Di Tian was still suffering in the grass on Route 24, grimly commanding his Charmeleon as it battled a pack of wild Oddish.
Meanwhile, at the seats where Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were sitting on the other side of the internet café lobby, the atmosphere was completely different.
The two of them looked utterly relaxed, as though pink bubbles were floating all around them.
"Wow! Yuhao, look! My Metapod evolved!" Wang Dong excitedly patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder and pointed at her screen.
A brilliant flash of evolutionary white light swept across the screen. The Metapod that had looked like a green cocoon and could only take hits with Harden broke free from its shell and became a butterfly.
In the middle of the screen, a Butterfree with huge white wings fluttered gracefully through the air. Its compound eyes gleamed like rubies, and it scattered a faint dusting of silver scales.
"So pretty! Raising it from a tiny Caterpie wasn't all that hard work for nothing." Wang Dong looked contentedly at Butterfree's stats panel before opening her party list.
Other than the Squirtle she had picked at the start, Wang Dong's team was filled entirely with high-appearance Pokémon: a fluffy Jigglypuff, a pink and adorable Clefairy, and the Butterfree that had just evolved.
"Wang Dong, your team... you caught them all based on looks, didn't you?" Huo Yuhao leaned over for a glance, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Obviously! Whether they're strong only matters for one version, but whether they look good matters for a lifetime!"
Wang Dong proudly lifted her chin and glanced disdainfully at Di Tian in the distance, who was fighting Rock-type monsters. "I refuse to grind levels like that Black Dragon King. My Pokémon have to make a dazzling entrance!"
Huo Yuhao