"Huge catch! Huge catch!"
On the bank, Adrian started catching pokémon one after another.
As Magikarp were continuously being fished up, notifications of cheat ability rewards kept popping up, making Adrian beam with joy.
The key was that the relationship between both sides was extremely harmonious: no fighting, no disdain, and certainly no arguments.
The wild Magikarp received food, and Adrian received cheat ability rewards; both sides had a beautiful future.
Before long, Adrian had fished up all the dozen or so Magikarp underwater.
He had accumulated quite a few rewards: 14 energy cube and 3 TM, of which 2 were Splash and 1 was Tackle.
During the continuous fishing, Adrian also confirmed the cheat ability's rule: catching the same pokémon a second time would not yield any further rewards.
This was logical.
Because without this restriction, Adrian could farm his own Magikarp until it died.
"Karu~ Karu~"
Having eaten their fill, the wild Magikarp underwater waved their fins at Adrian on the bank.
Thank you, kind person!
Then they gently patted Adrian's Magikarp's body with their fins, greeting it before preparing to leave.
And you, messenger of food!
"Karu~"
Adrian's Magikarp smiled.
We're all bros!
After all the wild Magikarp had left, Adrian's Magikarp also surfaced.
"Karu~"
Magikarp's mouth opened and closed, constantly spitting bubbles.
Trainer, belly hungry, feed me!
"Magikarp, you did great."
Seeing this, Adrian quickly stepped forward to praise him and fed him a poffin as encouragement.
"Karu~"
But Magikarp was clearly not satisfied.
I want that!
That one!
That!!!
"See, are you getting impatient again?"
Adrian teased it deliberately, but still activated an energy cube and controlled it to merge into Magikarp's body.
"Karu~"
As the energy cube merged, Magikarp immediately showed an expression of deep enjoyment.
Ooh~~ That felt good!
Not only did it feel good, but Magikarp could also feel its muscles becoming firmer and its scales seemingly hardening.
Before long, the energy cube was exhausted again, but Magikarp was still craving more.
"Little Magikarp, easily managed!"
Adrian first smirked triumphantly, then put on a serious face and said, "Magikarp, didn't I just tell you to find powerful pokémon like Gyarados, Blastoise, and Poliwrath? Why did you only attract Magikarp?"
"Karu~"
Magikarp's expression stiffened.
Trainer, Magikarps nickname can't do that!
A weak and disliked pokémon like it, how could it dare wander around and annoy those big shots?
If it offended a big shot, it would be in serious trouble.
Besides, with your bait, who among the proper pokémon would eat it, except for weak, non-picky Magikarp?
Even Poliwag wouldn't eat it; there's no way Poliwrath would!
"Karu~"
However, for the sake of the energy cube, Magikarp dared not anger Adrian.
It could only promise, tearfully, "Next time for sure!"
Seeing Magikarp's proper attitude, Adrian was very satisfied, and then remembered the several TM in the fishing space.
Magikarp currently only knew the non-offensive move 'Splash'; if it could learn Tackle, it would possess basic fighting capability.
Thinking of this, Adrian no longer hesitated and decided to use the 'Tackle' TM.
He waved at Magikarp and said with a smile, "Magikarp, I'll give you another good thing."
After speaking, Adrian moved his mind, activated the 'Tackle' TM, and poured the resulting ball of light into Magikarp's body.
"Karu?"
"Karu!!!"
Magikarp initially thought it was an energy cube and had prepared itself for enjoyment.
But to its surprise, there was no pleasant sensation this time; instead, it felt a tingling itch in its brain.
A mysterious method of energy application appeared in its mind and was deeply imprinted. Every step was incredibly clear; Magikarp couldn't forget it even if it tried.
"Karu~"
Immediately after, Magikarp unconsciously began to utilize this energy according to the steps, furiously thrashing its tail. White light even appeared on its head as it leaped out of the water and fiercely struck the trunk of a little tree on the bank.
Bang!
The sound of the Tackle rang out, but the little tree's trunk merely shook slightly, barely losing a few leaves.
Magikarp, on the other hand, had a ringing headache, felt dizzy, and nearly flipped belly-up.
"This power..."
Seeing this, Adrian's mouth twitched slightly as he said, "Isn't that just too weak!"
Hitting an opponent with this kind of Tackle, it was questionable whether it would even scratch them.
The crucial thing was Magikarp's dazed, ringing head; it was clearly a case of hurting the enemy by eight hundred and harming itself by a thousand.
Huh? Learned it?
Yep! Learned it uselessly!
However, realizing that Magikarp was the weakest pokémon with very low offensive stats, Adrian felt relieved.
"First solve the problem of existence, then figure out how to solve the problem of power..."
A flash of understanding dawned in Adrian's mind.
At the very least, Magikarp now had offensive capability.
This was a qualitative breakthrough!
At the same time, Magikarp's attribute panel data also changed.
[pokémon: Magikarp]
[Type: Water]
[Ability: Rattled (When hit by a Dark-, Ghost-, or Bug-type move, its Speed increases due to fear)]
[Moves: Splash (learned), Tackle (learned)]
Looking at the "learned" suffix on the move, and glancing at the 2 'Splash' TM in the fishing space, Adrian suddenly had an idea.
"According to the data panel, pokémon moves should have levels, which might be related to move proficiency. For example, this 'learned' likely means the pokémon has just grasped the move and can barely execute it..."
Adrian speculated internally: "Can TM be used repeatedly? This might be able to raise the level of a pokémon's move."
"Let's try it!"
Adrian decided to try it, so he moved his mind, activated another 'Splash' TM from the fishing space, and poured the resulting ball of light into Magikarp's body.
