Just Sent Off a Shiny Nidoran♂, and Now You're Telling Me This Is a Mutated Ponyta?

The one on camera was indeed a Ponyta.

But it looked very young, smaller and more delicate than an ordinary Ponyta. Other than its hooves, its entire body was white, and it had yet to grow the Flame Mane unique to Ponyta.

This Ponyta hadn't even fully grown its fur yet. It sure was young!

It was probably born not long ago, right?

Polly? What a name...

Officer Tan looked at the Bullet Comments and smiled without saying a word.

It wasn't that he did not want to say more; he simply could not reveal too much information to the Streamer.

There was naturally a reason he had asked Ye Yinchuan to appraise this Ponyta. If it had been completely ordinary, there would have been no need to bring it out for appraisal.

Several other officers standing nearby, though off-camera, were also watching Officer Tan and the live stream while struggling not to laugh.

Among them, one beautiful Female Police Officer was the Ponyta's true owner.

Unlike the colleagues who were holding back their laughter as they waited for Ye Yinchuan, this amateur Streamer, to fail the appraisal and get lectured by Officer Tan again—

This Female Police Officer sincerely hoped that Ye Yinchuan could identify what was wrong with her Ponyta and help it return to normal.

"So, young man, what do you think? Can you spot the problem?"

Officer Tan's smile carried a deeper meaning.

He did not have any bad intentions. He merely wanted to see for himself whether Ye Yinchuan was really as miraculous as he had seemed in the recorded streams.

If he could not see anything at all, then there was a good chance his previous performances had been staged, and Officer Tan would need to give him another verbal warning.

To put it plainly, Officer Tan suspected there was a script involved, but he had no actual evidence, so he decided to test him himself.

If Ye Yinchuan truly had the ability to identify the Ponyta's problem and even provide a solution, then everyone would be happy.

"Officer Tan, bring the Ponyta a little closer. Let me take a careful look."

As Ye Yinchuan examined the Ponyta, he was well aware of what was at stake.

Not to mention that Officer Tan was testing him.

This wave of traffic brought by connecting with an official account was a double-edged sword.

If he could handle Officer Tan's challenge, he would be able to fully capitalize on this traffic wave. It would be equivalent to using the official account to promote himself.

But if he failed to handle it, or even made a string of bad calls, the backlash from the traffic would probably hit him hard.

The little credibility and audience goodwill he had painstakingly built could be completely wiped out by the negative effects of connecting with the official account this time.

"Hm?"

As Ye Yinchuan looked at the Ponyta, his eyes narrowed involuntarily.

Streamer, stop pretending. The official account is making a move this time—you don't have a script to act out!

I guarantee he's thinking about how to bluff his way through this!

I don't know about the Streamer's ability, but I know Officer Tan. This guy's a smiling tiger, and he's got all kinds of tricks for setting people up!

I can testify! The last Streamer Officer Tan tricked into saying the wrong thing had his Live Stream Chat banned for three years!

At that moment, a large number of new viewers had flooded into the Streamer's chat. Many of them did not understand Ye Yinchuan's abilities, and quite a few were Officer Tan's fans.

As the local Pokémon Protection Bureau's online ambassador, Officer Tan was no stranger to livestreaming or connecting with others. He was witty and humorous, but while chatting and laughing, he might quietly dig a pit for the person on the other end before giving them a stern lecture.

In the eyes of netizens, he was considered a Slightly Famous figure.

An ordinary Ponyta—

From the top of its head to its tail, and even on its limbs, would grow a burning Flame Mane.

But this Ponyta was very unusual. It was completely bare, without a single hair.

Only a Ponyta that had been born within the past hour would look like this, and its mane would grow out within that hour, making it look proper.

Although this Ponyta's body was young and immature, it definitely did not look like it had been born less than an hour ago.

As the panel appeared, Ye Yinchuan's doubts gradually cleared.

There really was something wrong with this Ponyta.

Fire Horse Pokémon: Ponyta

Level: 13

Type: Psychic

Gender: Female

Base Stats: B-Rank (410)

Individual Value: A-Rank (164)

Ability: Run Away

Nature: Naive

Moves: Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Confusion

Status: Uneasy

Evolution Line: Ponyta - Rapidash

Special: Mutation

"This is a Mutated Ponyta!"

Ye Yinchuan was secretly startled.

As the name implied, Ponyta were all Fire-type Pokémon.

Yet this Ponyta was actually Psychic-type, which explained why it had no Flame Mane!

"A Psychic-type Ponyta... isn't that a form unique to the Galar Region? In the Pokémon World, it counts as a mutation? And it doesn't even look like the Galarian Ponyta I remember..."

Ye Yinchuan had yet to figure out how to explain this to Officer Tan and the viewers in the Live Stream Chat.

After all, this was his first time encountering such a situation.

Indeed, there was also the concept of Mutated Pokémon in this world.

However, Mutated Pokémon were actually similar to Shiny Pokémon—or rather, Shinies were also a type of mutation, just a less profound one.

After all, Shinies only differed in color and appearance.

But this Ponyta had even changed types!

Therefore, Mutated Pokémon might be even rarer than Shiny Pokémon.

One thing needed to be made clear, however: like Shiny Pokémon, the value of a Mutated Pokémon depended on its qualities. If it was particularly ugly or particularly weak, to the point that it held no value for collection or research, then it was simply worthless.

Most of the time, as long as they were not utterly terrible, they were worth a fortune. After all, rarity commanded value.

Seeing Ye Yinchuan stare at it for so long without saying a word, the Female Police Officer hiding behind the scenes could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.

This Ponyta had also been examined by a Professional Institution.

The results showed that it was perfectly healthy, yet it simply could not grow a Flame Mane or learn Fire-type Moves.

It seemed that even treating a dead horse as if it were alive, they could not place their hopes on some small-time streamer who did not even have an Appraisal Qualification Certificate.

"Well, young man? You've been looking for quite a while. Have you figured anything out?"

The streamer looked as though he was appraising it, but he had actually been asleep for a while.

Or perhaps he had truly left.

The streamer racked his brains, going over everything he had learned in his life, yet still had no idea what to say.

"Officer Tan, I figured it out."

Ye Yinchuan decided to tell the truth. "This Ponyta is a one-in-ten-thousand Mutated Pokémon."

Wait, we just sent off a Shiny Nidoran♂, and now you're telling me this is a Mutated Ponyta?

The streamer might not know appraisal, but he definitely knew how to create a show!

Hahaha, I'd have believed you if you said this Ponyta was just born or developmentally delayed!

Upon hearing this, Officer Tan could not help turning to glance at the Female Police Officer and several other colleagues.

This answer truly caught them off guard.

Just as the Bullet Comments said, they had been more prepared for Ye Yinchuan to fail to even identify the Ponyta's issue and claim that it had only been born recently and had not grown its mane yet.

But Ye Yinchuan had immediately called it a mutation. That was worth considering!

"Young man, please, please continue!"

After a brief exchange of looks, Officer Tan even straightened in his seat.

"What kind of mutation does this Ponyta have exactly? And how did you tell?"

Young man, keep going—I'm recording this!

Don't tell me not growing a mane counts as a mutation!

Huh? Are you sure it isn't just a newborn foal?