Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

As expected, Xia Chen's appearance immediately ignited the atmosphere in the entire live broadcast room.

Top content creators on Pixiv already have high popularity among Pixiv users, so it's not surprising that Xia Chen and Qi Shu have a large overlap in their fanbase.

So, in just ten seconds, before Xia Chen could even tell the lame joke he had prepared for the dojo test, the backend program determined that he had successfully passed the test.

If there were speedrun records, Xia Chen would most likely be at the top.

Unless someone of Cynthia or Karen's caliber comes to challenge the gym and blast fish...

…………

With the gym test over, the next step is naturally the gym challenge.

No one is pessimistic about whether Xia Chen can win the Brewing Light Badge, unless Qi Shu really sends out her main Pokémon.

Although the result was not in any suspense, everyone was still quite looking forward to this match.

Compared to other ordinary dojo challenges, the fact that the challenger is Xia Chen naturally generates much more buzz.

The live stream's backend operations team also cleverly changed the live stream title to "Xia Chen is here to challenge us, a great battle is about to begin!"

Before long, the door to Xia Chen's room opened, and a spirited girl wearing her signature baggy clothes, with two Magneton on her head, made a dashing entrance riding a giant electric seagull.

After striking her signature pose in front of the camera, Kiju began to greet the audience.

"Using an electric grid to capture your attention, who will tell the extraordinary story? The extraordinary tree has arrived!"

"Good morning, good afternoon, good evening! Hello~ This is Qishu's gym challenge live stream!"

"Our opponent in this match is Xia Chen, a genius young trainer from the Eastern Region! He's also my colleague on Pixiv~"

The camera focused on Xia Chen, who waved briefly in greeting, and then... nothing more.

No matter how much the Magneton carrying the camera hovered around him, he pretended not to see it and waited for the match to begin.

It wasn't that Xia Chen was arrogant; he simply didn't have any goodwill towards the capital behind Qi Shu.

The dojo is open for nearly eight hours a day, during which time Qishu needs to focus on battles and live streaming. According to Mingyi, he also occasionally does some talk shows or other live streaming programs.

Pokémon battles are already a high-intensity activity that requires concentration, and to also take into account the live streaming effect, is this even a human job?

Qi Shu appeared full of energy when she came out, but Xia Chen, with his amazing observation skills, could clearly see the fatigue in her eyes.

Clearly, this seemingly perpetually energetic girl was exhausted.

Xia Chen was puzzled. How could a gym leader with such a promising future be swayed by capital?

In the exchange of glances, Qi Shu seemed to sense Xia Chen's confusion and hidden pity. She paused for a moment, unusually interrupting her interaction with the audience.

The host quickly intervened to salvage the situation, saying, "Both sides have noticed the fighting spirit in each other's eyes! The air is thick with fighting spirit, so let's begin the gym challenge!"

…………

Two flashes of white light appeared, and the starting Pokémon of both sides appeared on the battlefield.

They are Xia Chen's shiny Gardevoir and, as expected, Qi Shu's Electric Petal.

"Please deliver a thrilling and entertaining match!"

Qishu, now back to his usual energetic self, said this as usual before the formal confrontation.

Xia Chen, true to his martial spirit, did not seize the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Instead, he waited until Qi Shu began to give commands before immediately shouting, "Gardedoll, Provoke!"

It was Kiju's voice that spoke first, followed by, "Great Electric Petr, tailwind!"

With a well-intentioned but unprepared attack, coupled with the fact that the Pokémon used by Qishu in the Gym Challenge was only an Elite-level one-star Pokémon, it was far inferior to Gardevoir in every aspect.

The giant electric petrel had barely flapped its wings, which were as sharp as lightning, when it was precisely struck by a dark energy wave emanating from Gardevoir's chest.

[Taunt] takes effect. For a short period of time, Giant Electric Seagull is unable to use status moves, including moves that can activate its [Wind Power] ability, such as Tailwind.

"Your accurate judgment is truly remarkable, Xia Chen~ Well then, try this move."

Qishu's battle was more like a performance. She struck another cute pose and shouted, "Shine across the entire battlefield! Thunderbolt!"

Xia Chen did not give immediate instructions. In order to allow Mingyi in the audience to better understand the battle, he deliberately slowed down the pace of the attack.

Otherwise, Gardevoir's next move would have already landed while the tree was posing.

The Giant Electric Petrifier didn't care what Xia Chen thought; it flapped its wings and swooped down at top speed towards Gardevoir.

At the same time, its bright yellow throat pouch, used to store electricity, expands rapidly below its sharp beak. After two seconds of charging, a lightning bolt bursts out of its mouth and rushes straight at Gardevoir, which is flying past and approaching from within a few meters of it.

At this moment, Xia Chen calmly instructed, "Gardedoll, dodge to the right, then use Magic Fire."

"Sana!"

Without using teleportation, but simply by using a lateral movement to dodge, the Thunderbolt grazed past Gardevoir and struck the ground.

Then, Gardevoir quickly turned around, and its eerie crimson flames roared like a dragon, instantly engulfing the giant electric sea lion flying with its back to it.

