The light was so intensely bright that the livestream's video feed overexposed for a split second. Countless viewers in front of their screens instinctively shielded their eyes.
It was the light of evolution!
This sudden turn of events plunged the previously chaotic chat—full of arguments, mockery, and people waiting for a joke—into a dead silence.
A heartbeat later, the chat exploded.
[Kindergarten Lunch Thief: Holy crap?! Light?! It evolved?!]
[Melon Eater: No way... isn't this way too sudden? Bro was just crying a second ago and now it's evolving?]
[Passerby A: No way this is scripted, right? Who scripts a Pokémon's evolution down to the exact second? That's literally nature!]
Exactly. That was what shocked the chat the most.
If this was an act, someone could fake tears, use props, or even edit in special effects. But nobody could control a living, breathing Pokémon and command it to perfectly erupt into the light of evolution at that exact moment. It required not just the right level, but a mysterious, elusive catalyst.
Even the obnoxious troll who had been spamming the chat was dumbfounded.
[Proud Troll: This... this is a coincidence! Total coincidence! How does it just evolve on command? That's not scientific!]
In front of his screen, Miles watched the dazzling light without a hint of surprise. His eyes held the calm detachment of someone who had already seen through everything. He took a sip from his water glass and finally spoke up, his voice steady as he began his live lecture.
"Coincidence?" he echoed plainly. "In the world of Pokémon, there are no coincidences. Everything follows a natural course."
He pointed at the morphing cocoon of light on his monitor.
"This is exactly why I said it had top-tier potential. Let me share a bit of obscure trivia with everyone. An Oddish usually evolves around level 21. But this specific Oddish, as I observed earlier, was growing incredibly well. Its energy accumulation had already overflowed. So, why didn't it evolve?"
Miles posed the question, then answered it himself. His tone carried a hint of pity for Forest Deer, yet profound respect for the Oddish.
"Because of 'suppression.' It knew that evolving into a Gloom would make it exude a terrible stench. It was terrified that its owner would despise it and abandon it. So, relying on nothing but sheer willpower, it forcibly locked away its own genetic code, resisting its very biological instincts!"
Miles softened his voice as he looked at the girl crying on screen.
"Its owner's embrace was the key to unlocking that code. With its emotional knot untied, the pent-up energy poured out. This isn't some scripted drama. This is the power of their bond. It is life rebounding after being suppressed to its absolute limits!"
This explanation, paired with the holy light of evolution on the screen, sent shivers down the spines of the hundreds of viewers in the stream.
[Category 8 Hurricane: I'm actually tearing up... It didn't want to evolve because it wanted to protect its owner. W Oddish 😭]
[Henan Iron Man: Bro is cooking! This theory is airtight, I believe him! W Streamer!]
[Proud Troll: So what if it evolved? Don't forget it's evolving into a Gloom! That thing is a walking biochemical weapon! If it stank that much before, just imagine it now... RIP, better call an ambulance!]
Though the troll was still running his mouth, he had made a valid point. As the light of evolution gradually faded, a new figure slowly materialized in Forest Deer's arms.
The true form was revealed.
It was a bipedal Pokémon with a dark blue, spherical body. Its previously round little eyes had morphed into two perpetually sleepy-looking slits, giving it a sluggishly cute appearance. Its most striking features were its thick, purple, sausage-like lips—which seemed to have a line of clear drool hanging from them—and the massive, reddish-brown flower blooming atop its head.
The petals were thick and dotted with white spots. Deep within the stamen lay what looked like a bottomless black hole, radiating an invisible aura.
A Gloom.
Just as its name implied, it was the widely recognized "smell assassin" of the Pokémon world. The Pokédex stated it clearly: the stench it released could knock people unconscious, and its nectar was the source of a horrific odor.
At that moment, Forest Deer still had her eyes squeezed shut, holding the Pokémon tightly. She was waiting. Waiting for the anticipated blast of stench, one a hundred times stronger than before.
The chat held its breath.
[Melon Eater: Here it comes! Gloom has appeared! That design looks a bit... sus.]
[Kindergarten Lunch Thief: Those purple lips... is that toxic buildup? Bro is so brave, she's still huffing it?]
However, one second passed. Two seconds passed. Five seconds passed.
On the screen, Forest Deer didn't start foaming at the mouth as everyone expected, nor did she pass out from the fumes. Instead, her tightly knit brows slowly relaxed. Her pale face, drained of color from her previous dry heaving, gradually revealed a hint of... confusion? Perhaps even enjoyment?
"Huh?" Forest Deer's nose twitched slightly.
She cautiously opened her eyes and looked at the drastically transformed little creature in her arms, which was currently blinking back at her.
No stench?
It wasn't just an absence of stench. She smelled a distinct fragrance.
