Pokémon: Starting with a Dragon Dance Gible [15]

“............”

Truth be told, Kaiba’s first livestream on Poke-TV went… a lot worse than he’d imagined.

He’d originally thought that with the “[Dragon Dance] + Gible” gimmick, he’d instantly grab the attention of every Pokémon battle fan out there, shoot to stardom from his very first broadcast.

Just blow up overnight.

Within thirty minutes, maybe an hour, he’d be breaking a hundred thousand viewers, with his follower count rocketing sky-high.

After that, he’d start raking in support from viewers, and, like those certain sakura girls or VTubers, just sit back and watch the tips roll in.

Looking back now, Kaiba realized:

He’d really made things sound way too easy, way too rosy.

Maybe audiences had long since grown numb to clickbait titles like “Dragon (Cheer) Dance,”
and were sick of streams using “[Dragon Dance] Garchomp” as a hook, only to bait and switch the viewers.

Even though Kaiba’s stream this time wasn’t clickbait, wasn’t a scam.

—But who would believe it?

Everyone knew the story of “the boy who cried wolf.”

Or maybe, to your average Pokémon battle fan, whether Garchomp could use [Dragon Dance] or not… didn’t actually matter that much.

After all, Garchomp was still a late-bloomer pseudo-legendary, [Dragon Dance] or not, it would always be strong.

As for just how crucial [Dragon Dance] was for Gible or Garchomp—

Or how Mega Garchomp, thanks to “[Mega Evolution] (Downgrade),” actually lost ten Speed,
making it desperately need a buffing move like [Dragon Dance] in high-level competitive tactics—

Most casual viewers just didn’t get it.

They’d never raised a Garchomp themselves, and didn’t know much about Pokémon battles.

In the whole Pokémon world, how many Trainers had ever even raised a Garchomp, let alone formed the kind of bond needed for [Mega Evolution]?

Pretty much just Cynthia and her ace Garchomp.

So, things that seemed “obvious” or easy to grasp for Kaiba might not be the elements that draw in random viewers.

If he wanted to earn a little pocket change through streaming, well… Kaiba still needed more practice.

When it came to actual battle skills, Kaiba was definitely above average.

But without even turning on his webcam, and with barely any chat activity, there was almost zero interaction.

Honestly, compared to that “meme streamer” doing the [Dragon Cheer] bit, Kaiba’s rookie debut on Poke-TV… was a total flop.

—So much for going viral overnight!

Even his one-of-a-kind “[Dragon Dance] Gible” couldn’t do much to help here.

Unless he signed with a streamer agency MCN, or paid the site to promote his channel—

But that wasn’t going to happen.

He was just hoping to make a little extra cash for living expenses and raising his Pokémon.
If he had to spend money to promote his own stream, that’d be missing the point entirely!

“Kapu......”

Sensing her Trainer’s dejected mood, Gible hopped up onto the desk, puffed up her little drum-like belly, and reached out with her tiny fin to pat Kaiba’s cheek.

Ding!
Gible’s ability, [Rough Skin], has triggered. Kaiba’s current HP drops by one-eighth.

“Don’t worry, Gible. I’m just a little disappointed, not discouraged,”

Kaiba smiled, feeling all gloominess instantly swept away by his Pokémon’s concern.

Then he turned to interact with the few rare comments that had finally popped up in the chat.

“—It’s precisely because my Gible really can use [Dragon Dance], and passed the Rotom Pokédex scan, that she counts as my ‘real Pokémon’ and can be brought into Pokémon Masters EX for online matches.”

Eager to prove himself, Kaiba blurted this out without a second thought.

As for whether revealing this might put him in danger—
Honestly… he wasn’t worried.

The idea that someone would immediately track him down and threaten him in real life, just because of one livestream...

That was way too extreme.

Even in his old world, that kind of paranoia would be a bit much.

Let alone in this much more peaceful, almost utopian Pokémon world.

Besides, his stream only had, what, a handful of “real viewers” anyway?

No need to get that anxious about “disaster-proofing.”

Otherwise, he’d just be a textbook worrywart.

“ε=(′ο｀*))) Sigh, whatever, whatever… No promotion, no traffic—there’s just no way I can pull off anything entertaining for my debut stream today.”

“So, the streamer’s logging off for now~~~”

“Next time, when I’ve climbed higher in the Pokémon Masters EX ladder, or if I come up with a more fun team comp, I’ll come back and stream again for you guys.”

“I promise—I’ll definitely be back next time! That’s my promise to you all, and I always keep my promises!”

[My-Lickitung-Your-Lilligant: ............]
[My-Lickitung-Your-Lilligant has sent the gift ‘Glowstick’ x10 to cheer on the streamer.]

Supporting newbie streamers is everyone’s responsibility.

Otherwise, Kaiba’s “next time for sure” might easily have turned into “next life, maybe.”

Plenty of small streamers have just vanished overnight, never to be seen again.

That’s reality.

People need to make a living.

If you can’t earn a little money, can’t get anything out of it, there’s no way you can stick with it and keep raising your Pokémon.

All in all, only three actual humans had entered Kaiba’s stream, one sent a handful of free glowsticks as support, another said nothing and quietly left, and the last, who had chatted with the streamer, didn’t say anything else.

But then, out of nowhere, [Drawing-Water-With-a-Bamboo-Basket] suddenly sent a friend request on Poke-TV.

“......”

Seeing the flashing friend request, Kaiba raised an eyebrow, clicked his mouse, and accepted the random stranger.

He’d never dreamed of getting some rich fan or sugar mommy as his “number one supporter” just from his debut stream.

But…

A friend request is just a friend request.
Adding a stranger doesn’t cost you anything.

After Kaiba accepted, [Drawing-Water-With-a-Bamboo-Basket] quickly sent him a message.

---

This is a fan translation of 宝可梦，开局龙舞圆陆鲨 by 眼含泪光 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!