Chapter 180

Chapter 180: Chapter 180

Today was another good day.

At least, it was for everyone except Mike, because he had a livestream to do.

At the moment, he was following Nidoking through Eterna Forest with the Pokémon Egg carefully held in his arms.

Nidoking’s cave was far too cramped and dim for a livestream, so Mike had asked him to find somewhere nearby with enough open space to set everything up properly.

Before long, the trees opened onto a lush meadow blanketed in green grass and scattered with blooming flowers.

Mike looked around in surprise; he hadn’t expected to find such an open, beautiful place hidden deep inside Eterna Forest.

"Nidoking?"

[Will this place work?]

Nidoking looked back at him.

Mike nodded. "It’s great. We’ll use this place."

The moment the decision was made, he casually lay down in the grass and stared at the clear blue sky overhead.

"You know what? Once the livestream is over, how about we take the rest of the day off? No more work."

"Gar—!"

[I support this!]

"Perfect. Since you agree, today is officially a rest day."

Mike smiled as though Gengar’s vote had settled the matter beyond dispute.

Gengar immediately began spreading out the blanket and setting up the table, chairs, and stools.

Mike, meanwhile, was too lazy to stand, so he simply wriggled across the grass until he reached the blanket.

By the time he made it there, his clothes were damp with morning dew and carried the fresh scent of grass.

He took a long breath and closed his eyes in satisfaction.

"Forest mornings really are nice."

"Urgh..."

Mike hadn’t even finished enjoying the atmosphere when Glameow stepped directly onto his stomach on her way to the other side of the blanket.

The impact made him feel as though a heavily armored tank had just rolled across him.

"Meow?"

Hearing the noise, Glameow turned back and looked at him in confusion.

Mike forced a smile onto his face.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that you’re still a little too skinny. You really shouldn’t be so picky with your food."

Beedrill heard that and quietly looked Glameow over.

Then he remembered what she had looked like when they first met and compared that image with the considerably rounder Glameow in front of him now.

’Skinny?’

Glameow lowered her head and examined her plump paws. After considering Mike’s words seriously, she apparently decided that he had a point.

"Meow."

[You’re right. I’ll eat more next time.]

Mike’s eyes widened.

Σ(°∀°ﾉ)ﾉ

’She actually believed me?!’

When Glameow’s expression began cooling because he was staring at her strangely, Mike immediately recovered and put on another smile.

"I’ll make you something good for lunch."

Only then did Glameow turn away and resume playing with her red ball of string.

Mike quietly exhaled and sat up on the blanket.

Nearby, Snivy was calmly shelling sunflower seeds and placing the kernels neatly onto a small plate.

Beedrill had once again entered his usual state of silent contemplation, while Nidoking was playing a game of chase with Nidoran♀ beneath the newly risen morning sun.

Hatenna lay beside Mike on the blanket and glanced toward him every so often.

Mike reached over and gently rubbed her little head.

"Haten—"

Hatenna narrowed her hidden eyes contentedly and gave a soft, sweet cry.

"Gengar, when you have a moment, help me set up the equipment."

Gengar had just finished straightening the tablecloth and weighting down the corners.

Hearing Mike, he floated over and began assembling the gaming and streaming equipment.

After adjusting the camera several times, Gengar finally found an angle that framed both Mike and the flower-filled meadow behind him perfectly.

He gave Mike an enthusiastic OK gesture.

"Gar—!"

"Looks good. Start the stream."

Mike immediately reached over and grabbed Glameow, who was still happily playing with her string.

Before she could resist, he lowered his voice and whispered, "Cooperate for a little while. We’re live."

Glameow looked up at him suspiciously, but after hearing that, she relaxed and settled into his arms.

Mike felt the soft fur beneath his hand and narrowed his eyes comfortably.

There really was nothing better than being forced to work early in the morning while still having a perfectly legitimate excuse to sit there petting a cat.

Gengar took the tablet and posted the livestream link in the fan group.

Viewers flooded into the room almost immediately.

[ZhourongHephaestus: FIRST! THE THRONE IS MINE!]

[Juice Bro: What the hell?! You damn slacker, who starts a livestream during working hours?!]

Mike saw the message and immediately grinned.

"No way. Don’t tell me there are actually people who have to work today?"

[Juice Bro: ???]

[Juice Bro: YOU BASTARD! YOU’VE CHOSEN DEATH!]

