The Streamer Is Really a Social Butterfly!

Meanwhile, the chat paused for a moment before exploding!

[W-Won?]

[Holy shit?? She actually cleared it after only two tries?]

[I get it now. Breaking the berries was all for this. Only with Reflect on its final turn, poison damage, and the earlier damage triggering Weak Armor could a Torchic that ate an Oran Berry barely endure it.]

[Switching back and forth created a favorable matchup, then she baited the turtle into using Shell Smash, sacrificed Dottler to save Reflect turns, calculated the berry healing and double damage reduction to barely keep her HP up, then finished it with poison on the final turn...]

[Damn, is the streamer really some newbie who knows nothing? Was she messing with us in chat just now?]

[Streamer, I acknowledge you, but you're still far from being my ideal Cynthia. Unless you secretly take a few swimsuit photos for me, I won't admit that you're actually talented!]

The chat flooded the screen at a frantic pace. Luo Chen walked over as well, raising an eyebrow in surprise at the victory screen.

"Whoa, she cleared it that quickly?"

I thought she'd be stuck here for at least an hour.

But thinking about it, he had noticed earlier that this version of the Rock Gym did not seem to be set to the highest difficulty.

Back then, Roxanne would use Lileep and Cranidos... Those two were the real nightmare.

Meanwhile, Cynthia noticed Luo Chen's arrival. She turned and gave him a small nod, her expression serious.

"Mm. Honestly, even though it's a game, it's quite difficult."

"Archen's damage and typing caught me off guard, but if you think carefully and make use of its Ability and the poison damage, you can still find a way through."

Luo Chen stroked his chin.

"All right, then it still sounds too easy... Let me see if I can change Cradily and Cranidos back in for you."

This version of Ultimate Emerald did not seem to be exactly the one from his memories...

Sure enough, for someone as gifted as Cynthia, this version was still a little too easy.

He wondered if there was any way to alter the game version... Did he have permission to mess with the games on this computer?

Cynthia froze for a moment at his words.

What did he mean, too easy?

She had not said it was easy at all!

And Lileep? Cranidos?

What kind of Pokémon were those...?

Besides... what did he mean by "change them back"? Wasn't she already playing the hardest version?

Before Cynthia could answer, the chat on-screen began scrolling madly again as if it had exploded.

[The streamer is broadcasting from an internet café? Holy crap, is she cosplaying Cynthia while playing Emerald in an internet café?]

[That's insane. I can't even imagine that scene. The streamer really is a total social butterfly.]

[Boss, are you there? Boss, crank up the difficulty for her!]

[Change it! I want to see it!]

Looking at the fired-up chat, Cynthia smiled helplessly.

Why did these people all seem... so eager to see her suffer?

"If I get the chance, I can give it a try."

Meanwhile, another group of comments began appearing.

[Watching how quickly she improved during the stream, she seems incredibly talented. Interested in bringing that talent to the Pokémon Champions League?]

[Isn't that just the Paralympics? Boring. She should play ranked Legendary battles in Scarlet and Violet instead. The Paldea stage is open—if you've got the skills, come on!]

[Stop picking on the streamer. She probably doesn't even recognize a single Legendary yet. Wouldn't she just get beaten senseless in Legendary battles?]

Cynthia looked at those comments and furrowed her brow slightly.

The Paralympics? The Paldea stage? Legendary battles?

Sure enough, she still could not understand any of it...

But she had already grown used to that hazy, baffling feeling. She stopped dwelling on it, turned back to the game, and continued advancing through the story.

On-screen, Roxanne was delivering her post-battle remarks. She handed over the Stone Badge and a Cut TM, telling Cynthia that she could use the move to chop down plants blocking the road.

As the badge entered her bag, the screen suddenly paused, and several Pokémon began leveling up one after another.

[Shroomish grew to Lv. 17!]

[Dottler grew to Lv. 17!]

[Torchic grew to Lv. 18!]

[Huh? Torchic is...!]

A burst of intense white light suddenly erupted from Torchic's body!

Its frame lengthened, its claws grew more pronounced, and its once tiny chick-like form instantly transformed into a sturdy, upright figure.

[Torchic evolved into Combusken!]

[Combusken learned Double Kick! But it already knows four moves. Forget a move to learn Double Kick?]

After reading the move description and considering it for a moment, Cynthia immediately replaced Tackle.

If I had Double Kick earlier... this Gym would have been much easier.

Looking at Combusken's information in the party, Cynthia nodded.

Its overall stats had improved, and it had gained the Fighting type. It had indeed become much stronger after evolving...

That feeling was always wonderful. Watching Pokémon grow stronger and transform was one of the great joys of being a Trainer.

But then her gaze swept over the other two members of her team, and she could not help feeling troubled.

She had no idea when Shroomish would evolve...

And Dottler... Could a Pokémon with such powerful utility really evolve further?

