That evening—
Gold had come to a new realization about team comps.
"I got it," he told the red-haired boy beside him, "If I intentionally lose early, I can pull Typhlosion later and use a Sunny Team to lock health and get a chicken dinner!"
Gold had always been a diehard Sunny Team fan.
The synergy between Typhlosion and Torkoal really spoke to him.
But Typhlosion, being a fully evolved starter, cost a lot, and Torkoal was a 4-cost unit, tough to roll until late-game.
That's what made Sunny Teams a classic late-game comp.
"You want to lose streak?" The red-haired boy nodded slightly, tablet in hand, "I'll help you out."
"Yeah, yeah, hit me!" Gold shouted, but once he saw Silver's lineup, he froze.
[Thief Synergy: 20% chance to steal a basic item for each Pokémon defeated.]
Looking at Silver's team—Meowth, Weavile, Murkrow—Gold pursed his lips and muttered, "That synergy… really suits you."
In Pokémon Auto Chess, the "Thief" synergy was on par with "Pirate" or "Lucky" for fun value.
It was the very soul of casual chaos.
After two losses, Gold happily converted to the "thief meta" himself.
Similar scenes were happening across the regions.
"One more round!"
"If I buy skins, can I get a 3-star 2-phase card faster?" asked one rich player.
A veteran viewer of Teacher Lu's stream asked, "Wait—there are 3-star cards in this game?"
---
Compared to the hype around Pokémon Auto Chess, the game launched the same day by Devon Corporation was looking pretty grim.
Their title, Pokémon: Nobunaga's Ambition, had a decent fanbase…but it didn't pack the punch or innovation that auto chess brought.
The Pokémon Studio, while keeping its glowing reputation, had officially broken into the online gaming scene.
Major gaming review sites were already placing high expectations.
"Been following since Plants vs. Zombies—solid 5 stars."
"Still true to the Pokémon Studio's roots. Solid Pokédex vibes and educational depth. What a surprise."
"Sure, copycats will flood in later, but the original deserves 5 stars."
As they pointed out—Auto Chess is easy to replicate.
With other companies likely to jump in, there's always a risk of "copycats killing the original."
But even just the two-month lead time would be enough for Teacher Lu to do a lot.
By the time others caught up, he'd already be on to something new.
That's why he never worried about being copied.
Steven comforted his own team in the same way, "No need to panic," Steven smiled gently and patted the game director on the shoulder, "Before Teacher Lu's next game drops, we can at least ride the wave."
The director's heart felt heavy.
Devon Corporation, reduced to riding Lu Ye's coattails…
Is this what a genius leader looks like? But then he remembered Steven's father, Joseph Stone, who built it all from scratch.
The director gained a little clarity.
Make sense.
Steven may seem mild-mannered, but he was prouder than anyone.
For someone like him to openly praise Lu Ye—
Lu was definitely something else.
---
"Our new game… is a hit." Oleana called.
The usually composed woman now had a hint of restrained excitement in her voice.
"Take a break, Oleana," Lu Ye said, "Just keep an eye on the servers—don't let players clog it into mashed potatoes."
Because of overwhelming demand, there had been login queues and lag.
Thankfully, the dev team patched things up quickly and gave out skins as compensation.
As the saying goes: "Apologize right, and people forget instantly."
Once fixed, those were just minor hiccups.
"Understood," Oleana nodded. "I'll handle it."
The Pokémon Studio's revenue was flowing in smoothly.
Despite having few monetization points, as the first PC title, Autochess was laying solid groundwork for the future.
With that, even heavy training expenses wouldn't make Teacher Lu sweat anymore.
With the new game launch behind them, Lu Ye also did a promo stream to boost visibility.
Naturally, he showcased the fan-favorite Thief synergy.
Thankfully, RNG was kind—he placed 7th.
"7th and 8th place—the natural habitat of thief mains!"
"Even chess can be this down-bad, huh?"
"We all know aut ochess is 'life span chess.' Good thing Teacher Lu's got longevity."
Even with Togepi cheering by his side, Lu Ye's luck couldn't be saved.
Everything was one Pokémon away from evolving—legendary bad luck.
Lu Ye didn't even flinch, just coughed lightly, "I might be AFK for a couple of days. I Need to go fight in a tournament. I'll teach you a new meta when I'm back."
Comments flooded in:
"Teacher Lu, that's enough!"
"You're not seriously going to step into the ring, are you?"
"Everyone knows Lu Ye was an underground fighter before becoming a streamer!"
But no matter what—
Taking two days off to cook up a new strategy was a stream tradition.
Whether it was Team Rocket members or Interpol, everyone quietly jotted down the next stream time.
After ending the stream, Lu Ye started preparing for the opening ceremony of tomorrow's Fighting Tournament.
The event would be held in Celadon City, with martial artists from all over participating.
The tournament would run for nearly a week.
Once the tournament ended… it'd be Christmas—the snowy season.
Lu Ye looked out the window, 'When Christmas comes, maybe I'll get everyone together.'
He'd been in Kanto nearly two months. Aside from bumping into Red, he hadn't really had a group hangout.
With Lu Ye and Brock's cooking skills, feeding the entire Professor Oak's Lab wouldn't be a problem.
"Doesn't matter if we celebrate Christmas or not, "Lu Ye muttered to himself: "I just want to see some drama…"
---
The night deepened.
Rain mixed with snow gently pattered against the windows.
"Veeon…"
The white-furred Sylveon gazed outside, a little lost in thought.
Gengar and Squirtle were dragging Sirfetch'd around for some last-minute training.
Lu Ye patted Arcanine's fluffy head and answered a call from Sinnoh.
"I'm free tonight." A soft voice came through.
Lu Ye nodded, "So am I…"
"Didn't your game just launch? I saw Aaron and Flint were really into it…" Cynthia said, "I want to play too."
Lu Ye paused for a moment, then smiled, "No problem."
Outside, the winter night was wrapped in thick clouds and falling snow. The temperature plummeted.
Lu Ye glanced out the window, deep in thought. He said to Cynthia, "Didn't you say, last time it snowed, to let you know?"
"Mhm?" Cynthia responded softly through her nose.
"In a few days," Lu Ye smiled and said, "Let's spend Christmas together."
Cynthia paused slightly, then smiled gently, "Okay."
---
Translator's Note: Starting this Chapter onwards, I will put this '...' if the character is thinking or having a thoughts.