met free Chapter 409 The Road to Champions Begins!
Chapter 409 The Road to Champions Begins!
Chapter 409 The Road to Champions Begins!
January 10, 226 of the League Calendar, sunny.
To be precise, it is the area on the west coast of Qiming Island that is gently radiated by the energy of the firebird, which maintains a pleasantly clear sky and a comfortable temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius.
Sunlight streamed unhindered into the garden, the woods, and the shimmering sea, the air fresh and warm.
It's as if a corner of eternal spring has been cut off and placed here.
What's even more comforting than the pleasant climate is the tranquility and peace that has finally been completely restored to the island today.
The energy roar that had been emanating from the direction of the training ground, lasting almost day and night for several days, has finally disappeared.
Indeed, under Xia Chi's iron-fisted intervention, the "arms race-style involution" that had quietly begun within the family after the "Xia Chi Cup" and intensified under the stimulation of the Ten Masters Tournament was successfully suppressed.
As for what exactly this so-called "iron-fisted approach" is?
That was because Xia Chi fully utilized his ultimate understanding of his Pokémon's personality weaknesses as a trainer to conduct a one-on-one conversation.
To Miaoha, Xia Chi said, "If you keep curling up like this, you'll be sleeping alone with your cat tonight."
He told Master Xiong, "If you keep making a fuss, I'll lower your appearance priority in the Eight Masters Tournament by one place."
He told the prison guard, "If you roll up again, I'll have the fence plant flowers all over your Gobi Desert."
Such examples hit the nail on the head.
When their trainer uses the gentlest tone to deliver the most deadly threat, the Pokémon that were the source of the inward curl immediately feel what "the trainer's authority" means, and they all obediently comply.
With the leaders back down, the other elves, either swept up by the atmosphere or forced to join out of a sense of urgency, naturally lost their rivals and the feeling of competition.
The invisible competitive pressure that permeated the family dissipated as a result.
In addition, the little guy Victini fanned the flames, constantly dragging this person to try new snacks, pulling that person to watch electric bugs dance, or organizing meaningless but fun-filled activities such as the "beach sandcastle building competition".
Suddenly, the atmosphere on Qiming Island took a complete 180-degree turn from "crazy involution" and a new trend of "enjoying life and moderately slacking off" began to emerge.
Xia Chi was pleased with this outcome and even quite pleased.
After a lifetime of fighting... oh wait, I mean, after more than a year of intense battles, can't my Pokémon finally enjoy themselves?
Xia Chi, a rookie trainer who has been in the industry for two and a half years, is currently lounging on a deck chair on the balcony, holding a teacup and basking in the warm "Birdman Spring Sunshine." He watches the Pokémon playing harmoniously outside and feels a sense of satisfaction like that of an old father.
Freed from the tension of overtraining, the elves found various activities that interested them, making their lives more colorful.
Meowha, also a Grass-type Pokémon, seems to have developed an interest in gardening and has started frequently visiting Pummel's little garden.
Helping to loosen the soil and water, occasionally using [Magic Leaf] to prune overly lush branches and leaves, the scene of the two cats whispering to each other by the flower bushes is very heartwarming.
Bangilas, on the other hand, has completely reverted to its reclusive nature, spending most of its time in the Gobi Desert region on the west side of the island, which it loves most.
Sometimes it will lie on a huge wind-eroded rock and stay there for most of the day, seemingly lost in thought.
It even gets so engrossed in its surroundings that it sometimes forgets to come back during mealtimes, requiring Dragonite or Latias to call it back.
As a native "local dragon" of Qiming Island, Dragonite naturally returned to its old social circle after relaxing.
It often flies to other areas of the island to reunite with its wild Pokémon companions, whom it had met when it was still a Hakron.
Sometimes I'll be cruising in the nearshore waters with a few Gyarados, sometimes I'll be enjoying the breeze on the cliff edge with flocks of gulls, and sometimes I'll simply find a quiet beach and take a nap with a few sunbathing Kinglers.
Bictini goes without saying—
In the morning, I went to play with the Sprout Deer; at noon, I ate some of the honey newly made by the Three Bees; and in the afternoon, I went to bother the Slowpokes at Island Lake...
It could be said that its schedule is fuller than anyone else's, yet it has nothing to do with anything important.
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded.
The once bustling main house, always surrounded by elves, quickly became deserted as the companions found their own hobbies.
