Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 154 The Strange Tree's Haunted House Livestream (4000 words)

After going through the formalities and exchanging greetings, Mingyou was satisfied to receive Qishu's autograph and even a photo together.

Latias stood curiously to the side, gazing at the adorable older sister with wide eyes...

Is this what an internet celebrity is like? By the way, why can the Magnemite on her head move? It's clearly not alive. Could it be the Magnemite's jinchūriki?

Or perhaps the cute older sister below is already dead, and what truly controls her are the two little magnetites of different colors on her head?

Just then, Qi Shu's assistant pushed up his glasses and suddenly spoke up: "Let's go check on our accommodations first. We need to rest well and adjust to the time difference after coming from the Padiya region."

"No problem, everything is ready!"

With that, Mingyou led them to the Green Town Community Center. The administrator did not show up; he was in charge of receiving guests there today.

Along the way, Qi Shu also curiously looked around, but seeing the withered leaves all over the ground, she felt that it was not the same as the field scenery with the fragrance of straw that she had imagined.

So she asked curiously, "Isn't it a bit too deserted here? The field ridges are all bare, and there are hardly any wild Pokémon to be seen. Has something happened? Like some kind of disaster or something..."

"No, it's just like this all the time when it's not the tourist season. It's even colder now that it's winter. It should be better after it snows. If you just want to see the scenery, it's best to come during the early summer and early autumn."

Hearing Mingyou's explanation, Qishu bared his giant shark-like fangs, waved his sleeves, looked at his assistant, and shouted, "We've been tricked!"

"Actually, I also..."

The assistant hadn't expected that the photos of Kitakami Township she found online were all very beautiful. However, since they were all city dwellers and Niangguang City had a summery atmosphere all year round, they were unaware that Kitakami Township would look like this in winter.

Now he's a country bumpkin from the city...

Mingyou, walking ahead, listened to their murmurs, not understanding what they were expecting. She then entered the community center, about to tell them about the upcoming arrangements, when Qishu continued to ask, "Where is the natural hot spring?"

"The hot springs... I heard they usually only open in mid-to-late December, so if you want to go, you'll have to wait about a week."

"I want to go back..."

Qi Shu was on the verge of tears. He had come all this way to relax, only to find that none of the things he had been looking forward to for two days were there. What was the point of coming here? It was a complete waste of his youth!

The assistant beside him looked apologetic: "It's my fault. I didn't investigate the situation here thoroughly beforehand."

"Forget it, let's just consider it work done. Let's get it over with as soon as possible and go back. Hmm... it would be best to finish the live broadcast promotion today, buy plane tickets for tomorrow night, and then we can leave directly."

Qi Shu spoke softly, trying to avoid being overheard by Ming You. Although her quirky persona during the live stream was a persona she created, her personality in real life wasn't much different from her live stream persona, except that she had a bit more emotional intelligence.

Unfortunately, Latias overheard everything she said and relayed it to Naruyu.

"Waaah..."

"Yeah, don't worry about it too much."

Mingyou responded softly, knowing that Beishang Township was indeed quite boring right now. He didn't listen to him and believed in the thrill of the haunted house, which would definitely excite the other party. He just had to wait and see!

He then stopped in the hallway, turned around, and said, "Your rooms are just inside this door. Get some rest first, and later..."

"No need, let's get straight to the next arrangements. I just received a message from the League that the gym has some things to take care of, so we'll be heading back to Padilla tomorrow night."

The assistant stepped forward to say that he was really disappointed with Beishang Township. He had been ripped off this time and could only say that it was a good thing there were no kidneys here.

"In that case... alright then!"

Mingyou didn't try to persuade her any further, and instead took out a list of names for haunted houses.

"You can take a look at this for reference. The haunted house has two difficulty levels. During the day, it's just a simple haunted house challenge. There are currently three different styles of levels to choose from. My plan is to go in first to familiarize myself with the environment before the live stream, and then..."

"There's no need to go through all that trouble. Once you get used to the environment, it loses its novelty. We're here for realism!"

As he spoke, Qishu took the GG order and looked at the three different styles of design drawings. The bloody and gloomy backgrounds were indeed a bit scary.

But she remained expressionless, showing no sign of being impressed, especially by those themes like Resident Evil and paper wedding dresses…

"I am bored……"

Seeing the name completely killed my interest. It's all the same old haunted house theme that's been used to death. Inside, there are just some ghost-type Pokémon and staff working together to scare tourists. It's really not very interesting.

