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"We can see that Contestant Mason's Magnemite has already entered a fierce battle with the wild Basculin."
"Using its advantage of flight, Magnemite is attacking Basculin freely from above."
Crystal stood at a distance along the shore, turned slightly toward the camera, and gave her commentary with full concentration.
Although she was not a professional Trainer, as someone working in media who often had to deal with Pokémon-related programs, she had done plenty of homework in private.
At the very least, when faced with a battle of this level, which was not particularly high, Crystal could still force herself to explain it without exposing any obvious lack of knowledge.
"If things continue like this, I'm afraid Basculin won't be able to hold out for more than a few minutes before the electric current completely drains its ability to battle."
A sweet, intoxicating smile appeared on Crystal's face, as if she were sincerely happy that Mason was about to earn points.
"Ah."
Suddenly, Crystal let out a startled cry, her slender body trembling sharply.
What appeared before her eyes was the scene of Basculin using every last bit of strength to rush toward Magnemite in the sky.
The sudden change made her cry out in surprise.
Fortunately, after Basculin finally exhausted itself and fainted, the situation tilted back in Mason's favor once again.
Crystal adjusted her emotions at incredible speed. A charming smile appeared on her face once more as she spoke to the camera.
"Although there were a few twists and turns, let's congratulate Contestant Mason on earning his first points in the tournament."
"Now, let's go over and interview him about what he was thinking during that battle."
The moment her words fell, before she could even take a step forward, the red-and-white Poké Ball Mason had thrown toward Basculin was suddenly struck by a powerful stream of water from the side.
Ding.
A crisp collision rang out.
Under the tremendous force carried by the water stream, the Poké Ball was sent flying away like a broken toy, landing far off in the lake.
Naturally, the newcomer was Kael, who had decided to come help his little buddy.
"Haa."
"Good thing I made it."
Kael looked at the Poké Ball that had been blasted away by his Water Gun and silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, he had reacted quickly. The moment he arrived, he had noticed the Poké Ball being thrown toward Basculin.
If he had been even a little slower, and his little buddy had truly been captured, things would have become troublesome.
His slender arms were wrapped in the cold lake water.
With a gentle stroke, the disorderly current came under Kael's precise control, moving like an invisible hand as it dragged Basculin's unconscious body backward, gradually pulling it away from the battlefield.
His clear blue eyes shifted slightly, and he cast a cold, hostile gaze toward the Trainer on the shore, whose expression had gone somewhat blank.
For a shady Trainer who used underhanded methods to capture Pokémon, Kael had no intention of showing any kindness.
"Gulp."
Mason swallowed involuntarily.
At that moment, he looked completely at a loss.
On one hand, it was because the Poké Ball that should have been a guaranteed capture had been knocked away by a sudden stream of water.
On the other hand, and this was what shocked him the most, there was the small, semi-transparent figure that had appeared on the lake's surface.
...
[Species: Sobble]
[Level: ?]
[Quality: Deep Purple]
[Type: Water]
[Category: Water Lizard Pokémon]
[Ability: ???]
[Moves: Pound, Growl, ???, ???...]
[Individual Potential: Dark Gold]
...
What was he seeing?
If not for the system inspection panel clearly displayed before his eyes, Mason would have suspected that he had seen it wrong.
"How is this possible?"
A rare Pokémon with dark-gold potential.
"Sobble?"
"I'm rich. I'm actually rich."
Mason's gaze froze on the words "Deep Purple" and "Dark Gold" on the system panel. His body stood stiffly on the shore as he muttered to himself.
Although Kael had expected something like this, he had still underestimated just how devastating his existence would be in the eyes of players not long after the game's launch.
At that moment, the fishing tournament, Basculin, and even the prize Pokémon Egg had all been thrown to the back of Mason's mind without hesitation.
The only thought left in his heart was to capture the Sobble in front of him.
He did not consider how he would raise this Sobble in the future.
He did not consider what kind of storm it would cause on the forums if he managed to capture it.
At this moment, Mason had already been completely controlled by humanity's instinctive desire to possess.
He did not even notice the "?" displayed in the level column on the system inspection panel.
Instead, in a rushed, almost shrill voice that nearly cracked, he shouted at the Magnemite in front of him.
"Quick."
"Use Thunder Shock, now."
...
"Sobble?"
"It's Sobble."
"Everyone watching at home, look. In the southeast area of the field, a wild Sobble has appeared."
Crystal pointed excitedly in Kael's direction and shouted.
The camera operator in front of her immediately understood and zoomed in, locking the lens onto the small, semi-transparent figure floating on the lake surface.
As someone who had put a great deal of effort into studying Pokémon knowledge, Crystal identified Kael's species the moment he appeared, relying on the rough shape of his body and the characteristics of his camouflage-like skin.
With her eyes fixed on Kael's every movement on the water, Crystal could not help introducing Sobble's temperament, traits, and rarity to the viewers in front of the camera.
"How lucky. This is unbelievably lucky."
"Viewers at home, the Sobble currently appearing on your screens is an extremely rare Pokémon in the wild."
"Normally, traces of them can only occasionally be found in remote lakes with exceptionally pure water, or in deep-sea areas far from human activity."
"Because of their timid and cautious nature, even the most experienced wilderness explorers rarely get the chance to see one."
"Only top Water-type Trainers with truly pure hearts are said to be able to attract this kind of Pokémon into approaching them willingly."
"And yet now, here inside Azure Crystal Marine Park, this incredibly rare Pokémon has appeared."
Excitement was impossible to hide in her voice.
Even Crystal's signature sweet smile was forgotten in that moment.
No one cared.
At that moment, the eyes of every viewer in front of their screens had followed the camera and gathered on Kael.
The ratings quietly skyrocketed.
Before anyone realized it, they had broken the highest viewership record in the history of Azure Bay Television.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!