Seeing his opponent standing there in a daze, Caleb spoke up to remind him, "You should send out your next Pokémon."
Rafael didn't move. He was having trouble accepting this outcome: 'WTF? My Mega Blaziken was taken out in one move?'
The viewers in the live stream could tell exactly what was going on just by looking at his expression, and comments filled with schadenfreude came pouring out:
{..Hahaha, look at the shocked expression on the streamer's face! It's hilarious! It's like he didn't even process what happened!..}
{..So this is Caleb-sama? I declare that from today onwards, he has replaced Steven as my idol!..}
It just so happened that Rafael inadvertently saw these two comments. Lowering his voice discreetly, he said, "You guys don't think he's cheating, do you?"
A comment immediately popped up:
{..What do you mean?..}
"This Blaziken of mine is a 6IV max value top-tier Pokémon I grinded from a game world Scenario. It's been max level for a long time, and with Mega Evolution on top of that, there's no way it should have been one-shotted..."
{..Streamer, if I remember correctly, aren't you only ranked around five thousand something on the player leaderboard?..}
Seeing this seemingly random comment, Rafael subconsciously nodded, "Yes."
Immediately after, that viewer spoke up again:
{..Then what's your opponent's ranking?..}
'Number one...' Rafael finally came to his senses.
He lifted his head and looked at the young man across from him.
The handsome young man had a faint smile and exuded a calm and steady aura. A Celebi sat on his shoulder, and at that moment, the young man tilted his head as if saying something to the Celebi.
At that moment, Rafael suddenly had a vague feeling: 'It was no accident that this guy had managed to catch Mewtwo...'
He suddenly lost the will to continue the battle. There was no way he could defeat an opponent like that.
Thinking this, Rafael hesitantly brought up the surrender interface.
The viewers watching the live stream saw this and immediately tried to dissuade him:
{..Hey hey hey, don't surrender! At least finish this battle!..}
{..Haha, I think I see myself from a few hours ago in the streamer. I was just as desperate back then!..}
"Fight my ass, my strongest Pokémon got one-shotted!" No kidding, Rafael didn't want to get swept 6-0.
{..How about you ask him to switch out a few Pokémon to battle you? Aren't you guys curious about Caleb-sama's other Pokémon?..}
{..Curious +1!..}
{..Besides Mewtwo and Celebi, he also has Lucario, Dragonite, Hydreigon, and Mimikyu..}
{..Damn, those are all rare Pokémon!..}
{..Ugh, looking at my Caterpie, I'm shedding tears of envy..}
Once this topic was brought up, a few toxic comments immediately jumped out:
{..You guys think, if he didn't have Mewtwo, what would his ranking be?..}
{..Some tens of thousands, I think? I don't really remember..}
{..So that means without Mewtwo, he's nothing?..}
The chat fell eerily quiet for a second, but soon, some viewers who already shared similar thoughts were swayed by the rhetoric.
It was true that Caleb was strong, but what if he didn't have Mewtwo?
....
In a small room somewhere in the Infinite World, Terrence frowned as he looked at the comments floating across his screen...
He tossed aside his potato chips, casually wiped his hands on his pants, and started furiously typing on his keyboard, replying:
{..Idiots! Your assumptions are flawed to begin with. How do you think he caught Mewtwo in to begin with?! Tch, you jealous mfs..}
{..Besides, even before catching Mewtwo, he defeated Ye Fan, who was ranked first at the time, and Baek Gyeol, who was ranked third, in that Mythical Beast Contest. And now you're saying he's not worthy of first place..}
{..Tsk, if you don't need your eyes, please donate them to those in need. Thank you..}
...
As soon as these three comments flashed by, they instantly sparked an even fiercer divide.
Some believed Caleb truly had the strength to be number one, while others thought he was nothing without Mewtwo.
But soon, these arguments shifted onto Rafael, who was hosting this live stream... They demanded that he challenge Caleb and have him use his other Pokémon to prove himself.
Rafael naturally noticed the shift in the chat. He said somewhat awkwardly, "Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
{..Cut the crap, give his other Pokémon a good thrashing for me and I'll gift you some Rockets, points are no object for me! I want to see what all these Caleb fanboys are barking about..}
Rafael hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist the allure of Rockets, "Alright then, I'll give it a try."
A single Rocket was worth 500 points, which was equivalent to his earnings from one Instance run, and there was no middleman taking a cut...
...
Terrence, who had been inexplicably labeled a 'Caleb fanboy', was furious. He immediately sent these comments and screenshots to the person in question.
"I was just speaking up for my good bro, how did that make me a fanboy?!"
...
{Terrence: Bro, show them what you're made of!}
Caleb raised an eyebrow as he looked at the comments in the Screenshots that Terrence sent him.
He usually didn't care much about these kinds of things... Making him prove his strength to a bunch of strangers? Were they even worthy of such an effort?
Just as Caleb finished replying to Terrence's message, he heard a voice from across the field:
"Um, Caleb, I know I've lost this battle, but could you maybe switch out to a different Pokémon to battle me? Like, don't use Mewtwo... use that Celebi instead. Dragonite is fine too."
Caleb couldn't be bothered to say more and directly stated, "If you genuinely want to have a Pokémon battle with me, I'd be happy to oblige. But with something like what you did today? I'd rather not."
The implication was that he found out about the live stream of this battle! And he was not happy about that.
'Offending a big shot for five hundred points... that's just too costly. If Caleb holds a grudge, the consequences for me are simply unimaginable.'
Rafael was inwardly horrified, but looking at the comments scrolling past, he still pretended to be calm and said, "I don't mean anything by it, I really do want to have a serious Pokémon battle with you."
Caleb raised an eyebrow and reminded him, "Mewtwo is also my Pokémon, and I've been taking this seriously the entire time."
It was just that he was hungry now and just wanted to finish the battle quickly to go home and eat. The other guy kept dragging it out, which was really annoying.
Rafael forced a smile, "I mean, like in online battles in the games, the kind where Legendaries are banned."
Caleb shrugged and cut straight to the point, "I don't need to prove my strength to anyone. If anyone thinks I'm nothing without Mewtwo, all I can say is, you do you."
*Grrrr~*
As soon as the words left his mouth, Caleb heard a growling sound come from Celebi's stomach.
He paused, glanced at Rafael, and asked, "Are you going to surrender yourself, or do you want Mewtwo to send you off?"
Rafael: "..."
He could tell the other party was unhappy, so he decisively chose the former...