You're Banned From Playing Pokémon

[Is the streamer really a Gym Leader in the Paldea region?]

[Azure Wings… Could it be that Unc Larry?!]

[Why doesn't the streamer show his face? Is he afraid of scaring off chat with his looks?]

The first batch of viewers in the livestream numbered only a handful, all drawn in by the title. Their questions were mostly predictable to Aiden.

"I'm not Larry, I'm the current Gym Leader of Sunshine Gym in Cabo Poco."

Aiden chuckled as he replied, impressed by the viewers' imaginative train of thought.

That was Larry, the hardworking man of Paldea who juggled multiple jobs and somehow worked 48-hour days.

How could he possibly have time to stream?

"As for why I'm not showing my face, the answer's simple."

"I don't have a webcam, and I'm too lazy to go out and buy one."

[Wow, this guy's keeping it real]

[Streamer's being too real, already unsubscribed, don't fumble now!]

Perhaps because of his honesty, he left a decent first impression on the audience, and some of the chat quickly started riffing on memes.

Aiden nodded silently.

If things went as expected, these people would become his first group of fans.

He needed to find a way to keep them around.

[Sunshine Gym? Does Paldea even have that gym?]

[Sounds familiar... I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before.]

[I remember now! Isn't that the gym that's been closed for half a year?]

[I work nearby in Los Platos. Since all the other gyms are named after their towns, yours stood out as an exception, so I vaguely remember it!]

At this point, a viewer named "Hardworking Joy" spammed several lines of comments in quick succession.

"That's right—due to some unforeseen circumstances, the gym has temporarily suspended operations."

Aiden nodded, surprised that anyone still remembered Sunshine Gym.

And was this viewer perhaps Nurse Joy from Los Platos?

Though curious, he decided not to pry out of politeness and respect for privacy.

"Now that we've got an audience in the stream, class, today we'll be playing Pokémon Champions!"

Aiden spoke up at just the right moment, steering the conversation back on track.

As he spoke, he had already opened the game.

It was a fresh account, so the rank was still at the beginner level.

The game had five major ranks: Beginner, Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball and Master Ball. 

These matched the tournament rankings in this world.

The "Unranked to Master Ball!" part of his stream title referred to the game's highest rank.

Prompted by his explanation, the chat quickly caught on.

[Chat, is the streamer actually a teacher?]

[Does the streamer really think he can reach Master Ball?]

[Impossible, that rank is only for the top hundred players. He's just some unknown Gym Leader—I think he's just trying to grab attention!]

[Yeah, reaching Master Ball is a bit far-fetched. I'd believe Ultra Ball, though.]

[Looks like another random so-called genius kid who thinks he can climb the ranks. Let's see how long it takes for him to get knocked down a peg!]

[What's he even playing?]

Most of the chat was clearly skeptical.

Aiden understood their doubts and didn't bother explaining further.

If a random new account popped up claiming it would break into the world's top hundred, most people wouldn't believe it either.

So he decided to jump straight into action and let the audience gauge his skill level firsthand.

Opening the team editor, Aiden scratched his head as he stared into the seemingly bottomless pool of Pokémon.

He was having a serious case of decision paralysis.

"Ugh, how am I supposed to choose from all these Pokémon…?"

"Forget it, let's just randomize it!"

Sometimes knowing too much wasn't a good thing. Aiden could glance at most Pokémon and immediately think of strategies to use them.

But this only made him more indecisive.

To spare what little brainpower he had left, Aiden decisively hit the "Randomize Team" button.

[POG, he's actually going with random Pokémon. If you win, I'll eat my words!]

[Almost fell for it, kid. I thought you were some legit Gym Leader, but turns out you're just pretending...]

[Watching a newbie play is kind of fun. I can already picture the streamer's devastated expression when he loses.]

Seeing such an absurd move, the vast majority of viewers instantly labeled him as a "newbie."

After all, anyone who had played the game knew how massive its database was—it covered most of the Pokémon from nine regions.

