After Aiden and Cynthia's battle concluded, the two quickly returned to the competitor's lounge.
Because the schedule was tight, they didn't have much time to analyze their next opponents, so they couldn't afford to miss the upcoming matches.
However, what Aiden didn't expect was—
Caitlin, who had just been standing across from them looking like she was about to be cried into submission, actually came over to "drop by."
"What are you looking at? You think I can't handle a little loss?!"
Glanced at by Aiden's weird eyes, Caitlin, who had just sat down next to Cynthia, immediately glared back.
"No, nothing."
Aiden shook his head.
"I just didn't expect you guys to come over."
"Since you're here, you might as well watch the matches with us. Maybe you can point out something we missed."
He didn't actually mind Caitlin and Shauntal being here.
After all, he had known them for quite a while. Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud, they were practically old friends.
The reason he had "brought out the heavy artillery" earlier was mainly just because of Caitlin's provocation.
He had beaten her again today, so she should finally know who the stronger one was—right?
Looking at the completely oblivious Caitlin, who was casually reaching out to link arms with Cynthia, Aiden's eyes showed a hint of helplessness.
'Alright, looks like I was overthinking it.'
Aiden sighed and shook his head helplessly.
'Why was I thinking about all this useless stuff? Watch the match, watch the match!'
The final match of the upper bracket was equally high-stakes: the Lance/Bruno duo taking on Galar's Raihan and Kabu on the same stage.
Logically speaking, Raihan should have dragged Leon along to participate in Doubles.
Leon himself naturally wouldn't have refused.
However, considering Chairman Rose's merchant mentality and his perspective of doing everything for Galar's development—
It was highly likely because participating in this Doubles tournament would inevitably result in a net loss. Winning wouldn't bring much promotional value, but losing would actually damage Leon's reputation. So, he might have strongly advised Leon to sit this out.
Aiden felt this possibility was very high.
As for the other Champions who didn't come to "play"—
Malie rarely participated in major tournaments to begin with, spending all her time acting;
Professor Kukui from Alola was probably spinning like a top from being so busy; taking over a week off to compete wasn't realistic;
And their Paldea's President Geeta and the other Elite Four didn't participate either. They were probably tied up with the follow-up work in Area Zero?
This was obvious from the high frequency of messages in the work group chat that Aiden had put on "Do Not Disturb."
It was a good thing they didn't come, otherwise the water temperature would have risen even higher.
"Both sides are Dragon Tamers. Teacher Azure, who do you think has a better chance of winning?"
When the contestants stepped onto the field, Shauntal, who had been silent all this time, suddenly looked up and asked Aiden curiously.
If she remembered correctly, both of these men were on good terms with Teacher Azure, and both had publicly mentioned receiving his guidance.
So, was there a possibility—
That Teacher Azure was actually a deeply hidden Dragon Tamer himself?
After all, he was a genius who had raised a Salamence and a Miraidon, and he possessed an abnormal allure to Legendary Pokémon.
And there were quite a few Dragons among the Legendary Pokémon!
Just imagining this, Shauntal felt that the "heroic epic" she was conceptualizing could have another lore drop added to it!
"Hmm—Lance, I'd say."
Aiden rested his chin on his hand and gave his answer after pondering for a moment.
Raihan's reputation was indeed loud, but it depended on who he was being compared to.
Even though "Pidgeot-Lance" got trolled by netizens for a lifetime for a certain reason, his actual track record was undeniably solid.
If he wasn't constantly being sniped by Lorelei, he would have become Champion ages ago.
Even if their strength was on the same level, their vision was clearly lacking in comparison.
Moreover, there was a gap in their teammates too. Kabu at best matched up to a standard Elite Four member, and they were a hastily formed Doubles team—
Against the monster duo of Lance and Bruno, their chances of winning really weren't high.
"But then again, it's Doubles. Weird things always happen. What if there's an upset?"
Aiden didn't speak in absolutes, and Shauntal nodded in agreement.
The battle quickly began.
Lance and Bruno sent out Steelix and Aerodactyl respectively, while their opponents sent out Torkoal and Centiskorch.
"It looks like a pterosaur but isn't a Dragon-type, while that fire turtle actually has the Dragon typing—"
"Pokémon truly are amazing."
Aiden didn't comment on the matchups on the field; instead, he was a bit more interested in the choices of these two "Dragon Tamers."
It looked like the core of this match was a weather war.
Raihan and Kabu were both masters of Sun teams. The moment Torkoal entered the field, the lighting in the arena became much more intense.
But Lance and Bruno had the follow-up ability to set up a Sandstorm.
