Miles's voice was deep and fervent, echoing like a massive, thousand-pound bell striking in an empty hall.
It resonated so powerfully that the souls of everyone watching the livestream seemed to tremble in sync.
As the charred, smoking corpse of the giant bug lay at the feet of the shriveled Caterpie, not a single viewer dared to step up and contradict his wildly arrogant words.
They couldn't.
A living, breathing miracle had just unfolded right before their eyes.
[Viewer "Berserk Raichu": I'm bowing down to Master Miles! An Elite Four-tier Emperor Caterpie! I'm taking a wide detour around every Caterpie I see from now on. Who knows if there's a Lord of Thunder hiding inside?!]
[Viewer "Sober at Midnight": Pure hype! Way better than Boruto! From a bottom-tier reject to a lightning-wielding ruler that one-shots a boss... bro literally has the main character script!]
[Viewer "Outlaw John Doe": We are witnessing history! Chat, we were here! As long as this mutated Caterpie with Electroweb doesn't die young, it's going to be an absolute nuke in the League!]
[Viewer "Woodland Fawn": Sobbing This is so wholesome! The little sister finally has a strong starter Pokémon! It's going to protect her just like she protected her brother!]
[Viewer "Frontline Gossip": Who would have thought that out of an entire sack of ordinary Caterpie, Master Miles would fish out the only peerless pearl? The [All-Knowing Pokémon Appraisal] title is permanently locked in today!]
[Viewer "Keyboard Holmes": Science is dead, magic is real, and the peak of live Pokémon appraisal is Miles! From today on, whoever questions Master Miles's eye, I'll be the first to smash their head in with my keyboard!]
[Viewer "Goji Thermos": I stand corrected. True appraisal isn't just looking at flesh and bone, but seeing through to the soul hidden deep within the genetics. W Streamer!]
Watching the overwhelming flood of praise and shock rolling across the screen, the chubby boy, Little One, shivered with uncontrollable excitement.
The phone in his hand shook violently.
Tears mixed with snot streamed down his plump face, yet his smile was brighter than if he had just won the lottery.
"Master Miles! You are like my own brother!" the boy screamed incoherently, his voice cracking.
"It's too strong! It's really too strong! If you hadn't used your sharp eyes to pick it out today, my dad said this sick bug wouldn't have survived the morning!"
"Even if it didn't die today, it would have been tossed out as a reject tomorrow and stir-fried in a massive pot with the other useless Caterpie to be eaten!"
The moment those words left his mouth, it was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over the livestream's boiling enthusiasm.
The entire direction of the chat took a bizarre, sharp turn.
[Viewer "No-Cilantro Charizard": Holy crap?! What did I just hear? Stir-fried?! Eaten?!]
[Viewer "Wild Pokémon Protection Society": Reported! Pokémon abuse! They actually eat Pokémon! This is illegal! The cops are literally in the chat, hurry up and arrest this family!]
[Viewer "Overly Empathetic Meowth": OMG, that's so cruel... How can anyone eat cute little bug babies? Are they literal monsters?!]
[Viewer "Outlaw John Doe": Cough Time for a legal lesson from yours truly. While it sounds cruel, under Federal Law, as long as non-protected Pokémon are farmed through official channels and processed as edible economic livestock, it is 100% legal.]
[Viewer "Sober at Midnight": But... but they're Pokémon! They have feelings and lives, how can anyone stomach that?]
[Viewer "Frontline Gossip": Ah, I know about this! There's a famous dish called 'Stir-fried Spiced Caterpie.' It supposedly has six times the protein of beef, is incredibly crunchy, and tastes just like chicken... though I haven't tried it myself.]
[Viewer "Berserk Raichu": Gag... Stop talking, I'm eating my late-night snack. The mental image is too strong, I'm gonna throw up!]
Seeing the massive controversy and moral grandstanding erupting in the chat over eating Caterpie, Miles simply raised an eyebrow.
He wasn't surprised.
In a world where Pokémon and humans coexisted, this kind of clash between ethics and basic survival happened every single day.
"Chat, quiet down and listen to me," Miles stated plainly.
His low, rational voice cut through the noise, instantly suppressing the radical, bleeding-heart comments flooding the screen.
"In this world, humanity treats Pokémon as partners, family members, and even comrades in battle. That is an incredibly beautiful thing."
"But that doesn't mean the entire world is just a pure utopian fairytale."
His gaze deepened, carrying the weight of someone who saw through the superficiality of the world.
"Don't let fairy tales brainwash you. We have to distinguish between two incredibly important concepts: wild Pokémon and farmed Pokémon."
"Out in the wild, Pokémon will mercilessly launch fatal attacks on humans to fight for territory and food. They are ferocious beasts."
