"Was that a coincidence? Or did he really predict it?"
Seeing Staraptor's Whirlwind blocked by the opponent's simultaneous Taunt, Larry's dull, dead-fish eyes gained a glimmer of life.
Making reads required a Trainer to have exceptionally solid fundamentals. Only by fully grasping an opponent's thinking could one predict their next move.
In other words, had his thoughts been completely seen through?
Larry shook his head.
That move alone wasn't enough to prove his opponent's skill. He needed to keep watching.
Still, during those few seconds when his mind had wandered at the start of the battle, hadn't he noticed an official League verification badge on his opponent's profile too?
If he was a Flying-type Gym Leader from another region, this wouldn't be all that surprising.
He would see just who this guy was after the match.
"Come back, Staraptor."
With Taunt sealing off its status moves, Staraptor was no longer much of a threat, so Larry decided to preserve his strength for now and leave open the possibility of bringing it back for another Intimidate.
As he recalled his Pokémon, Qingyu's Trainer avatar likewise raised a Poké Ball.
[? If you were going to switch, didn't that boost just become pointless? Isn't this a massive loss for the streamer?]
[I admit that last move was pretty slick, but I guess facing an Elite Four member is still a bit much...]
"Unless something unexpected happens, Larry's bringing in Oricorio."
"Revelation Dance hits pretty hard, so we need to steer clear of it for now."
Qingyu explained patiently.
Oricorio's primary type changed with its dance style, and before the battle began, he had noticed that Larry's was in "pom-pom style."
Talonflame really couldn't take a super-effective, same-type-boosted Electric Revelation Dance.
Forcing it to stay in just to keep that little stat boost would be an even worse trade. It would probably go down for nothing.
Sure enough, Larry sent out Oricorio, while Qingyu brought out an old favorite among his viewers: Maushold.
[? Is he hacking? How is the streamer reading every one of Larry's moves?]
[How would you even hack this game? Even a cheat couldn't tell you what your opponent was about to do...]
[If he hasn't turned the cheats off, that means they're on, right?]
Having accurately predicted Larry's moves twice in a row, Qingyu had already proven his tactical fundamentals.
"This is the most basic common sense, my students~"
Qingyu chuckled.
He wasn't wrong, either. In fact, high-level Trainers were easier to read.
After all, the closer one came to the optimal solution, the fewer solutions there were.
As for the bottom three tiers he had played through on his climb...
All he could say was that they did have ideas of their own, just not many. They often pulled moves that even Qingyu couldn't understand.
How was he supposed to predict that?!
"Maushold, Population Bomb!"
Maushold wasn't the star of this episode, so Qingyu played ruthlessly.
Right from the start, he aimed to trade pieces, forcibly removing Oricorio-the biggest current threat to Talonflame-to create the perfect stage for its performance.
No matter how bad Qingyu's luck was, the nearly 100 percent accuracy provided by Wide Lens was enough insurance.
Population Bomb landed all ten hits. With Technician boosting each strike, the damage was substantial, taking out Oricorio outright as it tried to counterattack.
Its work done, Master Mouse bowed out. Qingyu recalled it himself, and Talonflame returned to the field.
It ended up facing the returning Staraptor again and took another Intimidate.
[I don't get that switch. Master Mouse was doing great! Why did you pull it out?!]
"You don't get it? Good!"
Qingyu smiled faintly.
This was a rare chance to get some footage. If he let Maushold wipe out everything, how was he supposed to showcase Talonflame...?
"Talonflame, Bulk Up!"
It was the same recipe as before. After entering the field, Talonflame once again spread its wings and showed off its muscular chest.
This time, however, Staraptor had no intention of letting it get away with that.
"Staraptor, Brave Bird!"
It had previously obtained a Flying Gem through Thief. Though its effect could only be used once, the boost it gave Flying-type moves was considerable.
After putting so much effort into restricting me, this one must be his main attacker, right?
Larry decisively chose to wear down this Talonflame first.
Staraptor plunged sharply from the sky, using the speed gained from gravity to launch a desperate, reckless dive.
As the attack landed, the Flying Gem shattered.
Its body slammed squarely into Talonflame. The instantaneous recoil sent it flying backward, costing it a noticeable amount of health as well.
Yet Talonflame, which had taken the Flying-type attack head-on, wasn't badly hurt. It still had more than half its health.
[How is this Talonflame so tanky? Even with one boost, that doesn't seem right...]
[??? I think I get it. The streamer built this Talonflame for bulk!]
[Instead of using Gale Wings to delete things with priority Brave Bird, he stacked bulk to torment his opponent? Haki-yu, you little...]
"Roost!"
With no time to watch the chat, Qingyu gave his next command without hesitation.
This was Talonflame's first Flying-type move of the match.
Thanks to its Gale Wings Ability, it moved with astonishing speed.
Almost the instant the command was given, it had settled firmly onto the ground, steadily soothing itself with the warmth of its feathers.
Roost was a Flying-type move.
By briefly giving up its Flying type, the user could rapidly recover health.
A recovery move that reliably went first, paired with the Defense boost from Bulk Up.
Even without an explanation from Qingyu, the viewers understood.
This wasn't some mighty eagle. It was clearly a heavily armored tank that physical attackers simply couldn't break through!
[Nani?! You can do that?]
[I was wondering why he picked Bulk Up instead of Swords Dance. So that's why! Professor Yu, this is pretty interesting!]
[Then wouldn't you be screwed if I brought in a special attacker?]
[Pokémon battles aren't one-on-one slugfests. Other teammates can handle the special attackers~]
Once the strategy bared its fangs, the balance of the match tilted inexorably toward Qingyu.
Belatedly, Staraptor followed up with another Brave Bird.
But with the Flying Gem already spent, this attack was even less threatening.
After bouncing the opponent's attack off its chest muscles, Talonflame spread its wings again, soaring proudly through the sky as it stared down at Staraptor with disdain.
As if to say:
That's it?
[LMAO, are you giving it a massage?!]
[Am I remembering wrong, or is Talonflame's bulk pretty average? How can the opponent barely hurt it after just one Bulk Up?]
[Aaagh, Bulk Up! Bulk Up!]
Such a dramatic scene naturally prompted a flood of lively comments from the viewers.
"This is going to be difficult..."
Larry sighed and shook his head helplessly.
His opponent's little scheme was already so obvious. How could he possibly fail to recognize it?
Or rather, from the moment he had misjudged his opponent's build, he had already fallen into a carefully laid trap.
All this bulk-specialized Talonflame needed was to use Bulk Up once against a physical attacker that couldn't threaten it. After that, it was free to shine.
Just where was this expert from, to come up with such a...
Unique strategy?
A flop's diary, 5.2
We're going into round two on Sunday! Thanks for your support, everyone. I'm counting on you next Tuesday too~ (Hinting furiously)
Since the story's reached this point, let's have a little quiz with no prizes:
Here's my question: apart from Arceus and Silvally, how many pure Flying-type Pokémon are there?
Before you continue