"Incineroar, use Overheat to rapidly raise your temperature!"
Aiden's prediction quickly became reality.
After all, for the Masked Royal, when Incineroar's movements were being interfered with by the Swinub's Blizzard, wanting to continue utilizing Incineroar's specialty of close-range grappling was already nearly impossible.
His only choice now was to offset the Swinub's Blizzard's power as much as possible, first finding a way to restore Incineroar's heat before making other plans.
"Roar—!"
Incineroar didn't hesitate, immediately accumulating the heat in its body, quickly expelling the cold air that had invaded during the Blizzard's erosion, and forming streams of white mist on its body surface.
"The Masked Royal actually chose to use Overheat, allowing Incineroar to escape the possibility of being frozen!"
Aiden commented while secretly nodding in approval.
"Given the current situation, using this move is indeed the most reasonable choice—it can rapidly restore temperature while also possessing the possibility of contending with the Blizzard."
"Although the downside is that after using this move, special attack capability will temporarily decrease significantly, for the Tiger God, this isn't actually that crucial."
On the field, the Masked Royal's thoughts were largely similar to what Aiden had imagined.
However, such an obvious setup would naturally be easily seen through by Senior Pryce as well.
It's just that he merely squinted his eyes and smiled, then casually waved his hand, commanding the Swinub to use another move.
"Swinub, dodge the opponent's attack and look for an opportunity to use Sand Tomb."
A simple change of tactics, seemingly light and effortless, but in Aiden's view, it was full of confidence.
He had no doubt that his Swinub could easily dodge Incineroar's attack.
And indeed, that was the case.
"Puff puff—!"
Under its trainer's command, the Swinub immediately stopped continuing to output the Blizzard, its frail body instantly bursting with absurdly high speed, effortlessly dodging the flames that Incineroar poured all its strength into.
At the same time, it didn't forget to turn back and stare at the ground.
"??? When did that happen?"
When Incineroar finished its full-power output and was in a weakened state, the Masked Royal suddenly noticed that the ground beneath its feet seemed to be loosening, and the ice shards blown by the Blizzard were also beginning to rotate slowly and systematically toward the center.
Was it during the evasion just now, using the move to attract everyone's attention while secretly using Sand Tomb?
At this moment, he was already feeling somewhat sweaty-backed.
Every step taken by the senior opponent across from him completely exceeded his expectations—he hadn't even noticed when the opponent used the move—
As expected, beware the old man in a young man's game!
"The Masked Royal is completely suppressed. Once Sand Tomb takes shape, Incineroar caught within it will be unable to move freely, and even using moves normally will likely be interfered with."
Aiden shook his head, thinking this match was probably already a lost cause.
There was nothing to be done—who could have imagined that an obscure little old man nearing retirement would possess strength that could crush him, the current reigning Champion of Alola who didn't want to show his face?
Aiden suddenly realized the benefit of the "Masked Royal" alternate account—
For Professor Kukui, who liked to "go wild," wearing a mask not only liberated his nature, but even if he lost, it wouldn't bring any negative impact to the Alola region.
Win and it's a huge profit, lose and there's no loss.
Truly worthy of being a Professor + Champion, his brain works so well——
And the live audience and online bullet comments were also incredibly shocked by the scene before them.
[HOLY POG You mean the Swinub is suppressing Incineroar?]
[Where does this leave the face of our livestream's universe number one Pokémon, how could I have such a dream??]
[As I said—Pryce's Swinub and Delibird are terrifying. Back when he was the final Gym Leader, what we feared most were these two.]
[You have to be kidding, these two might already be Pryce's weakest Pokémon, otherwise there's no explaining why the Swinub has never evolved]
[??? chat, wtf am I seeing?]
It seemed only people from Johto who had traveled and made it pretty far had a clearer understanding of Pryce's strength.
Aiden also nodded thoughtfully.
It appeared that although this world's Pryce didn't have the "Masked Man" alternate account, his strength was still terrifyingly powerful!
The probability of monsters appearing among Kanto and Johto trainers was indeed extraordinarily high!
After sighing inwardly, he quickly turned his gaze back to the battle field.
Even though Incineroar was about to be swallowed by Sand Tomb, the Masked Royal still maintained a brilliant smile on his face, and even had time to shout toward Pryce: "What terrifying strength! Just how powerful a trainer must one be to cultivate a Swinub that could be called monster-level—"
"However, I'm going to get serious too!"
