News that Teacher Lu was rebroadcasting gradually spread, fans hurried to share it, and the forums filled with a merry atmosphere.

“On this day, that man finally remembered his account password.”

“Of all things, not the Baby Cup but a tutorial stream? My youth is back!”

“This is bad;

tonight’s probably going to be a double helping of matchmaking commentary!”

It was obviously just an ordinary live-stream announcement.

But the fans keenly smelled a hint of lemony bitterness.

Ever since Teacher Lu livestreamed that thrashing of the Sinnoh Champion, his relationship with Cynthia had already been made public.

Click tonight’s stream… a plate of dog food was probably unavoidable!

“Chef Lu stopped serving meals and started selling dog food;

none of you watching here are innocent.”

“When will he become a World Championship champion, Teacher Lu?”

“World Championship? Teacher Lu only plays the World Juniors!”

The last comment was hard to refute.

Because next month he really was headed to Unova for the World Juniors opening ceremony.

Teacher Lu scrolled through the forum comments and pondered slightly.

He began thinking about tonight’s material.

“I definitely have to solo A-Jin a round…”

Lu Ye thought to himself, “But his rank is too low;

I can’t steamroll him for cheap points—he’ll have to serve as a teaching example.”

As everyone knows, negative examples are still educational.

Gold the Fifth was skilled in flashy tricks during wild matches—pool, skateboarding, gliding—so much so that even Doduo had to be cautious around him.

But his formal competitive level was embarrassingly weak;

he hadn’t even collected all the city gym badges.

A-Jin himself wasn’t interested in league tournaments… he spent his days playing cards, pool, and fishing, occasionally teasing Xiao Yin and Kris the class rep, living a blissfully carefree life.

Thinking this, Teacher Lu paused, feeling oddly envious.

Darn it—he was actually a little jealous of A-Jin!

Teacher Lu: “Tonight I’ll give A-Jin two 6–0s!”

A-Jin alone wouldn’t be enough material.

They needed another victim (scratch that)… another fan volunteer.

There was still time before the stream started.

Lu Ye sat on the sofa, opened the chat group, and asked:

“Anyone up for a squad tonight? Pokémon battles.”

A-Jin replied first: “Hurry it up!”

Old Man Ironspin said: “The power plant in Violet City’s out again. I have to go take a look. No go for me tonight!”

Marshal said: “Old man, how does your power plant keep going out every few days?”

Ironspin stroked his chin: “Probably because of the Sea Violet renovation project—it must be consuming a lot of power.”

Sea Violet was a project Ironspin and Devon Corporation were working on: converting an abandoned shipwreck into a special tourist attraction.

Sapphire had explored Sea Violet with Ruby before and now her eyes lit up: “@Ruby, let’s go to Sea Violet tonight!”

Ruby: “Sleep on the ship?”

Sapphire: “So what? I can have Elulu carry us back~”

Their discussion was likely about a pure adventure.

But Ruby and Sapphire were a couple who had met each other’s parents—

childhood sweethearts, fate-bound, even changing themselves for each other… they were absolutely winning at life!

Steven smiled helplessly: “Be careful. Sea Violet still has plenty of wild Pokémon.”

Wallace smiled and said: “Take safety precautions.”

Ruby: “Master Wallace!”

Wallace: “Hahaha, just kidding.”

Lorelei originally came online to peek at the group owner’s message and paused in surprise.

Thunder strike at the opening!

Aru’s ahoge bobbed: “You can have the big sister join you.”

Cynthia smiled: “I can provide guidance from the sidelines.”

On the Sevii Islands, in a girlish pink mansion, Lorelei removed her red-frame glasses and quietly submerged herself in the water.

A grand sinking-ship assault!

Flint scratched his fiery, explosive hair and looked troubled:

“Squadding is another thing…”

Even with level advantage, he couldn’t beat Teacher Lu’s newly retrained team.

Let alone compete with the Tactician on lineup understanding and command…

Climbing the ladder isn’t easy—watch out for Teacher Lu!

Lance scratched his head: “I’m free, but I haven’t played this.”

Steven smiled: “Follow your usual commands, you’ll pick it up quickly.”

Not every group member was into simulated battles.

Lila was busy teaching and running her perfume shop;

Bruno was busy practicing his three-section staff and stocking Angry Steamed Buns.

Only the lazy champions like Aru and Flint often had free time online.

In theory, Lucian was also a master of tactical command with reasonable team composition and would climb the ladder easily.

