The legendary childhood friend

The next day.

Qingyu blinked his sleepy eyes, stretched, and let out a comfortable yawn as he walked into the bathroom.

This is the best thing about being a streamer. I set my own working hours, so I can sleep as late as I want without worrying about being late.

Qingyu thought to himself as he washed up and groomed his handsome face.

As a small-time streamer in my previous life, I still had to worry about whether I might go hungry someday. There was at least some pressure.

But now...

Unless I go out of my way to get myself killed, I can't imagine starving to death in a utopian society like the Pokémon world.

At that thought, Qingyu briefly recalled the other games he had played in his previous life. None of their worlds seemed like places he could survive in...

It really is great that I ended up in such a friendly world!

Once he finished washing up, Qingyu sat down on the sofa in high spirits, ready to lie back and play on his phone a little longer.

After unlocking his screen, Qingyu suddenly noticed a red notification badge on another app before he could open Poké TV.

"PokéNav."

Qingyu slowly typed a question mark.

If Poké TV was a combination of video platforms from his previous life, including Bilibili, TikTok, and YouTube, then PokéNav combined all social media and other phone functions.

In fact, PokéNav had appeared in the games as early as Generation III.

Its developer was none other than Hoenn's Devon Corporation, founded by Steven's father, President Stone.

Aside from its main businesses of refining ore and developing energy sources, PokéNav was also one of the Devon Corporation's top priorities.

It was perfectly normal for Qingyu to have such a world-class social app on his phone.

The only problem was that he didn't even use the thing. He barely had any friends on it, so who had nothing better to do than contact him?

Although he was still a little bewildered, Qingyu quickly tapped into the app.

Once he opened it, he found a friend request.

Someone suddenly adding him on a social app that had been dead for half a year was pretty remarkable.

If he hadn't known that those "tea sellers" definitely didn't exist in this world, Qingyu probably would have rejected it without a second thought.

Qingyu took a closer look.

[User: Who's on the air? It's Iono!

Verification message: I already know you're Azure Feather! Hurry up and accept the great Iono's friend request!

Accept/Reject]

"Holy shit, I've been doxxed!"

Qingyu froze for a moment, then blurted it out.

He suddenly felt that perhaps the people of the Pokémon world weren't quite so friendly after all.

Even if he had no idea where she had gotten his PokéNav ID, as for why Iono had added him...

It didn't take a genius to figure that out, did it?

His only interaction with her had been a single battle.

Was it because he had used footage of their match without asking her permission?

Or was she unhappy about losing and wanted a rematch?

Either way, he would have to accept her request before he could find out what she wanted.

In the end, Qingyu tapped Accept.

They were both Gym Leaders in Paldea, after all. They were bound to interact sooner or later, so building a good relationship ahead of time couldn't hurt.

[Qingyu: Hello. /smile]

After taking the initiative to send an emoji, he waited a while, but Iono still didn't reply.

Hmm...

Full-time streamers generally kept pretty ungodly hours. Someone like him, who went to bed early and got up early, seemed to be the exception.

Qingyu understood that perfectly well. He promptly swiped away and opened Poké TV.

Two tutorial videos in two days. That's me-the most hardworking battle streamer on the entire platform!

After another night, the new video's view count was about the same as the previous one's, a little over five hundred thousand.

It might even have been the same group of viewers.

This time, Qingyu went straight to the comments. Sure enough, he found their old acquaintance at the very top again.

Fossil Maniac Steven was still going strong!

With the previous incident as a precedent, Qingyu wasn't quite so shocked to see Steven again.

Thinking about it, almost every Pokémon in this video was a Steel-type, and the strategy was somewhat similar to Steven's approach to choosing a lead.

Only then did Qingyu catch on.

Wasn't this whole video basically a Steven trap? No wonder he was so active.

User "Fossil Maniac Steven," posted at 05:15.

[How lucky-I almost missed this exceptionally high-quality video.

Judging by the creator's proficiency with Skarmory and Metagross, he must also be a Gym Leader specializing in Steel-types. His approach is rather similar to that of another Gym Leader, Falkner.

Although the strategy is still geared toward the game, it truly brings out all the strengths of Steel-type Pokémon. Calling it a comprehensive introductory textbook on Steel-types wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Now that I've covered its strengths, let me play class representative again today and share my understanding of entry hazards and hazard removal!

...]

In the long passage that followed, Steven explained his understanding of how to choose hazard setters and methods of hazard removal in detail.

Qingyu kept nodding as he read.

As expected of a Champion, his understanding was spot-on.

Although regional limitations meant he didn't know much about Pokémon from other regions, his answer was still essentially correct.

Generally speaking, Pokémon battles were a two-sided process that spiraled upward.

If hazard setters ran rampant in the metagame, corresponding hazard removers would naturally be needed to eliminate the potential threat.

Previously, however, most trainers who used hazard-setting strategies were Ace Trainers at Gym Leader level or above, and the usage rate wasn't particularly high.

As a result, few people gave much thought to how they could clear those troublesome hazards from the field.

Now that Qingyu had shared the strategy openly, though, the development of hazard-setting teams would probably flourish.

There wasn't really much to say about the homework he had left this time. It was simply an extension exercise to broaden their thinking.

Excluding moves such as Maushold's Tidy Up, Glimmora's Mortal Spin, and Court Change, there were only two general solutions for hazard removal-Rapid Spin and Defog.

As long as they knew which Pokémon learned those moves, they would naturally know how to remove hazards whenever they encountered a hazard-setting team.

Failing that, weren't there always Heavy-Duty Boots? They made the wearer completely immune to the effects of entry hazards.

For the few Pokémon that were especially vulnerable to Stealth Rock, they were a god-tier battle item.

Of course, there was also a more heavy-handed solution.

The Ability Magic Bounce.

It reflected the opponent's hazards straight back onto their own side of the field without even using up an action. It could well be called the optimal solution.

After posting the correct answer in text form in the comments, Qingyu was about to put down his phone.

Just then, however, he suddenly remembered something. Almost without thinking, he swiped across the screen and returned to PokéNav.

Aside from the newly added Iono, he only had three friends on PokéNav.

Two of them were his parents, who had been missing for half a year...

As for that final friend, well, she was someone truly extraordinary.

His memories of two lives were far too tangled, compounded by the original owner's half year of running away from reality.

If Iono's friend request hadn't prompted that fleeting glimpse just now, he might not have remembered this at all.

Qingyu's hometown was Celestic Town, where he had lived until he was thirteen.

It wasn't until five years ago that he had moved to the Paldea Region with his parents.

Before leaving Celestic Town, he had added that legendary childhood friend of his on PokéNav.

None other than the New Sinnoh Champion herself, Cynthia!

Their last conversation, however, had been five months ago.

A flop author's diary, April 23.

I added a little patch to the first chapter. I forgot to include the key phrase "childhood friend" when I originally wrote it, but it looks like some readers already guessed it. Very good, very good~

This book will probably have only one female lead. My last book made me painfully aware that I'm not good at writing romance, so there won't be much of it this time, and that side of the story will progress fairly slowly. Streaming and the Gym will take center stage!