It was an incredibly crisp, elegant, yet overwhelmingly potent aroma that shot straight up her nasal cavity and cleared her mind. It wasn't the cheap, industrially synthesized perfume from a mall, nor was it the cloying sweetness of a garden. It smelled more like a pine forest after the rain, blended with morning jasmine, and carrying a hint of thousand-year-aged agarwood infused with a faint medicinal fragrance.
Several completely different scents had perfectly fused together within the Gloom in her arms, forming a miraculous field that soothed the soul.
With just one breath, the severe headache Forest Deer had suffered from extreme tension, lack of oxygen, and intense crying vanished instantly! Even her stomach cramps were smoothed over by the aroma. She felt as though she were soaking in a warm, herbal bath. Every pore in her body was stretching and cheering!
"This... this is..." Forest Deer was completely stunned.
She loosened her embrace, her trembling hands cradling the Gloom's ugly-cute face. She leaned closer to the massive red flower dispensing pollen on its head and took another deep, disbelieving breath.
Whoosh— Fragrant! A refreshing, soul-piercing fragrance!
"Master!!!" Forest Deer abruptly turned to her screen, tears overflowing once more—but this time, they were tears of wild ecstasy. Her voice cracked with excitement as she babbled incoherently. "It's fragrant! It smells good! It's not stinky! Not stinky at all! And... it smells incredibly good! Master, you are a god! I think my sinuses just cleared up!"
Her scream traveled crisply through the microphone and into the ears of everyone in the livestream.
In front of his monitor, Miles curled his lips into a knowing smile, taking a sip from his water glass to conceal his triumph. After a brief freeze, the chat completely lost its mind!
[Passerby A: ?????]
[Kindergarten Lunch Thief: Ain't no way?! Real or fake? Did the fumes make you hallucinate?]
[Passerby A: Impossible! That's a Gloom! Textbooks literally say it emits a vile stench and its pollen can knock out an elephant! And you're telling me it smells good?]
[Proud Troll: Fake! Scripted! Give them an Oscar already! A fragrant Gloom? What a joke! Either her nose is broken, or her olfactory nerves are dead!]
Seeing the screen filled with doubt, Miles remained unfazed. After all, this overturned common sense. He cleared his throat and stared sharply at the screen, once again entering his lecture mode.
"Think it's unbelievable? Think it defies common sense?" Miles raised a single finger, his tone radiating unquestionable authority. "The textbooks say Gloom stinks because ninety-nine percent of Gloom release that foul pollen as a defense mechanism against predators. But! There is an incredibly obscure piece of trivia that even many senior researchers overlook. A Gloom's pollen secretion is controlled by its emotions! When it feels fear, anxiety, or danger, it instinctively releases a horrible stench."
Miles paused, his gaze softening as he looked at the Gloom snuggling affectionately in its owner's arms on the screen.
"But what if it is in a state of absolute peace, utter calm, and surrounded entirely by love? Add to that its S-tier IVs, and the pure Grass and Poison-type energy that has been settling within it for so long due to its modest 'Nature'..."
Miles stated firmly. "When things reach their extreme, they reverse! What it secretes is no longer toxic, foul-smelling powder, but a highly refined, physically and mentally healing 'Aroma of Life'!"
This theory formed a perfect logical loop, fully supported by reason. Although it sounded mystical, paired with Miles's unwavering tone and Forest Deer's intoxicated expression, no one could refute it!
[Henan Iron Man: I... actually think the streamer makes total sense! I vaguely remember reading a similar hypothesis in an academic paper once. Gloom mutations are real!]
[Dayu Coin Lover: W Master! The power of knowledge is crazy. Bro really knows the most obscure trivia!]
[Proud Troll: ...Keep yapping! We can't smell it through the screen anyway! Just because you say it smells good doesn't make it true!]
Looking at the stubbornly resisting troll, Miles chuckled. "You can't smell it, huh? You still don't believe it? Fine."
Miles snapped his fingers.
"Miss Forest Deer, since someone insists on offering up their face to be slapped, let's oblige him. Let's do a live, network-wide verification. Right now, take out your phone and order some food delivery. Anything is fine, as long as it gets a delivery driver to your door. The delivery driver is a bystander, and thereby the most authentic 'smell tester' we can get."
"If your room actually stinks, or if you're just acting, a delivery driver's instinctual reaction the moment they walk in cannot be faked. If he walks in and immediately vomits from the stench, I lose, and I'll eat my keyboard on stream." Miles's eyes glinted playfully. "But if he praises how good your place smells, then, my dear troll friend in the chat, please remember to fulfill your promise of eating your keyboard on stream."
By this point, Forest Deer harbored nothing but blind worship for Miles. Without a second thought, she grabbed her phone.
"No problem, Master! I'll order right now! I'll just order milk tea from downstairs, it'll be here in ten minutes! I want everyone to know that my Gloom is the best-smelling baby in the entire world!"