Two hours after the video went live, it had already racked up an astonishing 200,000 views.
And the number was still climbing, instantly making it the hottest topic in the battle section.
"The Gym Leader is actually a human?"
"Suspected Gym Leader beats up clueless child. Should be investigated immediately."
"Encore into Disable again! Genius! Absolute genius!"
"What a dirty strat."
"Wait—isn't the uploader that champion from the Little Ho-Oh Cup, Caleb? So after Substitute and Minimize, he still had another trump card!"
…
The comment section was a chaotic mess of praise and criticism.
Green stared at the rapidly refreshing feed on the screen, her thoughts drifting back to the crowd at the Little Ho-Oh Cup half a month ago.
"Is this really okay…?" she muttered with concern.
Next to her, Caleb looked completely confident. "Of course it is! Just look at the comments—I'm going viral again!"
"Comments?"
"You mean these trolls?"
Green casually scrolled through a few. Every single one was a scathing insult.
"Hey, what trolls? Those are fans," Caleb corrected proudly.
Honestly, for a tactical player like him, if people call you scummy or underhanded, that's basically a badge of honor.
Green: …
Deciding it wasn't worth arguing with someone so smug, Green turned her attention back to the video dashboard.
Following her previous jobs as front desk receptionist, Gym referee, backyard janitor, and front gate security—plus occasional battle sparring partner—Green had now picked up yet another role: account manager.
Basically, she was responsible for monitoring the channel's backend and reporting updates to Caleb.
At first, she was totally against it. One paycheck for all these jobs? What am I, a Mudbray?
But in the end, she couldn't resist the temptation of cold, hard cash. Caleb paid way too well.
Suddenly, one particular comment caught her eye—it had an unusually high number of likes and was posted from a Level 6 verified account.
It was a detailed breakdown of Caleb's battle strategy:
"In this video, Dusknoir is used as the lead, mainly to counter setup strategies.
Disable can stall out item-reliant Pokémon.
Encore punishes Fighting-types, and then Disable locks them into useless moves...
The streamer clearly has excellent command of Dusknoir and perfect timing in battle.
P.S. If it had been holding a Dusknoirite, the effect would've been even better."
The entire comment was nearly 2,000 words long—it made Green's head spin.
It was as detailed as a class rep's study guide.
Had to be some big shot from the Master Rank scene.
She glanced at the ID: "BattleMaster."
???
IP address: Kanto – Pallet Town.
Oh great, it's you again, Red!
Seriously, do Champions have nothing better to do?
Just then, Green's phone buzzed.
A new notification?
She opened it to see a system message from the "Kanto Region Master Trainers Group Chat":
"@everyone, welcome our new member 'SunshineBoy'!"
"System notification: 'SunshineBoy' has changed their name to Caleb."
???
Green whipped her head around to stare at Caleb in disbelief. "This… is you?"
Caleb glanced at her phone, then at his own. "Huh? Green, you're in the group too?"
Her face instantly darkened. After a pause, she finally asked, "Who… who added you?"
"Red, obviously! Geez, Green, you should've told me about this awesome group sooner," Caleb said, feigning annoyance.
Just look at this lineup—Red, Blue, Lorelei, Koga, Erika, Sabrina, Surge, Lance…
Every one of them was a big name in the Kanto League—Gym Leaders, Elites, the Champion. Titans of the Pokémon world.
And Green had kept this kind of precious network all to herself? Totally unfair!
Green felt her forehead twitch. A deep sense of foreboding washed over her.
It wasn't that she didn't want Caleb in the group…
But she had a bad feeling.
If Caleb really got involved, Kanto might never be the same again…
Please let this just be a false alarm.
…
Later that night.
The "Sinnoh Gym Leaders Group Chat" suddenly lit up.
First to speak was Fantina.
"Oh~ I didn't know Mr. Caleb was so skilled with Ghost-types. (respect.jpg)"
"Let's definitely exchange battle tips sometime."
Fantina—Caleb remembered—was a Gym Leader from Hearthome City and a top-tier Ghost-type trainer with a slight British accent. She was also a celebrated Contest Coordinator.
Another message popped up:
[Pastoria City – Crasher Wake]: Isn't Caleb a Poison-type Gym Leader? Don't tell me he's training Ghost-types on the side too? Reminds me of my younger days—full of promise! Hahaha!
[Oreburgh City – Roark]: Dad, you're not even in the same league. Also, Ground, Steel, and Rock may be "related," but they're not the same type.
[Pastoria City – Crasher Wake]: Boy, you looking for trouble? Ground is Ground, Rock is Rock, Steel is Steel—they're three completely different types!
[Floaroma Town – Gardenia]: What's going on? You guys seem excited. (curious Psyduck.jpg)
[Veilstone City – Maylene]: You're talking about Caleb's video, right? Dusknoir wiped out two Pokémon by itself. (shivering under the Ghost-type shadow.jpg)
[Floaroma Town – Gardenia]: Oh, I saw that too! Dusknoir looked so harmless—but turns out it's a monster. (terrified.jpg)
[Sunyshore City – Volkner]: Nah, the real menace is Caleb himself.
?
Even Volkner showed up?
Now that surprised Caleb.
He always pictured Volkner as the type who lurked silently behind a screen—your classic broody tech guy.
[Monkey God of the Universe]: I can confirm—Caleb was the one who taught Cynthia that insane Spiritomb strat…
[Pastoria City – Crasher Wake]: !
[Snowpoint City – Candice]: !
[Inspector – Citie Joy]: !
[…]
Even Bertha came out of hiding. The whole chat exploded.
A Gym Leader teaching the Champion her battle tactics?!
They understood every single word individually, but together it made zero sense.
[Floaroma Town – Gardenia]: Is this for real? (shock.png)
Teaching Cynthia wasn't just "next-level"—it was a whole different league.
What started out as a joke had now backfired hard.
Giving Cynthia tactical guidance? Who in the League could possibly qualify for that?
This wasn't a pond being stirred—it was a titan playing pretend among mortals!
[Veilstone City – Maylene]: (shock.png)
[Snowpoint City – Candice]: (shock.png)
[Solaceon Town – Caleb]: Eh, just some little tricks, not worth mentioning, really.
[Solaceon Town – Caleb]: Oh right, I recorded a clip from back then—anyone wanna see?
[Solaceon Town – Caleb]: (video.mp4)
It was a short clip, less than a minute long—just enough to capture Infernape whiffing its attack and Bertha slamming the ground in fury.
Talk about perfect timing.
[Monkey God of the Universe]: ???