But Lucian was simply unavailable!

A champion with 996 overtime—when would he have time to squad?

He had expected to relax after the Lily of the Valley Conference, but more work had come up…

Lucian’s hairline receded further and further. Hearing it was sad, seeing it made people cry!

After asking around, the group still had no members able to squad.

If they queued solo, it would likely be more than an hour.

“Can it really only be A-Jin and me…” Teacher Lu felt strange.

Steven smiled: “Why not let me go instead?”

Wallace asked in surprise: “Aren’t you supposed to be mining?”

“I paused it for now…” Steven hesitated.

Devon Corporation had recently surveyed a giant floating stone;

from its fluctuations, it very likely was a colossal Mega Stone.

But that giant Mega Stone still slept deep beneath the ruins, and the method to awaken it had not been found.

Because of that incident, Steven had returned to Hoenn, so he had time to stay at his Verdanturf residence and admire his stone collection.

“This matter…” Steven frowned, thinking, “I’ll wait until the dust settles before telling Wallace and Teacher Lu.”

Steven didn’t want to trouble others;

on the contrary, he had the confidence and strength to handle things alone.

Even if he couldn’t solve it, Steven would bet everything to protect Hoenn.

This was the ‘perfect champion’ Steven—results-first, powerful and formidable.

“Teacher Lu versus Steven tonight!?” Ruby exclaimed.

“You already lost to him once,” Steven smiled, his eyes flashing a mineral-blue light. “But… I’m more confident this time.”

Steven’s proud ace was his unbeatable Mega Platinum Metagross.

The sheer power of Metagross, relying on Mega Evolution’s extreme speed, could one-shot an old-school opponent with a single Comet Punch.

“This is getting tricky?” Cynthia put down her phone and glanced at Lu Ye.

Lu Ye: “Yeah… I’m thinking which Pokémon should carry Ally Switch.”

Cynthia paused, tucked a golden lock behind her cheek, and smiled;

“Don’t worry. I’ll guide you.”

On hearing that, Lu Ye brightened immediately.

Facing Steven was one thing…

Having Mengmengda coach him was the real key!

Night deepened and Miare City’s streets lit up.

In the café courtyard, Sylveon still swung on the swing while Larvitar built sandcastles in the sandbox.

With tiny hands it patted and compacted the sandcastle, then stared at the towering fortress with a proud, achievement-filled gaze.

“Yoji—”

Then Larvitar opened its mouth wide and swallowed the sandcastle whole.

Would that make the dirt taste better?

No, but Larvitar always plated things nicely.

Gengar floated in the night, watching the slowly lowering sandbox and scratched its head.

This seemed… like it would need constant refilling.

Inside the back room, Teacher Lu sat in his gaming chair and opened the livestream platform he hadn’t used in a while.

He started right on time;

with the platform’s promotion, his popularity instantly shot to the top.

Once live, a flood of fans poured into the stream.

“Learning tactics again today, bros?”

“Whether Teacher Lu shows his face or not, I mainly want to see the Sinnoh Champion!”

“What? No face reveal? I’ll explode!”

To avoid his handsome face distracting fans from technical details, Teacher Lu didn’t show his face during proper tutorial streams.

He could play pool, Dou Di Zhu, and Plants vs. Zombies, and chat casually during meal-time streams.

“Thanks to ‘Want to see Teacher Lu’s eight-pack’ for the rocket…”

Lu Ye glanced at the scrolling comments and coughed lightly: “You can go watch female Machamp—she has an eight-pack too.”

A string of ‘23333’ flashed through the comments.

“Male estrogen is by my side?”

“Want to see Teacher Lu and Steven cuddle.”

“Sylveon warns: Mengmengda outraged!”

Cynthia laughed softly beside him, and the stream chat flipped color instantly.

“This bowl, this bowl is Applin’s exclusive Gigantamax, super-gigantic sour-looking!”

“It’s not Teacher Lu I envy;

it’s Mengmengda.”

“?? Upstairs is off!”

Lu Ye held Togepi in his arms to steer the topic back on track and said:

“Today’s tactic is the Sandstorm system under Mega conditions.”

“Pupitar takes the weather role and usually holds Weakness Policy.”

Lu Ye explained: “It pairs with the Sandstorm siblings—Trapinch the lead ground-squirrel and Garchomp.”

“Rotom with levitate can perfectly absorb teammates’ Earthquake and prevent accidental team KOs.”

