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"Dragon Dance" + "Gible." Did that have potential?
Of course it did. In Silas's opinion, this was one of the hottest memes in the Pokémon community, right up there with "Groudon learning Fly" and "Charizard isn't a Dragon-type." Who wouldn't want to see a Garchomp that could finally use Dragon Dance?
Still, he wasn't so arrogant as to think he was the only person to ever have this idea. Surely other streamers had tried to use this as clickbait before. To be safe, he searched PokéTV for keywords like 'Dragon Dance + Garchomp'.
And he found one. A live broadcast room with the words "Dragon Dance" and a picture of Garchomp right in the title.
Thirty seconds later, Silas clicked out of the stream, cursing.
"Unbelievable..." he muttered. The title was a scam. In giant red letters, it said "DRAGON DANCE," but squeezed between the words in tiny, black font were the words "DRUMS OF." The streamer was showcasing a team built around the move Dragon Cheer. The chat was a waterfall of angry comments from duped viewers.
[Identification complete. This anchor is a Cynthia hater!]
[On behalf of the Garchomp Conservation Association and the Cynthia Fan Club, I have reported this channel. Did I do the right thing, brothers?]
This little experiment confirmed it: the meme was just as potent and frustrating in this world as it was in his old one. But then, a crucial thought struck him.
From his perspective as a player from another world, it was a hardcoded fact that Garchomp couldn't learn Dragon Dance. It was bottom-level game logic. You could bury the idea.
But from the perspective of the trainers living in this world, it wasn't an absolute impossibility. They didn't know about game mechanics. They only knew that learning the move was incredibly difficult. No one here—not even a top Pokémon researcher or the world's number one Garchomp trainer herself, Sinnoh Champion Cynthia—could say with 100% certainty that it was impossible.
As the saying goes, nothing is absolute. To them, it was just a challenge that no one had yet overcome.
This meant that while casual fans would see his stream title as a funny meme, the true experts—the high-level trainers who truly understood the strategic depth of Pokémon battling—would recognize the immense, world-shaking value of what he possessed. The more they knew about Garchomp, the more they would understand the power a Dragon Dance would grant it.
The average person would see a joke. The pros would see a revolution.
"First, let's scan the top streamers for inspiration," Silas decided, doing his final prep.
The most popular channels on PokéTV belonged to the likes of Iono, the "Electric-type streamer" and Gym Leader from the Paldea region, and Raihan, the Dragon-type specialist and "weather team" influencer from Galar. Their popularity wasn't just about pure strength; their personalities, appearances, and frequent streaming schedules played a huge role.
Silas chuckled. If he had to choose between a lecture from the stoic Unova League Champion, Alder, or the dazzling Gym Leader, Elesa, he knew which one he'd pick. It was a simple choice between raw information and quality entertainment.
"Man, becoming a popular streamer is harder than I thought," he groaned. "How did those other transmigrator protagonists get millions of fans so easily?"
He sighed. As the cynical proverb goes: Everything is difficult at the beginning... then difficult in the middle... and difficult at the end. "No point overthinking it. I just have to start."
He launched Pokémon: Masters EX. The game used advanced tech to scan a trainer's real, league-registered Pokémon directly into the virtual world. This system was foolproof, capable of verifying the unique energy signatures of legendary partners like Lance's Dragonite, Steven's Metagross, or Cynthia's Garchomp. Silas's own Pokédex was just a low-spec AI model from Silph Co., not one with a real Rotom inside, but it was more than capable of scanning his Gible.
"Alright, time for the debut stream of 'Dragon Dance' Gible," he declared. He couldn't fake it being a Garchomp; the scan was authentic. For now, the baby land shark would have to do.
He entered the matchmaking queue for new trainers—the "newbie lobby." His first opponent had a Charmander.
"Charmander, use Ember!" the opponent commanded.
"Gible, Sand Tomb!" Silas countered.
The vortex of sand trapped the little lizard. With his opponent unable to switch out, Silas seized the opportunity.
"Dragon Dance, let's go! One more time!"
After two boosts, Gible's attack and speed were already formidable.
"Now, Dragon Claw!"
The buffed-up Gible was a blur, crushing the Charmander in a single hit. The opponent's follow-up Pokémon, a Pidgey and a Rattata, stood no chance against the tiny, rampaging dragon.
One versus three. A clean sweep.
Silas, with only one Pokémon to his name, had dominated his first match. In the dorm room, the real Gible, who had been watching the stream intently over his shoulder, puffed out its chest and put its short, stubby hands on its hips.
It struck a pose that clearly said, Look at me. I'm awesome.
Frankly, "Dragon Dance" and Gible were not the most natural pairing.
Despite being a pseudo-legendary, Gible was still a "late bloomer." This meant that in the initial "starter Pokémon" stage, it wasn't actually much stronger than other baby Pokémon. To put it in numbers, most Fire, Water, and Grass starters have a Base Stat Total (BST) of around 310 to 320. Gible's is only 300. In the world of new trainers, the cubs of pseudo-legendaries are rarely the strongest. They're a far cry from a "kindergarten bully" like Scyther, whose unevolved BST is a monstrous 500.
The growth path of a late bloomer is one of patience. You must endure for the metaphorical three years before the Dragon King can finally return in the form of Garchomp.
However, Silas's tactical understanding of Pokémon battles was far beyond that of a rookie. This, combined with Dragon Dance being a superior buffing move—typically unavailable to starter-level Pokémon—allowed him to dominate the newbie queue. It wasn't just that his Pokémon was special; the trainer was strong, too. This synergy was what made them invincible, at least for now.
That being said...
"Well, it seems the 'Dragon Dance Gible' gimmick isn't as effective at attracting traffic as I'd hoped," Silas sighed.
He clicked to start another match in Pokémon: Masters EX, his eyes darting to the side of the screen to monitor his PokéTV stream.
[MyCuteFroslass has entered the room.]
[LickilickysLick has entered the room.]
[EmptyHands has entered the room.]
A few viewers were trickling in. The system prompts proved that passersby were "accidentally" finding his stream even without any promotion. However, the chat was a ghost town. No comments, no free "glow stick" emotes, and certainly no paid gifts.
Silas understood why. He himself was often a "lurker"—a passerby audience member who watched streams without ever typing in the chat. It was just too much effort. People watch streams to relax, not to perform social labor. The viewers willing to type out comments were the real hardcore fans, and those who sent even free gifts were in a league of their own.
"Becoming a popular streamer is a lot harder than I thought," he muttered, his face a perfect "ORZ" of defeat. "I guess I need to grind for a while to build up an audience."
He could only dream of being like Iono or Raihan, who could start a stream and instantly have tens of thousands of loyal fans flood in. He was just talking to himself while playing a game. The "show" had no real effect.
Just as he was about to resign himself to the silence, a few lines of text finally appeared.
[AFutileEffort]: Host, that Gible can actually use Dragon Dance. Is this for real?]
[LickilickysLick]: Definitely a hacked Pokémon. Bro, did you graduate from Hogwarts?]
Silas let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Real people! He thought he might have been streaming to an offline bot.
"If my Gible was 'hacked,' it wouldn't be certified by the official tools in Pokémon: Masters EX," Silas explained, his voice confident as he presented his proof. "The game scans my real-life Pokémon via the Rotom Pokédex and verifies it before allowing it into online battles. It's precisely because my Gible can legitimately use Dragon Dance that it's here at all."
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