"By the way, Sprigatito, where do you want to sleep tonight?"
Holding a Squirtle-shell–styled pet bed and scanning for empty space in the room, Xia Chi asked.
Sprigatito had already made its choice. With a single leap, it hopped onto the wardrobe more than two meters tall and exclaimed excitedly,
"Meow-feh!"
I want to live here!
Watching Sprigatito surveying its territory like a young lion, Xia Chi smiled helplessly.
"Alright, then carry it up yourself."
Two vines extended downward. The Squirtle-shell bed appeared atop the wardrobe in the next instant.
Sprigatito fiddled with the vines, adjusting the bed for a good while before nodding in satisfaction.
"Meow-feh!"
Mission accomplished!
The human and the cat spent the rest of the afternoon arranging the room like this.
By the time they finished setting up everything they'd bought, it was already dark outside.
After making Sprigatito a Grass-type Pokémon high-grade nutrition meal he'd learned from Erika's videos, Xia Chi checked the time—only ten minutes left until his 7 p.m. stream.
There was no way he could go out to eat now, so he calmly ordered some "adopted-son takeout"—
Making use of his "adoptive father" status while it was still valid, he asked Chen Zhenze to bring back a meal from the cafeteria.
Then Xia Chi turned on the computer and started today's stream.
"Hello hello? Moshi-moshi? Aloha? Can you hear me?"
After the usual multilingual opening, the chat immediately livened up.
"Teacher Leaf is right on time today, love it."
"Still no facecam? Lao Leaf didn't really get jumped offline after yesterday's stream and can't show his face now, right?"
"From the Iono supertopic—who's this Shui Ye who kicked Lao Shu twice like a roadside dog? [Angry][Angry][Angry]"
"Stop already, Teacher Leaf. The ladder is full of Trick Room teams now—it's all your fault!"
"."
This was the benefit of streaming on a fixed schedule. The moment he went live, plenty of loyal viewers were already chatting with Xia Chi.
As he opened Pokémon: Champion's Path and logged in, he selectively replied to the chat.
"Why doesn't the streamer turn on the camera? Uh, mainly because I don't want to put too much pressure on the Looks category."
"Can't beat Trick Room teams? Then this classmate clearly didn't pay attention yesterday. Prankster Grimmsnarl, Taunt—next."
"Streamer streamer, Iono didn't stream today—was that your doing? Hey friend, don't talk nonsense, or my naan-sized fists are gonna be delivered straight to your doorstep."
However, right after he said that, some sharp-eyed viewers noticed that the account he logged into today was very clearly named 'Iono Iono'.
The chat exploded instantly.
"???"
"Lao Leaf, try saying one more time that Iono not streaming today has nothing to do with you."
"Buddy~ I'm gonna set off a firecracker right in your face."
"Hand Iono over, hand Iono over, hand Iono over!"
Facing the furious flood of comments, Xia Chi remained calm.
"Since everyone's seen it, I'll explain. Today I'm helping a sponsor boost rank with a custom team—restricted Pokémon is Pachirisu."
He didn't need to elaborate; everyone could guess that the "sponsor" was Iono.
And her intention in making him use Pachirisu was obvious—she wanted him to embarrass himself on stream.
The chat's tone instantly flipped, a sea of "???" turning into "HAHAHAHA."
Xia Chi looked at the crowd enjoying the spectacle and just smiled without speaking.
You guys… still too naive!
Xia Chi didn't do anything fancy with Pachirisu's teammates.
Amoonguss, Garchomp, Sylveon, Incineroar, and Rillaboom.
Each one, taken alone, was a legendary figure that had once dominated the competitive scene in his previous life.
This was the first time Xia Chi had built a team with such outrageous raw power.
It wasn't just because Iono's account was high-ranked.
The real reason was simple—win one match, get one Master Ball.
Who could resist that temptation?
That said, these Pokémon weren't nearly as popular in this world's game environment—at least nowhere near as popular as "Teacher Charizard."
So this slightly unfamiliar lineup sparked quite a bit of discussion in the chat.
After setting up movesets and EV spreads, Xia Chi clicked the Double Battles Ranked button.
In this world, the importance placed on doubles was about on par with certain people's niche fetishes—very small.
That, however, was greatly improved in Pokémon: Champion's Path.
From a tactical standpoint, doubles were indeed far richer than singles.
So it didn't take long before Xia Chi entered the first match of today's stream.
Iono Iono VS Some Unknown Trainer from Lumiose!
Xia Chi didn't recognize the name, and scanning the chat didn't reveal anything special either.
"Probably just a solid high-level player. Let me take today's opening win."
After dropping that line, Xia Chi looked at the opponent's lineup and raised an eyebrow.
Hatterene, Grimmsnarl, Mimikyu, Conkeldurr, and Rhyperior?
"Why does this lineup look so familiar?"
His mock pondering immediately sparked another round of chat discussion.
"Of course it looks familiar—that's basically Teacher Leaf's lineup from yesterday!"
"HAHAHA I told you the ladder's all Trick Room today!"
"LMAO, Mimikyu vs Pikachu now."
"They replaced Trapinch with Rhyperior? Selling out the soul Pokémon just for a bit more stats—shameless!"
"Delightful. Lao Leaf is about to get destroyed by the cursed tactic he himself invented!"
Xia Chi gave a playful smile.
Destroyed by a Trick Room team?
Did you ask my Universe's Cutest Shell-Breaker and Tapu Gorilla for their opinions?
He swiftly selected Amoonguss, Incineroar, Rillaboom, and Pachirisu, then leaned back confidently.
Did he really need to look for stream content? It had delivered itself right to his doorstep.
As the screen transitioned, the match officially began.
Xia Chi's two leads were the twin superstars of Generations 8 and 9 starters—Incineroar and Rillaboom.
The opponent led with Hatterene and Grimmsnarl.
The moment the battle started, the highly realistic battlefield filled with lush green grass.
Rillaboom's ability activated—Grassy Surge—
Upon entering the field, it set up Grassy Terrain, boosting Grass-type moves and continuously restoring HP to all Pokémon on the field!
Immediately after came the oppressive aura radiating from Incineroar—
Intimidate!
Both opposing Pokémon's physical attack dropped by one stage.
Looking at the two opposing Pokémon, now slightly deflated under Intimidate, Xia Chi stroked his chin.
"Leading with double Trick Room setters—solid understanding."
The advantages of leading with two Trick Room setters were obvious: higher fault tolerance to get Trick Room up.
If the opponent didn't carry a Pokémon with Taunt, Grimmsnarl with Prankster could safely set Trick Room, while Hatterene acted as the Trick Room attacker.
And if the opponent did have a Pokémon capable of Taunt—like in this match—
Then it came down to a mind game over which Pokémon would actually be the one to activate Trick Room.
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