Teacher Lu paused: “Actually, a Zapdos with Electric/Flying would be better;

Pokémon: Battle doesn’t have the data, which is a pity.”

Fans typed a line of question marks.

“How do you know so much?”

“As a champion, it’s reasonable he’d have the three legendary birds stored in his system, right?”

“Here comes the Sandstorm team—my beloved old-school squad!”

Lu Ye went on: “For the Mega user in a Sandstorm team, Mega Salamence has Dragon Dance and doesn’t get hit by Earthquake, so Garchomp is relatively weaker—”

Two dangerous glances shot from behind, one from Cynthia and the other from the Garchomp about to be sent out.

‘Garchomp can’t learn Dragon Dance, blame GF for that!’

Lu Ye pursed his lips: “Mega Garchomp’s strengths are durability and the terrifying power boosted by Sand Force. Also, in reality Garchomp doesn’t get hit by Earthquake;

trainers should note that.”

Garchomp, Metagross, and the like don’t have the Flying type, but they can engage in aerial combat and avoid Earthquake.

There are many flying-capable Pokémon in the world;

even Pupitar can fly, and that’s recorded in the Pokédex.

‘Pupitar has a shell as hard as rock plates and flies by expelling compressed gas from its body.’

Saying these Pokémon are affected by Earthquake just shows Devon still hasn’t fully understood Pokémon. (joke)

After introducing the team composition, Lu Ye queued at the agreed time with Steven.

From overall rankings, Steven was currently world number one, followed by Master Ma and the Dan Emperor.

If Master Ma won this match, he could take the top spot.

Teacher Lu felt emotionally moved.

Master Ma, who sits by the console 24 hours a day, might finally fulfill his longtime wish!

The match queue flickered, and they were matched in under five minutes.

“So fast? I still wanted to see Teacher Lu play Dou Di Zhu.”

“Holy, matched with Steven again—the world number one!”

“This is perfect showtime! (laughs)”

Under the fans’ intense attention.

The two trainers’ cards collided in midair, sparking blinding flashes.

【Did Teacher Lu eat tonight?】 VS 【Result: I’m Number One】

Amid the stadium cheers, a blue-haired man in a suit with a gentle smile and deep sky-blue eyes walked onto the green field.

The lineups appeared.

Behind Steven, a white Metagross hovered, jets of air lifting it as grass bent outward and the crowd cheered as if it were real!

“Why does the other side have custom effects?!”

“This man is drop-dead gorgeous!”

“Damn, I’ve used this lineup! Steven loves this team!”

The blue-suited man was flanked by steel and fossils: the towering Aggron, the psychic Doll of Hypno, the resilient Braviary and the ‘cash-plant’ Cradily.

Fans had mixed reactions.

“Sandstorm teams are tough… they get weather boosts too.”

“If Hypno opens Trick Room, won’t Teacher Lu explode?”

“The thing is, Teacher Lu is using the Sylveon’s Garchomp!”

On the green field behind the black-haired youth, a Garchomp brandished its twin scythes, eyes blazing crimson.

Pupitar roared with its spikes bristling.

Gastrodon, Cleansing Rotom… it looked like Teacher Lu’s lineup mirrored Bamboo Lan’s team.

The battle was about to begin, and Steven threw two Poké Balls.

“Go, Cradily! Hypno!”

Hypno floated sideways in the air, its many magenta eyes half-closed, runes flowing light across its body.

Cradily opened eight pink tentacle-like fronds on its head, eyes hidden in shadow and shining a deep yellow light.

Cynthia rested her delicate hand against her chin and murmured: “It seems to be a Trick Room composition.”

Trick Room systems were a real headache for Trapinch the speed-focused lead.

Lu Ye nodded slightly.

Under Trick Room, Aggron had priority, and once Trick Room ended, the ultra-fast Mega Metagross could unleash devastating output…

This would be a very difficult game of strategy.

Teacher Lu explained:

“This Hypno is very likely to hold Substitute Belt, because Ground types don’t take Sandstorm damage… we need to double-target its slot.”

“Wait a second.”

Lu Ye’s expression changed: “It seems Hypno can also learn Ally Switch.”

A string of ‘23333’ streaked through the chat.

“Harm yourself while trying to harm others!”

“Don’t underestimate Steven’s tactical literacy!”

Lu Ye fell silent for a moment and sent out two Poké Balls.

“Go, Pupitar! Trapinch!”