This account was currently stuck in the Great Ball promotion matches—already considered a mid-to-high tier segment of the ranked ladder.
Players at this level usually found opponents almost instantly.
As the preparation phase began, Aarav started analyzing his opponent's lineup.
"Charizard, Venusaur, Ninetales, Infernape, Magmar… huh, they even brought Flareon—the so-called 'King of One-on-One.' Guess I'll go a bit easy on them."
Aarav continued,
"This is a very standard Sun team on the ladder. Completely within our effective range."
"The moment they see our lineup, they'll definitely be confused. But they won't understand what's going on either. In that situation, what do they do? Simple—they send out their three most trusted heavy hitters: Charizard, Venusaur, and Ninetales."
In Pokémon: Champion's Path, the single-battle mode also followed a six-pick-three format.
As he spoke, Aarav decisively locked in his three Pokémon:
Hatterene, Mimikyu, and the core of his team—Trapinch.
The battle began.
As expected, the player named "Breathe and I'll Crush You" led with Ninetales.
Aarav, meanwhile, chose Mimikyu as his opener.
The chat was still arguing fiercely.
"I don't get this lineup at all. Six Pokémon with zero synergy—what's the point?"
"Even as a longtime fan of Shui, I don't understand this team either… but I trust him!"
"Why not bring Rhyperior to counter Charizard? Just wait—Charizard is going to sweep three by itself!"
Thanks to its overwhelming popularity and impressive strength, Charizard still had countless fans in this world and was respectfully nicknamed "Professor Zard."
Aarav remained silent and casually changed his stream title to:
[Trapinch 100% Win Rate to Ultra Ball — If I Lose Once, I'll Showcase Your Linguistic Talent]
Then, unhurriedly, he returned to the game and began issuing commands.
As soon as Ninetales entered the field, its Ability, Drought, activated, turning the weather into harsh sunlight—just as expected.
Since Ninetales was faster than Mimikyu, the moment Aarav issued the command to use Trick Room, a scorching wave of heat swept across the battlefield.
It had to be said—there was a reason this game had become a global hit. Whether in visual effects or battle design, it completely outclassed Game Freak's official titles.
On-screen, a blazing storm surged forward, knocking Mimikyu's head sideways.
Mimikyu's Ability, Disguise, activated—negating damage from the first attack.
Immediately afterward, Trick Room was successfully established!
It could only be said that Mimikyu was indeed somewhat underrated in this world. The opponent didn't even recognize its unique Disguise ability.
Taking zero damage from the Heat Wave made "Breathe and I'll Crush You" type two words in the public chat:
"Cheating?"
Aarav chuckled.
"So if it's not turned off, it's cheating? Then what are you going to do when I put up Light Screen next?"
Under Trick Room, the turn order reversed.
Mimikyu, previously moving second, now acted first.
Light Screen rose, forming a translucent barrier that halved the damage from special moves.
Ninetales' second Heat Wave now dealt significantly reduced damage.
Even with the boost from harsh sunlight, it still couldn't inflict meaningful harm on Mimikyu.
After being toyed with like this, the opponent's mentality began to shift subtly.
Logically speaking, with Light Screen in play, a special attacker like Ninetales no longer had much room to operate.
Yet they stubbornly kept Ninetales on the field, clearly determined to fight it out to the end.
Aarav didn't hesitate either. Relying on the combined advantages of Trick Room and Light Screen, he launched a Shadow Ball hit-and-run strategy.
By the way, the battle system in Pokémon: Champion's Path wasn't strictly turn-based.
Under voice commands from the player, Pokémon could move freely across the battlefield. Although their AI wasn't highly advanced, they followed their Trainer's instructions perfectly.
This real-time command system made battles far more engaging and allowed for higher mechanical skill, bringing them closer to real-world Pokémon battles.
Under complete tactical suppression, the opponent's Sun team never had the chance to display its true strength.
By the time Trick Room ended, both Ninetales and the much-anticipated "Professor Zard" had already fallen.
The last remaining Pokémon, Venusaur, initially thought it had finally found its chance to shine and sweep three in a row.
However, Hatterene's second Trick Room shattered that dream instantly.
Venusaur, which should have doubled its Speed under harsh sunlight thanks to Chlorophyll, suddenly felt like one of its legs had been broken—its movements became sluggish and awkward.
Before the true Trick Room sweeper, Trapinch, even entered the battlefield, the opponent—already tilted beyond recovery—chose to surrender.
"Victory secured!"
After effortlessly winning the first match, Aarav stretched lazily and glanced at the chat.
"Wait, Trick Room can be used like this?"
"Got it—heading straight to challenge the Viridian Gym!"
"Honestly, this strategy seems really effective against fast Pokémon."
Like many tactical moves, Trick Room had never received sufficient attention in this world.
The main reason was that there were very few Trainers specializing in Psychic-type Pokémon.
Moreover, most Psychic-type Pokémon could use Teleport.
They preferred using Teleport—a more flexible and convenient move—to create speed advantages.
As this mindset carried over into the game, players naturally invested little effort into developing Trick Room strategies.
Amid laughter and cheers, Aarav continued his winning streak and soon reached the Ultra Ball promotion matches.
This tier was still some distance away from the top of the ladder, but for ordinary players, it was already the ceiling.
With a bit of luck, one could even occasionally match against famous Trainers.
Clearly, Aarav's luck today was exceptionally good.
"After this match, I'm ending the stream. Let's see who the last lucky opponent is."
As he spoke, the opponent's username made him pause.
[IonoNarrates]
"Iono again? Is it the real one?"
The game didn't restrict duplicate names. For a popular streamer like Iono, fans using the same name was completely normal.
At that moment, the chat provided timely clarification.
"It's her! I'm watching Iono's stream right now!"
"Came from Iono's stream—brothers, let's crush this streamer!"
"Shui, Iono just said she's going to make you cry!"
Aarav rubbed his chin, his smile widening.
"Make me cry? Interesting."
Meanwhile.
In the Paldea region, Levincia City, inside a high-end apartment.
A cute girl with pink-and-blue twin tails stared angrily at her computer screen, her cheeks puffed out.
The giant headpiece shaped like a Magnemite above her head blinked repeatedly, expressing her frustration.
"It's that guy again!"
After confirming the situation in Aarav's livestream, Iono returned to the game and declared confidently:
"Watch closely. I've already figured out how to counter his dirty tactics. This time, I'm washing away my shame!"
As she spoke, she glanced at the opponent's six Pokémon in the selection screen and widened her eyes.
"Huh? He didn't use those Pokémon this time?"
During their last encounter, Aarav's Substitute + Toxic strategy had completely tortured her, turning him into her number-one internet nemesis.
Reuniting with him again, she hadn't expected Aarav to suddenly "turn over a new leaf."
"Did he suddenly grow a conscience? No—what the heck is Trapinch?!"
Seeing the brown, big-headed ant-like Pokémon in the selection screen, the Magnemite headpiece above Iono's head practically sprouted question marks.
But soon she waved it off, unconcerned.
"Whatever. What can Trapinch even do? Trapinch can't do anything!"
As she spoke, she quickly locked in her choices:
Kilowattrel, Luxray, and Mismagius.
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