Nightfall.
Somewhere inside the Solaceon Gym.
Rotom had re-entered the phone, pointing the camera at Caleb and the old man, giggling mischievously every so often.
In front of the camera, the old man let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Oh, it's just a livestream? Thank goodness..."
"What else would it be?"
"What did you think it was?" Caleb asked, confused.
Before this, he'd racked his brain trying to come up with ways to attract more challengers to the Gym. After a lot of brainstorming, he set his sights on the League's newly booming livestream industry.
Even though livestreaming was already commonplace and mature in his original world, this was Caleb's first time trying it, so he wasn't exactly a pro.
Even with the Solaceon Gym's official account, the viewer count stayed pitifully low.
As for why he brought the old man along—well, the guy was a former Elite Four, after all. His reputation might be a bit infamous, but at least he had some name recognition.
As the saying goes, infamy is still fame. If they could just get the exposure, fortune would surely follow.
...
One hour later.
I messed up.
How desperate was I to think putting this old man on camera was a good idea?!
Fame? Reputation? Gone in a flash!
An hour ago, when the old man appeared in the Solaceon Gym's livestream, the nearly empty stream suddenly flooded with people.
Caleb barely had time to get excited.
Each viewer dropped a single line in chat, then immediately left—as if they'd seen something utterly filthy, too revolting to even look at twice.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
The worst was that the chat filled with so many flagged terms that the stream got automatically suspended.
Who was he supposed to complain to?!
By the time the stream was back online, viewer count was back to one or two.
One of them had the username "ChanseyIsNotAnEgg." He didn't even need to guess who that was.
"Sob sob sob, I'm so touched, Fiona, even watching my stream during work hours. Don't worry, I'll make sure to report you to the Pokémon Center."
ChanseyIsNotAnEgg: ?
Just then, something stirred at Caleb's belt. Pachirisu popped out from its Luxury Ball.
"Chipa~"
Yawning and stretching, Pachirisu clearly hadn't fully woken up.
Still, it fought through the drowsiness and walked up to Caleb.
With practiced ease, it reached into Caleb's pocket, pulled out a backup phone, unlocked it, and opened an app called "Delibird Delivery."
Then it began placing an order with serious concentration.
First, a Super Deluxe Alolan Cheese Pizza to warm up the appetite. Then the main course and dessert...
Once it was satisfied with the order, it looked up at Caleb.
"Chipa." (I've picked mine. Want to add anything?)
Caleb thought for a moment. A wild Farfetch'd he'd just seen in a video popped into his head—that leek it carried looked pretty tasty. Slurp.
"Add a scallion pancake."
OK.
Scallion pancake, added. Payment made.
Pachirisu tapped away with practiced skill.
Ding~
A notification popped up on Caleb's phone. He glanced at it casually—it was just another five-figure bill.
No biggie. Like getting bitten by a mosquito.
He turned to the old man beside him. "You want anything?"
The old man looked utterly dumbfounded, hand trembling as he pointed at Pachirisu.
"Y-you... your Pokémon can order takeout?!"
"So what?" Caleb scratched his head, genuinely puzzled by the shock.
He shrugged and said matter-of-factly, "My Chansey can do backflips."
And not just that—Chansey could clean rooms, do laundry, cook, give massages, work out muscle knots, and even help train other Pokémon in the Gym during downtime. A real-life angel, basically.
How could such a perfect Pokémon even exist?!
And compared to her, this food-ordering, nap-loving Pachirisu was basically a total freeloader.
Same trainer, but the difference was staggering.
Old Man: "..."
Putting aside how ridiculous it was for an egg-shaped Pokémon to do backflips—training other Pokémon? That's way over the top!
A Pokémon training Pokémon? That's basically like saying a Meowth can speak human language.
No way he'd ever believe it.
And the old man wasn't the only one shocked. The livestream viewers were too.
A Pachirisu that could order takeout had suddenly drawn a ton of new viewers to the stream.
"So cute! Pachirisu mommy, hold me!"
"Who could say no to a takeout-ordering Pachirisu? I'm in, I'm in!"
"I'm nosebleeding right now."
