Xia Chi and Iono's leads were Rillaboom and Kilowattrel respectively.
Given that the opponents clearly lacked a Pokémon capable of using Trick Room, Kilowattrel's Tailwind speed-control tactic had virtually no natural enemies.
As for the Hoenn Champion duo's lead Pokémon, they were Skarmory and Whiscash.
The former needed no introduction, as it was Steven Stone's iconic representative Pokémon, second only to his ace Metagross.
As for Wallace leading with Whiscash, it was most likely shoved into the team as a countermeasure against Iono's Electric-type Pokémon due to its dual Water and Ground typing.
Yet this Pokémon had one fatal flaw, which was a quadruple weakness to Grass.
And Xia Chi happened to bring the Pokémon Rillaboom.
Wallace could not possibly be unaware of this, so it all came down to how he would handle it.
As Rillaboom's entry Ability, Grassy Surge, rolled out a lush green lawn across the battlefield, the battle officially began.
Iono and Xia Chi immediately issued their commands.
"Kilowattrel, Tailwind!"
"Rillaboom, use Fake Out on Skarmory!"
There was no need to dwell on a formulaic opening.
Whiscash did not pose much of an offensive threat, so there was no need to pressure its HP bar with Grassy Glide.
Instead, prioritizing getting Tailwind up for Iono carried higher priority.
Smack-
A crisp slapping sound rang out. Even someone as tough as Steven's Skarmory could not escape the Tapu gorilla's dominant suppression.
Then, a strange and powerful gale blew in from behind Kilowattrel as Tailwind initiated!
Only then did Whiscash sluggishly release its move.
A layer of sharp, diamond-shaped energy fragments scattered beneath Kilowattrel and Rillaboom's feet, unmistakably Spikes.
Xia Chi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Had shady tricks like a spike-stacking team already emerged in the ladder environment of this innocent Pokémon world?
Just who was spreading them?!
Oh, it was me. Never mind then.
Xia Chi had indeed played around with a spike-stacking team tactic when he first started streaming two months ago.
Only, he hadn't been that popular back then, and his influence wasn't large, so only a small fraction of people started playing it.
Ever since that god-slaying battle against Raihan, however, numerous players had realized the importance of defensive synergy and pivoting in Pokémon battles.
Official statistics showed that Pokémon carrying U-turn, Volt Switch, and Parting Shot had increased by several hundred percent over the past half-month.
Naturally, the spike-stacking tactic-an essential countermeasure for dealing with high-frequency pivoting-had rapidly gained popularity.
He just hadn't expected Wallace, a thick-eyed and thick-browed fellow like him, to start playing shady tactics too!
Then again, wasn't Steven's Skarmory an expert at setting spikes?
Wait, was this guy just trying to use Stealth Rock earlier?
Xia Chi felt as though the current ladder environment had been polluted into a dark forest.
Players of every playstyle raised their guns, aiming at unknown enemies.
How terrifying.
Good thing all these shady tactics were spread by me.
Xia Chi sighed inwardly.
Returning to the battle.
Even though a layer of spikes had been scattered on their side of the field.
Kilowattrel had activated Tailwind, successfully achieving their tactical goal, so it was entirely acceptable.
Iono shouted loudly, "Kilowattrel, take to the air, use Electro Ball on Skarmory!"
Xia Chi commanded at the same time, "Rillaboom, target Whiscash, Grassy Glide!"
As the commands were given, the two Pokémon moved like lightning.
The essence of the Tailwind speed-control tactic manifested at that very moment.
The effect of Electro Ball was that its damage was determined by the speed difference between the attacker and the target.
The greater the speed difference between the two, the higher the damage of Electro Ball.
Furthermore, Kilowattrel's Wind Power Ability allowed it to enter a Charge state after using Tailwind, doubling the power of its next Electric-type move.
Tailwind, Charge, STAB, plus the double effectiveness against the Flying type.
The terrifying damage this Electro Ball would inflict could be easily foreseen.
On the game screen across the sky and ground, one yellow and one green lightning-like figure crossed paths, charging toward their respective targets.
Skarmory and Whiscash remained unhurried, each brushing away another layer of righteous Spikes to continue their setup.
In the Pokémon games of his past life, Spikes could not take effect in Double Battles.
In this world, however, it probably respected reality and remained unaffected.
The insidious thing about the move Spikes was that its layers could stack.
The higher the layers, the greater the damage.
With three layers of Spikes stacked like this, even Groudon would shed a layer of skin if it showed up.
Xia Chi now faintly sensed that something was amiss; this didn't look like the battle style of those two at all.
Unless someone had hijacked their accounts, were these two bromantic partners here to run tactical experiments in the game?
Xia Chi guessed to himself.
So, what was the price of the experiment?
A flash of electric light later, Skarmory's HP bar directly performed a vanishing act.
Almost only a sliver of red HP remained.
It wasn't that the damage of Electro Ball wasn't enough, but rather that Skarmory's Sturdy Ability had triggered-
Upon taking lethal damage for the first time, it could retain its last bit of HP.
(Because of the settings, Pokémon HP bars were thicker, so the Sturdy Ability was buffed to be similar to Endure.)
Whiscash on the other side didn't fare much better either.
Although the power of Grassy Glide paled a million miles in comparison to Electro Ball, this was a quadruple weakness backed by the grassy terrain!
With one flying kick from Rillaboom, it damn near kicked Whiscash's whiskers right off.
In an instant, the Hoenn dual Champions' lead Pokémon were almost entirely reduced to deep red HP!
In exchange, their opponent's side of the field had achieved a three-layer Spikes status.
Xia Chi finally couldn't help but complain: "Wait, who is the shady tactics streamer here anyway?"
The bullet comments instantly erupted into roaring laughter.
"Lmao, standing before you right now is Steven (mentor Shuiye, corrupted)."
"Teacher Shuiye, how do you have the nerve to say that? Take a guess on who ruined this smoke-filled environment in the first place, huh?"
"It's all giggles when I scheme against others, but when others scheme against me, FML."
"I support Teacher Shuiye! Isn't it great the way things are now? All kinds of tactics are blooming like a hundred flowers, and even Champion-tier Trainers like Steven are trying out new things in the game. Isn't this the ultimate meaning of the game's existence? (Fifty cents per post, delete the text in parentheses.)"
"The water-devotee upstairs can go-wait, my sixty-meter broadsword almost accidentally struck an ally."
"."
Compared to the lively atmosphere of the bullet comments, the mood on the field was quite tense.
Xia Chi and Iono had intended to finish off the heavily damaged Skarmory and Whiscash in one go.
Yet Protection glowing on both sides directly shattered that intention.
"They're dragging out our Tailwind duration, what should we do?"
Iono couldn't help asking.
Xia Chi replied, "Keep attacking, what else can we do? If you get greedy for setup, what if Skarmory just uses Whirlwind?"
Iono thought that made a lot of sense, so Electro Ball accompanied by Grassy Glide blasted out once more.
Light flickered, but it was Steven on the other side switching out the already critically injured Skarmory.
Xia Chi felt a sudden sense of foreboding in his heart.
Using Metagross's precious backline HP to cover for an already battered Skarmory?
Steven could never do something like that unless his backline wasn't Metagross at all, but rather-
The white light of a Pokémon swap flashed, and the Pokémon that appeared on the battlefield was none other than Steelix!
Before you continue