countered by Venusaur—absolutely belonging to the most worthless of the worthless.
If it were other ordinary opponents, this extremely simple Belly Drum tactic might still be understandable.
But Teacher Azure——
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Red's silence lasted several seconds, until he suddenly recalled the bizarre tactic he saw when passing through Cerulean City and challenging Gym Leader Misty.
Sap Sipper???
A drop of cold sweat instantly oozed out from Red's cheek, making him feel a wave of lingering fear.
That's right—Teacher Azure's Azumarill really might not necessarily have the Huge Power ability, but could instead be the Sap Sipper ability specifically used to counter Grass-type Pokémon!
If he rashly used Solar Beam, it very likely wouldn't OHKO Azumarill, but instead cause endless trouble, digging a pit for himself—
Thinking of this, Red immediately made his decision: "Charizard, come back first!"
"Snorlax, continue using Body Slam to reduce Azumarill's stamina!"
While speaking, a smile suddenly appeared on Red's face, and he looked meaningfully at Aiden's trainer image on the screen.
Truly worthy of Teacher Azure—he almost fell for his trap——
Indeed, only an opponent of this level was sufficient to test whether he was qualified to challenge the Victory Road, right?
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