Even a Pokémon Professor would struggle to recognize them all.

And that was just basic knowledge. Battling with a randomly generated team would only make things harder.

Did he really think Pokémon battles had no skill floor?

Some viewers were already looking forward to seeing Aiden get humiliated.

Unless his luck was insanely good and he ended up with nothing but native Paldean Pokémon, there was no way he'd win.

Little did Aiden know, his offhand comment about randomizing his team inadvertently helped him retain quite a few chatters.

After pressing the randomize button, the six empty slots in the team builder quickly filled up:

Hippopotas, Snom, Talonflame, Aron, Flaafy, Gardevoir.

[Wait, isn't that my waifu Gardevoir? Take her home with me right now!]

[FBI? Yeah, it's that delusional guy dreaming in broad daylight again. Suggest immediate execution!]

Gardevoir was clearly popular in this world, judging by the chat reactions.

Looking at his randomized lineup, Aiden felt his luck wasn't too bad.

Most of the Pokémon were native to Paldea, and he even had two fully evolved ones: Talonflame and Gardevoir.

With the glory of the starter bird and the support of his beloved waifu, this team was more than capable of climbing the ranks.

[Streamer, do you know that green Pokémon? It's insanely strong, I'm not kidding!]

But then, noticing one particular comment scroll by, a bold idea suddenly struck him.

There was a highly renowned strategy involving Kecleon.

And as luck would have it, his randomized team had the perfect partners to pull it off. How could he not take advantage of such a golden opportunity?

"This viewer really knows their stuff! Kecleon is indeed powerful, so today, let's make it our MVP!"

Eagerly, Aiden placed Kecleon in the center position, quickly adjusted the Pokémon's held items, and started the matchmaking process.

His movements were so smooth that even the audience couldn't keep up.

[Damn bro. You say anything, and they actually believe you?]

[The streamer's honest, but there are definitely trolls amongus!]

[Wait a minute... Why does this feel so off? Is he trolling us?]

[No way, unless the streamer's someone like Wallace, the Hoenn Champion, it's absolutely impossible to win with just Kecleon!]

Most of the chat continued to mock him, but Aiden hummed a tune, unfazed.

No rush. Let the bullets fly a little longer~

Since it was a completely fresh account, the matchmaking process was surprisingly fast.

Soon, an opponent was locked in.

By default, Pokémon Champions ranked battles followed 6v6 rules.

While official tournaments in his past life primarily used doubles battles, both games and anime largely favored full-team battles as the mainstream format.

As for the battle mechanics, commands were issued via voice in real-time, without being restricted to the usual four moves per Pokémon.

Aside from that, the gameplay was nearly identical to what Aiden was used to.

"Gyarados, Charizard, Aerodactyl, Ampharos, Crawdaunt, Tropius..."

Noticing the opponent's lineup, Aiden raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, so many Pokémon with 'dragon' in their names, and not a single true Dragon-type among them!"

(T/N: All these Pokemon have 'dragon' in their Chinese and Japanese names)

[Are you cosplaying as Lance here?]

[Awkward fact: Our Kanto Dragon-type Elite Four member only uses Flying-types!]

[Flying-type Elite Four (correction)!]

[Lance catching strays! Warning issued; next time, I'll feed you to a Dragonite wearing brass knuckles!]

It seemed jokes about Kanto's Lance were widespread on the internet in this world too.

In his past life, there was a classic meme: Guess which one of these Pokémon is Dragon-type?

Lance: "I can't tell, I can't tell!"

Aiden couldn't help but laugh at the memory.

But as the most respectful Lance fan on the internet, he definitely wouldn't mock him lightly.

Unless he really couldn't hold it in.

Of course, his laughter wasn't because of his deep respect for Lance—he was just amused by the thought.

Amidst the cheerful banter about the opponent's ridiculous lineup, one particular comment caught Aiden's eye.

[Did you mess with the levels? Why is your Aron Level 1?!]

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