Chapter 29
Mike remembered the question Gholdengo Is Number One had asked him yesterday and turned to Professor Rowan.
"Professor, could you help me with something?"
Professor Rowan looked at him curiously.
"What is it?"
"A friend of mine is having trouble with his Pokémon’s evolution. Would you have time to answer a few questions for him?"
Mike pressed his palms together and looked at Professor Rowan pleadingly.
After spending the past two days with him, Mike had realized that although Professor Rowan looked stern, he was actually a very kind man.
Professor Rowan had also grown quite satisfied with Mike’s character, so he nodded without hesitation.
"No problem. What exactly is the issue?"
"Uh... I didn’t ask."
"..."
Seeing Professor Rowan’s stern expression, Mike hurriedly explained.
"He asked whether I knew much about Pokémon evolution, but I didn’t dare give him a careless answer. I told him I would ask you first before replying because I don’t think evolution is something to take lightly."
Professor Rowan’s expression softened.
"You handled it well. Pokémon evolution is not as simple as most people believe."
He thought for a moment.
"When I have some free time later, arrange a call with your friend. I’ll listen to the details and analyze the specific problem."
"Thank you, Professor."
Mike clenched his fist in gratitude.
’Gholdengo Is Number One, if even the expert I found can’t solve your Pokémon’s evolution problem, there probably aren’t many other people who can.’
A system message suddenly appeared.
{Livestreaming is now available. Viewer numbers will be converted into Viewership Points.}
Mike jumped slightly at the sudden message.
He remembered that the system had said Viewership Points did not only come from video views.
Livestreaming could earn them as well, but that function had not been available before.
’Livestreaming...’
He had already promised Gholdengo Is Number One that he would start streaming someday.
Since he would eventually have to do it, why not use this opportunity to learn how it worked?
Mike looked at Professor Rowan.
If he could bring Professor Rowan in as a guest...
He stared at the professor’s back and slowly revealed a Gengar-like grin.
’Hehehe...’
...
Later, when Professor Rowan had some free time, Mike walked over and poured him a cup of tea.
"Professor."
Professor Rowan picked up the tea and took a sip.
"Go ahead. What else do you want my help with?"
"?!"
"Based on what I’ve observed over the past two days, you normally don’t call me over unless you need something."
Mike scratched his head.
"Don’t worry. Just say it," Professor Rowan said calmly. "If I can help, I will."
He paused.
"For example, a Pokédex. Assistant Fujishita told me you seemed interested in one earlier. Would you like me to give you one?"
Mike quickly shook his head and sat beside him.
"It’s like this, Professor. Since you’re already going to help my friend with his Pokémon’s evolution problem, why don’t we also explain some common evolution issues and precautions?"
Mike grinned.
"I could learn something too."
He really wanted to know what kinds of problems Pokémon evolution could cause in the real world.
"An educational explanation?"
Professor Rowan placed down his cup.
"That would be fine. Teaching people about Pokémon is part of my work."
He looked at Mike.
"But how would we do it? Record a video? I’ve recorded some before, but the results weren’t very good."
Mike snapped his fingers.
"We’ll record it, but we won’t use a normal video format today."
"Oh?"
Professor Rowan looked curious.
"You know I’m a photographer. Besides recording videos, I also livestream sometimes so people can observe the lives of wild Pokémon more directly."
Although he had never actually streamed before.
"You mean..."
"That’s right, Professor. Why don’t we try a livestream? It might work better than a recorded video."
"We could also let viewers ask questions in real time or connect directly to the stream."
Professor Rowan stroked his mustache and thought for a moment before nodding.
"We can try it."
"Great. Thank you so much, Professor."
"What do I need to prepare?"
Professor Rowan had never livestreamed before and knew little about the newly popular online function.
"You only need to prepare the information you want to explain. Leave the rest to me."
"All right."
Professor Rowan stood and brought several assistants into the laboratory’s workroom to prepare the material.
Mike took out his phone and first sent Gholdengo Is Number One a message.
[Mike: Join my livestream in one hour.]
A reply soon arrived.
[Gholdengo Is Number One: No problem.]
Mike then posted an announcement on his account.