"Incineroar, prepare to use that move—"
"Pay attention to the rotation of the Sand Tomb!"
While speaking passionately, the Masked Royal extended his hand, revealing the Z-Power Ring on his right wrist.
A deep red Z-Crystal, seven or eight parts similar to Firium Z yet slightly dimmer, was embedded within, already shining synchronously as he spoke.
"Here it comes, it's the Masked Royal's ultimate move!!!"
"The starting pose of a Z-Move, it's coming!"
Hearing the cheers from the local audience below, Aiden raised an eyebrow and subconsciously sat up straight.
Just now the Masked Royal had seemingly mentioned "rotation."
His gaze looked toward Incineroar at the center of the Sand Tomb. At this moment, half its body had already sunk into it, looking completely immobile, only able to spread its arms to maintain balance as much as possible.
However, if observed carefully—the exact opposite was true!
It wasn't that Incineroar was locked by Sand Tomb, but that it had already adapted to the rotating sand hell beneath its feet, and was maintaining rotation at the same speed, which was why its body hadn't completely sunk!
"That's right, rotation is very important————"
Aiden murmured.
He seemed to have already guessed what move the Masked Royal was about to use next.
"Incineroar, use Darkest Lariat—"
The Masked Royal clenched both fists, and after elegantly dancing a segment, suddenly spread his arms wide, as if making a pouncing motion.
"Our exclusive Z-Move, Malicious Moonsault!!!"
In an instant, the Ultra Aura was drawn forth by the Masked Royal and Incineroar, shining with golden light on the field, and rapidly accumulating on Incineroar's body surface.
"Roar—!"
Incineroar roared toward the sky, letting out a momentum-filled bellow, and the rotation speed beneath its feet immediately increased, quickly forming a whirlwind-like afterimage, drawing the surrounding soft sand into it.
Rocks and ice shards continuously collided within the "Tiger Tornado," making crackling sounds, and the entire venue's ground trembled due to this powerful exclusive Z-Move.
"A Z-Move—this is my first time seeing one."
Pryce still squinted his eyes, his expression calm as he watched the attack rapidly approaching himself and the Swinub, even taking time to remark.
"Indeed very interesting, but the heat is still a bit lacking."
"If you weren't so impatient, perhaps this move could indeed deliver considerable damage."
After speaking, Pryce opened his mouth again, looking toward his Swinub ahead.
"Swinub, use Dig to drill to the other side of the field."
"Puff puff—"
After a lightly spoken command, the Swinub instantly understood, directly plunging its head into the ground, using its soft pig snout to actually quickly dig through the surface and enter deep underground to temporarily hide.
"Hiss—"
Aiden sucked in a breath of cold air.
Using Dig to dodge moves was basic knowledge of move mechanics that even novice trainers would utilize to avoid powerful moves.
But using this move in an exhibition match—wasn't that showing too much respect to the opponent?
After all, a Z-Move could only be used once. As long as it was dodged, Incineroar's most threatening move would no longer need to be worried about, and the Swinub could continue using that Blizzard tactic from before, forcibly blocking Incineroar's offense.
"Tsk——"
The Masked Royal clearly realized this too, subconsciously clicking his tongue.
However, he quickly smiled again.
"In that case, we'll simply dig three feet into the ground and find the opponent!"
"Incineroar, rotate in place, use the power of your spin to dig through the surface!"
Boom—!
As soon as his words left his mouth, the interior of the venue immediately began to shake violently, as if ten Rhyperior were simultaneously using Earthquake.
"???"
"Has the Masked Royal gotten too into it? If the field is destroyed, how will the matches continue later?"
"Stop, this is just an exhibition match, please don't fight anymore!!!"
In the audience, many spectators exclaimed in alarm, and even Aiden subconsciously froze for a few seconds before giving the Masked Royal a thumbs up.
Destroying your own home in an exhibition match—truly worthy of you, Prof——Masked Royal!
Due to the excessive commotion caused by Incineroar's rotation, it had already drilled a deep pit in the ground, while the countless flying sand and stones generated by friction were also swept up by its rotation, forming a brief sandstorm around the field's perimeter, making it impossible for the audience to see what was happening inside.
