"By the way, Sprigatito, where do you want to sleep tonight?"
Holding a cat bed shaped like a Blastoise shell, Xia Chi surveyed the available space in the room as he asked.
Sprigatito had already picked a spot. With one leap, the little cat landed on top of the wardrobe, over two meters high, and cried excitedly, "Meow-fa!"
I want to live here!
Watching Sprigatito survey the room like a lion cub proudly inspecting its territory, Xia Chi smiled helplessly. "Sure. Take it up yourself, then."
Two vines reached down from above, and a moment later, the Blastoise-shell cat bed appeared on top of the wardrobe.
Sprigatito used the vines to adjust it for quite a while before finally nodding in satisfaction. "Meow-fa!"
All done!
The boy and his cat spent the rest of the afternoon busily arranging the room.
By the time they finally finished setting up everything they had bought that afternoon, it was already dark outside.
After making Sprigatito another serving of the premium Grass-type Pokémon meal he had learned from Miss Erika, Xia Chi checked the time. There were only ten minutes left before his seven o'clock stream.
There was definitely no time to eat out, so Xia Chi calmly ordered some "dutiful-son delivery"-
While his status as honorary father was still valid, he asked Chen Zhenze to bring him a meal from the cafeteria.
Then Xia Chi turned on his computer and started the day's livestream.
"Hello, hello? Moshi moshi? Aloha? Can you hear me?"
After his usual multilingual opening, the stream's chat sprang to life.
"Shuiye's so punctual today. Love it, love it."
"No webcam again? Did our boy Shuiye actually get beaten up IRL after yesterday's stream and now he can't show his face?"
"Here from Iono's fan community. Which one of you is Shuiye, the guy who stomped our girl Iono twice like some roadside stray? [Angry][Angry][Angry]"
"Give it a rest, Shuiye. The ladder's full of Trick Room teams now, and you started it!"
"."
That was the benefit of starting his stream at the same time every day. He had only just gone live, and plenty of loyal fans were already interacting with Xia Chi.
As he opened the login screen for Pokémon: Champion's Path, Xia Chi selectively responded to the chat.
"Why don't I turn on my webcam? Uh, mostly because I don't want to put too much pressure on the good-looking streamers."
"Can't beat Trick Room teams? Then this student clearly wasn't paying attention in yesterday's class. Prankster Whimsicott, Taunt. Next."
"'Streamer, streamer, is it your fault Iono isn't streaming today?' Hey, buddy, don't go making stuff up, or I'll plant this flatbread-sized fist right up your backside."
Yet barely had Xia Chi finished speaking when sharp-eyed viewers noticed that the account he had logged into today was named "Iono's Iono-logue."
Chat instantly exploded.
"???"
"Go on, Shuiye. Try telling us again that Iono not streaming today has nothing to do with you."
"Buddy~ I'm gonna give your face a firecracker straight from my hand!"
"Give Iono back give Iono back give Iono back"
Facing the outraged army in chat, Xia Chi remained calm. "Since you've all noticed, I might as well explain. Today, I'm helping a client climb the ladder with a custom team. Pachirisu is mandatory."
Even without a detailed explanation, the viewers could more or less guess that the client was Iono.
And Iono's reason for making Xia Chi climb the ladder with Pachirisu was equally obvious-she wanted him to embarrass himself on stream.
The mood in chat instantly changed, with all the "???" turning into "Hahaha."
Xia Chi watched the crowd of viewers waiting for a spectacle and smiled without a word.
You guys are still too naive!
Xia Chi hadn't tried anything fancy when choosing Pachirisu's teammates.
Amoonguss, Garchomp, Sylveon, Incineroar, and Rillaboom.
Every one of them had been a powerhouse in the competitive Pokémon scene of his previous life.
This was Xia Chi's first time building a team with such absurd strength.
It wasn't simply because Iono's account had a high rank, either.
The main reason was that every win earned him a Master Ball. Who could resist that temptation?
However, these Pokémon weren't nearly as popular in this world's game, at least compared with good old Charizard.
So this somewhat unfamiliar lineup still sparked a fair amount of discussion in chat.
After setting the moves and individual stat allocations, Xia Chi clicked the ranked Double Battle button.
The attention this world paid to Pokémon Double Battles was much like certain people's kinks-extremely niche.
That situation had improved considerably in Pokémon: Champion's Path, though.
After all, Double Battles really did offer far more tactical depth than Single Battles.
So it didn't take long for Xia Chi to find his first match of the day's stream.
Iono's Iono-logue VS Some Unknown Trainer from Lumiose City!
Xia Chi didn't recognize the username, and a glance at chat revealed no useful information.
"Probably just a regular high-level player. Watch me kick today off with a win."
After using his trash-talk move, Xia Chi looked at the opponent's lineup and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Hatterene, Grimmsnarl, Mimikyu, Conkeldurr, and Rhyperior?
"Why does this lineup look so familiar?"
Xia Chi's feigned contemplation kicked off another round of discussion in chat.
"Of course it looks familiar! Isn't that basically a copy of Shuiye's team from yesterday?"
"Hahahaha, didn't I say the ladder was full of Trick Room teams today?"
"LMAO, now Mimikyu's run into Pikachu."
"They actually swapped Trapinch for Rhyperior? Selling out the team's soul for a few stats. Shameless!"
"You love to see it. Our boy Shuiye's about to get wrecked by the cursed strategy he invented!"
Xia Chi smiled in amusement. Get wrecked by a Trick Room team?
Have you asked my universe's number one shell-smashing mon and Tapu Gorilla what they think about that?
He swiftly selected Amoonguss, Incineroar, Rillaboom, and Pachirisu, then leaned back in his chair.
Why go looking for entertaining content when it's delivering itself right to my door?
As the scene on his monitor changed, the match officially began.
Xia Chi's two leads were the twin stars of the Generation VIII and IX starter scene: Incineroar and Rillaboom.
His opponent led with Hatterene and Grimmsnarl.
The moment the battle began, lush green grass covered the field in the game's highly realistic graphics.
Rillaboom's Ability activated: Grassy Surge-
Upon entering battle, it created Grassy Terrain, which boosted the power of Grass-type moves and continually restored every Pokémon's HP!
Immediately afterward came the terrifying pressure radiating from Incineroar-Intimidate!
Both opposing Pokémon's Attack dropped by one stage.
Watching the two opposing Pokémon look somewhat subdued under Intimidate, Xia Chi rubbed his chin.
"Leading with two Trick Room setters right away. They know what they're doing."
The benefit of leading with two Trick Room setters was obvious: it provided more room for error when getting Trick Room up.
If the opponent had no Pokémon carrying [Taunt], Grimmsnarl, with [Prankster], would set up Trick Room as usual, while Hatterene served as the attacker under Trick Room.
But when the opponent had a Pokémon capable of using [Taunt], as in this match...
Then both sides had to play the guessing game of which Pokémon would actually use Trick Room.
Before you continue