Moreover, Raihan and Kabu's pre-match intel gathering seemed lacking. They clearly didn't consider that Bruno wasn't *just* a Fighting-type Elite Four member, and could pull out other Pokémon with absurd physical strength.
Aiden seriously suspected that Pokémon like Steelix and Graveler were captured by Bruno simply because he used them as workout equipment—
But it was precisely this Steelix, which rarely got screen time, that perfectly countered their strategy.
Fire teams running into Ground-types couldn't escape the threat of Earthquake unless they could fly.
So, what were they going to do?
The four trainers on the field quickly provided their answers.
The other three Pokémon on the field had abysmal reaction times and speed, giving Aerodactyl infinite room to maneuver.
It gathered energy and shot it into the sky, kicking up a Sandstorm that almost entirely negated the effects of the harsh sunlight.
Meanwhile, Steelix violently slammed its tail into the ground, creating intense seismic waves.
A Flying-type teammate + Earthquake was one of the most common AoE combos in Doubles.
Raihan and Kabu obviously weren't going to foolishly take the Earthquake head-on, so they directly recalled their Pokémon.
Raihan was more of a weather master than a Dragon Tamer, so even in a Sandstorm, he could send out Flygon to easily deal with it.
Not only did it dodge the Earthquake damage, but it could also leech off the opponent's Sandstorm.
As for Kabu—
As a pure Fire-type incarnate, he could only send out Centiskorch to forcefully tank the Earthquake.
Hiss— that didn't hurt!
Even though they forcefully endured the first wave of attacks, this switch made Aiden shake his head repeatedly.
"They're cooked!"
Centiskorch had a 4x weakness to Rock, and Flygon had a 4x weakness to Ice—
And their opponents conveniently had an incredibly fast Aerodactyl, while Steelix could also learn Ice Fang.
But they couldn't not switch. Especially for Kabu's other Fire-types, taking this Earthquake head-on would genuinely cripple them.
Since switching put them at a massive disadvantage either way, the match was basically unwinnable.
You could only say that the moment Bruno pulled out this unexpected Steelix, the battle was already over—
"If they had Dynamax, it might have been a different story. At worst, they could just brute-force their way through the damage."
Aiden clicked his tongue, prematurely declaring the result.
"But Dynamax requires a specifically built stadium, and this tournament didn't prepare for it at all—"
"So, Raihan and the others are done for."
The facts played out exactly as Aiden thought.
The subsequent scenes were just like when he had been spinning Caitlin like a top earlier; the situation became completely one-sided.
Especially when Steelix suddenly whipped out an Ice Fang. Raihan, whose attention was entirely focused on Aerodactyl, didn't see it coming at all and could only eat this silent loss.
And the four Pokémon they had openly revealed all struggled immensely against Steelix. In the end, going all out, they only managed to trade blows with Steelix, barely scraping together 1 point.
4:1. They avoided getting swept, but it was still a rather large point gap.
After all, they were playing away. There was nothing to be done about it.
Even if Leon had actually come to compete, without Dynamax, he probably would have had a hard time getting past these two Kanto Elite Four members.
After watching this match, Aiden was left with only one thought—his next opponents aren't going to be easy to deal with either.
These two veteran Kanto Elite Four members would definitely apply more pressure than Caitlin and Shauntal—
Thinking this, Aiden subconsciously glanced at Caitlin.
You were much easier to fight lol.
Caitlin acutely sensed his gaze and immediately put on a very subtle expression.
"What are you looking at? Are you feeling the pressure for the next match?"
"Since you won against me, you'd better win all the way to the end! Don't embarrass Cynthia, got it?!"
Caitlin spoke quite loudly. She even leaned forward, pressing her hands on the table, just barely overcoming the distance created by her petite stature, and patted Aiden's shoulder with her other hand.
Even though her tone was still infuriating, it seemed like she was actually trying to encourage him?
Seeing Cynthia reveal a "maternal" smile and pat Caitlin's head, Aiden also nodded and returned the smile.
"Of course. Since we're already here, we're obviously aiming for the championship."
"When the time comes, just watch as Cynthia and I stand at the top."
"..."
Caitlin was momentarily speechless.
She had indeed just given Aiden a word of encouragement, but seeing him act so confident still inexplicably annoyed her.
Smug bastard, have some shame!
"Hmph, let's see you get past those two Battle Legends first!"
"Shauntal, we're leaving!"
With Lance and Bruno advancing, the morning matches were completely over. They really had no reason to stay in the lounge any longer.
Not having to bicker with Aiden anymore was fine too; it saved her from getting mad!
The afternoon matches were incredibly violent right out of the gate.
It was showtime for Professor Oak and Granny Agatha.