After leaving the Gym, Cynthia continued pushing through the story at a fast pace.

The moment she stepped outside, a Team Aqua member stole something from a Devon Corporation employee again. Cynthia chased him into the cave in the upper-left corner, defeated him, and incidentally rescued an old man's Wingull.

After returning to Rustboro City and entering Devon Corporation, the employee brought her before the company president and gave her a reward—a device that allowed all Pokémon to share experience from battle victories.

This increased leveling efficiency by as much as six times, which was naturally a good thing.

In town, Cynthia also followed the chat's directions and obtained an item called the Quick Claw.

Besides that, she made a trip to the Pokémon School and learned the exact effects of status conditions in this game from the information written on the blackboard.

Burn reduced HP and Attack, paralysis lowered Speed and could cause immobilization, poison dealt fixed damage... Everything was very similar to what she knew about status conditions in reality.

After restoring her team's health at the Pokémon Center, Cynthia guided her character back along the same route, preparing to head toward the next city.

However, after only a few steps, her character suddenly could not move.

A cold-looking boy standing at the crossroads blocked the way.

A dialogue box appeared on-screen. The boy's eyes were filled with arrogance and disdain, and his words were especially grating—

"Once weak Pokémon lose even once, they become completely worthless. Someone like you, traveling with trash, doesn't understand what true strength is."

"So? Do you dare accept my challenge? I'll show you what true strength really is!"

Cynthia immediately frowned slightly.

This child...

How could he say something like that?

But before she could think any further, the battle began!

[Trainer Paul challenged you!]

Cynthia's gaze sharpened as she swiftly entered battle mode.

The opponent led with a humanoid Pokémon wearing gloves.

[Paul sent out Makuhita Lv. 17!]

Cynthia let out a breath of relief. Finally, it was a Pokémon she recognized.

Since it was a physical attacker, she barely hesitated before sending out Dottler, intending to set up Reflect as usual.

However, in the next second, flames suddenly flashed over Makuhita's body on-screen.

[Makuhita's held Flame Orb burned it!]

Cynthia frowned.

It deliberately held an item to burn itself?

If she remembered correctly, she had just read that burns caused a Pokémon to steadily lose HP and cut its Attack in half, right?

Burning itself... What was the point?

Before she could think any further, Makuhita's fists ignited with flames, and it slammed a Fire Punch viciously into Dottler!

[Makuhita used Fire Punch!]

[It's super effective!]

[Dottler fainted!]

Its HP bar plummeted at lightning speed. It had been one-shot!

Cynthia froze.

Why was the damage from that attack still so high?

Wasn't its Attack halved? And it did not even get same-type bonus damage.

Could Dottler not withstand it just from type disadvantage alone?

She sent out Combusken and used Double Kick.

Two consecutive kicks landed, and Makuhita's HP dropped by two-thirds.

Good, it worked!

Cynthia's spirits lifted. Combusken's battle prowess had indeed improved tremendously after evolving!

But in the next instant...

Makuhita twisted its fists.

[Makuhita used Force Palm!]

Combusken's HP bar was instantly emptied!

[Combusken fainted!]

Cynthia:?

Before she could even set up the wall, the opponent had one-shot two of her Pokémon. Her last Pokémon, Shroomish, was also weak to Fire, so Cynthia decisively chose to restart.

But she did not immediately reload the save. Instead, she stared at the black screen and fell into thought.

Her intuition told her that the opponent's abnormal damage was definitely related to that burn.

She instinctively glanced at the chat, and sure enough, she found some of the information she needed.

[Hahaha, Guts Flame Orb is here.]

[Paul's still running the standard set...]

[Holy crap, one Force Palm one-shot a Combusken one level higher? Isn't that a little ridiculous?]

[The person above, that's just how Guts is. It's a fifty-percent boost, after all...]

[Is the streamer still confused? Can someone explain it?]

[I'll do it!]

A viewer gave Cynthia a detailed explanation of Guts—it ignored the negative effects of status conditions and increased Attack by fifty percent.

That made her freeze again.

There was an Ability like that too?

No wonder the opponent had deliberately carried an orb that burned itself...

Then what... should she do now?

She began thinking seriously.

The key to her team was setting up Reflect, but Makuhita's damage far exceeded her expectations. She could not set the wall up at all.

Should she rely on the Quick Claw's chance to let Dottler move first and set up Reflect?

As she thought, she subconsciously glanced at the chat again.

[Just got here. Is the streamer fighting Paul?]

[Yeah. I thought he wasn't showing up, but he only came after the Gym battle.]

[That bastard Paul is acting tough again, hahaha. Classic him despising his own Pokémon.]

[Streamer, go get a black-furred Incineroar. It'll make fighting him easy.]

"Black-furred... Incineroar?"

Cynthia unconsciously repeated that thunderous name.

