Chapter 12: How Will I Know You're Playing Singles If I Don’t Throw Some Spikes?

[Yes! Fav streamer is finally live again!]

[OG lurker fan here—been following for ten years!]

[Stop capping bruh. This guy just started streaming yesterday…]

[Streamer, your Endeavor Aron was indeed strong, but it's still too reliant on skill. Do you have a simpler and more straightforward team?]

[Bring out those interesting new tactics already—I've been waiting with bated breath!]

A dense flood of comments scrolled across the screen.

Aiden was stunned.

Yesterday, his livestream had been so quiet that his viewer count barely broke four digits when he ended the broadcast.

And now?

In just a few seconds after going live, his audience numbers skyrocketed to 2,000 people!

Some viewers had even been camping in the chat, eagerly waiting for him to go live.

Steven's friendly shout-out had worked almost absurdly well…

If nothing went wrong, at least five-digit viewers would remain after this stream ended.

Even during his peak popularity in his past life, Aiden hadn't experienced this level of treatment, right?

And this was only his second stream ever!

The sudden surge in popularity made Aiden feel a bit dizzy with happiness, but his professionalism as a streamer quickly brought him back to focus.

"Small things, small things—this is just the beginning."

"My head is full of tactics that Trainers from my past life spent decades developing. It's a total nuke on this pure, straightforward Pokémon world!"

"I'm the chosen one, the future top streamer of PokéTV!"

After silently muttering these words to boost his own morale, Aiden quickly calmed down.

"The tactic I'll teach today, if mastered, should be more than enough to reach Great Ball rank, let alone Ultra Ball."

After glancing at the barrage of comments and dropping another opening remark, Aiden opened Pokémon Champions, entered the team editor.

"Alright, today we're playing with a Spike Team!"

As the name implied, a Spike Team revolved around moves like Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web—collectively known as entry hazards.

These moves, once placed, persisted throughout the battle unless cleared, effectively wearing down and disrupting opponents in 6v6 battles.

Just hearing about it, this was clearly a very "toxic" strategy.

It could even be considered the soul of stall teams.

How else would I know you're playing singles if I don't throw some spikes?

As soon as Aiden added Skarmory to the team, the chat immediately lit up with complaints.

[Really? This is it? Where's the wow factor that Endeavor Aron had? Isn't this Steven's overused tactic?]

[Forget Steven—even Jasmine, the Steel-type Gym Leader from Johto, uses Spikes teams. Can we get something more interesting?]

[What if the streamer's Spikes strategy is different? Let's wait and see.]

Aiden didn't pay much attention to the sharp criticisms in the chat.

People in this world were just a bit simpler and their strategies lagged behind—it wasn't like they were truly naive.

A simple and effective strategy like spikes must have already been discovered long ago.

Take Steven, the Hoenn Champion, for example. He relied on a combination of spikes and an impenetrable Steel-type defense to grind his way through the championship.

Or consider our Paldea region's La Primera, Geeta. Her signature move of starting with Toxic Spikes using her Glimmora drove countless challengers mad when she didn't hold back.

With such precedents, pulling out a spike team did seem a bit derivative.

But…

"Don't rush—my spike team is different from others."

Aiden smirked.

Think about it—who would use a generic, overdone strategy for teaching purposes?

Since the debut of Spikes in Generation II, this timeless singles strategy had gone through countless updates and evolved endlessly.

The number of teams built around spikes was endless, each capable of delivering infinite "pleasant surprises" to opponents!

Now, how should we proceed with this delightful torment?

Aiden quickly selected a lineup.

Led by Skarmory, the other teammates were Forretress, Metagross, Mamoswine, Bronzong, and Magneton.

[Different from what? Isn't this just Steven's classic "start with Spikes and turtle till the opponent dies" strategy…?]

[(Sleepy Joe emote) I'd rather see Endeavor Donphan instead. Play that again!]

[Oh no, the streamer's already starting to torture us. With this pure defensive team, matches will probably last at least half an hour per game…]

At first glance, his lineup did consist mostly of Steel-types with excellent resistances, aligning closely with Steven's philosophy.

But thinking that way would be a mistake.

"What are you thinking? Did you see my stream title? I'm rushing to reach Master Ball rank—I don't have time to play stall teams."

As Aiden queued up for ranked battles, he chuckled while explaining.

Sure enough, the audience's understanding was a bit behind.

The tactical value of Spikes wasn't about dragging out matches to wear down opponents—it was about controlling the pace.

When used properly, it could even speed up battles.

While playing a stall team might make for better entertainment, saving the good stuff for critical moments was smarter.

Right now, he was still just a "fierce newbie" in the Poké Ball tier—a bladder-busting stall team wouldn't suit him, and tormenting random players wasn't fun either.

Though most of this team consisted of Steel-types, its firepower was far from lacking—it was an absolute ladder-climbing weapon.

After saying all this, though the chat still grumbled, most fell silent, patiently waiting for Aiden's performance.

It was easy to match against evenly matched opponents in lower tiers.

Soon, Aiden faced off against his first unlucky opponent of the stream.

The opponent's lineup appeared: Gardevoir, Tsareena, Lopunny, Primarina, Hatterene, Mewoscarada.

"The Trainer ID is… 'I Love Pokémon So Much'??? 

"Forgive me for asking, but do you love it in a wholesome way?"

Aiden scratched his head.

Sure enough, this was the lower tier—you could even run into high-tier members of the furries.

"If you say this lineup is strong, sure, it has some power—but what kind of synergy do these Pokémon have?"

[Of course they have synergy! To people like you who only care about strength, they're all my waifus~]

[Looks like you need to be taught a lesson by Officer Jenny with her baton!]

[It's only human nature.]

[? Hell nah!]

After entering the virtual battlefield, both sides sent out their lead Pokémon.

Skarmory vs. Tsareena.

Skarmory, a dual Steel/Flying-type Pokémon, had excellent resistances, with only Fire and Electric as weaknesses.

Realizing that Tsareena couldn't threaten Skarmory, Aiden decisively gave the command:

"Skarmory, Spikes!"

------------------------------------------------------

Double Chapters Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow

There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)