Lin Mo was holding Feebas and accepting the tide-like cheers and applause from the audience in the Gym when the phone in his pocket suddenly began vibrating violently.
The nonstop notification sounds came as densely as beads strung on a thread, and the buzzing vibration nearly made the phone jump out of his pocket.
He subconsciously freed one hand to pull out his phone. The moment the screen lit up, the dense barrage of notifications nearly made him lose his grip.
They were all push notifications from the streaming platform—"Popularity Surge," "Large Donation Received"—with red numbers constantly refreshing until they made his eyes blur.
The most eye-catching pop-up read: "Your livestream has been officially pinned to the homepage recommendations."
"What is this...?"
Lin Mo froze in place. As his finger slid across the screen, he saw two gold-glowing comments suspended at the top of the livestream interface. Beside them, the online viewer count displayed the striking red number "1,023,567," and it was still climbing rapidly.
"Over a million viewers!"
Only then did Lin Mo realize that Champion Steven and Master Wallace had dropped into his livestream and had even sent praise and donations.
Holding Feebas, he hurriedly turned toward the camera and gave a deep bow, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
"Thank you, Champion Steven and Master Wallace, for your praise, encouragement, and donations! This is such an incredible surprise!"
As soon as Lin Mo finished speaking, a new wave of frenzy erupted in the livestream chat. The flood of comments nearly drowned the screen.
"What kind of background does the streamer have?! Champion Steven and Master Wallace both donated to him? That's insane!"
"Exactly! Hoenn's two champions are watching a rookie Trainer challenge a Gym? Am I dreaming?"
"Calm down, calm down. Are you new here? The streamer's Tyrantrum was a gift from Champion Steven. Totally normal!"
"I'm curious too. I'm not surprised that Champion Steven showed up in the streamer's room, but why did Master Wallace appear too?"
"Champion Steven and Master Wallace sending messages together... I think I'm picking up some interesting information!"
"The two champions aren't together right now, are they?"
"..."
While the audience continued speculating, Wallace's golden comment slowly drifted across the screen again. Its dazzling special effect instantly drew everyone's attention.
[Wallace: Since I have the opportunity, let me announce that I will be serving as a special judge for this Rustboro City Pokémon Contest. There are still two days left to register. I look forward to seeing every Trainer bring their partners and show off their finest brilliance~]
"!!! Mr. Wallace is going to be a special judge?!"
"Rustboro City Pokémon Contest, here I come!"
"Streamer! Feebas has to sign up! Even Master Wallace praised its move control!"
"You have to go for it! Getting a personal evaluation from Master Wallace is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"I'm going to see Master Wallace in person!"
"..."
The atmosphere in the livestream room completely boiled over. The viewers who had originally been focused on the battle instantly shifted to discussing the Pokémon Contest, pushing the topic's popularity to the peak as related search terms rapidly shot up the platform's trending list.
Seeing the screen filled with anticipation, Lin Mo lowered his head to look at Feebas in his arms. He gently scratched the top of its head, his eyes filled with amusement.
"Look, the stage is already set. Now it's time for your wonderful performance!"
Feebas seemed to understand only vaguely as it swished its tail. Its purple scales reflected scattered glimmers beneath the Gym lights, and it excitedly rubbed its head against Lin Mo's palm.
At that moment, Gym Leader Roxanne turned and walked out from the back of the Gym, holding a palm-sized silver-white stone.
The stone was smooth and lustrous throughout, its surface covered in fine crystalline patterns. A faint flowing glow shimmered within it under the light, making it look particularly exquisite.
"Take this." She held the stone out to Lin Mo, her tone sincere and gentle.
"This is a Hard Stone. It contains pure Rock type energy. When a Pokémon wears it, it can improve their sensitivity to Rock type energy.
"Besides making it easier for Pokémon to learn Rock type moves, it can also increase the power of Rock type moves."
Lin Mo hurriedly waved his hands in refusal, sounding somewhat flustered. "Gym Leader, this is too valuable. I can't accept it..."
"Take it. It's not that valuable. It's an item used to assist Rock-type Pokémon with move training. During Gym challenges, I give additional rewards besides Badges to Trainers who impress me particularly."
Roxanne cut off Lin Mo's refusal. Her tone was firm but still warm. "Besides, Lin Mo, the recording of today's battle holds extraordinary value to me.
"Many students at our Pokémon Academy fall into a misunderstanding. They believe that only naturally powerful Pokémon are worth raising. They place too much importance on victory and defeat, even becoming impatient for quick success.