But when she saw the next page, which was simply a low-resolution picture of the exterior of a haunted house, she couldn't help but feel a little curious about the challenge of writing the theme "Strange Core".

"Strange core? What does that mean?"

"It's a kind of online aesthetic art performance, but you need to experience it firsthand to know exactly what it is. It's more challenging at night and carries some risks."

Mingyou gave a brief explanation, which completely piqued Qishu's interest. He felt this might be quite interesting, so he said, "Let's do this then, livestream tonight!"

"Huh? A live stream at night?"

"Why not? I saw that the haunted house has a sign saying there are prizes for the nighttime challenge. If I'm going to do a live stream, this is definitely the better choice. It's easier to create a good show. Besides, nighttime in Kitakami Township is daytime in the Padiya region, so more people will watch my live stream."

"No, this..."

Mingyou hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping himself. He only wanted the other party to experience it for promotional purposes, not to risk their lives. The difficulty of the haunted house at night is incomparable to that during the day.

Moreover, Monstercore is more of an escape-type challenge, not a traditional haunted house puzzle...

"This is it! This is the first time I've seen a haunted house challenge themed around monster cores. It's sure to attract a lot of people!"

"..."

Seeing her persistence, Mingyou had no choice but to agree. They finally agreed on the time for the live stream, setting it for midnight tonight. The early hours of the morning would better suit the atmosphere and make the live stream more effective.

With half a day left, Mingyou went to the haunted house to prepare, while Qishu posted a live stream announcement for tonight on his account, titled "Qishu's Amazing Haunted House Live Stream".

This was her first time doing a haunted house challenge live stream. Because it was new content, the comment section quickly received hundreds of replies. Some people asked her why she hadn't been live streaming these past few days, some asked if she was considering changing her career path, and others asked about the location of the haunted house, wanting to come and team up with Qishu to experience it together.

Seeing so many fan replies always brings Qi Shu a sense of peace, which is perhaps the meaning behind her being a streamer.

"Hmm, it seems quite a few people are looking forward to it this time. Hopefully, the haunted house won't be too boring; try to include as many thrilling and exciting elements as possible!"

Meanwhile, in a distant sea in the southeastern part of the Unova region, under the cover of night, an artificial island stood on the sea, shining brightly and dispelling the darkness of the ocean.

This is Blueberry Academy, a school that was recently built in conjunction with a resource development plant that also operates underwater. It is also a sister school of Orange Academy in the Padiya region.

As the world's second-largest trainer school, its students don't truly engage in free treasure hunting and adventure like those at Orange Academy... Instead, it's a crazy, competitive environment disguised as freedom.

Even though school is over now, many students are still engrossed in their battles, but again... they're all young people, after all.

Their lives are mostly inseparable from their Rotom phones. Watching live streams and playing games have become the things that help them pass the time, besides their boring studies and battles, and the romances they only dream of.

Students have always been the main force of Qishu's fans, and even in a place like Blueberry Academy, there are still a large number of her fans.

After she posted this live stream announcement, which seemed to indicate a change in her career path, it quickly spread among the students, but no one wanted to quit.

Instead, everyone was looking forward to seeing how much entertaining content Qishu would create during the live stream at the haunted house, since the live stream would coincide with their lunchtime the next day.

"This streamer is so popular! Just posting a live stream announcement is enough to get everyone talking about it..."

Xiao Zhao, dressed in a white suit teacher's uniform, had just finished her classes for the day and was having dinner in the cafeteria when she overheard some students discussing something.

Her mutterings were overheard by other students, and one of them immediately laughed and explained, "After all, Qi Shu is a popular streamer, especially when she's streaming her battle against a Blastoise. She missed three times with her Thunder attack, and I ate three bowls of rice watching that. But this time, she's streaming from Beishang Township, a place I've never heard of before. Do you know it, Teacher Xiao Zhao?"

"Beishang Township is the hometown of Danyu and Wuli. It is indeed a bit remote. It's normal that you students from big cities in the United States don't know about it."

"Huh?! Is this their hometown?!"

"yes……"

Xiao Zhao nodded slightly, and at the same time, she was also very curious. When did Beishang Township get a haunted house? Could it be that the administrator had come up with a new way to attract tourists?

