Over the next three days, Aiden served as the official commentator, witnessing the end of the group stage together with the audience.
Soon, they arrived at the quarterfinals.
However, unlike previous Type Masters Tournaments, this Ice-type Masters Tournament was full of variety—almost every contestant who made it to the quarterfinals had their own unique understanding.
In the past, trainers of the same type generally had similar thought processes when commanding battles. Because they all understood each other's tactics, their matches often fell into prolonged tug-of-wars.
But this time was exactly the opposite—everyone was pulling off flashy plays, with some even clearly sandbagging.
For example, Lorelei used only one Lapras playing Perish Song the entire way, not even revealing the Articuno that Aiden knew she had, yet still advanced to the quarterfinals.
And Grusha too—his Alolan Ninetales hadn't even appeared yet, every day just fixated on using Weavile's high speed to throw all sorts of random things, even employing bizarre tactics like throwing Choice Specs to the opponent's special attacker.
One could only say—
Only after these capable trainers experienced the tactics he recommended could they understand just how fragrant these dirty strategies were.
This research-oriented trend had long since swept through Pokémon Champions and Poké TV, and now even the contestants at the thrice-yearly Ball-tier events had been considerably influenced.
Thinking of this, Aiden sitting in the commentator's seat couldn't help but sigh.
"Back then I only thought about getting other trainers to get competitive together, making battles more interesting, completely never considering the cost—"
"But, this seems pretty good too?"
Anyway, seeing how these contestants were all enjoying themselves showed that his teaching was still very meaningful!
Aiden stopped dwelling on this. After opening his Rotom Pokédex and entering streaming mode, he began today's "professional commentary."
After entering the quarterfinals, the strength gaps between contestants were further narrowed, the possibility of throwing matches thus decreased, and the match quality would definitely be much more exciting than the group stage.
And today's first match was a contest between two heavyweight contestants.
Lorelei vs. Melony.
"For people outside the Galar region, the name Melony might be relatively unfamiliar."
As the two contestants walked onto the field, Aiden once again began introducing them to the audience.
"However, just knowing that she's a contestant whose strength is second only to Gym Leader Raihan and who ranks very high in Galar's Champion Cup is sufficient."
"If Raihan's ace weren't the Steel/Dragon-type Duraludon that fears Ice-type moves, perhaps their rankings would be reversed—
By the way, although Melony appears somewhat older than Lorelei, it's actually hard to say who's older between them—after all, Lorelei is already nearing retirement from her Elite Four position.
On the contrary, Melony is not only at the peak of her career, but her family is also very complete. Her son Gordie seems to have just built his own stadium in the same city, beginning his new life journey as a rookie Gym Leader.
Perhaps for Lorelei, who has been single her entire life, this woman with both a successful career and love, whose life is complete, is a bit too dazzling.
Of course, he wouldn't dare say this in front of so many people in the livestream, or the consequences would likely be terrifying—
Aiden didn't want to personally experience one of Kanto's urban legends—the terrifying ice puppet that even the super Pallet Town physique can't withstand!
"The match is about to begin—which contestant will hold the first ticket to the semifinals?"
"Let us wait and see!"
As soon as Aiden finished speaking, he saw the referee below raise his hand to signal, and thus once again unleashed "Hyper Voice": "The match begins!!!"
On the field, the two female trainers simultaneously lightly tossed out a Poké Ball. After two red flashes, their lead Pokémon made dazzling entrances.
"Melony's choice is Eiscue—don't be fooled by this little guy's head being covered by a block of ice, giving people a silly feeling, but actually this frozen head of his is very impressive."
"When suffering physical attacks, the ice block will offset the impact of the move, allowing it to take damage without harm, and during hail the frozen head will also recover at quite a fast speed."
"Using this Pokémon as the lead clearly shows she intends to play it safe first, testing Lorelei's tactics."
As soon as he finished speaking, Aiden heard a clear bird cry.
"Kree—!"
Aiden subconsciously blinked, while the bullet comments immediately recognized Lorelei's Pokémon.
[Wait, isn't that Articuno???]
