Early the next morning, Theo was jolted awake by a rapid series of notification sounds coming from his phone.
Half-asleep, he groped for the device beside his pillow. The screen was crammed with so many notification badges that it looked like they were about to overflow—
new follower alerts, likes and comments, and even several official messages from the platform recommending his video for extra traffic.
"What… is happening?"
Theo snapped awake. His finger darted to his homepage, and the numbers he saw made him suck in a cold breath—
the video he uploaded last night had already surpassed fifty thousand views, with over eight thousand likes, and the comment section was completely exploding—more than three thousand comments in total.
And his follower count…
had skyrocketed from barely under a hundred to more than five thousand in a single night!
"Did I… actually go viral?"
Theo's heart thumped wildly as he hurriedly opened the comments to see what everyone was talking about.
"Front row! I heard this is the shiny Feebas Lana mentioned?"
"Finally found it! Lana-sensei linked it—shiny Feebas here!"
"Oh my god, this is the Feebas that's supposed to be 'one of the ugliest Pokémon' in the Pokédex? It really does look unusual… and it's shiny? That's incredible!"
"I thought it was a new Pokémon at first. Didn't expect it to be Feebas… but wow, that color is insane. Why is it both ugly and cute?"
"Streamer, go live! We want HD close-ups of Feebas!"
"Lana said Feebas is extremely hard to fish up nowadays, never mind a shiny one! Streamer's amazing!"
"Someone explain—can Feebas evolve? Does it evolve into Gyarados like Magikarp?"
The name "Lana" kept popping up, and Theo's heart stirred. He immediately searched up her social media account.
Lana Coral was a League-certified Water-type Pokémon researcher and a famous fishing influencer with millions of followers.
Her latest post was from last night at 10 p.m.—and it was a shared repost of Theo's video.
[Lana C]: Just saw a very interesting video! Since I happen to have time, let me explain a bit.
The Pokémon this new streamer caught isn't a new species—it's a very rare shiny Feebas~
I've fished for many years and even I seldom catch Feebas.
Feebas is a very rare Water-type Pokémon. Because of its unpopular appearance and the fact that no evolution has been discovered yet, there isn't much information in the Pokédex. Many trainers have never seen one, much less a shiny one.
If you're curious, go check out this little guy—it's quite unique~ [Video Link]
The post already had over fifty thousand likes, more than ten thousand shares, and the comment section was bursting with activity.
"Professor Lana officially confirmed it! A shiny Feebas!"
"No wonder it looked familiar. Back when I was younger, I also caught a Feebas once. Scared me half to death, I thought I'd hooked a dead fish."
"A shiny Feebas? And this streamer's a beginner? Even Lana-sensei said it's hard to catch!"
"Already rushing to the streamer's page. Waiting for the livestream!"
"Suddenly interested in Feebas now. Can someone explain this Pokémon?"
Only now did Theo understand—
the reason his video blew up overnight…
was entirely thanks to Lana's repost and recommendation.
This beautiful fishing expert had given him an unimaginable amount of exposure with just a single sentence.
Theo still vividly remembered—
in the anime from his previous life, there was also a female fishing expert named Lana who once fished up Kyogre.
He had nearly dropped his jaw when he saw that scene on screen.
But judging from the memories he now possessed of this real Pokémon world, the current Lana had not yet accomplished such a legendary feat.
Whether that miracle would ever be recreated in reality… he had no way of knowing.
"Thank you so much, Lana-sensei…"
His heart was full of gratitude as he quickly liked her post and left a comment:
"Thank you, Lana-sensei, for the explanation and recommendation! I was just lucky to catch this little one. I'll take good care of Feebas~"
After replying, he turned to look at the Feebas in the basin.
The little fellow seemed to have been awakened by the noise outside. It was wagging its tail and lightly bumping its head against the side of the basin, as if urging him to hurry up and do something.
"Alright, alright, I hear you. Let me get your breakfast ready, then we'll start the stream."
Smiling, Theo scooped a small spoonful of Pokémon food he bought yesterday and sprinkled it into the water.
Feebas immediately swam over excitedly, gulping down the food while its tail flicked up tiny splashes.
Watching it eat, Theo suddenly felt that the so-called "ugliness" of Feebas was merely the Pokédex's rigid description.
To him, this purple Feebas that belonged to him alone possessed a kind of unique, irreplaceable charm.
He washed up quickly, changed into clean clothes, and adjusted the livestream equipment.
On the screen, the waiting room's viewer count kept ticking upward—
even before he officially went live, more than two thousand people were already waiting.
The barrage of comments was rolling nonstop.
"Is the streamer finally going live? Been waiting forever!"
"Show us the shiny Feebas! I've never seen a shiny Pokémon before!"
"Professor Lana said its evolution hasn't been discovered yet? If it's shiny too, what a waste!"
Theo took a deep breath and pressed the start button.
"Good morning, everyone."
His voice carried a gentle clarity of the early morning.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting. Today, I'll be showing you our little star of the day, Feebas."
As he spoke, he shifted the camera toward the basin.
The little guy seemed extremely curious about the lens. It swam right up to the edge, staring at the camera with its bulging eyes and opening its mouth slightly—almost like it was greeting everyone.
Sunlight shone through the window, falling upon its purple body.
Even though its scales were still far from neat, under the light they reflected a soft sheen, and that unique coloration made it strikingly eye-catching.
Theo tapped lightly on the edge of the basin.
Feebas instantly swam over, rubbing its head against his fingertip, its tail stirring gentle ripples across the water's surface.
The chat exploded.
"Aaaa it's so sweet! It actually nuzzles people!"
"It's not as ugly as the Pokédex says! Looks kinda okay!"
"Still weird-looking but not THAT ugly! Kind of cute actually!"
"Go look at its original muddy-yellow form if you want to understand why it's ranked among the ugliest lol."
"LMAO this purple one is definitely the 'beauty queen' among Feebas!"
Theo watched the discussion with a faint smile.
As a transmigrator, he of course knew Feebas could evolve into Milotic. The Pokémon praised as the most beautiful Water-type.
A sleek body covered in silk-like scales, moving like moonlight blooming across the surface of water…
Its elegance was worlds apart from Feebas.
But Theo could not say a word.
In the Hoenn region, researchers had yet to discover any connection between Feebas and Milotic.
The Milotic owned by Wallace and Gym Leader Juan had always been shrouded in mystery, and neither had ever revealed the slightest information about its pre-evolution.
Even the League's official Pokédex had zero records on the matter.
More importantly, revealing Feebas's evolution now would bring him nothing but trouble.
If he suddenly announced, "Feebas can evolve into Milotic," he would only attract mockery and disbelief.
Just their drastically different appearances alone were enough for most people to dismiss the idea outright.
It was just like the old days when people refused to believe Magikarp evolved into Gyarados.
Until they saw it with their own eyes, any explanation would feel empty.
Theo understood perfectly: unlike Magikarp, Feebas required special conditions to evolve.
It needed sufficient strength and the aid of a Prism Scale to have a chance.
Right now, he simply needed to use the system's popularity rewards to raise Feebas well.
When its power was high enough, and the system's rewards kicked in, he would then let it evolve into Milotic under some "by chance."
That would be the best timing.
With Milotic's beauty and popularity, he would absolutely attract a massive influx of followers.
And once the followers increased, they would boost his system in return.
A perfect cycle.
(End of Chapter)