Streamer, Streamer, Your Substitute-Protect-Toxic Strategy Really Is Strong

Avoiding the crowds headed for the cafeteria, Xia Chi returned to his dorm.

With Pokémon around, this world had more advanced productivity than his previous one.

Naturally, basic necessities like food, clothing, housing, and transportation had all improved by more than just a notch.

The dorms at Shanghai University, where Xia Chi studied, were apartments with two bedrooms and a living room.

The luxurious accommodations made his university dorm from his previous life feel like a dog kennel.

Lying in his comfortable, quiet bedroom, Xia Chi summoned the system again.

Several lines stood out on the translucent blue screen.

[Pokémon] [Synergies] [Items]

Were these the system's main functions?

Xia Chi tried clicking the first two buttons, but neither responded.

He wasn't surprised. He hadn't caught any Pokémon yet, so it made sense that nothing showed up.

Still, Xia Chi was an old hand at this and could more or less guess what the buttons did.

Synergies were the heart of Teamfight Tactics.

When units sharing a particular trait were fielded together, they provided powerful combat or economy bonuses.

In the Pokémon world, Pokémon with the same type or Ability could probably form some sort of synergy.

As for what those synergies did, he would have to wait until he got his starter Pokémon to investigate.

The [Items] screen held the three things he had received from the prismatic orb earlier.

[Artifact Forge: Upon use, choose one of three powerful artifacts (can only be equipped to Pokémon you have caught)]

[Chosen Badge: Upon use, turns one Pokémon into a "Chosen Pokémon." Chosen Pokémon provide additional synergy counts and special effects (can only be used on Pokémon you have caught)]

[Basic Equipment Forge: Upon use, choose one of three basic equipment items. Two basic equipment items can be combined into one completed item]

"Just as I thought. It's pretty much a Teamfight Tactics system modded for Pokémon."

Xia Chi thought, I'll figure out the exact effects after I catch my first Pokémon.

After dinner, Xia Chi turned on his computer and started his work for the day.

"Hello, hello? Moshi moshi? Aloha? Can you hear me?"

As soon as the stream went live, viewers began pouring in.

"Thank goodness, it's our boy Shuiye! My anorexia is cured!"

"Streamer, streamer, your Substitute-Protect-Toxic strategy really is strong, but it takes too much skill. Can you recommend a team that's simpler and still powerful?"

"Professor Shui, no webcam again today? What am I supposed to jerk off to now?"

"Hurry up and update your Pokémon myths and legends video series! Without my digital side dish lately, even meals don't taste good!"

"I'm here from Iono's fan community. Who's Shuiye?"

"."

Xia Chi streamed under the name Shuiye, which came from splitting apart the Chinese character for "Chi."

As an up-and-coming popular video creator and gaming streamer, he had plenty of active fans.

His popularity had surged recently after he got matched against Iono, the wildly popular Gym Leader from Paldea, and tormented her with Substitute-Protect-Toxic until she rage-quit her stream.

Of course, an idol streamer's fan base was bound to include a few people who weren't quite right in the head.

Aside from the memes, the stream's atmosphere was fairly friendly, but a few nasty comments still stood out.

"You love such cancerous strategies. If an Onix used Earthquake at your house, it'd only hit one person, huh?"

"You don't even dare turn on your webcam. Is your face uglier than your strategies?"

"You don't deserve to be a streamer. I'm unfollowing!"

"Go apologize to Iono right now, or you'll find out Team Yell has plenty of muscle and ways to use it!"

Wait, where did these trolls come from?

You're dragging Marnie's reputation through the mud!

Xia Chi, who habitually glanced at chat after starting his stream, was a little speechless. Then he casually banned several accounts spamming insults.

It wasn't because their insults had gotten under his skin. Xia Chi never cared about negative comments.

His household register really did have only one page.

Attacks like these were like using Close Combat on a Ghost-type Pokémon: they did no damage whatsoever.

The main reason was that his stream was meant to be friendly and fun. He couldn't let this garbage ruin everyone else's viewing experience.

I might not be a professional Pokémon Trainer, but nobody understands streaming better than I do!

After that quick cleanup, Xia Chi launched Pokémon: Champion's Path.

Strictly speaking, the game wasn't just about team building and battling. It also offered extensive Pokémon collecting and raising features.

Building a top-tier account required a huge investment of either money or effort.

Today, Xia Chi logged into his roommate Chen Zhenze's account.

Chen Zhenze's family was better off than Xia Chi's, but only by so much.

As a result, neither the quantity nor the quality of this account's Pokémon could be considered high-end. They were merely passable.

The account was usable, but it couldn't even put together some mainstream teams.

Still, Xia Chi had made his name with all kinds of bizarre strategies. He could work with an account like this just fine.

"Streamer, streamer, your Substitute-Protect-Toxic strategy really is strong, but it takes too much skill. Can you recommend a team that's simpler and still powerful?"

Repeating the earlier comment, Xia Chi said, "You bet, bro. You bet. I've got nine more teams just as strong."

Nine wasn't an exact figure, of course. Without even digging too deep, Xia Chi could easily produce fifteen or twenty obnoxious strategies like Substitute-Protect-Toxic.

"Today, I'm teaching you the ultimate in damage output: Trapinch!"

The moment he said "Trapinch," the stream filled with laughter.

"It's here, it's here! My favorite Baby Team segment!"

"If I remember right, Trapinch is Flygon's first stage, isn't it?"

"LMAO, what can Trapinch even do? Come back after evolving once!"

"Is this a try-not-to-laugh challenge? I admit, it's pretty tough."

"."

Faced with a screen full of mocking comments, Xia Chi said nothing and simply kept building his team.

This world's approach to tactics was much like the world depicted in the anime.

To put it diplomatically, battles were passionate brawls and exchanges of moves.

To put it bluntly:

"I woke up to find the entire world's understanding of Pokémon battles had dropped ten thousandfold!"

It was actually easy enough to understand. Games and reality were worlds apart, after all.

Turn-based battles in games were constrained by strategic factors like base stats, movesets, defensive coverage, and predictions.

Real battles, on the other hand, genuinely tested how well Pokémon had been raised and how effectively their trainers could command them on the spot.

It wasn't that the locals knew absolutely nothing about tactical systems or team building.

The fact was that reality wasn't a turn-based game. Those factors became far less important in the face of a sheer gap in strength.

But then again-

Pokémon: Champion's Path was, after all, a game built on data.

The very strategies people overlooked had found the perfect stage to shine.

"Okay, everyone, our team is all set."

Without making his viewers wait long, Xia Chi quickly finished building a team centered on Trapinch.

Hatterene, Mimikyu, Trapinch, Torkoal, Dusclops, and Vikavolt.

In a ranked environment dominated by popular Pokémon like Charizard, Venusaur, and Lucario, it really was a breath of fresh air.

"Next, I'm going to reach Great Ball tier without losing a single match!"

Having made his bold declaration, Xia Chi clicked the matchmaking button.