Charizard is the MVP!
5: Chapter 5: Oh My, Mr.
Charizard is the MVP!
“Huh?
Did she forfeit?” As the word “VICTORY” lit up on the screen, Xia Chi stretched, feeling like he wanted more.
To be fair, the quality and intensity of this battle were several levels higher than his previous ones.
Gym Leaders were Gym Leaders for a reason—and it was never just because their Pokémon were powerful.
Their understanding of Pokémon battles was genuinely a step above that of ordinary Trainers.
If Xia Chi hadn’t predicted Iono’s attempt to burst down Hatterene using [Volt Switch] and [Shadow Ball], winning wouldn’t have been so easy, even if he still pulled it off in the end.
And after Xia Chi captured the famous streamer and Gym Leader Miss Iono for the second time, his livestream’s popularity reached an unbelievable peak.
Countless passersby and even troll fans from Iono’s stream flooded in, gathering together.
The densely packed chat was a chaotic mess: “Reporting!
Iono went red-hot tilted and ended her stream again!” “LMAO!
Getting crushed by a Trapinch…
forget Iono, any normal person wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.” “Forgive us, Lord Trapinch!
We failed to let you enjoy yourself!” “Wait, could anyone really swap in Trapinch in that situation?
Was it just a lucky fluke?” “I hereby announce that I will stop watching Iono’s stream and join the more authoritative channel: Shui Ye!” “Pretty girl streamer meets Old Man Shui in ranked play—Room strategy strong as a monster, works her hardest yet still can’t win!” “Not her hardest.” “Not a monster.” “Not a pretty girl.” “…” Along with the rolling chat came a massive surge of followers and a good number of high-value tips.
After all, defeating the super-popular streamer Iono fair and square—and in a way that delivered maximum entertainment value—it would be hard *not* to blow up.
“Thank you to boss [Iono Blew Up Today] for sending ten Luxury Balls!
You’re super generous, boss!” While thanking the gifts, Xia Chi answered a few questions from the chat.
“‘How do you view the famous Gym Leader Iono being captured by the unknown little streamer Shui Ye for the second time in a week?'” “My evaluation is: anti-fans, stop trolling!
As you all know, Teacher Iono has always been the Trainer I respect the most!” Some jokes were fine for the chat to play with, but the main host better not cross the line.
Xia Chi understood this logic well.
Besides, his stream took off largely thanks to riding Iono’s clout these past two times.
Toward Iono, Xia Chi had nothing but respect—utmost respect.
He picked another question that was being asked frequently.
“‘Was the final swap to Trapinch just luck?'” “Actually, no.” Xia Chi replied seriously, “The situation was very dangerous for Teacher Iono at that moment.
Her only chance of winning was to burst down Hatterene with a combination like [Volt Switch] and [Shadow Ball].
But even if my read had been wrong, I still held the advantage.” “…” —————— Inside a luxury apartment in Levincia, Paldea region.
Having ended her stream in a red-hot tilt, Iono lay on her bed with lifeless eyes, her mind still filled with the image of that giant-headed ant speeding across the field.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t accept losing to a Trapinch.
What was there to obsess over in a casual ranked game?
“But that strategy really seems a bit legit…” Rolling over on her bed, Iono slipped off her slightly oversized, quirky punk jacket, her white, dainty feet kicking up and down at the edge of the bed.
She tapped away on her phone, muttering to herself, “Shui Ye…
Shui Ye…
Found him!” Seeing the bright “Trending” tag next to his stream title, Iono huffed, “His popularity is already in the top twenty of the battle section?
This guy, hmph…” Although she knew a big part of that heat came from her, Iono didn’t mind.
She did streaming out of personal interest anyway, and she was more than happy to give a boost to talented newcomers like Xia Chi.
Mm…
Though if he hadn’t captured her head-on twice, she’d probably be even happier.
So coming to watch his stream after going offline wasn’t to pick a fight or settle scores, but simply to learn this new strategy.