Often only Natsumi, Yui, and Latias remain.
Latias thoroughly enjoyed the tranquility. Aside from preparing three meals and cleaning, she spent the rest of her time either quietly reading or researching new recipes. Occasionally, she would transform into human form and sit by the summer pond, creating a warm and peaceful atmosphere.
But as time went on, Xia Chi, who had grown accustomed to his constant chatter, inexplicably began to feel a bit... similar to the boredom of an empty-nest elderly person.
Especially when Yui is busy with her own things, that feeling of idleness becomes even more pronounced.
No, I need to find something to do!
As if by telepathy, just as he was pondering what to do, the screen of his phone on the small table next to him lit up; it was a message from Qi Shu.
"Achi, Achi, what are you doing? Want to play games together sometime? (≥ω≤)/"
Game...Pokémon Victory Road?
Xia Chi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.
The game that accompanied him through his first time travel, bringing him his first pot of gold and initial popularity, seems to have been neglected by him for a long time after he embarked on his journey.
Strange Tree's words stirred up a long-lost restlessness and nostalgia that welled up from the bottom of his heart.
Research various tactical strategies, both serious and unconventional, and engage in remote battles with players from all over the world.
These memories, now vividly colored, have come back to life.
Now that we have some rare free time, revisiting the path we've traveled seems like a good option, doesn't it?
Thinking of this, Xia Chi's fingers flew across the keyboard as he replied: "okk, I'll be online in a few minutes."
Anyway, there was still a while before lunch, so the Pokémon were all doing well. Latias was trying out new dishes in the kitchen, and Yui was tapping and tinkering in front of the holographic projection screen in the study... Perfect game time!
He got up and went into the study, pressed the power button, and the familiar icon appeared on the desktop.
Double-click to open the launcher, then enter your account and password.
The road to championship begins!
Since the game is already running... well, it seems like it's a good idea to stream it?
Okay, Xia Chi admits that playing games is actually secondary; the main thing is that he wants to do live streaming.
Even now, Xia Chi often thinks back to those days of wits and battles with the haters in the live stream.
I logged into the Pixiv live streaming platform with ease and casually chose a title like "Leisurely Life After Retirement: Rehabilitation Day on the Road to Champion".
Xia Chi started her live stream.
Xia Chi's influence today is vastly different from what it used to be.
On Pixiv alone, he has already surpassed tens of millions of followers, and these fans are extremely active, with a significant proportion having set up "special follow".
This means that the moment Xia Chi pressed the start button, a push notification popped up on the screens of countless users around the world who were using mobile phones and computers.
"The streamer you're following, [Shuiye], has started streaming!"
What happened next was quite predictable.
Millions, even tens of millions, of access requests flooded Xia Chi's live stream page within just a dozen seconds.
Slow page loading, lag, disconnections, error codes... various abnormal situations appeared on the screens of countless viewers.
In short, Xia Chi's live stream crashed the Pornhub website.
The network engineers worked for quite a while to fix Xia Chi's live stream before it was back to normal.
While the internet was in turmoil, Xia Chi's life remained peaceful and serene.
He had already accepted the duo queue invitation from his in-game friend, [奇树奇述].
At the same time, a call request from Pogaman popped up and was answered.
"Ciallo~ (∠·ω<)★! Achi, Achi! Long time no see, did you miss me~!"
Immediately through the receiver came Kisaki's ever-energetic greeting, as if you could see her lively appearance with her big, blinking eyes through her voice.
Xia Chi's lips unconsciously curled into a smile as she relaxed back in her gaming chair and replied, "Didn't we just see each other a few days ago during New Year's Eve? Are you counting 'a long time' in minutes?"
Hehe~
Kiju chuckled to himself, "Really? Maybe it's because it's not as lively as the island after we went back to Padiya. It feels like a long time has passed~ It's a bit boring."
At this moment, the live streaming software interface in front of Xia Chi finally stabilized, showing that the connection was normal.
He casually turned on the camera, adjusted the angle, and then habitually tested the microphone.
"Hello Hello? Moshimoshi? Aloha? Can you hear me? Can you see me?"
Although he no longer makes a living through live streaming, he cannot forget traditional skills.
After a brief delay, the barrage of comments finally erupted, densely packed and almost completely obscuring the live stream screen.
[!! This opening line! A voice etched into my DNA! My youth is back!]