"Karu?"
Magikarp trembled all over, feeling the tingling itch in its brain again.
Suddenly, its understanding and insight into the 'Splash' move deepened significantly. It now knew how to flap its fins and thrash its tail to better utilize the water flow, providing more ample propulsion.
"Karu~"
Magikarp couldn't wait to start swimming, and its speed visibly increased by several notches.
This excited it greatly!
Plop!
When it sprinted out of the water at full strength, Magikarp's height above the water also increased considerably.
"It worked!"
Seeing this, Adrian was even more excited than Magikarp.
In the game, the Splash move was useless, even more worthless than Magikarp itself.
But in the real world, although the Splash move still lacked offensive power, it could increase Magikarp's swimming speed and raise its jumping height.
This effect was significant!
Especially the speed aspect!
In the real world, a fast pokémon not only means priority but also means control over the battlefield.
Glancing at Magikarp's attribute panel and seeing that the Splash level was still 'learned', Adrian decided to increase the dosage, so he activated the only remaining 'Splash' TM.
"Karu~"
Magikarp's brain tingled again, and its understanding and insight into the Splash move deepened once more.
At the same time, the data in Magikarp's move slot finally changed.
[Moves: Splash (Proficient), Tackle (learned)]
"The Splash move has become 'Proficient'!"
Seeing this, Adrian was overjoyed.
He had Magikarp use 'Splash' again. This time, not only did its swimming speed climb again, but the height of its jump out of the water reached an astonishing five or six meters, as high as two stories.
What surprised Adrian even more was that due to the increased swimming speed and fiercer sprints, the power of Magikarp's 'Tackle' move also seemed to have increased slightly.
"I only fished up a dozen or so Magikarp, and Magikarps nickname has gotten this much stronger. If I keep fishing for five, six, seven, or eight more days, won't Magikarps nickname take off?"
Adrian couldn't help but grin, eventually bursting into laughter.
The main reason was that weak pokémon like Magikarp inhabit almost any place with water, and their numbers are countless. They are as annoying as the invasive cleaner fish on Blue Star, and other fisherman avoid them like the plague.
As long as Adrian wanted to fish, he would never worry about catching them; he could have as many as he wanted.
"Hey, I have an idea for a new video."
Adrian's eyes suddenly lit up. He then took out his phone to film, having Magikarp cooperate.
"Let's go home first!"
After the video shoot was complete, the sky was already getting dark. Adrian recalled Magikarp, shouldered his fishing gear, and walked back.
He first went to buy some food before returning to his cramped rental apartment.
Adrian's dinner was rice and pork chops, accompanied by a few vegetables—very simple.
As for Magikarp's food, it was basic poffin.
This was the ration Adrian had tearfully spent a huge sum of five hundred Pokedollars to buy for Magikarp, and it was now almost finished.
"Time to make money!"
After eating and drinking his fill, Adrian opened his phone and began editing the video, adding voiceovers and subtitles.
After checking the edited video once to ensure there were no errors or omissions, Adrian uploaded the video.
Looking at the ID "Magikarp Dreamer," Adrian pondered for a moment and changed it to "Fishing Dreamer," because the content of his future videos would likely involve a lot of fishing.
As for his follower count, it was currently a pitiful five hundred-plus people.
Having finished all this, Adrian started his ablutions, then lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep... The next morning.
Adrian was woken up by his phone notification sound.
He groggily picked up his phone, tapped it open, and instantly became alert.
"The video views broke ten thousand in just one night?"
Adrian was overjoyed, thinking, "Being a Streamer in the Pokémon world really pays off!"
He glanced at his follower count again; it had more than doubled, reaching thirteen hundred people.
As for the comment section below the video, it was lively with many messages from netizens.
Adrian clicked play, watching the video while checking the bullet comments and messages.
The video was only seven minutes long. The beginning featured Adrian greeting Magikarp, which was ordinary, but there were many bullet comments and messages.
"Bros, time to eat!"
"Missing person returns."
"Grandpa, the Streamer you follow finally updated!"
"Tell Adrian, I've already eaten fish."
... Next, Adrian sat by the lake, explaining why he hadn't updated his video recently.
"To be honest, I've been here doing special training for Magikarp this whole time, which is why I haven't filmed much."
Adrian announced happily, "Fortunately, the special training has been very effective. My Magikarp has learned the 'Tackle' move! Come on, Magikarp, show them!"
Following that was the footage of Magikarp using the Tackle move.
"What?! Magikarp learned Tackle? Oh my god! If it dares to learn Tackle today, tomorrow it will dare to evolve into Gyarados. Adrian's promotion to pokémon Master is just around the corner (Witty.jpg)!"
"With the power of Magikarp's Tackle, is the Streamer sure he isn't trying to be funny?"
"Streamer, hurry and heal little tree. Quick!!! If you don't heal her soon, her wound will close up."
"Hahaha~ Streamer, you're celebrating too early. So what if Magikarp learned Tackle? What use is a pokémon like Magikarp? Magikarp can't do anything!"
"Throwing flowers! Throwing flowers! Throwing flowers! Congratulations to Magikarps nickname for learning the Tackle move! Starting today, you've upgraded from trash to weakling."
... As expected, the comments and bullet screens were full of jokers.
Adrian smiled without saying a word.
Because he knew the best part was yet to come.
And at the end of the video, Adrian finally dropped the bombshell.
By the lake, the honest-looking Adrian stroked Magikarp's head and declared confidently, "Given that Magikarp has already learned the Tackle move, I have decided to challenge the Cerulean Gym soon..."
"??????"
The moment he finished speaking, the screen was instantly filled with question marks.