Mamoswine.
Like many early Pokémon, it was the final evolution of Swinub that went undiscovered for a long time, leading scientists to once believe they were extinct.
However, under the research of Professor Rowan in Sinnoh, researchers eventually uncovered the secrets of the move Ancient Power.
Upon learning this move, it seems to activate primal forces within certain ancient Pokémon, allowing them to evolve into their former prime forms.
Mamoswine was one such example, evolving from particularly gifted Swinub.
As Aiden had previously mentioned, the Ice type itself wasn't considered strong, having offensive prowess but lacking in defense.
Even Steel, widely regarded as the best defensive type, couldn't save Ice's defensive shortcomings like Bug/Steel combinations could; instead, it highlighted two glaring four-times weaknesses, making it a poor trade-off...
So, what if we abandoned defense entirely and maximized its excellent offensive capabilities?
Pokémon like Weavile, who completely forsake defense as glass cannons, certainly carved out a niche. Once, Weavile earned the reputation of "Dragon Slayer," with countless Dragon-types falling to its blade.
As for Mamoswine, it followed a different approach.
The Ice/Ground combination still wasn't great defensively, with glaring weaknesses.
But this combination's offensive capabilities were absurdly powerful.
Aside from a few specific attribute combinations and some Levitate Pokémon, theoretically, it had no offensive blind spots.
And Ground-type posed a significant threat to the Fire-type Pokémon of the Sunny Day team.
Thus, upon seeing Mamoswine appear on screen, Aiden didn't hesitate and decisively ordered Torkoal to retreat.
"Mamoswine poses a significant threat to our side, so we need to bring in other Pokémon to handle it and prevent any mishaps."
"We need to keep our weather setter alive as much as possible. What if we need it to set the weather again?"
Faced with Mamoswine's staggering 130 base Attack stat, Aiden naturally didn't dare leave Torkoal on the field.
After all, with its negligible speed, taking a hit from Earthquake might knock it out instantly.
Seeing Aiden recall his Pokémon, the opponent didn't hesitate either and quickly issued a command simultaneously.
"Mamoswine, Stealth Rock!"
As Torkoal disappeared back into its ball, Mamoswine immediately dug its giant tusks into the ground, then thrust them upward, leaving countless invisible shards hovering in Aiden's half of the field.
"Tsk…"
Aiden silently clicked his tongue.
As expected of a veteran Elite Four member, her combat instincts were leagues apart from the younger generation.
In Kanto's wild battle style, seizing every fleeting opportunity was key to victory, so these battle-hardened Elite Four members' reflexes were terrifying.
[Wow, did Lorelei predict Teacher Azure's moves and directly lay down entry hazards to counter Charizard?]
[It must be. The best Pokémon on Teacher Azure's team to deal with Mamoswine is Charizard. If Stealth Rock hits, Charizard will lose half its HP upon landing!]
[I heard Lance used to have a Charizard, but why doesn't he use it anymore? Now I know the reason...]
[Lance: Teacher Azure, you're walking my old path!]
[To be honest, this is the first time I've seen Teacher Azure get read by an opponent. This is a bit awkward.]
As the chat suggested, Aiden was indeed deep in thought.
However, the reason wasn't what they thought—being scared by the Stealth Rock.
Even without Charizard, his team still had options like the Grass/Fire Spicy Pepper and Seaking, which could individually handle Mamoswine.
Instead, he was pondering who to bring in.
After thinking for a few seconds, he decided to stick to his earlier logic.
Keep it simple!
So…
"It's decided! Charizard, you're up!"
Once Aiden gave the command, the chat erupted in laughter.
[Is Teacher Azure out of options and has to endure the Stealth Rock spikes to bring out Charizard?]
[First time seeing Teacher Azure at a disadvantage. Did anyone record this?]
[This is like shooting yourself in the foot… The Stealth Rock tactic Teacher Azure popularized has come back to haunt him. It's poetic justice!]
[Kanto's Elite Four are too comprehensive. Last time against Lance, it seems he didn't go all out!]
However, what happened next seemed different from what they expected.
After the Poké Ball was thrown, Charizard appeared quickly.
As it slowly descended from the sky, it began flapping its boot-clad feet, soon stepping on some Stealth Rocks, causing low booming sounds.
However, until it landed, there was no change in Charizard's HP bar.
[??? Is this a fake Stealth Rock? Why isn't it dealing damage?]