[Haki! You actually know how to come back to stream! (Angry) But... it's good that you're back! (Crying)]
Holy crap, it was so laggy just now! I almost thought Pixiv had been hacked.
[Prisoner's Water: Can anyone else single-handedly crash a platform like this?]
[What does the live stream title mean... "A leisurely life after retirement"? Are you retiring, Prisoner?]
[The village ahead has internet access? The Donghuang Alliance official website announced yesterday that champion Yu Muxue is unable to participate due to important official business, and will be replaced by player Xia Chi in this year's Top Ten Masters Tournament!]
[Holy crap, the joke actually came true?! Yu Guanjun, you really know how to make a good show! I'm so upset!]
[A true substitute champion is going to the tournament! This is going to be exciting for the Masters 10! Xia Chi vs. Cynthia vs. Leon vs. Daigo... Just imagining it is enough to get my blood pumping!]
[Is the strange tree also here? A sweet duo queue?]
[Rehabilitation: Refers to using games to train tactical thinking (confirmed)]
【————】
The chat in the live stream got more and more off-topic, almost turning a perfectly good game stream into a press conference for the Masters Tournament.
Faced with an overwhelming flood of comments, Xia Chi simply gave up reading and focused on the game and the phone call.
But Qi Shu on the other end clearly noticed the trend in the comments. Curious, she asked directly in the voice chat, "Achi, Achi, I see everyone in the comments saying you're going to replace Yu Guanjun in this year's Top Ten Masters Tournament? Is that true?!"
While browsing the in-game Pokémon lineup with the mouse and checking his lineup which he hadn't changed in a long time, Xia Chi casually replied, "Yes, that's right. Sister Yu has some urgent and important matters that she needs to handle personally, and it conflicts with the competition schedule."
"Wow! That's great! I wish you a resounding victory, that you sweep aside all opposition, defeat Cynthia and Yeji, and claim the championship!"
Qi Shu immediately offered a string of blessings, her tone as excited as if she herself were about to participate in the competition.
Xia Chi was both amused and exasperated, and quickly interrupted, "Hey, Tree, this is a live stream, be mindful of your image! You're a gym owner from Padia, so openly cheering for the Donghuang players, aren't you afraid of being called a 'Padia traitor' by your Padia netizens?"
Kiju seemed completely unconcerned, instead saying in an even more nonchalant tone, "What does it matter? Anyway, Sister Yeci will definitely..."
"Ahem! Alright, alright, let's focus on the game first, the team composition isn't decided yet!"
Xia Chi quickly raised his voice and coughed tactically, forcibly interrupting Qi Shu's dangerous statement that was about to spill out, which would likely ignite an even bigger controversy.
He could almost imagine that if Qishu said something like "Anyway, Sister Yeci definitely can't win the championship," the Padiya League's public relations department would have to work overtime tomorrow.
However, even though Xia Chi interrupted, the viewers in the live stream were all very astute. Combining the context and Qi Shu's personality, they had already filled in the blanks for the second half of the sentence.
The live chat immediately erupted with "hahaha" and teasing comments.
[Hahaha, the prison water really scared him!]
[You definitely can't win the championship, right? Tree Treasure is so outspoken!]
[Ye Ci is actually watching the live stream too. In a little while, Super Powerful Camel will storm Qi Shu's house lol]
[The Super Camel is on its way to Brewlight City—]
Qi Shu seemed to realize belatedly that he had almost caused trouble, letting out a small "ah" in the voice chat before immediately switching back to game mode.
"Hehe, yeah, let's play games first. Achi, what strategy do you want to use today? Who's the core of your lineup? I'll do whatever you say!"
As is widely known, Xia Chi is hailed as the "original king of strategies" and the "grandfather of underhanded tactics" in the player community of "Road to Champion".
The various unconventional strategies and techniques popular in the current ranked ladder, such as 6x3 singles or 6x4 doubles, can all be traced back to some of the flashes of inspiration from Xia Chi's early live streams or videos.
Even though he later faded out of the gaming industry, his legend still circulates in the gaming world, and many tactical development experts respectfully call him "Master Water".
Therefore, in terms of lineup selection, Qi Shu naturally chose to lie flat, clear his mind, and wait for Xia Chi's command.
Xia Chi smiled, and Zi Guang slowly moved among the sprite icons in the game.
His mouse pointer swept across familiar pixelated images, finally stopping on a sprite icon that looked rather ordinary and was even easily overlooked in some matches.
"This is the core of today's lineup!"