"Miles, I couldn't bring myself to call you, so I'm sending a voice note."
Manager Ruby's voice sounded exhausted through the phone speaker.
It was accompanied by the chaotic clatter of keyboard typing in the background. She was clearly still working overtime.
"The guild executives just had their morning meeting, and the shareholders were furious."
"They said the current economic environment is bad, and we need to concentrate our resources entirely on the top-tier streamers."
"Like you... bottom-tier streamers with no popularity and no revenue for three consecutive months, you're all on the chopping block."
There was a heavy sigh on the recording.
"I banged on the table and argued for you. I told them that even though your numbers are terrible, you're the most hardworking guy we have, streaming a full ten hours every single day."
"But it was no use. Capital only cares about money."
The voice note paused, immediately followed by a second one.
"The best I could do was fight for your half-month salary. I've already supervised the finance department to make sure it was sent out."
"But... the guild is demanding that we take back your streaming account."
"It's company property, and my hands are tied."
"Listen to me, Miles. The water in this industry is too deep."
"You don't have a background, and you don't have a powerful Pokémon to hold the fort."
"Take this severance pay and find a job in an electronics factory; it's honestly better than this."
After the voice messages ended, the rundown apartment fell into a dead silence.
Outside, a light rain had begun to fall, the drops pattering against the cracked glass of the window.
Fired!
Unemployed!
Even his sole tool for making a living—his account—had been repossessed.
As for working in an electronics factory...
Miles was entirely speechless.
According to the merged memories in his head, the widespread integration of Pokémon meant that factories now heavily utilized them to cut labor costs.
Some sweatshops completely bypassed paying wages, simply providing cheap Pokémon food instead.
Ordinary people truly lived at the very bottom of the food chain in this world.
And yet, the guild still felt the need to claw back a dead channel with nothing but zombie followers that hadn't generated a single dollar in ten days.
Ding!
Just as Miles was wallowing in his miserable reality, a cold, mechanical, yet utterly angelic voice detonated deep within his mind.
[Ding! Host soul fusion complete. Mental threshold met!]
[Activating the "God-Level Pokémon Insight Livestream System"...]
[Activation successful!]
[This system is dedicated to unearthing the ultimate potential of Pokémon and seeing through the illusions of fate.]
[Novice Gift Pack issued: Eye of Pokémon Insight (Beginner)!]
[Description: See through the surface to the essence. You will not only be able to see a Pokémon's basic data, but also discern its hidden statuses, the root of its ailments, and the "Fate Entries" that determine its entire life!]
"Hiss!" Miles gasped, his eyes widening dramatically.
A System!
A cheat ability!
As a veteran reader of webnovels, how could he not know exactly what this meant?
In this world, determining a Pokémon's potential required visiting a professional appraisal center.
You had to book an appointment with experts in white lab coats and utilize precision machinery that cost millions.
All while waiting in endless lines and paying exorbitant fees.
Furthermore, even the most advanced machines could only spit out rough estimates.
They absolutely could not detect a Pokémon's "Nature," its "Hidden Abilities," or something as mystical as its "Fate"!
And now, he possessed a pair of eyes that could see through it all?
Suddenly, the guild's account didn't feel like a lost rice bowl.
It was a shackle he had just been freed from!
Without the guild's massive revenue cut and their endless restrictive clauses, every single penny he earned from now on would belong solely to him.
"So what if I have to start over? I have a cheat now, who should I be afraid of?"
Miles dug through a pile of junk, found a spare SIM card, and expertly swapped it into his phone.
He downloaded the streaming app and hit register.
When his thumb reached the nickname field, he hesitated.
His old handle, "Miles Shows You Pokémon," was incredibly lame and reeked of desperation.
Since he was starting from scratch, he needed to be arrogant.
In this appraisal industry—a field heavily reliant on the unknown and sheer gambling luck—if he wasn't aggressive, how could he command the room?
How could he retain viewers?
