The mascot man's heart skipped a beat, but he still forced a scoff. "What illness? It eats and sleeps just fine. What's wrong with it?"
Logan Moore took a slow breath.
"It has—hydrophobia."
Silence.
A deathly silence.
The scrolling chat, which had been flying nonstop, abruptly froze.
Three full seconds passed.
Then the mascot man exploded into deafening laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!"
He doubled over, laughing so hard his Pikachu mask tilted sideways. One hand clutched his stomach while the other pointed at the camera.
"Guys! Did you hear that? What did he just say? He said my Squirtle—hahahaha—he said it's afraid of water?!"
"Oh my god, I can't—this is killing me. A Squirtle afraid of water? Why don't you say Charmander's afraid of fire? Or Pikachu's scared of electricity?"
"This is your 'master'? This is your big appraisal? I think you're just here to tell jokes!"
The chat exploded along with him.
[PopcornEater: Hahaha! I'm laughing too! Streamer, are you serious? Squirtle? Afraid of water? That's wild!]
[RandomUser123: I'm with the troll this time. That goes against common sense. A Water-type Pokemon afraid of water? That's not even logical.]
[TrollKing99: Hahahaha! Streamer, did you run out of things to say? If you're gonna make something up, at least make it believable! Hydrophobia? You really thought that one up!]
…
Faced with a wall of mockery, Logan's expression didn't change.
He quietly watched the man laughing like a clown in front of the camera.
Then he glanced at the Squirtle in the corner—now trembling even harder after hearing its owner's booming laughter.
At that sound, the Squirtle shrank fully into its shell.
Its body shook violently.
It even gagged, as if trying to cough something out of its lungs.
"Finished laughing?"
Logan's voice was still calm—but beneath it, a trace of coldness seeped through.
"Not even close! I could laugh for a year!" the mascot man shouted arrogantly. "Come on, you fraud. Explain it to me. How is a turtle that lives in water afraid of water?
"What, can't make up anything else? Weren't you so confident before? Chat, type 'refund' on the screen!"
Encouraged by him, viewers who didn't know better began to follow along.
[PopcornEater: To be fair, Squirtle being afraid of water is a bit too ridiculous. Streamer, are you overdoing it for content?]
[RandomUser123: Yeah, I've raised a Squirtle before. As long as there's water, they're fine. They're not that fragile.]
Amid the doubts filling the screen, Logan's expression grew even calmer.
The kind of calm before a storm.
The kind of calm a doctor has when looking at a hopeless patient.
"What's the rush?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried.
"I'm just thinking about how to explain this in terms even you can understand. It's basic knowledge. Elementary school level."
"Basic knowledge? You're saying I don't understand basic knowledge?"
The mascot man practically jumped. "I've read the The Pokemon Breeder's Guide three times to raise it! And you're saying I don't understand?"
"Three times?" Logan let out a cold laugh. "Guess it all went straight through your head."
He leaned back in his chair, eyes glinting with amusement.
"Since you're so confident, I'll ask you two questions. If I'm right, you can keep arguing."
"Ask!"
"First."
Logan raised one finger, his gaze sharp enough to pierce through the screen.
"Does your Squirtle often make a strange movement? It stretches its neck out really far—unnaturally far—and opens its mouth wide, like it's trying to swallow something?"
The mascot man froze.
He instinctively wanted to deny it—but the words got stuck in his throat.
Because…
That was exactly right.
His Squirtle did that all the time.
Sometimes lying on the floor. Sometimes in its nest. Sometimes in the middle of eating, it would suddenly stop, stretch its neck out as far as it could, and open and close its mouth, making a harsh "hss—ha, hss—ha" sound.
He'd always thought it was being cute.
Or maybe had fur stuck in its throat.
He'd even fed it hairball paste.
"H-how did you know?"
His tone weakened. "Yeah, it does that. So what? Maybe it's practicing singing or something."
"Singing?"
Logan almost laughed out of sheer disbelief. "Sure. Keep making things up."
"Second."
He raised a second finger and dropped the real bomb.
"Your Squirtle has never used Water Gun. Not once."
"Not even a basic Bubble."
"Even if you force it. Even if you hit it. It would rather hide in its shell and take the beating than spray water. Am I wrong?"
Boom.
That sentence hit like lightning straight to the mascot man's skull.
If the first question could be brushed off as coincidence—
The second one ripped open months of frustration.
God knows how much effort he had poured into trying to get this Squirtle to learn Water Gun.
Video tutorials. Spraying it with a hose. Even throwing it into a pool to force it—
And what happened?
It flailed like a land animal that couldn't swim. Splashing and crying for help. Not even a drop of water came out of its mouth.
For a while, he'd genuinely wondered if he'd been scammed.
Or if he'd somehow bought a Fire-type Pokemon disguised as a Squirtle.
"…Holy crap."
He pulled half the Pikachu mask off, revealing a stunned face.
He wasn't arguing anymore.
"S-sir… did you install a camera in my house or something? How do you know all this?"
The chat shifted instantly.
[Kindergarten Food Theif: Holy—he got everything right?! Look at the troll's face. The streamer nailed it?]
[MatchaLatteMan: This is insane. Even knowing it can't use Water Gun? That's way too specific. Is there really something wrong with that Squirtle?]
[Fawn in the Woods: I told you it's real! Master never says things randomly! @TrollKing99 Who's the clown now?]
…
Logan looked at the mascot man, now completely shaken.
There was no smugness on his face.
Only helplessness.
"I didn't install any cameras," Logan said quietly. "I just understood its pain."
He pointed at the trembling Squirtle in the corner.
"That neck-stretching isn't being cute. It's not singing. It's a survival instinct. It's desperately trying to inhale oxygen because its brain thinks it's suffocating."
"It doesn't refuse Water Gun because it's dumb. Or lazy."
"In its mind, water is the demon stealing its breath."
"It's rejecting water. Avoiding water. It probably wishes it were a rock type—anything that would never have to touch water again."
"And the one responsible for all of this…"
Logan stared straight at the mascot man.
"…is you."
"Me?!"
The mascot man pointed at himself, face full of disbelief and wounded pride. "How could it be me? I treat it better than my own dad treated me! It eats imported food, lives in—"
"Lives in what?"
Logan cut him off, eyes suddenly sharp.
"That's the key, isn't it? Don't just talk about it. Show everyone."
"Let's take a look at that 'luxury mansion' you designed after reading the guide three times."
"If I'm not mistaken… it's a very 'special' aquarium."
The mascot man felt uneasy—but when it came to his setup, his confidence returned.
"Fine! I'm not scared of you!"
He picked up his phone and walked across the room, still talking tough.
"You can question my skills, but don't question my wallet! I spent a fortune on this!"
"Ta-da!"
The camera shifted.
A massive aquarium filled the screen.
At first glance—
It was impressive.
A one-and-a-half-meter ultra-clear glass tank, crystal transparent.
White sand lined the bottom. Decorative rock formations and driftwood were arranged carefully. Even expensive expensive Anubias plants swayed gently in the current.
Blue background lighting gave it a dreamy, deep-sea feel.
The water level was filled to the brim, almost overflowing—like a giant sapphire.
[PopcornEater: Damn! That's a mansion! That tank has to cost at least ten thousand!]
[RandomUser123: He definitely spent money. That's top-tier for raising fish.]
…
The mascot man lifted his chin proudly.
"Well? Speechless now? Fully sealed circulation system. German-imported filter. Constant 26 degrees Celsius! Even the Arceus himself would approve!"
On the other side of the screen—
Logan's face darkened visibly.
His expression was pitch black.