As she was thinking this, she reached for the sandwich in front of her for dinner, but in that instant, her outstretched finger seemed to touch something, as if she had been electrocuted, and she quickly withdrew it.

"Huh? What's that over there?"

Xiao Zhao looked at the empty space with curiosity. The touch was obviously real; she had indeed touched something. It seemed that the other person wanted to take her sandwich, but they had already left.

"Strange, could it be the Meloetta that Naruyu mentioned, the one hidden in Blueberry Academy...? Come to think of it, there are less than ten days until vacation and I can't help but... feel a little excited..."

……

Night fell quickly, and to ensure he was in good condition for the live stream, Qi Shu rested at the community center for the afternoon to avoid falling asleep during the broadcast.

With less than half an hour until the live stream begins, Mingyou takes the initiative to come to Emerald Town and leads her and her assistant to the location of the haunted house.

Before leaving, Qishu changed into the yellow jacket she usually wears during her live streams. This jacket actually has wires inside for securing it and can be used to hang a second Rotom phone. She usually holds it in front of her chest so she can see the chat interactions when she looks down.

Some residents and young people who were still awake came over out of curiosity after hearing the commotion, intending to watch the live broadcast... Especially the young people, who knew about Qishu, the big streamer, were naturally quite excited that he could come to Beishang Township.

However, Mingyou certainly wouldn't let these people do anything reckless. To avoid any accidents during the live stream, he even called over some of the Pokémon from the manor that never sleep at night, so everyone could join in the fun.

Qi Shu didn't mind any of that. She also enjoyed the lively atmosphere, especially the audience members who came for her. Of course, the more audience members, the better.

"Mmm~"

Ponpo also came over out of curiosity, wearing a ghost mask. The others couldn't recognize her, but Qishu greeted her with a smile and gave her a Pikachu-shaped orange-flavored candy.

"Be a good boy/girl~ Remember to watch the Qishu Qishu live stream just like your brother~"

Qishu reached out and patted Ponpo's head.

"Mmm~"

"Is this setting a bad example for children...?"

Mingyou felt that this issue was very serious.

But putting all that aside, he once again explained the rules of the haunted house to Qishu.

Firstly, only one Pokémon can be brought in at a time. Secondly, the Pokémon's height cannot exceed 50 centimeters. Thirdly, Pokémon are not allowed to attack or damage the haunted house facilities or harm the haunted house staff.

"Don't worry, don't worry~"

Qishu waved her sleeve. This is the rule for all haunted houses. She should be prepared to tackle the haunted house alone without relying on Pokémon. Only by challenging the haunted house by herself can she create better program effects!

"Alright, Ms. Qishu, just sign the agreement for now. It's just a formality..."

Mingyou took out a piece of paper, which stated that the haunted house would not be held liable if a tourist had an accident due to their own reasons, unless the tourist was attacked by a haunted house employee or the haunted house facilities were damaged and caused harm to the tourist.

Otherwise, all problems will be borne by the tourists themselves, which is a common rule in haunted houses in all amusement parks around the world.

Qi Shu was well aware of these things, and then he and his assistant adjusted the Rotom phone and completed the final debugging of the live streaming equipment.

"OK~ That's about enough!"

Seeing that Qishu was ready, Mingyou finally spoke up and suggested, "I feel like it would be better to have a Pikachu with you..."

"Relax, relax~ Since you're a long-time fan of mine, you should understand the principle that 'you can go under in the live streaming world, but you can't be without a livelihood,' right?"

As she spoke, she waved for everyone to stand back a bit to avoid too many people gathering and ruining the haunted house's terrifying atmosphere. Then, to the anticipation of viewers around the world, she started her live stream...

"Everyone~ It's time for Qishu's live stream~ Hello everyone~"

"Capture your eye with an electric grid! Who can narrate this wonder? The wonder tree is here! Good morning, noon, and evening!"

Qi Shu appeared in the live stream, quickly chanted her opening remarks, lowered her eyes slightly, and looked at the barrage of comments flashing on the Rotom screen on her chest. She instantly perked up, and no amount of cold could stop her.

She then turned the camera towards the haunted house, slowly walking towards it, her voice gradually lowering as she got closer, and began to introduce it.

"Today, Qishu is no longer a Gym Leader, but a 16-year-old adventurer who will lead everyone to challenge this legendary haunted house and uncover the truth behind the Phantom Core!"

……

(End of this chapter)