Chapter 49: Steven: Digging for Stones? Let's Go Tomorrow

Sootopolis City, inside the manor.
The atmosphere at the moment was slightly peculiar.
"Hhahahaha, just thinking about how you described that guy's battle style as fierce makes me want to laugh!"
Milo laughed unreservedly at Steven, who had just lost the match.
The young master of Devon with his light blue short hair did not lose his composure; instead, he thoughtfully recalled that crucial "Ally Switch" moment.
He softly murmured, "Well, it is indeed a bit..."
Milo chimed in, "You mean to say it's shady and underhanded, right?"
Recognizing this professional terminology, the viewers in Xia Chi's streaming room immediately knew that Milo was an old regular in the chat.
"Underhanded..."
Steven savored the word, then laughed freely. "That's a rather apt description, I admit it was quite interesting."
"Thanks to [Prison Water Waters Strange Tree] for sending the Master Ball! You're a generous boss. Any thoughts on defeating the Hoenn Dual Champions? Uh, better not think about it, just a game, and besides, the two masters were clearly testing new tactics..."
The sudden voice next to him made Steven blink in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"Watching the stream."
Milo, who had just entered Xia Chi's streaming room, looked up at Steven with a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
"Don't you want to know how they're evaluating us?"
"Hmph, boring."
Despite saying that, Steven still perked up his ears.
"......Winning this match relied heavily on team composition countering. Both Rillaboom against Whiscash, and the threat of Electro Ball from Kilowattrel under Tailwind against Skarmory were just too massive. If Skarmory had even a sliver of breathing room to use Roost, followed by Whirlwind, and Whiscash paired it with Toxic for stall tactics, it would have been really tough for us."
Ah, so it could be paired with Roost and Whirlwind!
Steven, who had simply been dragged by Milo to play a game and used a random configuration, felt as if a new world of possibilities had opened up before him.
If they used this tactic, would there have been a different outcome when facing Leon in the Masters Tournament last year...
Steven couldn't help but let his imagination wander.
"Still think it's boring?"
Milo flashed another teasing smile beside him.
Steven thought for a moment and couldn't help asking, "What was the streamer's name again?"
For the entire afternoon afterward, the living room was filled with the sounds of Xia Chi and Iono duo-queueing, along with Milo and Steven's intermittent discussions.
"Is Rotom-Wash really that useful? Should I raise one too?"
"Using Ally Switch and the Wonder Guard ability to protect a teammate's output—so that's how Shedinja is played!"
"Can it even be paired with a Pokémon that has the Sturdy ability and Skill Swap? How utterly devious!"
"Are we still going to mine for stones?"
"Forget it, let's go tomorrow..."

————————

"Iono-sama is tired out, let's stop here for today!"
After another victory in a double battle, Iono's slightly weary voice came through the headphones.
Xia Chi glanced at the time; before he knew it, it was almost midnight.
He had been streaming for five hours? Has it been that long?
Freed from the intense and thrilling battle atmosphere, Xia Chi also felt a wave of fatigue washing over him.
He replied, "Alright then, let's play again next time."
"Okay~ So today's stream ends here~ Everyone be quick like Quick Attack and hit that follow button, so you don't 'leak electricity' during the next broadcast! Bye-bye~"
Iono's cheerful voice rang out once more.
Xia Chi said speechlessly, "Hey, Teacher Iono, this seems to be my streaming room."
"Ah, I forgot!"
Even through the headphones, one could sense the cute innocence of the girl on the other end.
Iono said in a sweet and playful tone, "It doesn't matter anyway, Teacher Shuizhuan won't mind, right?"
She's practically stealing my rice bowl, how could I not mind...
Xia Chi definitely wouldn't voice such low-EQ, blockhead thoughts out loud.
After exchanging some lighthearted banter with Iono and the viewers in the chat, Xia Chi hung up the voice call and clocked off.
"Phew—so tired. Human physical endurance really can't compare to Pokémon..."
Straightening up and stretching lazily, Xia Chi opened the window and took a deep breath of the cold early-winter midnight air of Shanghai, instantly refreshing his mind.
"Meowfe~"
Sprigatito, which had been lingering near the mouse pad waiting for Xia Chi to finish work, walked over to his side, tilted its head, and meowed softly.
Xia Chi chuckled and scooped it up into his arms, starting the daily ritual of cat-snuggling and midnight snacking—
Supporting its bottom with one hand while skillfully scratching its chin with the other, he then buried his entire face into its soft belly and took a deep breath.
Sprigatito's unique fragrance, a blend of rich floral scents and fresh tender leaves, instantly flooded his nasal passages.
"Meowfe~"
Massaged by Xia Chi's practiced techniques, Sprigatito felt so good that its paws splayed out, its cheeks flushed slightly, and it began to purr softly like a little engine.
After snuggling with it for a good while, Xia Chi felt all his fatigue vanish.
Awesome, this is the Pokémon world lifestyle I've always wanted!
He sighed with such emotion in his heart.
"Has Misdreavus gone out?"
Noticing the absence of Misdreavus in the room, Xia Chi asked.

Sprigatito nodded, "Meowfe~"
It won't wait up for you like I do~
Sensing Sprigatito's mood, Xia Chi smiled, stroked the little cat's head, and said, "Alright, I don't need you to keep me company either, go find it!"
Misdreavus also wore a Pokémon tracker that Xia Chi had purchased.
Moreover, this gadget had a very useful extended function: once bound on the app, the two Pokémon could see each other's locations.
"Meowfe~"
After glancing at Misdreavus's location, Sprigatito bid farewell to Xia Chi and leapt into the night outside the window.
Looking at the little blue dot representing Misdreavus on the mobile app, Xia Chi suddenly remembered something.
"Speaking of which, after catching Misdreavus, I haven't prepared any equipment for it yet..."
All those divine artifacts, completed items, and destiny badges he received at the start were all dumped onto Sprigatito, leaving almost nothing for Misdreavus.
Still, they were both his Pokémon; even if he couldn't treat them with absolute equality, he at least shouldn't play favorites.
Therefore, the Shanghai Treasure Cup finals a week from now were very important. The championship reward from the official tournament wasn't all that crucial.
The highest reward of this combat round, the Gold-Tier Prismatic Orb, must be obtained.
Not to mention rolling another artifact forge, at least he needed to craft a completed item for Misdreavus.
Right, there was also the fear value from the Dark-type bond.
Ever since Xia Chi switched the system notifications to Do Not Disturb mode a while ago because they were annoying, he hadn't paid attention to the growth of the fear value for quite some time.
If he remembered correctly, when he checked a few days ago, it was hovering around sixty-something?
Because of the Shanghai Treasure Cup over the past two days, he had a fair number of battles, so let's see how much it increased.
Xia Chi checked the fear value with great anticipation, and then his face darkened.
Damn it, how is it only 72.2!
He thought the Shanghai Treasure Cup would be a high-quality monster-farming spawner!
On second thought, it made sense; the first half of the preliminaries consisted mostly of Bug Catchers and Youngsters.
The match quality improved in the second half, but the quantity didn't keep up, so gaining eight or nine points was already pretty good.
The good news was that those eight or nine fear points were almost entirely provided by the last three or four matches.
The Round of 16 battle against Haunter alone reaped 4.6 fear points!
If things went smoothly, there were still three matches left in the tournament, which might just push the fear value up to 90?
By then, he could happily open another batch of fear-value treasure chests...
The future looked bright!
Harboring wonderful fantasies, Xia Chi contentedly went to bed.