The corners of his mouth curled into a smirk as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
Nickname: [Almighty Pokémon Appraisal]
Stream Title: [Network Premiere! Seeing Through Past and Present Lives! Free Appraisals, Full Compensation if Inaccurate, or I'll Swallow a Poké Ball Live!]
It was a brand-new account with zero platform promotion, meaning he had to build an audience from absolute zero.
Yet, the fire in Miles's eyes burned brighter than ever before.
Before going live, he needed to ensure there wouldn't be any accidents.
He also needed to verify the System's actual capabilities and see exactly what these so-called "Fate Entries" looked like.
Miles turned around, taking a deep breath.
His gaze burned like a torch, locking directly onto the Munchlax, who was currently sitting on the floor, blankly picking at his toes.
'Little guy, let's see if you're a dud or a dragon right now!' Miles thought to himself.
'Eye of Pokémon Insight, open!'
Hum—
There were no flashy, cinematic light effects, but the air across Miles's retinas seemed to faintly distort.
In that moment, the entire world shifted.
As his gaze focused on the Munchlax, lines of exclusive data and iridescent tags rapidly generated.
Floating directly above the bored Pokémon's head, a holographic scroll unfurled.
The first thing to appear was a semi-transparent panel.
The text glowed a pale blue, radiating a cold rationality that stripped away all the little guy's secrets:
[Target: Munchlax (Juvenile)]
[Type: Normal] | [Gender: Male]
[Level: Lv. 5 (Novice)]
[Ability: Pickup (Besides picking up trash, he can occasionally find treasure, but the drop rate is pitiful)]
[Nature: Lonely (Attack ↑, Defense ↓. Clingy, and severely lacks a sense of security)]
[Base Stat Rating: B (Mediocre species)]
[IVs Overall Rating: D- (Congenital deficiency, postnatal deficit, the absolute trash of trash)]
Reading the final line, Miles felt as if a massive hand had ruthlessly crushed his heart.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, seeing that glaring red "D-" rating presented as an absolute fact still left him breathless.
In this reality, Individual Values (IVs) dictated a Pokémon's innate talent.
An 'S' rating meant they were a favored child of heaven; an 'A' rating marked an elite reserve.
But a 'D' rating... that meant the Pokémon was a defective product that even a construction foreman would reject for lacking the stamina to haul bricks.
"A D-minus... This is even worse than I imagined," Miles muttered.
Looking at Munchlax's frame—visibly smaller than others of his kind, with loose, sagging skin—guilt washed over him.
The penniless loser whose body he now inhabited had truly ruined the poor creature's foundation.
"Gon?" (What's wrong?)
Sensing his master's emotional turbulence, Munchlax stopped picking at his toes.
He tilted his massive head, his beady eyes overflowing with pure, unadulterated stupidity.
Cautiously, he pulled the squashed half-bun out from behind his back again.
He offered it up as if to ask: 'Are you upset because I hid my secret stash?'
Looking at that endearing, heartbreakingly silly expression, Miles let out a heavy sigh.
However.
Just as he was about to close the interface and accept this bleak reality, the [God-Level Insight] module blinking at the bottom of his vision violently expanded!
The cold blue data stream vanished instantly, replaced by a swirling, neon halo of colors.
Every single word that materialized struck Miles's retinas like a sledgehammer.
[God-Level Insight: In-Depth Analysis]
[Potential Level: Elite Four-tier (Sealed) - Mortals only look at the skin, but only the divine eye can recognize true gold. Deep within his soul lies a power capable of shaking the Elite Four's throne. Currently in an "Extreme Starvation Seal" state.]
[Current Status: Gluttony Mutation - Due to long-term extreme starvation and nutritional deficiency, his digestive system underwent a brutal, morbid evolution to survive. The stomach lining has thickened tenfold, and stomach acid corrosiveness has increased by 300%. He now possesses the ability to digest non-food substances such as metal, ore, and plastic.]
Immediately following that were two "Fate Entries" that caused Miles's pupils to quake with absolute shock.