[Why is your Aron level one?!]
Qingyu wasn't surprised to see that chat message.
After briefly looking over the team editor, he had immediately discovered that Pokémon Champions actually had a level system that didn't exist in real life.
It was pretty similar to the games from his previous life.
Perhaps it was a balancing mechanic meant to simulate differences in strength during battles.
Ranked battles normally defaulted to the highest level, but Qingyu had tested it and found he could lower it himself.
That discovery was what had truly convinced him that this strategy built around Aron would absolutely work.
And Aron wasn't the only one. His Hippopotas was also level one.
"Don't worry. Your streamer has a plan!"
Qingyu selected his lead at lightning speed, then immediately hit confirm, locking in his lineup for the match.
The battle began.
The two sides led with Charizard and Hippopotas respectively.
The moment Hippopotas appeared, its Sand Stream Ability activated, instantly engulfing the sunny battlefield in sand and dust.
Pokémon with the Sand Stream Ability automatically summoned a sandstorm upon entering the field.
Only then did the chat belatedly realize that Qingyu's Hippopotas was also level one...
One could have been a misclick, but two had to be deliberate!
Perhaps because it was facing a level-one Hippopotas, his opponent actually sent a "Slowpoke question mark" emote.
After all, the game defaulted to equal levels. Having the weakest of weaklings suddenly pop up had left his opponent baffled.
Not to be outdone, Qingyu responded with a "Psyduck scratching its head."
His strategy only worked once the opponent attacked him, so he handed over the initiative and happily traded emotes.
-Even if he had wanted to seize the initiative, he couldn't have beaten the more agile Charizard to it.
The level gap was right there, after all.
Before either began giving commands, the two sides traded emotes back and forth, neither giving an inch.
"Charizard, Flamethrower!"
While he was sending several emotes in a row, his opponent finally lost patience and ordered Charizard to spit out a blast of fire.
[Seriously, why are you trading emotes with them? Don't you know why they're confused?]
[Still keeping quiet and pretending to be a pro? You couldn't survive that Flamethrower with a hundred thousand lives!]
[What a clueless rookie. Doesn't he know this game uses voice commands? This is driving me craaaaazy!]
[I'll give this one more minute. Any longer and my blood pressure's going to explode!]
His ridiculous behavior earned him a flood of "rave reviews" from chat, but Qingyu wasn't worried in the slightest.
He had no intention of giving a command and simply watched the blazing flames rush toward him.
Sometimes, a Pokémon leaving the field early could accomplish more than stubbornly staying on it.
The instant the move connected, Hippopotas's face was scorched black, its health bar emptied, and it collapsed heavily onto the ground.
"Thank you, Hippopotas!"
Qingyu wiped away tears that weren't there and immediately recalled Hippopotas.
Though it was only playing a supporting role in this battle, setting up the weather alone was already an enormous contribution.
Hippopotas was the MVP!
After that first exchange, Charizard's health also shifted slightly under the raging sandstorm.
During a sandstorm, Pokémon that weren't Rock-, Ground-, or Steel-type suffered continuous, minor chip damage from the blowing sand.
Meanwhile, Qingyu made his next move:
"Go, Aron!"
The little steel-headed monster appeared, looking especially tiny amid the sandstorm.
"Flamethrower!"
This time, his opponent gave the command decisively, without the slightest hesitation.
Another blast of roaring flames shot from Charizard's mouth, hurtling toward Aron.
[I can't even. This one's level one too. If you don't want to win, just say so...]
[So here's the question: how exactly are you going to win?]
[It probably has Sturdy, right? I don't really get it, but why do I suddenly feel like this streamer is actually about to pull something off?]
[Found the prophet. If there's a twist, you're the first one we're taking out!]
The chat had guessed correctly. The Aron on Qingyu's team did indeed have Sturdy.
Sturdy worked similarly to a Focus Sash: a Pokémon with this Ability couldn't be knocked out in a single hit while at full health.
That gave him one chance to act.
Before his opponent could catch on, the corners of Qingyu's mouth unconsciously lifted, and he immediately called out:
"Aron, charge!"
Facing the fierce flames pouring from Charizard's mouth, the little silver-white, ironclad monster showed no fear, its eyes filled with resolve.
The moment its trainer gave the command, it charged at Charizard without hesitation.
As soon as its steel head touched the Flamethrower, the green health bar above it nearly emptied.
A level-one Pokémon was roughly equivalent to a newborn. Expecting it to take on a Charizard on an entirely different level of strength was clearly asking too much.
The sight left the chat stunned.
With Aron's tiny body, how was charging straight into that any different from suicide?
Some viewers were just about to type when the next scene on the stream left them frozen in place.
With its health hanging by a thread, Aron quickly broke through the wall of flames, the last sliver of red above its head glaringly conspicuous.
Even his opponent froze for a moment, and Qingyu immediately seized that brief opening.
"Endeavor!"
The little steel-clad monster mustered every ounce of strength and rammed its head into Charizard's belly before it could react without a command.
That sudden Headbutt actually emptied almost all of Charizard's HP in an instant.
If it hadn't still been standing, its health bar would have looked completely black, with only a barely visible sliver of red remaining at the very end.
Meanwhile, Aron's health had been hanging by a thread, yet after the attack landed, the red bar above its head rocketed straight back to full.
The sight, nothing short of a medical miracle, left every viewer in the stream dumbfounded.
[What just happened?]
[Where did my Charizard's huge health bar go? How did it just empty out???]
[Is the streamer hacking? Something's wrong with that Aron too. How did it heal to full? What move has an effect that broken?]
[So if the hacks aren't off, they're on?]
The game had only been out for a month. Most players were still newcomers with little understanding of Pokémon battles, and had never seen anything like this.
Aron's tiny body had merely bumped into Charizard, and its health bar had almost emptied in an instant too?
No, wait. Its health was barely visible, but Charizard hadn't gone down yet!
Some viewers quickly realized that.
However...
At that very moment, the sandstorm Hippopotas had left behind swept in right on cue.
Charizard had barely been holding on, but staggered on the spot as sand blasted its face.
With its final shred of stamina exhausted, it was completely unable to battle.
Endeavor Aron-a strategy that began with Endeavor's introduction in Generation III, reached maturity in Generation V, and took shape across multiple generations-was also one of the most unusual strategies in Pokémon battling~
Before you continue