[Streamer, streamer, what exactly just happened?]
[You jerk, are you using hacks?]
"If I never turned them off, does that count as turning them on?" Chen Yan put down his controller, glanced at the chat, and replied.
[Awesome, devs, come quick! We've got a hacker here!]
[Tell us now, or I'm unfollowing!]
[How is that not hacking? That was a Hydreigon! A pseudo-legendary Pokémon! And some bug you can find anywhere by the roadside one-shotted it?]
[Lord Glameow, don't let him pet you if he won't tell us!]
"It's actually pretty simple." As Chen Yan spoke, the chat instantly quieted down.
Chen Yan pulled up Kricketune's Pokédex entry and explained, "Kricketune has an Ability called Technician, which multiplies the power of moves with a base power of sixty or less by 1.5. It can also learn a move called Fell Stinger."
"When the user defeats an opponent with Fell Stinger, its Attack rises drastically. Its base power is fifty, so it triggers Technician, bringing its power up to an astonishing seventy-five..."
"Combine that with Peppa Pig's... I mean, Drowzee's Trick Room to reverse the turn order, then use Endeavor to bring down the opponent's HP. Send in Kricketune to finish them off, and you can easily sweep their team."
[Then why was Kricketune losing HP even when it wasn't getting attacked?]
"Because I gave it a Life Orb. It boosts damage, but costs HP."
"We need to understand when this team has the advantage," Chen Yan said.
"It only has the advantage during the five turns Trick Room lasts."
"Subtract Drowzee's Endeavor and the switch, and you've only got about three turns left. If you can't beat your opponent within those three turns, then Kricketune Man can only go down in bitter defeat."
[...]
[Does Kricketune actually have something going for it?]
"Please remember," Chen Yan said solemnly, "to call it Kricketune Man. Thank you."
[...]
[Whoa...]
[You're really committed to the bit...]
[I don't believe it. Play another match to prove it.]
[Agreed. One more match.]
Chen Yan checked the time. The rain outside still hadn't stopped. He looked down at the yawning Glameow and asked softly:
"Sleepy? Want me to end the stream so you can sleep?"
[???]
[Wow! You really are a jerk!]
[How dare you! Who gave you permission to end the stream?!]
Glameow shook its head, stretched out its bandaged paw, and pointed at the screen.
"Meow~"
"All right, one more match, then."
After saying that, Chen Yan glanced at Gengar and found it wearing Grandmother's straw hat, holding Kakuna, and waving the Thin Bamboo Cane outside the tent.
It wasn't interested in the stream.
Running outside to play in the rain was much more fun.
His next opponent led with Dragapult, while Chen Yan opened with his little pink pig again.
[Let's see you use Endeavor now!]
[Immune to Normal-type moves. Mad yet?]
Chen Yan sighed and had Drowzee use Trick Room anyway.
Dragapult hit Drowzee with U-turn, then returned to its trainer.
"Using U-turn to break my Focus Sash?"
Looking at Drowzee's remaining thirty-two HP, Chen Yan was rather pleased. "U-turn is great. Good old U-turn. I was just worrying about how I'd get Drowzee to use Endeavor."
[Incredible. The matchmaking system is putting in work...]
His opponent's second Pokémon was Scizor.
"Scizor? Eat my Endeavor!"
Drowzee knocked Scizor down to thirty-two HP, and Scizor then returned to its team with another U-turn.
"Scizor used U-turn too? Who's the third one?"
Kricketune stared coldly at the black-and-green gorilla across from it.
Chen Yan pressed his lips together, fighting the urge to laugh out loud.
"Rillaboom?" Chen Yan blinked.
As soon as Rillaboom entered the field, grass covered the ground.
His opponent clearly hadn't expected Chen Yan to send out Kricketune and quietly typed a question mark.
Chen Yan typed a question mark too, then shouted.
"Kricketune Man, Fell Stinger!"
Under Trick Room, Kricketune struck first. Fell Stinger hit Rillaboom, instantly emptying its HP bar.
"Another crit?" Looking at the yellow text that popped up, Chen Yan finally couldn't hold back his laughter.
[Awesome. You've got Serene Grace, huh?]
[Is this even fair anymore? Another crit!]
"Scared now? Our opponent thought we'd be helpless if he didn't leave us a weakened Pokémon to finish off. But how could he know that our Kricketune Man is a stat monster? Full HP is already within lethal range."
Watching his opponent send out the weakened Scizor, Chen Yan had Kricketune finish it off with Aerial Ace.
The final Pokémon, Dragapult, also fell to Kricketune's Night Slash.
"Another narrow victory."
Chen Yan looked at the results screen and let out a sigh of relief.
[Excuse me, what part of that was narrow? Kricketune lost some HP, so it counts as a narrow victory?]
[Who dares claim invincibility? Who dares call themselves undefeated? Only my Bug King, Kricketune Man!]
[Sorry, Kricketune. I misjudged you. I'm going to catch two right now and challenge a Gym.]
[From this moment on, I'm Kricketune Man's most loyal fan!]
[You were the one looking down on it the most earlier!]
Chen Yan smiled at the jokes filling the chat, then exited the game and adjusted Glameow's position so it could lie more comfortably. Only then did he speak:
"I've actually read all your comments."
As Chen Yan spoke, the chat slowly quieted down.
"I can't say which of you is right or wrong. I never even imagined that the first episode of Pokémon Grand World I recorded would spark such a huge debate."
"As you all know, I'm not a Trainer. I'm not very good at battling, and my understanding of battles might be nowhere near yours."
"But I am a photographer. My job is to film as many Pokémon as possible, record their lives, and analyze their habits, so I can provide some small bit of guidance for new Trainers."
"And to let those of you who can't have Pokémon or can't travel see the entire process of a Pokémon's growth through my videos."
"I do know that Bug-type Pokémon are pretty much the weakest Pokémon out there. There's nothing wrong with Trainers who want to become stronger seeking stronger Pokémon."
"But everyone, do you still remember what your first Pokémon was?"
"For a lot of you, your first Pokémon was probably a Bug-type, right? After all, Bug-type Pokémon are easy to catch, and some are very gentle."
Chen Yan smiled. "Do you remember how you felt when you caught your first Pokémon? When I caught Weedle, I was thrilled, absolutely buzzing, because it was the first Pokémon I'd ever caught through a battle."
"To me, catching Pokémon should be a happy experience."
"As you know, I lived in Twinleaf Town for a while..."
Chen Yan briefly recounted the story of the Bug Catcher in Twinleaf Town.
"So, everyone, those Bug-type Pokémon we consider weak might be someone else's favorite Pokémon."
"Personally, I think Bug-type Pokémon are pretty good. They might not stand out much in battles, but look at it another way. Isn't Beautifly a regular in Pokémon Contests?"
Chen Yan quietly held Glameow and talked at length. Some of it came from his heart, and some of it was in answer to questions from the chat.
"Sorry, everyone. I got carried away and said so much. I won't keep you any longer."
Chen Yan smiled and prepared to end the stream.
"Oh, right, everyone. Let me finish with the one thing I most want to say."
"Games are games, and reality is reality. Just because we can't do something in a game doesn't mean we can't do it with Pokémon in real life."
"Like... 'Get up'? 'I believe in you'? 'You can do it'?"
"Okay, that's it for today's stream. See you next time, everyone."
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