Even though their opponents were the late-blooming Hoenn Elite Four Sidney and the delinquent-looking Ghost-type Elite Four Phoebe, they still achieved a crushing result.
Because—
Professor Oak finally brought out his ultimate trump card.
Mega Kangaskhan and Dragonite!
These two Pokémon were the absolute mainstays that followed Professor Oak out of Kanto and made a name for themselves on the international stage. Their appearance was enough to show the respect he had for these two opponents.
Even after so many years, not only were the Pokémon still in their prime, but Professor Oak's mind was just as active as ever.
So much so that Aiden was exclaiming that he was seeing ghosts.
"Wait, what do you mean Mega Kangaskhan can be controlled separately?"
"How is that any different from a 3v2 on the field?!"
Professor Oak's signature move of opening with a Mega Evolution and using Fake Out to lock down both opponents gave Aiden a pupil earthquake right at the start.
Are you supposed to use Mega Kangaskhan like this???
The baby Kangaskhan's damage output wasn't great, but the utility it provided was just as good as the main body's.
Besides Fake Out, the un-nerfed Drain Punch was also punched with incredible ferocity by the mother-child duo, each punch hitting harder than the last.
Granny Agatha's side wasn't to be outdone either.
Even without revealing her Key Stone, a standard Gengar could still pull off a lot of weird tricks.
Like Confuse Ray to disrupt the opponent, Foresight to scout the opponent's held items, and a very proficient Copycat. Even in a supportive role, Gengar's performance was dazzling.
By the end of the match, even as a spectator, Aiden's expression had gradually twisted into a grimace.
How are you supposed to fight against this?!
If you try to trade blows, you can't out-damage Mega Kangaskhan. Once it sets up with Swords Dance on the field, a single Drain Punch gives it infinite stamina, letting it one-punch every "kid" on the field;
If you try to play dirty, you can't outspeed Gengar. You just get led by the nose, feeling absolutely sick to your stomach.
Just thinking about having to face these two seniors in the finals made Aiden feel a bit numb.
Of course, that was assuming they could actually make it to the finals—
After collecting another wave of intel on Professor Oak's team through the match, Aiden watched the rest of the broadcast until the final pair of contestants, Steven & Wallace, took the stage.
Their opponents were Will and Karen, who hadn't become Elite Four members yet.
The two, who hadn't fully matured, were naturally no match for the two Champions. Even going all out, they failed to secure a single trade and were easily dismantled by Metagross and Milotic.
However, even though they won the match and secured the final ticket to the Top 8, the expressions on Steven and Wallace's faces weren't relaxed at all.
In fact, their pressure was visibly maxed out.
As for the reason, anyone could guess.
It was more accurate to say that out of everyone who made it to the Top 8 this time, aside from the two Battle Legends, no one was feeling relaxed.
Even if they didn't run into them in the quarter-finals, they would inevitably face them in the semi-finals.
Each half of the bracket had a nearly insurmountable mountain. To win the championship, they would have to break through *both* of them—
It was incredibly difficult, but at this point, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and push forward.
Relatively speaking, Aiden did feel a fair amount of pressure, but he didn't show it on the surface.
On one hand, he didn't want to pass this emotion on to Cynthia. On the other hand, he knew very well in his heart—
The two Battle Legends were probably specifically gunning for him.
Since both Professor Oak and Master Mustard felt he had the strength to stand on the same stage as them, what did he have to be afraid of?
Thinking this, he suddenly understood why Caitlin wasn't too upset about losing this time.
It was a "lesser defeating a greater" scenario anyway. Winning meant massive profit, and losing meant no loss. He might as well just treat it as accumulating valuable practical experience.
Of course, if they actually pulled it off, he didn't even dare to imagine how viral the topic would get—
Aiden could already predict how lively his stream would be. He might actually become "The Number One Under the Battle Legends"!
But thinking about this now was probably a bit too early.
He still had to get past Lance and Bruno first—
From today's matches, the chances of them switching up their strategies were actually quite high.
Aiden fell into deep thought.
Fighting and Dragon types were both weak to Fairy, but "Flying Type Elite Lance" didn't get his nickname for nothing.
If Aiden actually sent out a Fairy-type, it was highly likely Lance would just stop using Dragon Pokémon entirely, just like he did today.
Would you really abandon your title as a Dragon Tamer just to secure a win?
Damn Lance, you absolute bastard!
But honestly, dealing with them wasn't too troublesome.
Chien-Pao and Lucario probably weren't suited for this match, considering the immense pressure Bruno's side could apply.
So—
How about trying out Ogerpon?
He did have quite a few Legendary Pokémon as his mainstays, after all!
Factoring in Cynthia's main roster as well, a rough tactical blueprint quickly formed in Aiden's mind.
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