"Kuro!"

Magic Flame is not effective against Giant Electric Swallow, nor is it a very powerful move; it's even less powerful than the Thunderbolt that was just used up.

Even so, it's easy to see from the reaction of the giant electric sea lion how powerful this magical flame is, and how strong Gardevoir's special attack is now.

…………

To be honest, it might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that Xia Chen is now able to dominate the dojo, but it's fair to say that he's ruthless in crushing weaker opponents.

Most gyms have Pokémon that are only at the elite level, so this one-star Elite Electric Seagull is considered to be the tallest among the short.

What level is a team that uses an elite-level one-star Pokémon as its ace?

Even if Xia Chen had participated in the Donghuang Youth Trainer Competition a few months ago, he wouldn't have made it into the top eight!

Xia Chen is a champion who has grown for more than three months. Beating this kind of team should be a piece of cake for him.

In fact, if this hadn't been a teaching session for Mingyi, Xia Chen would have already been directing Gardevoir to use Meditation to push the team.

Even when he was trying to suppress the enemy as much as possible, Xia Chen maintained firm control of the situation on the battlefield, advancing at his own pace.

The characteristics and weaknesses of the three Pokémon—Electro-Pulverizer, Electivire, and Mismagius—were fully revealed in the live stream under Gardevoir's subtle control, and were also learned by Mingyi in the rest room.

After a ten-minute back-and-forth battle, all three of Qishu's Pokémon fell, and the gym challenge ended with Xia Chen's victory as was hardly in doubt.

"Ah, your brilliance is like ten million volts..."

Qishu showed the signature dejected expression of defeat, and the two little Magnemite on its head floated in circles in the air as if dizzy.

The host then passionately shouted, "The winner of this match is Xia Chen, the gym challenger! Congratulations to this powerful trainer from the Eastern Region for winning the dazzling Brewmaster Badge!"

Thank you for your guidance.

After recalling Gardevoir, Xia Chen bowed slightly to show his respect to the Gym Leader.

Qi Shu's gaze seemed to hold something, but with cameras surrounding him like a net from all sides, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted to say.

Instead, he said in a perfunctory manner, "You played wonderfully, thank you for joining me in presenting such a fantastic performance!"

The emphasis of the whole sentence is on the last two words, "performance," as if Qi Shu is trying to express something.

Xia Chen was slightly taken aback, then replied meaningfully, "I look forward to seeing you again."

Chapter 251

After winning the Brewing Light Badge, Xia Chen and Qi Shu exchanged a few words, then returned to the contestant preparation room to find Ming Yi.

Kiju returned to her room for a short rest.

Because of the loss in this match, all three of her Pokémon were seriously injured, and the break between matches lasted for half an hour.

After placing three Poké Balls on the cart that Chansey had pushed over, the exhausted Qishu let his body sink into the soft sofa.

Recalling the seemingly ordinary yet extraordinary gym challenge she had just experienced, she suddenly felt a little dazed.

What's ordinary is the competition; what's extraordinary is the challengers.

There are only two types of people who come to challenge the gym: those who come to obtain badges to participate in the league conference, and those who come to meet and fight me.

The latter was clearly not the case; Xia Chen didn't seem to be a fan of his. As for the former... Qi Shu didn't think so either.

So what is he here for?

Qi Shu didn't know, but she knew that Xia Chen seemed to have seen beneath her glamorous exterior.

"Looking forward to seeing you again."

The boy's meaningful farewell still lingered in his ears, and Qi Shu was lost in thought.

Goodbye... what can be done?

"Qishu, why are you lying down again? You're an idol, you need to be mindful of your image! Quick, the elves have healed, let's hurry up and start the next battle."

A noisy, rapid, shrill female voice entered his ears, interrupting Qishu's thoughts.

Although both the voice and the person who spoke it annoyed her, Qishu still had no choice but to get up and straighten her posture.

She glanced at the time; only five minutes had passed since she went to her room to rest.

Qi Shu frowned and asked, "We've only rested for five minutes, Miss Adrina. Not only me, but the Great Electric Seagulls also need a long rest after their battle, right?"

The meticulously made-up woman, known as Adriana, wore an excited smile.

"We need to hurry, Qishu! Do you know how much Xia Chen's arrival boosted the live stream's viewership? In just over ten minutes, the number of viewers doubled! And the number of followers alone increased by tens of thousands!"

Is it really that exaggerated?

Even Qi Shu, who wasn't particularly interested in this kind of data, was stunned.

She has been so busy these past two years that she has lost touch with many things in the outside world.

Before this, she only knew that there was a very powerful person named Xia Chen.

…………

"So, strike while the iron is hot, and fight a few more matches before his fans completely disperse, to try and seize this opportunity to generate buzz!"

"Honestly, why didn't this guy give us a heads-up before he came to challenge the gym? We would have had time to prepare and plan our publicity campaign..."

The agent's nagging buzzed around Qi Shu like a fly, making him very annoyed.

She hated how this woman reduced everything to data, traffic... words that have no warmth whatsoever.

But she was already caught up in the situation, and it wasn't something she could change just because she wanted to.