[One of Kanto's legendary three sacred birds, said to have countless connections with the Sea God Lugia—]
[Opening with an ace, is this the suppressing power of a veteran Kanto Elite Four member?]
[To be fair, Melony on the other side seems scared loool]
[No shit sherlock—besides Teacher Azure, how many trainers on this planet can remain calm when seeing a Legendary Pokémon, this reaction is totally normal!]
Aiden seriously suspected that Lorelei had also thought of what he didn't dare say just now, which was why she had been keeping a stern face when entering today, and pulled out her king bomb as soon as the battle started—
What do you call a Legendary Pokémon trainer!
Although Articuno didn't have as much influence as Moltres in Kanto, at an Ice-type Masters Tournament it was absolutely a match-killing powerful existence, and being specialized in special attacks made dealing with Eiscue easy pickings.
So, from the opening, Melony's side already felt immense pressure.
"Melony makes her command without hesitation, having Eiscue use Amnesia to force a stay on the field?"
"On Lorelei's side, she also isn't rushing to output immediately, instead using Agility!"
Probably due to the Ice-type internal battle, both sides' opening choices leaned conservative, each completing one power-up.
It seemed Eiscue gained stronger defensive capabilities, which was somewhat better than Articuno's pure speed boost.
But in reality, the impact of speed in actual combat was absolutely all-encompassing.
Whether it was move speed, dodge speed, or reaction speed, all were aspects of speed.
And after powering up speed, Articuno could fly so fast when at full speed that it left afterimages, making Eiscue's vision somewhat unable to keep up.
"Melony doesn't intend to sit and wait for death, so she decides to act decisively, using Chilling Water to interfere with the opponent as much as possible!"
"As for why not Blizzard? For Articuno, Blizzard might be no different from a gentle breeze normally, so its STAB moves are largely restricted."
While Aiden was passionately commentating, he saw Lorelei's unhurried counter-strategy, and thus added another sentence.
"Lorelei also clearly understands what her greatest advantage is now—she directly commands Articuno to create distance, using Sheer Cold to repeatedly wear down the opponent!"
Eiscue wasn't skilled at special attacks; it was better at using that hard ice block on its head to collide with opponents, so Chilling Water's range was limited and easily dodged by Articuno.
And Articuno's Sheer Cold had terrifying killing range—even flying in the sky it could almost cover the entire battle field, leaving the already not-fast Eiscue with nowhere to dodge, only able to stand frozen in place.
Although the first strike didn't make the fellow Ice-type opponent collapse from hypothermia, as long as Melony's side had no countermeasures, sooner or later it would be worn down to death by the same method.
"Need to come up with a way to make Articuno less comfortable—"
Aiden subconsciously put himself in the disadvantaged party's perspective, thinking if there was any solution.
Actually, Eiscue could inherit a move with tremendous power—Head Smash. For Articuno, which was four times weak to Rock, basically one hit would immediately cause heavy damage.
This was also the best method he could think of.
But the problem was—right now Eiscue couldn't touch Articuno at all!
"However, there are actually other ways to temporarily solve this problem, I just don't know if Melony can think of it."
Aiden murmured to himself.
"If she can use Soak to temporarily change Articuno's type, Sheer Cold's effectiveness would immediately be greatly reduced, becoming relatively safe."
As soon as his words fell, Melony indeed immediately reacted. Taking advantage of the brief moment when Articuno's move paused, she commanded Eiscue to use the move consistent with his idea—Soak.
This startled Aiden, and he hurriedly explained: "The contestants can't hear voices from the commentator's seat, this isn't Teacher Azure giving advice to either side!"
"You can only say, great minds think alike, this is purely coincidence!"
[Teacher Azure, what are you explaining—generally speaking, people who say this are the ones with guilty consciences, so I reasonably suspect you were helping Melony!]
[A second-rate commentator tells you what happened on the field, a first-rate commentator tells you what will happen, while Teacher Azure tells you what he wants to happen next—do you understand what "professional commentator" means?]