Until Incineroar's spinning offensive ended and the sand gradually settled, Aiden finally noticed the drilled-through, dilapidated battle field.
And the two Pokémon at the field's center.
Incineroar's arms attacked toward both sides of the Swinub in a pincer motion, then maintained this offensive posture.
The Swinub had solidly taken this hit, similarly showing no movement, with only its fur being blown by its breathing proving it was still standing firm.
Aiden's mouth twitched.
He thought to himself:
Just what kind of monster was this Swinub? Even a Z-Move couldn't move it at all; instead, Incineroar itself got dizzy from spinning.
The Masked Royal's Z-Move—he had personally experienced it before. This move could even make Lance's ace Dragonite temporarily avoid its sharp edge.
But after all, being a veteran, having slightly stronger strength was quite normal, right?
Seeing that both Pokémon were motionless and Pryce wasn't continuing to give commands, Aiden already had the answer in his heart, and thus decisively spoke: "What a spectacular battle! It appears to end with both sides simultaneously losing combat capability—a draw!"
"However, due to the impact of this battle, the group stage schedule may need to be slightly delayed~"
Although the field destruction caused some minor issues, for the Pokémon world, such matters were already commonplace.
Which participant in a Type Masters Tournament wasn't an expert? Going all out and piercing through the field was also quite normal for precious Pokémon, so naturally Alola was well-prepared for this.
Led by Machamp and Conkeldurr, the renovation team (Alola style) worked at full strength to repair the damage, and approximately half an hour later, the group stage of this Ice-type Masters Tournament officially began.
Although there was some delay, the waiting time wasn't too long.
Plus, as a professional commentator, Aiden told quite a few "Pokémon little stories," captivating the audience for a time.
"A long, long time ago, there was a Ponyta who came to a river—"
"Have you heard the story of Typhlosion? That happened in the Hisui region—"
Aiden had prepared quite a bit of such content.
Although he hadn't expected that things heard in his previous life would come in handy at such a time, they really did prove useful.
At least the audience listened with great interest.
[I say this Type Masters Tournament isn't necessarily a must-watch, aren't Teacher Azure's wonderful little stories more interesting than this?]
[No way, how is it already fixed, I haven't heard enough yet!]
[Teacher Azure, how about we skip work? Who cares about being a Masters Tournament commentator—]
"Happy times are always short, and it's time to say—no wait, the exciting program is only just beginning now!"
Seamlessly switching back to commentator mode, Aiden witnessed quite a few strange things on the first day.
"Miss Lorelei, everyone should know her, an old familiar face in our livestream room. Please begin your performance!"
"Yo ho—wait, it's already 3v1 and your Lapras still wants to sing Perish Song? The kid on the other side looks like they're about to cry!"
"Alright, next let's turn our attention to Gym Leader Candice from Sinnoh, let's see what tricks she has up her sleeve?"
"By the way, this is also one of the chat members certified by Teacher Azure~"
"Holy cow—Gym Leader Candice's Tapu——Azumarill just used Superpower to knock the opponent's Abomasnow to sleep!"
"Ice Punch is also Ice-type, no problem!"
"And our contestant from the Paldea region, my good buddy Grusha, this is absolutely an orthodox trainer!"
"??? After his Weavile used Knock Off, what the heck did he throw out?"
"Whoa, how did the opponent get poisoned, so it was throwing a Toxic Orb?"
"What about the second one, there's nothing left to throw!"
"Wait a minute? Who taught you to use Chilling Water + Icy Wind to forcibly freeze the opponent, are you playing elemental reactions?"
Throughout the day, Aiden really did see quite a few messy, patternless strange tactics.
The only commonality was—
They actually won.
At this point, the livestream bullet comments asked:
[Oh Teacher Azure, pure passerby asking out of ignorance, why are the people in our chat getting dirtier one by one?]
[Teacher Azure's influence is still too broken/OP, everyone in the Type Masters Tournament has been influenced by him, no wonder he got promoted to the judges' table—]
[What do you mean dirty, that's called properly utilizing move mechanics, do you understand or not!?]
Although Aiden's face was already somewhat flushed at this point, he truly had to admit—quite a few of these strange things were indeed taught by himself?
Then it was fine, he just had to bear it—
And so, amidst the laughter of the livestream room, Aiden and his chat spent a very pleasant day.
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