Not long after ending the stream,
after washing up and getting ready for bed, Serena noticed a new message.
It was from Basket Draws No Water.
As expected, her number-one fan was still, without exception, supporting her wholeheartedly.
Even if Basket Draws No Water wasn't always online during Serena's live streams, they would still find time to watch the replay afterward—quietly following, quietly supporting, never missing a beat.
It was genuinely heart-warming.
In truth…
Back when Serena herself was just an ordinary viewer—before becoming a part-time streamer—
she had never been the type to obsess over any single streamer or famous Pokémon Trainer.
She was a textbook Eugénie Grandet—
clutching her wallet with iron determination, refusing to spend even a single coin on streamers or idols.
If she really had to name a top-tier Pokémon Trainer she liked the most in the Pokémon League…
It wouldn't be Red,
not Blue,
not Lance, Steven Stone, or even Champion Leon.
It would be the Sinnoh League's female Champion—
Cynthia.
This was, frankly, the conclusion most men with perfectly normal orientation and aesthetics would arrive at.
Of course, there were also people who preferred international superstar Diantha.
As for Serena?
She was painfully honest about her tastes—
a classic straight-guy aesthetic.
Blonde hair.
Elegant waves.
That kind of thing.
But even so, no matter how much she liked Cynthia, Serena would never spend a single coin cheering for her, buying Cynthia-and-Garchomp merchandise, or anything of the sort.
—There was simply no need.
In this world, the only people Serena would ever willingly spend money on were her parents, her family…
…and a girlfriend she hadn't even met yet.
And precisely because of that mindset—
because she knew how hard it was to earn money—
she found Basket Draws No Water's unwavering support almost indescribably moving.
Seriously.
Brother…
Are we secretly sworn brothers, separated at birth?
Otherwise, why would you support me this much?
What are you even after?!
Don't tell me…
you're trying to sleep with me and coveting my body?!
But Serena wasn't exactly running a late-night beauty stream.
She really couldn't see anyone being greedy for her body.
"——Emmm?!"
Serena's eyes suddenly shifted.
Her expression turned thoughtful.
…Actually.
That possibility wasn't entirely zero either.
Her face stiffened into a meaningful, inscrutable smile.
Brother…
turn around for a moment, I've got something urgent—
Very urgent!!!
"Kapu..."
Gible had absolutely no idea what bizarre nonsense her Trainer's brain had just wandered into.
But it was already late.
So Gible ignored Serena completely, crawled into her little blanket, tugged it over herself with her short fin-arms, and peacefully went to sleep.
Gible: (|3[▓▓] Good night—oyasuminasai~~)
Basket Draws No Water:
"Excellent team construction. Even if I personally tried to revise it, I don't think I could optimize it any further."
"Alolan Ninetales paired with a Loaded Dice Baxcalibur is genuinely a perfect combination."
Several messages arrived in quick succession.
"—Naturally," Serena replied with full confidence.
After all, she was standing on the shoulders of countless hyper-competitive Pokémon battlers from her previous world—
players whose involution intensity bordered on madness.
The teams she copied from that collective wisdom could easily be described as near-perfect—
no, nine-tenths perfect.
Serena dared to pat her chest and say:
Even if a League Champion or a Battle Legend came personally,
they wouldn't be able to optimize it any further.
Basket Draws No Water:
"My judgment wasn't wrong. Your battle awareness, command sense, and tactical thinking are all excellent."
"Even without gimmicks like 'Dragon Dance Gible,' you can still rely on solid fundamentals to attract viewers on Poke-TV."
Basket Draws No Water:
"That said, one thing surprised me."
"Your starter Pokémon is also Gible, right? So why go out of your way to build a team centered around Baxcalibur instead?"
"Also? What do you mean, also?"
Serena blinked.
"Wait—don't tell me your starter Pokémon is Gible too?!"
She was genuinely curious—but still patiently answered her number-one fan, her metaphorical sworn brother.
"Eh, it's not like I went out of my way or anything. I was just casually testing a lineup suitable for streaming."
"Honestly, Garchomp could fit into this team as well, couldn't it?
It learns Scale Shot for Speed boosts, Swords Dance for massive Attack increases—functionally, it's quite similar to Baxcalibur."
"But Garchomp is Dragon/Ground, after all.
It's not an Ice-type Pokémon."
On the other side of the screen, having just finished her shower, Cynthia took a sip of hot cocoa.
She casually brushed her golden hair back with a finger and sent a reply.
"That's easy to fix," Serena typed back without hesitation.
"Just let Garchomp handle one of the advanced battle mechanics."
"Terastallize it into Ice-type.
Boom—instant Baxcalibur cosplay."
Serena glanced sideways at Gible.
After a long day of training and battling, the little land shark was already dead asleep.
One leg had kicked the blanket away, her mouth slightly open as she snored softly.
Serena reached out, gently pulling the blanket back over Gible.
And since Gible was asleep—
mocking her was completely safe.
"<(￣▽￣)/ Ahahaha—come on," Serena typed.
"Seriously, what kind of sane person Mega Evolves Garchomp?!"
"Do you Mega Evolve Garchomp?"
"!!!"
On the other side of the ocean, Cynthia spat out a mouthful of hot cocoa directly onto her laptop screen.
—What kind of sane person Mega Evolves Garchomp?!
That sentence itself…
Wasn't actually wrong.
Mega Garchomp's weaknesses were painfully obvious.
As the world's top Garchomp Trainer—
the Sinnoh League Champion whose ace Pokémon was Garchomp—
Cynthia knew those flaws better than anyone.
The most critical stat for Garchomp…
Speed.
—Went down after Mega Evolution.
In concrete, game-based terms:
Normal Garchomp: Base Speed 102
Mega Garchomp: Base Speed 92
As mentioned before, the area around the 100 Speed tier is incredibly crowded with mid-to-high-speed Pokémon.
That extra two points of Speed above 100 had always provided Garchomp with disproportionately high value.
Likewise—
losing ten Speed was like slashing straight into a vital artery.
The loss in battle performance was far greater than just "minus ten."
Of course, Cynthia couldn't quantify it as precisely as a hardcore game player like Serena.
She didn't know the exact numbers.
But she could feel it.
She could sense that something fundamental was off.
But then again…
What choice did she have?
Was she supposed to not Mega Evolve Garchomp—
and simply hand her opponent the Mega Evolution slot for free?
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