"Why is Pachirisu lying on the floor like that? Is the streamer starving it?! [Angry] [Angry]"
Starving it?
Caleb glanced at the Pachirisu sprawled on the floor, clearly bored while waiting for delivery, and chuckled.
Turns out, when a man is speechless, he really does just laugh.
If I hadn't fed it, then where did tonight's lasagna, roast pork rolls, coffee, donuts, and all that food from last night's fridge go? Just evaporated?
This is slander!
Caleb tried to defend himself.
But clearly, the viewers weren't buying it.
"You're telling me a Pokémon less than 40cm tall ate a mountain of food and didn't burst? You believe that?"
"Exactly! That stuff's high-calorie. Even I struggle to finish it."
"This is abuse. Straight-up abuse. I'm reporting this to the League."
"Poor Pachirisu, come with me, mommy will make sure you're well-fed."
"Yeah, poor thing, it's wasting away."
...
One comment after another, all pointing fingers at Caleb.
Sure, he was being unfairly blamed—but hey, at least the stream was blowing up.
The Gym might actually be saved.
"No wonder you're the Gym's mascot. I'll give you an extra meal tomorrow."
"Chipa." (For real?)
"For real."
"Chipa." (Then I want morning tea.)
Pachirisu had tried afternoon tea and midnight snacks, but never morning tea. It wanted to know what that was like.
"Okay, okay, okay."
Caleb nodded eagerly, completely unaware what morning tea even meant.
But as long as it could be bought with money, it wasn't a problem.
"Chipa( 'w' )"
Pachirisu rubbed affectionately against Caleb, tears of joy spilling from its mouth.
That move alone brought another wave of viewers to the stream.
"Oh my god, so cute! Forget the streamer, come cuddle me!"
"Aww, mommy's heart is melting."
"Oh my god..."
Yes, that's it—more praise, more praise.
Watching the viewer count climb higher and higher, Caleb could hardly hold back from promoting the Gym.
Just imagine, placing Pachirisu right at the Gym entrance... hehehe...
"Wait, you guys actually think it's cute?"
Suddenly, a random comment popped up in the chat.
Figures. Once someone goes viral, every troll and their cousin crawls out of the woodwork. Let's see what kind of take this guy has.
Someone actually thinks Pachirisu isn't cute? You better hope you're blind.
The user "OnlyLoveOnePerson" followed up with:
"What's so cute about this whiny little Pokémon? A real man should only love Gardevoir."
Uh... well, he's not completely wrong.
"Chipa?"
Pachirisu looked up at Caleb.
"Haha, of course you're still the prettiest," Caleb said as he picked up Pachirisu, turning his head away a little guiltily.
"Chipa~(? ???w??? ?)"
Pachirisu wagged its tail. No way I'm that good-looking...
"OnlyLoveOnePerson" sparked massive agreement from the male viewers in the chat.
"Sure, Pachirisu's cute, but I still prefer Gardevoir."
"Right? No man on earth can resist Gardevoir."
"I want her to step on me in those flowing skirts and call me Master. Why can't I ever run into a Ralts?"
"I want to lay eggs with Gardevoir, hehe."
"Dude, what the hell."
"You don't want that?"
"I mean... [blush]"
"Why can't humans breed with Gardevoir already?!"
Wow. These viewers are desperate. Speaking of breeding...
Caleb pondered for a moment.
"I think Gardevoir can breed with Muk."
!!!
"Streamer, do you even realize what you just said?!"
"How dare you defile my goddess like this!"
"Slander. This is slander! Pure slander!"
"Death penalty! Immediate death penalty!"
"No—make it repeated execution!"
"100 years in Azkaban."
...
The livestream was instantly swarmed by waves of insults and flaming.
After all, Gardevoir and Muk—one's a graceful celestial being, the other's literal sewage sludge. No one in their right mind would ever put them in the same sentence.
So of course, Caleb became public enemy number one.
"Actually, it's not just Muk. She can also breed with Weezing—" Caleb started to add.
[Your livestream has been reported by "OnlyLoveOnePerson" and has been suspended for 7 days.]
"Ah...?"