[Gengar Stole My Drumstick: My first livestream will begin in one hour. I’ll be testing the streaming equipment a viewer gave me. Come watch if you’re interested.]
After posting the notice, Mike put away his phone and called Gengar and Weedle over to help prepare.
They chose Professor Rowan’s courtyard as the location.
Following the layout of the educational programs Professor Oak used to make, Mike, Gengar, Weedle, and Snivy arranged a simple presentation area.
Mike opened the livestreaming application on his Rotom Phone, connected it to the drone, and adjusted the camera angle.
"Gengar, look at the camera. Yes, don’t move. Now make a funny face and shake your ass."
"Weedle, turn around and try to bite your tail."
"Snivy, smile."
Once he finished adjusting the angle, Mike started the livestream.
Not long after it opened, a line of golden text floated across the screen.
[Gholdengo Is Number One has entered the livestream.]
"Huh? You came in quickly."
Mike looked at the notification in surprise.
[Gholdengo Is Number One: I happen to have the day off.]
"Oh, I see. Wait for a moment. The stream hasn’t officially started yet."
Many viewers who enjoyed Mike’s videos entered after receiving the notification.
[Route201Camper: Whoa! He really started streaming?]
[PiplupSupremacy: Where is he? Why is there only a table? Is he about to sell us something?]
[BerryJuiceAddict: Streamer, come out! Stop hiding. I can hear your voice.]
[NoFaceNoFollow: Are you not showing your face?]
Seeing the comments asking him to appear, Mike said, "I’m a good-looking guy! but Sorry, I’m not used to showing my face."
[Definitely Not a Fairy-Type Fan: Stop pretending! Your face has appeared in plenty of your videos.]
"Oh, right."
Mike paused.
"Then why am I even hiding?"
He simply stepped into the camera frame and waved.
"Hello, everyone. It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Mike, and I’m very happy that you enjoy the videos I make."
Looking into the camera, Mike continued, "Please wait a moment. Today is mainly a test for livestreaming outdoors in the future. I want to see how well the equipment works."
[Call Me a Ghost-Type Expert: Where are your Pokémon?]
"My Pokémon? I currently have two."
Mike waved toward Gengar.
"Gengar, come over here."
Gengar floated beside Mike and curiously examined the camera. Then he looked at the Rotom Phone screen and saw himself.
He moved one arm and the Gengar on the screen moved too.
Σ(゚∀゚ノ)ノ
’It’s haunted?!’
Gengar pointed at the screen and looked at Mike.
Mike reached out and pulled his cheeks.
"Don’t worry. This is a livestream."
"Gar?"
[What’s a livestream?]
"It means we... Never mind. Other people can watch what we’re doing through their phones or other devices."
"Gar—"
[Oh.]
Gengar turned toward the camera and gave the viewers an honest wave.
Mike then picked up Weedle.
"And this is our Weedle. Look at him! Isn’t he cute? He’s so round."
"Wee—"
[Hello, everyone~]
"That’s Snivy over there. She belongs to the laboratory."
"Sni~"
[Hello~]
Snivy elegantly waved one vine at the camera.
While waiting, Mike chatted with the viewers.
As the number of people in the livestream continued rising, he was shocked.
"What the heck? There are already more than eight thousand people?"
[SinnohNetizen: Why did you start streaming? Are you only going to chat?]
"Of course not. I invited a special guest today—someone all of you should know."
"You’ll find out soon. Don’t rush me."
"We’re ready, Mike."
Professor Rowan’s voice came from nearby.
Mike turned and nodded.
"We’re ready too."
He looked back at the camera and smiled.
"Then allow me to introduce today’s livestream guest."
The drone camera turned.
Professor Rowan stood behind the table and smiled toward the camera.
"Hello. It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Professor Rowan from the Sinnoh region."
For a moment, the entire comment section stopped.
Then the comments began flooding the screen!
[Silence Isn’t Crazy: The guest you mentioned is Professor Rowan?! One of the leading figures among Pokémon professors?!]
[Definitely Not a Fairy-Type Fan: Does anyone understand this? My favorite hidden-gem streamer invited Professor Rowan to his very first livestream...]
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Did you all want to be include in commentary too ? since i adding names to the commentary by my own i can edit yours. no racist or porn name though.