With that thought, Iono entered [Shui Ye’s Livestream] with high anticipation.
———— “Why are people still saying Mimikyu is useless?
Is doing no damage equal to being useless?
Why do you guys always care so much about damage output?
It distorts a Pokémon’s contributions!
Do you know what alienation and concrete value mean?” Seeing many chat comments still dismissing Mimikyu, Xia Chi looked helpless.
“Let me give you an example.
Take the Sunny Day teams you all love to play.
The team has six Pokémon, including Torkoal as the weather setter and Charizard as the damage dealer.
Charizard keeps pumping out huge damage with Heat Wave and Fire Blast, while Torkoal just drops [Drought], uses [Yawn] or [Stealth Rock], and sacrifices itself without dealing a single point of damage.” “Then at the end-of-match stats, you look at the damage chart and go: ‘Oh my, Mr.
Charizard knocked out three Pokémon!
Mr.
Charizard got the MVP!
Torkoal, you dealt zero damage, you freeloading dog!
Torkoal, you freeloading dog!’ Can you really calculate it like that?” Xia Chi’s vivid analogy and highly infectious voice amused Iono, whose mood hadn’t been great to begin with.
She directly gifted the most expensive item on the entire platform—a Master Ball.
A gorgeous gift animation instantly covered the screen.
Xia Chi froze for a good second before reading: “Thank you to boss…
IonoZone for the Master Ball?
Eh?
Is this ID Teacher Iono herself?” The chat’s reaction to Iono’s gift was even more explosive.
“Over ten million followers?
It really is Iono herself!” “Teacher Iono isn’t asking Shui Ye for medical bills, and she’s even gifting him?
Isn’t she a bit of a closet masochist?” “Gifting Old Man Shui even after getting beaten red-hot tilt off stream?
Haki-Iono, you sneaky thing…” “Feels like she came to steal the host’s tech.
I suggest changing your username immediately to [IonoZone (Student of Shui Ye)]!” Seeing the chat heading in a weird direction, Xia Chi cleared his throat and quickly shifted the topic.
“Don’t talk nonsense!
This is the livestream that respects Teacher Iono the most on the entire internet.
Mods, give those instigators a 365-day mute package.” However, the reality was that his livestream currently didn’t have any mods.
Iono didn’t care about the chat’s teasing and posted an honest comment: “That strategy is indeed pretty interesting.” Normally, Xia Chi wouldn’t be able to spot Iono’s message in the sea of chat messages.
Unfortunately, there were too many middleman commenters echoing her message, flooding the screen.
Seeing that this Master Ball was truly “tuition fees,” Xia Chi explained seriously, “I call that strategy the Heavy Trick Room team.
It’s a team with very obvious strengths and weaknesses.
I won’t bother mentioning the strengths—Teacher Iono, you should know them firsthand.” Iono in front of her screen: “…” *Did you really have to rub it in?* Xia Chi continued, “Of course, this strategy isn’t flawless.
The most classic counters are [Taunt] or [Whirlwind], or similar moves that prevent the opponent from setting up [Trick Room].” Far away in Paldea, Iono let out an understanding “Oh.” Indeed, [Taunt] prevents the target from using status moves, which naturally includes [Trick Room].
It wasn’t a hard counter-strategy to figure out.
Even if Xia Chi hadn’t mentioned it, people would have realized it soon enough once Trick Room teams became popular on the game’s ladder.
Then Xia Chi shifted topics again: “Of course, there are counters to the counter of [Taunt].
For instance, replacing the Pokémon setting Trick Room with an Indeedee that has the [Psychic Surge] Ability.
But that belongs to the next layer of mind games.” “In short, due to the four-move limitation and various other factors, this game still differs from real-life Pokémon battles.
Strategies like Trick Room will have a massive stage.” “I’ll bring you more strategic guides in the future.” “Alright, that’s all for today’s stream.
See you tomorrow!”