Chapter 90: Dirty Tactics and Entertainment Lineups
July 22nd, Wednesday.
Early in the morning, Lu Ye opened the camera with Eevee in his arms, and instantly, a huge crowd of 'cloud Eevee fans' flooded into the livestream.
"Eevee-chan is finally live!"
"Teacher Lu, could you move out of the way? Please give the streamer some space."
"Thanks for the 'rocket to Eevee'… Ahem, it's indeed my fault, I blocked the camera." Lu Ye humbly adjusted the camera to focus on Eevee.
Was something off here? This was supposed to be a shady livestream, yet somehow it turned into a pet blogger session?
However, based on the gifts, the response was no less than when Lu Ye showed his face—maybe even better…
Lu Ye smiled contentedly and gently patted Eevee's little head.
"Let go of your hand!"
"Teacher Lu, get lost!"
Lu Ye grabbed Eevee's soft ear and lightly cleared his throat. "Today we're playing with an entertainment lineup, and the star of the show is our old partner, the 'Pink Demon' family."
The so-called Pink Demon refers to Pokémon like Clefable, Chansey, and Blissey—cute-looking yet incredibly annoying Pokémon. In reality, because Blissey is mostly monopolized by the Joy family, few people build strategies around it. Of course, Blissey's offensive power is also quite limited, which is why Lu Ye called today's lineup an "entertainment lineup."
"Thanks to 'Why didn't Teacher Lu stream the past few days' for the plane… Teacher Lu was on a date with Cynthia the other day."
A string of question marks quickly flooded the chat.
"???"
"I've never seen such a shameless person!"
Lu Ye sighed. These days, no one believes the truth.
During the time spent with Cynthia, not only did he not hook up with a rich woman, but he also ended up owing 5 million. To pay off the debt, Lu Ye decided to advance his Pokémon career (strike that)... and become a streamer instead.
After all, streaming was his old profession. Even if Plants vs. Zombies flopped, there was always a fallback. As for selling Pokéblocks... Lu Ye had thought about it, but that required professional qualifications. Even if he only sold to the experts in his group, the effectiveness of his Pokéblocks would probably be comparable to an illicit substance…
Overall, every bit counts, so streaming income couldn't be ignored.
During a match, a game Lu Ye was playing suddenly caught the fans' attention.
"What game is the streamer playing?"
"Why isn't the streamer talking?"
"A mute streamer? Following!"
While in an encrypted chat with Crazy Dave, Lu Ye explained, "This is a game I developed myself. It'll be available soon, and those interested can go ahead and buy it."
"Wow, Teacher Lu can make games too?"
"This looks really fun!"
"Any content creator who isn't a game developer isn't a good trainer!"
This unexpected twist caught the viewers by surprise, but inadvertently helped boost the popularity of Plants vs. Zombies. Feeling satisfied, Lu Ye began today's battle. There were no surprises as Lu Ye once again showcased his "bad luck" tradition. Missed moves, wrong reads, and self-destructs happening on the spot…
Laughter echoed in the chat.
"Watching Red is just for fun, if you want to learn real skills, watch Teacher Lu!"
"This one, this one is a direct hit!"
Lu Ye slapped the table in frustration. "How can there be such a dirty trick like Ally Switch?"
The opponent was a Psychic-type trainer with a lineup based around Trick Room and Ally Switch. Clearly, they had mastered its use. Although Lu Ye's bad luck played a large part, the Psychic-type move Ally Switch was even more disruptive than Teleport. If used well, it could completely ruin an opponent's strategy.
"If you can't beat them, join them. I recommend the streamer teach all 6 Pokémon to learn Ally Switch!"
"Lu Ye doesn't lose without reason! The opponent is probably a big shot too!"
The Master Ball-tier players were few, and among those who loved gaming, it wasn't uncommon for Lu Ye to face other experts. But this counter-tactic really surprised him. He glanced at the ID of this crafty player and immediately furrowed his brows.
Sinnoh's Psychic-type Elite Four, Lucian.
Isn't this guy a scholar? Why did he think of playing games?!
…
Lucian's Residence, Sunyshore City, Sinnoh Region.
Dressed in a wine-red suit with shoulder-length blue hair, Lucian leaned on the couch and glanced at his companions, Flint and Aaron. "So this is the game you guys were talking about, huh?"
Flint scratched his red, explosive hair, laughing awkwardly. "I didn't expect... you to pick it up so quickly."
Aaron, with his green hair sticking up in a quirky manner, nodded. "Lucian is too dirty! His tactics are even more refined than in real life!"
Lucian pushed his gold-rimmed glasses, smiling coldly. "My opponent has beaten Cynthia before! How about… you two try?"
Though Cynthia was using a smurf account, in the Master ranks, there were only a few players who enjoyed gaming, and everyone knew who they were.
Aaron, the Sinnoh Bug-type Elite Four member, who was barely 20, shook his head quickly. He had faced Lu Ye multiple times. Aaron's team was pretty average, and when facing Lu Ye's dirty tricks, he had no advantage at all.
Flint, the Sinnoh Fire-type Elite Four member, with his red explosive hair, stiffened his neck and also recalled the fear of being dominated by Lu Ye. Flint's strategy, like in real life, relied on flames to trigger his Pokémon's Abilities, but it was a simple and straightforward approach.
In general, Flint's losses to Lu Ye were almost as frequent as Aaron's.