Before she could ask, the chat had already started explaining on its own.

[Poochyena! A super low-budget version of Incineroar. It's the easiest Intimidate user to catch early on. Catch one with Run Away, so it'll have Intimidate after evolving. It lowers the opponent's Attack by one stage when it enters battle!]

[Right, right. You can also catch a Diglett. Arena Trap prevents the opponent from switching out, and it's immune to Electric attacks. It's perfect for dealing with Paul's Electabuzz, and it'll stay useful afterward.]

Intimidate? Arena Trap?

If Makuhita's immense damage came from its Attack, then if its Attack was reduced by one stage when it entered battle, combined with Reflect halving the damage, could it still deal such terrifying damage?

"I see..."

She swiftly pulled out her notebook and wrote down the names of those two Abilities and Pokémon, then turned toward the grass without hesitation.

The capture process went smoothly. Before long, she had caught a Poochyena with Run Away and a Diglett with Arena Trap.

The next stretch of time was nothing but tedious grinding.

To deal with Paul, she raised both Poochyena and Diglett to Level 18.

Poochyena successfully evolved into Mightyena amid a burst of light.

But Cynthia also discovered a problem—the leveling speed had clearly slowed down now.

The level cap was clearly 22, but grinding levels was extremely time-consuming.

When a high-level Pokémon challenged a low-level one, the experience gained was greatly reduced.

If she wanted to level up, she had to hurry to the next city.

Come to think of it, since experience was shared across the whole team, her Combusken had already reached level 20 and learned a new move—Aerial Ace.

"That should be enough."

Cynthia took a deep breath and returned to that intersection.

The screen froze once again at the moment Paul blocked her path.

The battle began!

Makuhita entered the field!

At the same time, Cynthia's lead Mightyena stood on the battlefield with an imposing air.

[Mightyena's Intimidate activated!]

[Makuhita's Attack fell!]

Looking at the prompt on the screen, Cynthia did not hesitate and had Mightyena use Growl first.

Its Attack dropped another stage!

With its Attack weakened twice over, Makuhita's Force Palm only barely managed to take half of Mightyena's HP!

Cynthia raised an eyebrow.

This could work!

She immediately switched to Dottler. This time, Makuhita's Force Palm landed on Dottler, but only took away a little over a third of its HP.

The next moment, Reflect rose steadily into place!

With Reflect's protection, Cynthia switched to Combusken. This time, Makuhita threw another Fire Punch. It had meant to counter Dottler, but landed on Combusken instead, once again achieving very little!

This time, Combusken had not even lost a quarter of its HP!

In the new turn, taking advantage of Aerial Ace's type advantage, she took out the full-health Makuhita in one blow.

Immediately afterward, Paul sent out Turtwig.

Aerial Ace came out again, still an instant kill.

His last Pokémon—Electabuzz!

Cynthia did not hesitate and directly switched to the Diglett in the back.

Diglett's Ground typing made it immune to Electric-type moves, and then a single Stomp instantly defeated Electabuzz.

The victory fanfare sounded, but Paul on the screen looked dissatisfied.

"Too weak... You can't even handle something at this level. You're all useless."

"Just wait. The next time we meet, I'll gather stronger Pokémon and crush you."

With that, he turned and walked away.

Cynthia frowned deeply at those lines.

Even knowing it was only a game, she could not help speaking softly.

"That kind of thinking won't do..."

"Every Pokémon has its own strengths. Blaming failure on your Pokémon means you are unworthy of being a Trainer."

Everyone in the livestream heard her muttering to herself.

[Hahahaha, the streamer is actually lecturing Paul. Totally in character!]

[Got it, boss. We won't become Paul.]

[True. Even though my Gengar has a nature that raises Special Attack and lowers Attack, I've never given up on him.]

[The guy above, what else would you do? Run a physical Gengar?]

[I also promise not to become Paul. I usually just use cheats to give them perfect stats right away. I'd never abandon my Pokémon. (doge)]

Looking at the joking comments in the chat, Cynthia shook her head helplessly.

She hoped they truly understood that.

With Paul dealt with and the road ahead clear, Cynthia continued onward and returned to Petalburg Woods.

On the way back, Cynthia noticed the small trees in the forest that she had seen before.

Those trees had previously blocked the path deeper into the forest... but now... it seemed she could use that thing called "Cut" to clear the way.

She opened her bag, had Shroomish use Cut, and pressed the interaction button. The small tree was instantly sliced in half.

Cynthia then guided her character deeper into the forest.

Soon, she spotted a Poké Ball lying in a corner ahead of her.

This should be... the roadside item the chat had mentioned before, right?

She stepped forward and pressed the interaction button.

A transparent stone like a glass bead appeared on the screen, with interwoven red and yellow patterns inside it, glimmering faintly.

Cynthia froze.

Hm?

...What was this thing again?