Daily Shop

After a few quick adjustments, Geeta opened the battle recording.

Both teams were fairly standard, consisting mostly of Pokémon typical of Paldea.

"He's not a Gym Leader who specializes in a single type?" Rika quickly noticed this, and her eyes lit up.

For various reasons, including the amount they needed to learn and the difficulty of raising Pokémon, the vast majority of Gym Leaders and even Elite Four members specialized in a particular type.

A young Gym Leader confident enough to handle multiple types already deserved a little extra respect from them.

"Still, I feel like I've seen this opponent's username somewhere..."

Rika made the offhand remark without dwelling on it, then continued focusing on the battle recording.

The opening matchup was a contest between Talonflame and Staraptor.

Even if Larry wasn't all that familiar with Flying-type tactics, he still had solid fundamentals.

He made use of Staraptor's Intimidate at the start, clearly intending to force his opponent to compromise and switch out.

Trying to beat Larry at his own bird game is a bit presumptuous.

That was what Rika thought to herself.

Yet the brilliant exchanges that followed soon overturned her opinion.

Not only did the opponent refuse to switch, he also used Taunt to successfully predict Larry's Whirlwind command, leaving Staraptor stuck in an awkward position instead.

If that move could still be dismissed as a lucky bluff...

Then choosing to switch at almost exactly the same time as Larry proved that he had completely read his opponent's intentions.

Rika's gaze instantly sharpened.

Someone who could predict Larry's commands repeatedly really was no ordinary Trainer!

"Interesting."

The corners of Geeta's mouth began to rise.

But she didn't get impatient. She continued watching quietly with her arms folded, waiting for both sides' next moves.

The longer they watched, the more excitement filled Rika's and Geeta's eyes.

After using Maushold to eliminate Oricorio, a major threat to Talonflame, he returned to a matchup almost identical to the opening one.

Only this time, Larry seemed stretched thin, struggling to fend off his opponent's attacks.

With gradual boosts from Bulk Up and Roost enhanced by Gale Wings, Talonflame slowly became the battlefield's final boss.

In the end, it unsurprisingly swept through five Pokémon and sealed the match.

The recording lasted only a few minutes and soon drew to a close.

After watching the battle, both women's initially relaxed expressions had become far more animated.

"Where did this little monster come from...?"

Rika was stunned. She hadn't expected anyone to beat Larry so easily.

Even if Flying types weren't his strongest suit, his tactical fundamentals were still those of a veteran Elite Four member!

Yet looking at the entire match, the greatest gap between them had actually been in those very fundamentals?!

Larry hadn't lost because of his own mistakes. He simply hadn't anticipated his opponent's tactical plans and had been led around by the nose.

"Wait... Azure Feather..."

Something suddenly occurred to Rika, and she immediately pulled out her phone.

Once she opened Poké TV, everything fell into place.

"I knew it! He's that tutorial streamer who suddenly popped up these past couple of days!"

She had only glanced at his stream in her spare time, so the name had merely left a faint impression.

But even Elite Four members and Champions could learn a great deal from the tactics he demonstrated. Even Steven, the Champion of Hoenn, had praised him lavishly.

"I never expected him to be a Paldea local..."

Unlike the visibly astonished Rika...

Geeta wore a smile, her eyes clearly alight with enthusiasm.

Had he spent so long lost in despair after that accident, only to turn his pain into nourishment and reach a sudden breakthrough after half a year at the Gym?

With that mindset and ability, he would surely become a pillar of Paldea in the future if properly nurtured.

"If I remember correctly... the Sunshine Gym is also due to take the qualification assessment at the end of the year, isn't it?"

Geeta suddenly turned to Rika.

"As it happens, Brassius from Artazon has requested an extended leave to travel in search of inspiration. I'm afraid he won't be able to continue serving as an assessment Gym Leader for Victory Road next year."

"Why don't you go get an early measure of him in a few days?"

"Achoo!"

After ending his stream, Qingyu was about to get up from his seat when he suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.

"I really need to keep warm. Now I'm even sneezing..."

Qingyu scratched his head and decided to put on another jacket.

[Stream ended. Growth points earned from this stream: 817]

The familiar text appeared before his eyes again.

Ever since he had taken Iono's advice and added more Paldea-related content to his streams, the rewards from his next two streams had begun growing exponentially.

He had been worrying over a mere fifty points before, but now he was suddenly flush with them.

She really was a dependable senior!

And as his points began to accumulate, an obvious question came to the forefront.

Aside from the Travel System, surely there had to be somewhere to spend these extra points. But right now, the system seemed to have nothing but Berries...

You can't just be a Berry stall!

Just as Qingyu was puzzling over this, the system text before him changed again.

[Total growth points have surpassed 1,000. Daily Shop feature unlocked!]

*?*

So there really is something good in here?

Qingyu eagerly focused his mind and entered the System Shop.

Aside from the neatly arranged row of Berries and Technical Machines, a new icon had indeed appeared in the upper-right corner.

Daily Shop.

Upon entering, four cards of different colors immediately appeared before him.

This feels like opening loot boxes in one of those cash-grab games from my past life...

Suppressing the urge to complain, Qingyu flipped over all four cards at once.

[Technical Machine 083-Ally Switch (purple)], [Freshly Squeezed Moomoo Milk (green)], [Choice Specs (blue)]

And...

[Efficiency-Boosting Pill (gold)]

Wow, a golden legendary!

He almost seemed to hear a certain old man's familiar voice in his ears as he stared blankly at the four cards.

He couldn't have been more familiar with Ally Switch, but the problem was that the move was mainly popular in Double Battles. Its uses in actual combat still needed exploring.

Besides, its price of 5,000 was well beyond his means.

As for Moomoo Milk and Choice Specs, he didn't even need to consider them.

To him, anything he could buy with money wasn't worth exchanging points for.

So there was only one answer!

[Efficiency-Boosting Pill (gold): Just take one pill, and you can complete any work or study with high efficiency!]

[Price: 900 growth points.]

Although it was only a single pill, the price happened to sit right at the limit of what he could afford...

And Qingyu had definitely seen this thing as a child.

If he wasn't mistaken, it was probably one of Doraemon's wondrous little gadgets, right?

He hadn't expected the system to supply something this absurdly powerful, capable of influencing an abstract concept itself.

Qingyu revised his understanding of the system once again.

So you can grow too!

Since it can appear in the Pokémon world, it should work on Pokémon training too, right...?

At that thought, Qingyu pressed the purchase button without hesitation.

Buy it now!

A Flop Writer's Diary, 5/3

The heat over the May Day holiday has been getting on my nerves. Going outside in this weather feels like I'm going to melt...

Holidays really should be spent playing games in an air-conditioned room (scratch that)... writing!