[Hiss— Wait a minute? Does Teacher Azure's Charizard have Heavy-Duty Boots?]
"That's right, of course Charizard has Heavy-Duty Boots!"
Seeing some viewers quickly catch on, Aiden nodded in satisfaction.
"As everyone knows, although Charizard's name contains 'dragon,' it's actually Fire/Flying type, inherently quadruple weak to Rock. Taking a hit from Stealth Rock would cost it half its life, so we definitely need to find ways to mitigate that." (T/N: In Chinese & Japanese, Charizard's name has 'dragon' in it)
Heavy-Duty Boots, a plain yet effective held item, allows the Pokémon holding it to be unaffected by various entry hazards.
Since Mega Evolution wasn't available yet, Charizard couldn't hold a Mega Stone, so a life-preserving item like Heavy-Duty Boots was a decent choice.
Thanks to Heavy-Duty Boots, Charizard landed safely. Intense sunlight bathed its body, quickly enveloping it in a glow, making its presence even more formidable.
"Charizard's hidden ability is Solar Power. While absorbing excessive energy causes it to gradually lose HP under the sun, it also boosts Charizard's Special Attack."
After briefly explaining, Aiden quickly flashed a confident smile.
"So, our choice is—"
"Charizard, Solar Beam!"
"Mamoswine, Stone Edge!"
Both sides issued commands almost simultaneously.
For a Charizard quadruple weak to Rock, getting hit by Stone Edge would mean owing ten thousand lives.
Unfortunately for Mamoswine, it didn't have a chance.
Because Charizard was clearly faster; it initiated the charging motion first, and soon, surging…
Grass-type energy!
Under the sunlight, Charizard's energy was exceptionally abundant, so this Solar Beam fired almost instantaneously from its mouth, directly hitting Mamoswine preparing to attack!
Mamoswine didn't even have time to retaliate before its HP bar was instantly depleted, collapsing on the spot.
Opponent Lorelei seemed to have anticipated this after issuing her command and promptly recalled Mamoswine.
"Solar Beam is a signature move of Grass-type Pokémon and normally requires a long charge to execute…"
"But under harsh sunlight, the energy provided by the sun drastically reduces the charge time, almost allowing instant execution. In fact, this is one of the standard ways for a Sunny Day team to counter Rain teams."
After another round of exchanges, Aiden quietly added.
"Of course, as a member of the Sunny Day team, it's reasonable for Charizard to learn Solar Beam, right?"
[??? Solar Beam Charizard, does your Charizard eat grass or something?!]
[Are you serious? Who would expect a Charizard to stop spewing fire and start spewing grass during a live stream eating sandwiches!]
[To be fair, if Lance knew Teacher Azure's trick, maybe his Charizard wouldn't have been benched...]
This unexpected Solar Beam left viewers stunned, even momentarily crashing opponent Lorelei.
And the reason…
At this moment, sitting on the couch at home, watching Aiden's live stream, Kanto's Elite Four Lance couldn't help but crack a smile.
"I see, it's indeed a very interesting idea."
As a former Charizard user and the biggest victim of Lorelei's Mamoswine, both sides' thoughts were easily transparent to Lance.
Lorelei's Mamoswine only had the Thick Fat ability, gaining resistance to Ice while negating its Fire weakness.
However, Aiden fully anticipated her setup, so he unconventionally had Charizard unleash a Solar Beam. Even experienced Lorelei didn't react in time...
If Aiden had brought out Venusaur with Chlorophyll or the Grass-type Spicy Pepper, Lorelei would've immediately realized the opponent's intent and timely switched to avoid risk.
In the pre-action mental game, Aiden had gained a slight edge.
However…
"Actually, even without Solar Beam, Charizard's Overheat could've reliably taken out this Mamoswine, right?"
After pondering for a moment, Lance had a definitive answer in mind.
Absolutely!
Due to Thick Fat, her Mamoswine wasn't particularly afraid of Fire, so she greedily chose Stone Edge against Charizard, hoping to absorb the hit and retaliate instantly.
This was her usual trick against him. His Charizard didn't have a Sunny Day team to rely on, so its firepower wasn't as exaggerated as Aiden's.
In the end, it backfired on Lorelei.
"So that's how it works. Harnessing the power boost from harsh sunlight, combined with Venusaur's Chlorophyll speed increase and Solar Beam's instant execution, makes the entire team incredibly powerful. It's a very strong orthodox tactic."
