The originally bustling Central Square of Levincia City was now eerily silent.
The audience, who had come to watch the Gym battle, all stared at the battle platform ahead, wide-eyed and shocked.
"What's going on with that guy?!?"
"Damn it! I didn't come to see this! I want a refund!"
"But isn't it free to watch here? If I remember correctly, battles at the Levincia Gym have always been free to watch."
The male audience became very agitated, while the eyes of the female audience brightened up, as though they'd spotted a rare treat, and they excitedly fixed their gaze on the man in front of Lono.
"Who is he? Is he Lono's boyfriend?"
"Wow, what a sensational piece of news, the Electroweb streamer actually has a boyfriend!"
"But seriously, that guy looks really reliable!"
*
"With what you're doing, you might lose quite a few followers." Naoki looked at Lono with a face full of helplessness.
He knew how much effort Lono had put in to get her stream to where it was now.
If she lost her followers over something like this, wouldn't all that effort have been for nothing?
But in response to this, Lono just laughed and said, "Are you worried about me?"
"It's your dream, after all!" Naoki said, helplessly.
Upon hearing this, Lono seemed very happy, and she chuckled, saying:
"Hehe! It's okay, I used to care a lot about these things, but now I have someone more important to care about!"
Naoki understood the meaning behind Lono's words, and his face turned red with bashfulness.
The two separated, and Lono grinned at him, her face showing a lively and playful smile, and she winked before returning lightly like a graceful Deerling to her place.
She picked up the microphone, speaking to the audience, though her eyes were fixed on the opposite direction.
"Capture your attention with the Electroweb! Who's narrating? It's me, Lono!"
"Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, hello, ciao, it's time for Lono's Livestream Show～!"
"Today's challenger is～? The one and only, capable of knocking down even flying Wattrain, Naoki～! Yay～!"
"Naoki?" The audience outside the battle paused upon hearing the name.
Some had never heard this name, but others found it very familiar.
"Naoki... Naoki Ranch store, could it be the rancher from Naoki Ranch?!"
"Who is he? Is he famous?" Nearby audience members were puzzled.
The person seriously nodded, eyes full of excitement as they looked towards the battle arena below:
"Of course! It's the world's only store that uses Dragonite Delivery! There was even a reporter who went to the ranch for an interview, and the owner there is actually an incredibly skilled Trainer! Wow, I can't believe I get to see him here today!"
"Hehe, I'm sure everyone is curious about who Naoki really is～?"
In the Central Square, Lono's topic changed and she continued: "Don't their names go well together? That's right! He's my boyfriend, Lono～!"
The audience was instantly in an uproar.
Even Naoki, who was across from her, was slightly taken aback. Lono was making a public announcement to the whole world about his existence!
Although Naoki felt somewhat moved in his heart, he thought Lono was being too bold.
As a rising content creator, revealing her love life during career growth was undoubtedly going to impact her streaming career significantly.
"..."
But seeing Lono's expression, Naoki thought to himself, never mind, as long as she's happy, it doesn't matter if she loses all her followers; he could just farm and take care of her for the rest of her life.
Lono didn't dwell on the matter for long.
After introducing the challenger, she shifted the focus back to the Gym challenge.
"Alright, I think that's about it... Next, who wants to see a battle from Lono~?"
The audience members were momentarily stunned.
Lono was going to have a Pokemon battle with her boyfriend?!
But then again, wasn't that guy a farmer running a ranch?
However, the more entertained part of the audience was thrilled.
Lono was going to have a battle with her boyfriend? It looked so exciting!
"Woho!" They let out a series of excited monkey calls, as if hundreds of Mankey were howling loudly.
Hearing these sounds, Lono giggled: "Seems like everyone's been waiting for this!... Ah, A-Den, thank you～!"
"Alright, it's about time to start the battle! Curious to see what the challenger can do~!"
Lono directed her gaze towards Naoki and Koraidon across the arena.
Naoki: "..."
Koraidon: "Grrr..."
Naoki felt helpless, having come lightly prepared with only Koraidon by his side.
The eyes of one man and one Pokemon met in the air.
With only a glance, Koraidon understood Naoki's meaning.
Naoki was saying with his eyes: "Put on a show, Koraidon!"
Koraidon let out an exasperated growl: "Grrr!"
"Then please bring an exciting battle to entertain the audience～! Go, Bellibolt!" With that, a red and white ball was tossed from Lono's hand.
As a white light flashed, a rotund and adorable Bellibolt appeared in the battle arena.
The moment Bellibolt appeared, it saw the large, crimson beast standing opposite it.