To be honest, Serena's first-ever PokéTV livestream performed… far worse than she had expected.
She had genuinely believed that the combination of "Dragon Dance + Gible" would instantly seize the attention of Pokémon battle enthusiasts—
that her debut stream would take off like a rocket.
Exploding popularity.
Tens of thousands of viewers within thirty minutes.
Followers skyrocketing.
Then—naturally—she would lie back and live off viewer support,
just like certain popular VTubers, effortlessly raking in donations.
Looking back now, Serena could only sigh.
She had seriously underestimated how difficult this would be.
Perhaps audiences had already been burned too many times by fake "Dragon Dance Garchomp" clickbait.
Perhaps they were simply numb to the concept.
Even though this time it was real—
Who would believe it?
The boy who cried wolf story existed for a reason.
Or maybe, to casual viewers, whether Garchomp could use Dragon Dance…
just didn't matter that much.
After all, it was still a late-blooming pseudo-legendary.
Dragon Dance or not, Garchomp was already strong.
As for how critical Dragon Dance truly was to Gible, Garchomp,
and especially Mega Garchomp—
with its infamous Speed drop after Mega Evolution—
That kind of high-level competitive nuance
was far beyond the grasp of most casual viewers.
They had never raised a Garchomp.
They didn't understand high-end Pokémon battles.
Across the entire Pokémon world,
how many Trainers had actually raised a Garchomp
and bonded deeply enough to Mega Evolve with it?
Almost none.
The only famous example was Cynthia.
So concepts that felt obvious to Serena
simply weren't appealing hooks to the average viewer.
If she wanted to earn even a little money from streaming—
she clearly still had a long way to go.
Serena's battling skill was solid.
No question there.
But she didn't even have her camera on.
And with almost no chat activity, there was barely anything to interact with.
As a debut stream?
The "entertainment value" was honestly worse
than those troll streamers who baited viewers with Dragon Cheer.
Expecting to go viral overnight?
What a joke.
At this point, even her one-of-a-kind Dragon Dance Gible
couldn't carry her.
Unless she signed with an MCN agency
or paid for artificial promotion—
Which was completely impossible.
She was trying to earn money, not burn it.
"Kapu…"
Sensing her disappointment, Gible hopped onto the desk,
stuck out its round little belly,
and gently patted Serena's cheek with its fin.
System Notification:
Gible's ability Rough Skin activated. Serena's HP fell by one-eighth.
"…Don't worry," Serena said with a smile, her gloom vanishing instantly.
"I'm just a little disappointed. I'm not giving up."
She then turned back to the few remaining chat messages and explained calmly:
"My Gible really does know Dragon Dance.
It passed Rotom Dex verification,
which is why it can be synced into Pokémon Masters EX
for official online battles."
She spoke without hesitation—
too eager to prove herself to think any deeper.
As for personal safety?
Being doxxed?
Targeted?
Honestly… she hadn't even considered it.
This was the Pokémon world—
peaceful, safe, practically a utopia.
And her stream barely had three real viewers.
Worrying about threats now would be pure paranoia.
She let out a long sigh.
"Well… without recommendations or promotion,
I really can't do much today."
"That's it for today's stream!"
"Next time I'll come back after climbing the ranked ladder,
or once I figure out a more entertaining team comp."
"I promise—next time, for sure!"
[My Lickitung, Your Florges]: ...
System Notification:
My Lickitung, Your Florges sent ×10 Glow Sticks.
Supporting small streamers—
someone had to do it.
Otherwise, "next time" often meant never.
People disappeared like this all the time.
Reality was harsh.
You couldn't live on passion alone.
If it didn't pay—even a little—
you simply couldn't keep going.
Only three viewers had entered Serena's stream.
One sent free glow sticks.
One silently left.
The last interacted briefly.
Then—
"Drawing Water With a Basket"
sent a friend request.
Serena glanced at the flashing notification and shrugged, approving it.
No fantasies of rich patrons or miracle sponsors.
Just a normal add.
No harm in that.
Almost immediately, a message arrived.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/KidDude296