[Teacher Azure, even when commentating you use your prediction ultimate move? As expected of you]
Because Soak didn't need to consider killing power like Chilling Water, only needing sufficient quantity to drown Articuno in saliva, this time Eiscue's move indeed hit its target, immediately causing the ice on Articuno's body to melt and its entire body to become wet.
Actually for normal birds, wet feathers would make wings heavier, thus greatly affecting flight capability.
Even at Articuno's level, it couldn't completely avoid this.
In a sense, Melony's idea could be considered successful.
Not only could she temporarily get breathing room from Sheer Cold's suppression, but she also restricted Articuno's flight speed.
It could be considered a god-tier move.
But soon, Lorelei changed tactics again, decisively opening her mouth: "Articuno, Ancient Power!"
That's right—not only could Eiscue use Rock-type moves to counter opponents, Articuno could do the same.
Moreover, after becoming Water-type, Articuno's weaknesses changed considerably.
And, its move was like Sheer Cold, possessing the ability to trigger a "hidden effect."
"After Ancient Power hits the opponent, there's a certain probability of triggering the wildness in its bloodline, thus causing all its stats to be boosted."
"Although the probability is low, as a Rock-type move it can provide coverage, plus there's a chance to hit the jackpot—for Lorelei who isn't under much pressure currently, it's a good attrition tactic."
Eiscue's lack of long-range means was immediately noticed by Lorelei in this expert duel and infinitely magnified.
However—Melony's side also didn't seem to intend to sit and wait for death.
"Eiscue, let's use Freeze-Dry to counter!"
Hearing this familiar yet unfamiliar move, Aiden immediately became excited.
"Oh? Melony's side chose Freeze-Dry, which works very well against Water-type Pokémon! So the previous Soak was also part of the plan?"
"Let me introduce this move to students who don't know—Freeze-Dry is an Ice-type special attack move, but it possesses an effect that occasionally can work wonders—this move is also super effective against Water-type Pokémon."
"And many times, when facing Ice-type opponents, everyone is happy to use Water-type to defend, not expecting a four-times weakness effect, very useful~"
While Aiden was speaking, both sides had already entered the beam struggle segment.
Although Eiscue clearly wasn't Articuno's match, several consecutive Ancient Powers directly smashed it dizzy. Even strengthened by Amnesia, its frozen head was soon shattered under the offensive, and its head also swelled with several large bumps.
And on Articuno's side, even if Freeze-Dry hit, the effect on it was just so-so, looking like it only lost some stamina.
Soon, Eiscue was the first to fall in the exchange, collapsing and unable to rise.
"It seems Melony's idea was that since it's already a disadvantaged matchup, then try to wear down the opponent's stamina with Eiscue as much as possible, giving the next Pokémon a chance to achieve a comeback?"
Aiden guessed uncertainly.
But soon, when noticing the orange light flashing on Articuno's body, he couldn't help but sigh.
The outcome was basically already determined.
"That Ancient Power that Articuno used to finish off Eiscue seems to have finally triggered its hidden effect—Articuno's stats have now all received a certain degree of boost, combat power increasing rather than decreasing—"
"The advantage is already sky-high, I can't even think of how to turn this around!"
When the situation became completely one-sided, Aiden no longer deliberately maintained pretty pleasantries, essentially delivering an early verdict.
And the facts were exactly as he said.
Next, Melony's consecutive appearances of Frosmoth and Galarian Darmanitan all had to experience the same question—was Soak really a good thing?
Water-type is an excellent defensive type, with only Grass and Electric weaknesses, instead giving Articuno better resistances.
In the end, even though her Galarian Darmanitan forcibly fired off a Solar Beam, successfully heavily damaging Articuno, it wasn't fatal.
It instead gave Articuno an opportunity to seize, continuously using Hurricane to successfully end the match.
The final result was a clean 3:0, with Lorelei successfully crushing her opponent.
After watching, Aiden only had two thoughts in his heart: "It seems sometimes, flashy plays also need to be moderate——"
"Also, if you face Legendary Pokémon in battle, you should be legally allowed to be diagnosed with depression!"
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