[Is the streamer really a Gym Leader from the Paldea region?]
[Azure Feather… wait, could this be Champion Aoki?!]
[Why won't the streamer show his face? Afraid he's too ugly for the viewers?]
The first batch of viewers in the stream was tiny—only a handful of people.All of them had clicked in because of the stream title, and the questions they asked were exactly what Qingyu had expected.
"I'm not Champion Aoki. I'm the current Gym Leader of Sunshine Gym in Spoon Town."
Qingyu replied with a chuckle, genuinely impressed by the viewers' imagination.
That was Aoki, Paldea's legendary workhorse—holding multiple jobs at once, doing three people's work, a man who practically worked forty-eight hours a day.
How could someone like that possibly have time to stream?
"As for why I'm not showing my face, the reason is simple."
"I didn't prepare a camera—and I'm too lazy to go out and buy one."
Shameless, yet confident.jpg
[Good grief, he's not even pretending.][Streamer is way too real. Unfollowed—but respect.]
Perhaps because of his blunt honesty, he left a surprisingly good first impression.The chat quickly started joking around.
Qingyu silently nodded.
If nothing went wrong, these people would become his very first fans.
He needed to find a way to keep them.
[Sunshine Gym? Paldea has a Gym like that?][Huh… my head itches. I feel like I've heard that name before.][Oh! Isn't that the Gym that hasn't opened for half a year?][I work in the neighboring Plate Town. Since most Gyms are named after cities, and yours isn't, I remembered it!]
At this point, a viewer named "Hardworking Joy" sent several messages in a row.
"That's right. Due to some circumstances, the Gym suspended operations for a while."
Qingyu nodded. He hadn't expected anyone to still remember Sunshine Gym.
Judging by the name, the viewer might be a Nurse Joy from Plate Town.
Though he was a little curious, he didn't pry—out of politeness and respect for privacy.
"Since we already have viewers here, then everyone—today we're playing Pokémon · Champion!"
Qingyu spoke at just the right moment, steering the conversation back on track.
As he spoke, he launched the game.
It was a brand-new account, so the rank was still Beginner.
The game had five major ranks:
Beginner → Poké Ball → Great Ball → Ultra Ball → Master Ball
They perfectly matched the battle rankings used in this world.
The phrase 'From Zero to Master Ball' in the stream title referred to the highest rank in the game.
With that reminder, the chat quickly reacted.
["Everyone" lol—wait, is the streamer a teacher?][Does he really think he can reach Master Ball?][No way. That rank is only for the global Top 100. A nobody Gym Leader like him? Sounds like clickbait.][Yeah, Master Ball is too much. Ultra Ball maybe.][Another so-called prodigy who'll wake up after a few ranked matches.][So what are you playing?]
Most of the chat clearly doubted him.
Qingyu understood and didn't bother explaining.
A brand-new account claiming it would break into the global Top 100?Of course people wouldn't believe it.
So instead of talking, he decided to let his gameplay speak.
He opened the Team Editor.
Facing the seemingly endless Pokémon pool, Qingyu scratched his head.
Decision paralysis.
"Man… there are way too many Pokémon. How am I supposed to choose?"
"Forget it—let's go random!"
Sometimes knowing too much wasn't a good thing.With a single glance, he could already imagine optimal strategies for half the roster.
That hesitation only made things harder.
To preserve his remaining brain cells, Qingyu decisively hit Random Team.
[666. You're actually going random? If you win, I'll eat my keyboard.][You almost fooled me. I thought you were a real Gym Leader—turns out you're just acting.][Watching a newbie play is still entertaining. I can already imagine the streamer mentally collapsing lol.]
Seeing this outrageous move, most viewers instantly labeled him a newbie.
Anyone who had played knew how massive the game's Pokédex was—covering Pokémon from nearly all nine regions.
Even Pokémon Professors couldn't claim to recognize them all.
And that was just basic knowledge.Battling with a random team only made things harder.
Did he really think Pokémon battles had no skill barrier?
Some viewers were already waiting eagerly for Qingyu to get humbled.
Unless his luck was absurdly insane and he rolled only Paldea-native Pokémon, how could he possibly win?
Unknowingly, Qingyu's casual remark actually helped keep many viewers watching.
After pressing the random button, the six empty slots were quickly filled.
Hippowdon, Snom, Talonflame, Aron, Mareep, Gardevoir.
[Holy—Gardevoir! That's my wife! Come home with me!][Officer Jenny? Yes, it's that same lunatic again. Recommend immediate arrest.]
Gardevoir was clearly popular in this world as well—the chat made that obvious.
Looking at the lineup, Qingyu felt his luck was pretty decent.
Most of the Pokémon were available in the Paldea region, and he even got two fully evolved Pokémon—Talonflame and Gardevoir.
With the hometown bird and the fan-favorite psychic as backup, climbing ranks wouldn't be a problem.
[Streamer, do you know that white Pokémon? It's insanely strong, I swear!]
Seeing that message, a bold idea immediately popped into Qingyu's head.
There was indeed a very famous strategy centered around Aron.
And this team just happened to include Pokémon that could support it.
If he didn't try it now, wouldn't that be disrespecting the RNG?
"This viewer really knows their stuff. Aron is very strong."
"So today, we'll make it our main carry."
Qingyu eagerly moved Aron to the center slot, quickly adjusted the held items, and immediately started matchmaking.
His movements were so smooth that the viewers barely caught what he did.
[Bro, he said it casually and you actually believed him?][Streamer's honest, but the chat has bad actors!][Wait… why does this feel off? He's way too confident.][Impossible. Unless he's someone like Hoenn Champion Steven, there's no way Aron alone can win!]
Most of the chat was pessimistic, but Qingyu simply hummed to himself, unfazed.
No rush—let the bullets fly a little longer.
Since the account hadn't played a single ranked match yet, matchmaking was extremely fast.
Soon, an opponent was locked in.
The default ranked rule in Pokémon · Champion was 6v6 Singles.
Although official tournaments in his previous life mainly used Double Battles,both the games and anime favored full 6v6 battles as the mainstream format.
Battles were conducted via real-time voice commands, and there was no strict four-move limit.
Aside from that, the system was very similar to traditional Pokémon battles.
"Gyarados, Charizard, Aerodactyl, Ampharos, Crawdaunt, Tropius…"
Seeing the opponent's team, Qingyu raised an eyebrow.
"Wow. So many Pokémon with 'dragon' vibes—and not a single actual Dragon-type."
[Are you cosplaying Champion Lance here?][That's slander. Kanto's Dragon Champion clearly uses Flying-types!][Flying-type Champion (corrected)!][Mock Lance again and Dragonite's Hyper Beam is coming your way!]
It seemed that even in this world, jokes about Champion Lance of Kanto were widespread online.
A classic meme from Qingyu's past life came to mind:
Guess which one is the Dragon-type?
Lance: I can't tell. I really can't tell.
The thought made Qingyu laugh out loud.
Of course, as the most respectful Lance fan on the entire internet, he would never mock the Champion.
Unless he really couldn't help it.
Just as the stream was filled with laughter over the opponent's absurd team, one message caught Qingyu's eye.
[Streamer, did you adjust the levels? Why is your Aron level ONE?!]
patreon.com/Hoshino_Sora
for Advance Chapter