[Iono: Ciallo~ (∠・ω<)⌒★ Being added by Iono-sama personally—you should feel honored, y'know~]
…???
After receiving Iono's message, Qingyu completely froze.
He'd always thought Iono only acted like that for her streams—who would've guessed she was this adorable in real life too?
There were so many things to complain about that he didn't even know where to start.
Still, judging from Iono's upbeat tone, at least she wasn't adding him because she'd tilted after getting destroyed in a game and came looking for an explanation.
With how much experience he'd had in his previous life, that was honestly his first assumption whenever a friend request came in.
After all, as a variety-content game streamer, Qingyu's entire gaming career could be summed up in one word:
Dirty.
You've gotta make a living, right? If you don't create "content," how are you supposed to keep viewers around?
Putting Pokémon battles aside, whenever he streamed other games, it was the same story.
In Hearthstone, his very first deck was Dirty Priest.In Yu-Gi-Oh!, he only played Runick.In FPS games, he'd squat in a corner as a rat—always the last guy to show up.
Of course, while that playstyle was incredibly satisfying, it also came with risks.
If you ran into some short-tempered ragebro, they'd add you as a friend and immediately transition into Phase Two: Operation Keyboard Warfare.
Luckily, the people of the Pokémon world were simple and honest. Plus, he hadn't even unleashed his full skill set yet, so things should be fine for now.
[Qingyu: Hello, Miss Iono.]
After replying politely, Qingyu glanced at the time.
It was 1 p.m.—Iono had probably just woken up.
Streamers really did keep some cursed schedules.
[Iono: We're both Gym Leaders, no need to be that formal! Just call me Iono, and I'll call you Qingyu~][Iono: Of course, if you wanna call me Iono-senpai, that's fine too~]
Senpai?
Did I eat some mushrooms or something? Since when were Iono and I this close?
Qingyu scratched his head, completely confused.
Still, Iono didn't seem hostile—but there was no way she'd added him just to chat, right…?
He decided to go along with her for now.
[Qingyu: Got it, Iono-senpai.]
[Iono: Very good!][Iono: Since you're calling me senpai, I'll properly teach you how to run a Gym!][Iono: I hate to say it, but compared to your streaming skills, your Gym management is really bad!]
"..."
Qingyu wanted to argue—but after thinking about it, she wasn't wrong.
After all, the Sun Gym had been closed for half a year. He'd only inherited this absolute mess after reincarnating a few days ago.
So… was Iono planning to mentor him? Teach him how she ran her own Gym?
But they'd never even met in person. Their only connection was yesterday's single online battle…
This really was the Pokémon world—wasn't everyone just too friendly?
So those rumors were real? Random NPCs giving you items and TMs, Champions casually handing out rare Pokémon?!
Qingyu felt a small shock from the sheer wholesomeness of the Pokémon universe.
That said, considering his own Gym plans, the best reference point really was the Levincia Gym.
If there was a way to rapidly boost Gym popularity, the Sun Gym could get back on track much faster—and Eevee might even get to travel freely again.
So—
[Qingyu: Please guide me, Iono-senpai!][Qingyu: I really want to improve!]
...
"So that's how it is. I think I'm starting to understand everything."
After chatting with Iono on the Rotom Phone for quite a while, Qingyu felt like he'd learned a lot.
Even though they were about the same age, Iono was undeniably professional. The Levincia Gym she inherited from her parents already had a mature operating model.
With Iono's reminders, Qingyu quickly noticed a blind spot he'd completely missed.
Simply put, Qingyu's popularity on Poké TV was very high—but because his earlier tactics lacked local flavor, most of his viewers were from other regions.
And those viewers were never going to travel thousands of miles just to challenge his Gym.
That was why his livestream numbers were huge, yet the growth points he gained during settlement were pitifully low.
The logic was simple—but without Iono pointing it out, he never would've realized it was that straightforward…
[Qingyu: So… I should include more Paldea Pokémon?]
[Iono: Bingo!][Iono: Honestly, instead of explaining full team strategies, it's better to focus on one or two Paldea Pokémon!]
Iono offered more advice.
Qingyu agreed—it made perfect sense.
Right now, almost everyone challenging the Gym were rookie Trainers. Expecting them to build fully synergized teams was unrealistic.
It'd be much clearer—and more helpful—to directly introduce common Paldea Pokémon.
That would boost the Sun Gym's local popularity and influence, line up perfectly with his development plans, and attract more challengers.
As expected of a future mega-popular influencer, Paldea's officially designated cutie—reliable as ever, Iono!
[Qingyu: Thank you so much for the advice, Iono-senpai. I think I know what to do now.]
[Iono: Hehe~ Of course a dependable senpai like me is amazing!][Iono: But here's a question—how well do you know Paldea Pokémon?]
The path forward was promising, but it came with a prerequisite—
Qingyu needed a solid understanding of how most Paldea Pokémon were used. For an eighteen-year-old, that was a pretty high bar.
[Qingyu: Umm… probably well enough?]
Thinking back, even though he mainly played doubles in his previous life, he was quite familiar with the Pokémon introduced in Scarlet & Violet.
As for the most common Pokémon in any region—it was always the early-route birds and rodents.
And when it came to Paldea's early-route rodent…
Yeah. That one was special.
It even tied perfectly into his previous video about setting entry hazards.
With that, Qingyu instantly decided on tonight's stream topic.
After chatting a bit more with Iono, he swiped back to the Rotom Phone's home screen.
A glance showed that the message he'd sent to Cynthia earlier still hadn't been replied to.
"Being a Champion must be pretty busy, huh?"
Qingyu didn't think much of it. He set his phone down and stretched.
League Champions and Elite Four members weren't jobs just anyone could handle.
They always looked like they had nothing to do—but whenever a real crisis hit, they were the ones who had to step up.
Especially disaster-prone Hoenn—even a workaholic like Steven Stone could get worked to death.
As for the Elite Four… just look at Paldea's model employee, Larry. Even if the Paradox Pokémon showed up, he'd still say, "Just another day at work."
Aside from that one nine-year-old Elite Four member, everyone else was juggling multiple jobs.
"Looks like wanting to improve too much isn't always a good thing. Being a small-time Gym Leader is way more comfortable."
Qingyu shook his head.
"Alright—time to prep tonight's stream."
patreon.com/Hoshino_Sora
for Advance Chapter