"Yet they forget that the most fundamental thing a Trainer should uphold is forging an unbreakable, profound bond with their Pokémon, and calmly discovering the limitless potential hidden within them."
As she spoke, Roxanne's gaze gently fell upon Feebas in Lin Mo's arms, her eyes filled with undisguised praise and satisfaction.
"You and your Pokémon perfectly embody that.
"Even a Pokémon like Feebas, one ignored by many people and even looked down upon with prejudice, can still break through those biases and bloom with its own dazzling light as long as its Trainer is willing to offer sincere companionship and devote everything to guiding and raising it.
"This battle recording will make the best possible teaching material for my classes. Please accept it!"
Holding the cool, smooth Hard Stone, Lin Mo could feel the energy slowly flowing within it through his fingertips. His heart warmed, and he no longer refused. Instead, he spoke solemnly.
"Then... thank you for your kindness and gift, Gym Leader Roxanne. Feebas and I are truly grateful for your recognition and praise. We'll definitely work even harder from now on and never let down your expectations!"
"Oh, right." As if suddenly remembering something, Roxanne smiled and took out her phone. "Let's exchange contact information. If you have any questions about raising Rock-type Pokémon or battle techniques in the future, you can contact me anytime to discuss them."
Lin Mo quickly nodded, took out his phone, and added Roxanne's contact information. Looking at the newly added name in his contacts, his heart was filled with satisfaction.
After finishing today's Gym challenge and returning to the hotel,
Lin Mo's gaze fell upon his system panel. Rows of numbers flickered with light and shadow, clearly displaying the brilliant results of today's livestream.
[Today's livestream duration: 58 minutes] [Peak online viewers: 1,441,645] [Total Popularity Points: 1,127,896]
In less than an hour, he had accumulated nearly 1.12 million Popularity Points—enough for ten Advanced Draws.
Lin Mo stared at the vivid red numbers jumping across the panel, an indescribable excitement and burning anticipation rising in his heart.
This rapidly increasing popularity meant that his Live Streaming System had finally broken free of its previous constraints and could fully reveal its true potential.
Before this, he could only slowly accumulate Popularity Points through scattered clips of his Pokémon's daily training. That rate of growth had truly been worrying.
It was only after he encountered Champion Steven and revived Tyrantrum that the viewer count in his livestream finally took a turn for the better and began rising steadily.
Although it was already worlds apart from the desolation at the beginning, compared with the 100,000 Popularity Points needed for a single Advanced Draw, it would still take quite some time to save enough.
But today, during his battle with Gym Leader Roxanne, the surprise donations and interactions from the two top champions, Steven and Wallace, acted like two massive driving forces. They instantly ignited the hype and directly sent his livestream to the peak of traffic.
The name "Lin Mo" became known to countless Trainers in an extremely short time, while his Popularity Points surged wildly, breaking through figures he had never dared imagine before.
Lin Mo became even more certain that his plans for the future had been correct.
There was little point in livestreaming monotonous, repetitive daily training without any highlights. It would be better to appropriately lengthen the intervals between streams and use short videos of Pokémon training to build up the viewers' anticipation.
Then, during competitive events such as Gym battles and Pokémon Contests, he could display the results of his training and capture the hearts of his livestream viewers through his Pokémon's outstanding performances.
Now, his tactical display in the first Gym battle had successfully gathered a group of viewers who loved Pokémon battles. Next, his sights were set on the Pokémon Contest.
As a novice Pokémon Coordinator, he would let Feebas fully display the dazzling beauty of its Water-and-Ice combination moves at the Pokémon Contest. With splendid techniques, he would attract viewers who favored aesthetics and creativity, further expanding his livestream's audience.
Lin Mo's Live Streaming System was now firmly on the right track. All he needed to do next was seize the opportunity presented by the upcoming Pokémon Contest and steadily take hold of this wave of traffic.
He would make more viewers aware of and fond of his livestream, accumulating enough Popularity Points for future Advanced Draws.
"Finally, I don't have to worry about Popularity Points for Advanced Draws anymore."
A relieved smile curled across Lin Mo's lips as he murmured to himself.
His finger lightly swept across the glowing "Advanced Draw" button on the virtual panel. Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively performed ten draws.
Then, Lin Mo's gaze swept over the remaining hundred thousand or so points on the panel. With a thought, he invested them into Intermediate Draws as well, hoping to pull more moves and expand the move pools of Feebas and Tyrantrum.
Before you continue