Thinking about this, Lance nodded repeatedly, muttering—
"While everyone thinks of Teacher Azure as playing mostly clean tactics, it seems he's proficient in various styles, excelling even in aggressive strategies."
"Now even weather manipulation is second nature to him…"
"Are all rookies this generation monsters?"
Back to the stream.
"While it's not widely known that Charizard can use Solar Beam, well…"
Aiden quickly revealed an evil smile.
"No problem, after today, everyone will know. From now on, whenever you see Charizard, you'll have to guard against Sunny Day Solar Beam."
Some things might go unnoticed if not pointed out. But once someone discovers and shares this setup, it quickly becomes conventional.
But it didn't matter because Aiden had already enjoyed using this trick.
Even Kanto's Elite Four got caught off guard. So, do you want to learn or not?
Without any cost, Aiden easily took down Lorelei's first Pokémon, bringing the score to 1:0. The situation became a bit tricky for Lorelei.
Ice-type counters Grass, but it can't resist Grass-type energy.
With the entire team fearing Charizard might suddenly pull out another Solar Beam, setting up defenses became difficult.
A full low-speed Ice-type team couldn't get past Charizard, the speed gatekeeper.
Moreover, his entire team consisted of tough competitors, even including Seaking, specifically for defense synergy. Water-type moves couldn't be casually deployed.
If Lorelei had known Aiden would play this way, perhaps using Trick Room to limit his initiative would've been better.
However…
Because of Torkoal's presence, even with Trick Room, her pressure remained immense.
Soon, Lorelei's second Pokémon appeared.
Said to have some connection to Santa Claus, rumored to be many trainers' dream girl—
Jynx!
Not only the fastest in the team but also the only one not weak to Grass.
Unfortunately, compared to Charizard, it was still a bit slower.
And…
It feared Fire too!
If it couldn't outspeed Charizard, under harsh sunlight, Lorelei had no chance to retaliate. Upon entering the field, Jynx was immediately taken out by Charizard's Heat Wave.
Because Aiden equipped Torkoal with Heat Rock, the duration of harsh sunlight lasted longer than the opponent expected, making stalling meaningless.
Ultimately, Aiden, relying solely on Charizard's firepower, easily suppressed several of the opponent's Pokémon.
Seeing the situation completely one-sided, Lorelei didn't hesitate much and decisively surrendered, planning to strike back in the next match.
A radiant victory icon soon appeared on the screen.
[Holy cow, even Kanto's Elite Four Lorelei surrendered. Teacher Azure's Sunny Day team is too terrifying!]
[Although part of it was due to type advantage, this firepower looks satisfying. I feel like I can really learn something from Teacher Azure's tactics this time!]
[The terrifying Charizard in the Sunny Day system...]
[Teacher Azure's tactics remain consistently reliable, but whether we can learn them is uncertain!]
"In the systems built around the four major weather conditions, the Sunny Day team is already the simplest tactical system, basically a brainless rush."
After a quick game victory, Aiden swiftly smiled and made a comment.
"As long as you have a basic understanding of the Pokémon in your team, I believe every student can master the Sunny Day team."
"Of course, many viewers might realize that this battle wasn't just the absolute domination of the Sunny Day system over Ice-type Pokémon. The key to victory was actually another less noticeable factor—"
Since he'd mentioned it, Aiden decided to give his "adorable" students another lesson.
"The Pokémon's speed!"
In the previous game's early versions, the speed stat of 100 largely determined a Pokémon's chances of appearing.
As demonstrated earlier, a Charizard with guaranteed priority didn't need to consider defense—it was a wall of despair on its own.
Conversely, if a Pokémon could easily penetrate the opponent's defenses with types and moves but lagged in speed…
The pressure would significantly decrease, and it might even be instantly countered by the opponent's moves.
The most intuitive example of speed affecting victory was a certain Landorus just slightly faster than Charizard's base 100 speed.
Under the same configuration, being faster allowed it to use Rock Slide, Stone Edge, or even Stealth Rock first, forcing the opponent's Charizard to avoid its sharpness.
And if it Mega Evolved…
Wouldn't the threat diminish significantly?
If Charizard could learn some Ice-type moves to cover blind spots, perhaps it could counterattack instantly after Mega Evolving!
In earlier generations, some attackers would even manipulate individual values to change the Hidden Power type, indirectly expanding their coverage.
All to further enhance their dominance.
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