{System Notice: Gholdengo Is Number One gifted Poké Galas ×66.}

"Thank you for the food, Gholdengo Bro! Gholdengo Bro is so generous!"

Mike watched the gifts flood across the screen and clasped his hands dramatically.

"Finally, I don’t have to make Glameow and the others survive on steamed buns anymore."

[Gholdengo Is Number One: Are you sure the Glameow in your arms has been surviving on steamed buns?]

[Makenzie_Stancer: One look at that build says absolutely not.]

Mike immediately covered Glameow’s eyes.

"Glameow, don’t look. Dextroller is saying terrible things about you."

Glameow slapped Mike’s hand away with one paw and immediately began growling and hissing at the screen.

[Professor Purple: Somebody’s about to die~]

[IDontWantOvertime: Well, look at you. Starting work early for once?]

Lucian had only learned yesterday that Cynthia had effectively used him as part of her deal with Mike.

A PowerPoint framework in exchange for a livestream.

After thinking about it, however, Lucian found the arrangement perfectly reasonable.

If he had to work, then Mike should have to work too, especially when Mike’s work would ultimately benefit him as well.

By Lucian’s calculations, that somehow counted as a three-way victory.

Mike continued fooling around with the viewers for a while.

Once the audience count had more or less stabilized, he finally shifted into the actual topic of the stream.

"All right, looks like most people are here. Since everyone seems so interested in the rain-team structures I briefly mentioned in the video, Champion Cynthia asked me to go through them with you today. We’ll test different combinations together and see what kind of rain team is the most practical with the Pokémon and battle environment we currently have."

Once he finished speaking, Mike switched the main feed over to Poké Battle.

A small window showing Mike with Glameow in his arms remained in the bottom-right corner.

The instant the game appeared, all of his Pokémon gathered closer to watch.

Snivy quietly pushed the plate of shelled sunflower seeds toward Mike.

"Sni~"

Mike looked down in surprise.

"You shelled these for me? Thanks, Big Sis Snivy."

Snivy tilted her head and gave him a gentle smile.

[Mad Silence: No... Big Sis Snivy, please don’t shell sunflower seeds for that bastard...]

[Althiemeus: He really is a bastard. He doesn’t deserve someone as gentle, kind, and considerate as our Big Sis Snivy!]

Mike calmly read through the messages, then smiled.

"Don’t worry. None of you are getting any."

The chat fell silent.

[...]

Mike happily ate another sunflower seed.

"All right, enough messing around. We’re here to battle."

He reached the login screen, stared at it for a moment, then suddenly realized a rather important problem.

"Who wants to lend me an account?"

[ReallyWantIceCream: Do you want mine?]

"Champion Cynthia’s account? No thanks!"

Mike shook his head immediately.

"Your account probably won’t give us the kind of matches we need for this demonstration."

[Gholdengo Is Number One: Then keep using mine.]

"Perfect. Gholdengo Bro, log me in!"

Once Manryo logged him in, Mike looked through the available battle modes.

"Raihan has already separated the different rain-team builds pretty clearly, so we’ll follow the categories he organized. Let’s start with ordinary matchmaking, with no special rules, and get a feel for how the simplest version plays."

Mike entered standard matchmaking.

While he waited for an opponent, a surprising number of elite Trainers quietly joined the livestream.

...

In Galar, Raihan was sitting across from Leon as the two watched the stream together.

An elderly man nearby studied Mike on the screen and slowly stroked his long, drooping eyebrows.

"I remember him. Wasn’t Wyrdeer restored recently because of his research?"

Sonia looked toward the screen in surprise.

"So that’s Mike?"

She had heard his name many times while helping Professor Magnolia research the Dynamax phenomenon, but she had never actually seen him before.

Mustard continued stroking his eyebrows thoughtfully.

"A rain team, is it? If he can make weather teams easier for ordinary Trainers to understand, that wouldn’t be a bad development."

Most truly powerful Trainers had at least some understanding of weather-based strategies, but for Trainers in the lower and middle levels, a structured weather team could provide an excellent framework for improving their battling ability.

...

Elsewhere in the Mount Coronet range, Cynthia sat comfortably on Wyrdeer’s back while Garchomp stood beside her.

The Champion and her partner watched Mike’s livestream together.

Similar scenes were playing out in other regions as well.

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Please more power stones guys!