Today, we're playing the pink demon!

November 6, the day before the Start of Winter.

Crazy Thursday.

Unfortunately, no one in this world would understand the time-honored "send me fifty bucks" routine.

Early that morning, Qingyu lay slumped on the sofa.

The sudden downpour had left him feeling completely drained.

The Paldea Region was based on the Iberian Peninsula, and the Mediterranean climate meant that most of its rainfall came in winter...

Long-dead memories suddenly resurfaced in his mind in an almost uncanny way, leaving him feeling rather nostalgic.

His memory really had improved quite a bit since he transmigrated.

Was this one of the hidden perks of being a transmigrator?

Qingyu had no idea.

Still, compared to him, the Pokémon in his Gym were even bigger cheats.

Because Riolu had trained so intensely last night, neither Riolu nor Eevee had woken up yet, and Qingyu had no intention of disturbing their sleep.

After all, it was raining. Even Nemona hadn't come to the Gym, let alone challengers who lived farther away.

It looked like they probably wouldn't have any visitors today either.

Even if you wanted to be the king of grinding, you still had to balance work and rest.

Training at the dojo on the Isle of Armor had clearly helped Riolu improve tremendously. Riolu had even learned Fake Out.

However, even with a miraculous little item like the "Efficiency-Boosting Pill," over three hours of training had only brought the progress on Unseen Fist to 5%.

No wonder only two Urshifu had learned this move to date.

If he wanted Riolu to learn Mustard's signature technique, Riolu's own hard work wouldn't be enough. He would have to work hard grinding points too.

Why did this suddenly feel like saving up enough currency to hit hard pity in a gacha...?

At that thought, Qingyu picked up his phone and opened Poké TV with practiced ease.

The two videos released right on schedule last night had, unsurprisingly, earned another round of unanimous praise.

Although he hadn't introduced any particularly interesting tactics this time, and the videos leaned more toward Pokémon education than battling, their views remained very steady.

The reason was simple-

[Nice, nice, nice! So there's a great Pokémon called Maushold that can clear hazards! You goddamn Hazard Stack Teams, I'm taking you down with me!]

[It can boost itself while clearing hazards too? Master Mouse, you're so strong!]

[Coach, I want to learn this!]

One glance at the scrolling comments made it obvious.

Thanks to the influence of his previous entry-hazard tutorial, there really were a few too many Hazard Stack Teams in the current game metagame.

Popularizing Maushold, a Pokémon from Paldea, happened to help counterbalance that.

As for Talonflame, its Fire/Flying typing meant that once an opponent scattered a handful of its lifelong nemesis, Stealth Rock, it would barely have any room to enter the field.

So anyone who wanted to use this Pokémon would first have to find a way to remove hazards, or even equip it with Heavy-Duty Boots to bypass that weakness.

In a sense, he had also taken a turn as the "hand behind the curtain," having quite an impact on the game's metagame.

Of course, there was another reason the Talonflame video had so many views-

[??? Streamer, you're unbeatable! You stomp Elite Four members just as easily?]

[A moment of sympathy for Elite Four member Larry. How can a Talonflame strategy be this dirty?!]

[Am I the only one who thinks the streamer's command skills are downright ridiculous? He predicted several of Larry's calls in a row. Is this really the level of skill an ordinary Gym Leader should have...?]

Even Larry, who had made a "guest appearance," had shared the video at seven that morning.

His caption read: "A very interesting Flying-type strategy. Worth learning."

Coming from Paldea's Flying-type Elite Four member, the weight of those words needed no explanation.

"People in the Pokémon world really are so genuine..."

Qingyu, on the other hand, felt a little embarrassed.

He hadn't seen any comments from Steven on these two videos. Perhaps Steven wasn't interested in any Pokémon that weren't Steel-types.

Of course, it was more likely that he was hopelessly engrossed in digging for minerals.

After briefly browsing the comments, Qingyu suddenly noticed another familiar username.

[Hardworking Nurse Joy: Both of these tutorials on native Paldea Pokémon were very interesting. If possible, I'd love an explanation of how to battle with Chansey!]

The comment had plenty of likes, but the replies below it were almost unanimously skeptical.

[Aren't you making things hard for the streamer? LOL. Now you're bringing Chansey into this? If he can win with it, I'll eat it, seriously!]

[Chansey is the face of the Pokémon Center! It only needs to be cute. How could you make it battle?!]

[Aren't wild Chansey almost extinct? These Pokémon are too kindhearted. Let's not make them do something they're bad at...]

Qingyu remembered that name very well.

Nurse Joy from Flat Dish Town had been watching since his very first stream.

"Chansey, huh..."

Qingyu murmured.

Chansey being unsuited for battle seemed to be an established consensus in this world.

After all, they were nature's angels and Nurse Joys' trusty helpers. No matter how you looked at them, they seemed completely out of place in a battle.

But Qingyu had a slightly different opinion.

"The pink demon isn't suited for battle?"

Qingyu raised an eyebrow, and the smile on his lips grew increasingly twisted.

"Pink demons" referred to a group of pink Pokémon that could often inflict super-effective psychological damage on their opponents in battle.

Among them, Chansey was a true heavyweight-the original pink demon.

Stall teams couldn't do without Chansey any more than the 3D section could do without Jerusalem!

"You asked for this!"

Since transmigrating, Qingyu had actually been quite restrained. To preserve his image, he hadn't played many of those bizarre, hellish team compositions.

But since his fans had asked, he ought to do his best to satisfy them, right?

As a streamer who specialized in shenanigans, those hellish teams were his real comfort zone, far more than serious tactical commentary!

After liking Nurse Joy's comment and leaving a reply, Qingyu closed Poké TV.

[Azure Feather: Sure! Today, we'll play with Chansey!]

[Holy shit, it's the streamer! Master Ball!]

[I want to play with Chansey too, but what kind of playing do you mean? Is that even allowed on stream?]

[??? Something's wrong with you, buddy. I'll have Officer Jenny's baton straighten out that twisted mind of yours!]

Because of the rain, the Gym was especially quiet that day.

Qingyu was happy to enjoy the downtime. That afternoon, he watched a Bollywood movie with Eevee for a while, then helped Riolu change training plans.

One hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run every day.

It was none other than the legendary Saitama training regimen: gradually accumulating small efforts until they produced a qualitative change, breaking through the human body's "limiter."

Qingyu didn't know whether it would work for Pokémon, but at least it was better than Riolu's intense training methods, which practically amounted to self-harm...

Qingyu really was afraid the little fellow would train so hard that something went wrong.

Riolu nodded repeatedly after hearing him out.

Although the exercises were all very basic, a full set really did work all the muscle groups.

Aside from being a little low in intensity, it was indeed quite comprehensive.

Doing ten sets a day should be just about enough for a warm-up.

Although the Trainer and Pokémon had somewhat different ideas, it unexpectedly produced good results.

Just like that, the afternoon quickly passed.

It was time for Qingyu to start streaming again.

Sitting in front of his computer, Qingyu opened the streaming app with the Pikachu icon.

"Hello, class! Today, we're playing the pink demon!"

A flop writer's diary, 5.5.

The holiday ended so quickly. I really wish I could take a time machine back to May Day...

Please keep reading tomorrow too, qwq.