The Scientific Minimize Team

[Pink demon? Chansey is clearly a little angel! Why give her such an evil nickname?]

[The Chansey Protection Association strongly condemns this!]

[You're banned from eating eggs laid by our little angel Chansey from now on!]

[Honestly, the streamer might actually be good... but does anyone seriously think Chansey can battle?]

The moment Qingyu finished his opening remarks, a barrage of scathing comments flooded the chat.

Clearly, everyone had very little faith in Chansey.

Chansey, the Egg Pokémon, was the little angel who always spawned at Pokémon Centers.

There was some truth to the claim that she wasn't suited for battle.

Perhaps because of her temperament, Chansey's damage output was abysmal.

Even with her bond with her Trainer maxed out, evolving into Blissey still didn't give her much firepower.

For the local Trainers, who preferred passionate, all-out slugfests, she really was a little weak.

Of course, when their great creator Arceus closed a window for her, he naturally opened a door as well.

Offense might be a lost cause, but the Chansey family was exceptional at defense.

In Special Defense, especially, they were a wall of despair.

"Don't rush. A master once said, 'There are no weak Pokémon, only Trainers who don't know how to use them.' Today, Professor Qingyu will show you a strategy tailor-made for Chansey!"

As he spoke, Qingyu had already opened Pokémon Champions and selected a round, pink Pokémon in the team editor.

[Why Chansey? Isn't Blissey the final evolution?]

[Maybe so he can use Eviolite? Neither of them can fight anyway, so he might as well make her tankier.]

[Then how are you supposed to win?]

Qingyu wasn't surprised by the chat's confusion.

After all, this was a real Pokémon world. Stall teams grinding their opponents down until they lost weren't exactly a common sight.

Otherwise, it would be far too easy for things to turn into another fight-one without any rules...

The saying that playing stall would leave you friendless wasn't just a joke.

"I do plan to use Eviolite, since it pushes Chansey's strengths even further."

"Of course, Blissey can use this strategy too. Swap the held item for Bright Powder, and the results shouldn't be too different."

After a brief explanation, Qingyu went straight into matchmaking.

The stereotypes surrounding the Chansey family were too deeply rooted. Words alone wouldn't make his viewers understand.

He had to prove it to them through action-

The angelic-looking Chansey family was anything but a pushover!

After he reached Great Ball tier, the noticeably smaller player pool had made his matchmaking times much longer.

Previously, he could find an opponent in seconds. Now, he actually had to wait a full five minutes.

He had finished watching Elesa's latest outfit video on Poké TV before the matchmaking spinner finally stopped.

"Excellent! Our Scientific Minimize Team can finally start crushing everyone!"

Qingyu smiled slightly, studying his opponent's lineup while keeping the atmosphere lively.

"Let me make a prediction. Your next line will be-"

'Streamer, streamer, what's the Scientific Minimize Team?'

[What's the Scientific Mini... holy shit, he's hacking!]

[??? Reading your opponent is one thing, but you're reading the chat too?]

[Serve it up already, Professor Qingyu! I can't wait!]

Seeing how his little "Future Sight" trick had stunned the chat and livened things up, Qingyu smiled in satisfaction.

"The Scientific Minimize Team is built around the move Minimize. You keep shrinking your Pokémon to make it harder for your opponent to hit."

"It sounds like it relies heavily on luck, but that's not actually the case."

"For instance, their team this match leans toward Special Attack, so we can confidently lead with Chansey."

As the battle began, Qingyu's Trainer avatar immediately sent out Chansey.

His opponent was a young male Trainer whose lead Pokémon was Alakazam, also known as Master Alakazam.

Just what Qingyu had wanted.

"Alakazam, Psychic!"

As soon as both Pokémon took the field, his opponent issued the first command.

Alakazam crossed the two spoons in his hands. Purple light blazed in his eyes, and a raging blast of psychic force shot toward Chansey.

Chansey's reaction was extremely slow. Even as she watched the attack come at her, she remained still, wearing her innocent smile.

The torrent of psychic force struck Chansey, yet surprisingly, it barely affected her.

Her HP bar, more than twice as long as Master Alakazam's, suffered a devastating little scratch, leaving her astonishing reserves of health almost completely intact.

"Lucky?"

Even through the screen, the confusion in Chansey's voice was palpable.

It was as if she were saying:

Buddy, did you skip lunch?

"Master Alakazam, are you giving her a massage? If you're not a physical attacker, don't even dream of hurting our Chansey!"

Qingyu immediately gave his command:

"Chansey, Minimize!"

Chansey's body shrank inch by inch, soon leaving her only half as tall as before.

Shrinking was a Pokémon's survival instinct.

Even Pokémon that didn't know the move Minimize were likely to instinctively shrink to avoid attacks when they encountered danger in the wild.

This was also the principle behind how modern Poké Balls stored Pokémon.

After using Minimize, Chansey wasn't merely harder to hit. Her smaller body also made her more agile.

Although her opponent quickly reacted and switched to the supereffective Focus Blast, it was already too late.

Blasts of energy flew at her one after another, but Chansey easily dodged each with clumsy yet practical footwork, all while using Minimize again.

After shrinking three times, Chansey was so small that her position was almost impossible to make out with the naked eye.

Even Alakazam, famous for his psychic powers, could barely hope to hit her anymore.

"Didn't someone ask how Chansey was supposed to win? Watch closely. Don't blink!"

Alakazam's Ability could be Synchronize or magic guard, so...

There was only one answer!

"Chansey, Seismic Toss!"

At some point, Chansey had reached Alakazam. Her tiny body erupted with terrifying strength, hurling him into the air!

The damage wasn't particularly outrageous, but the humiliation certainly was.

Faced with a "pink demon" he couldn't hit while she steadily wore him down, the opponent quickly found the humiliation unbearable and hit surrender at lightning speed.

[Huh? Is this still a Pokémon battle? Where the hell have you taken me?]

[Isn't this way too dirty?]

[Why does the streamer's Chansey look like she's smiling so evilly? Am I imagining it...?]

[You're not imagining it. No wonder he calls her a pink demon. Give us back our adorable little angel!!!]

Clearly, the Minimize strategy had given the chat quite a shock.

"He surrendered already?"

Qingyu's smile vanished just as he was getting ready to shine.

I finally get to play a stall team, and you leave me hanging like this?

As a Pokémon player through and through, he found the ranking points from winning rather dull compared with the joy of battling.

"That's the power of the Scientific Minimize Team. Chansey's special bulk is ridiculous. Add Eviolite's boost, and as long as you catch a special attacker, there's a good chance you can max out your boosts in one go."

"I shouldn't need to tell you what comes next, right?"

Qingyu smiled slightly and queued again, with comments like "Dirty, dirty, dirty!" and "Learned it, delete this now!" filling the screen.

After another two or three minutes of waiting, a new "evenly matched opponent" appeared across from him.

Player ID: Will of Fire!

League certification: Flint, newly appointed Elite Four member of the Sinnoh Region!

Thanks to Li Luochen for the donation.

In theory, Chansey is pretty easy to counter. Everyone knows you can knock her down with one punch, but actually facing her is still infuriating. She absolutely deserves the name pink demon.