"On the other hand, some Pokémon naturally possess explosive reproductive rates. Under human intervention and farming, they have long since become an indispensable part of our ecological and economic food chain."
Miles paused, then threw out a few harsh, realistic examples.
"The Moomoo Milk you drink every day is produced by Miltank. The high-end sashimi you eat is made from the naturally shed claws of Corphish. Even Slowpoke tails are perfectly legal and incredibly expensive ingredients in certain regions."
"If humanity couldn't even accept these basic facts, our survival space would have been completely squeezed out by Pokémon ages ago."
He gestured toward the screen.
"Little One's family are ordinary, bottom-rung breeders. They rely on breeding Caterpie in exchange for meager profits just to maintain their livelihood and put their kids through school."
"Those defective rejects—if they aren't processed as food, are they supposed to worship them as ancestors and feed them for free?"
"As long as it doesn't violate the law or basic moral bottom lines, there is no right or wrong in the laws of survival."
"You can choose not to eat it, but please don't use your lofty moral high ground to guilt-trip the people at the bottom who are trying their hardest just to survive!"
His words were sharp, ringing with undeniable truth.
Like a precise scalpel, he ruthlessly dissected the cruel yet authentic reality of their world, instantly silencing the viewers who had been clamoring for reports and cyberbullying.
[Viewer "Crimson Night": Well said. Don't judge others without experiencing their suffering. Miles's perspective is incredibly thorough and mature.]
[Viewer "Goji Thermos": I deeply agree. The laws of nature dictate this. Humanity's ability to live in harmony with Pokémon today relies on more than just love and bonds; it relies on an iron-blooded order of survival. The streamer's vision is far beyond that of an ordinary host.]
[Viewer "Outlaw John Doe": Streamer is incredibly based! Did the keyboard warriors understand that? Stop criticizing when you aren't the ones starving!]
[Viewer "Woodland Fawn": I'm sorry, I was too impulsive just now... Thinking about it, the little sister's family is so poor she has to work just to afford her brother's schooling. Where would they get the spare cash to feed useless Caterpie?]
[Viewer "Sober at Midnight": Bro deserves every penny he makes! With this level of awareness, who else am I supposed to subscribe to?]
Having quelled the chat's unrest, Miles turned his attention back to the siblings and the shriveled Caterpie.
"Little One, listen to me carefully," Miles instructed, his tone shifting into the strict professionalism of a top-tier appraiser.
"This Caterpie is now your family's most precious asset."
"But you have to remember, the reason it is so emaciated is that the terrifying 'Thunder Engine' inside its body is constantly overdrawing its life force."
"From today on, if another Caterpie eats one leaf, you must feed this one three, five, or even ten leaves! Whatever it wants to eat, you give it. Never limit its food!"
He leaned closer to the camera.
"Since your family runs a farm, the one thing you don't lack is bug food."
"If ordinary food can't satisfy its energy deficit, wait until it recovers a bit of stamina. Then, find a way to get berries containing trace amounts of Electric-type energy. Grind up the shells of Thunder Berries, mix the powder into its leaves, and feed it."
"And remember this—its Electroweb move places a massive burden on its body."
"Until it evolves into a Metapod, it is absolutely forbidden from participating in any form of battle! Every time it discharges electricity, it is burning its own lifespan! Do you understand?!"
On the other side of the screen, the frail older sister, who had been silent this whole time, finally gathered her courage.
Staring intensely at the monitor, she nodded forcefully, her eyes shining with unwavering determination.
"Master... I'll remember!" she promised. "I will definitely take good care of it! Even if I have to go without eating, I won't let it go hungry again!"
"Good." Miles nodded approvingly before dropping his voice to issue one final, crucial warning.
"Last point, and the most important one."
"Money makes people crazy, and carrying a treasure makes you a target. The value of a Caterpie that commands lightning simply cannot be measured in cash."
"In this digital age, your live connection just now exposed far too much information."
"From this moment on, turn off your camera immediately, and absolutely do not reveal your home address or real names on any social media platforms!"
Miles's warning wasn't fearmongering.
In the Pokémon world, black-market thieves and ruthless Pokémon Hunters hiding in the shadows would use every despicable method available to snatch high-value, rare Pokémon.
"If you really run into trouble you can't solve, or if someone tries to forcefully take your Pokémon..." Miles mused, "Just go to the Pokémon League. The best option is to head there and register it immediately."
Just then, a highly conspicuous, blindingly blue official notification flashed across the public chat, instantly maxing out the entire livestream's sense of security.
[League Police · Officer Barrett: Master Miles is right! Don't be afraid, kids! Our city's Pokémon Protection Bureau Cybersecurity Division has already applied top-level encryption to your IP address.]
[League Police · Officer Barrett: If any blind Pokémon Hunter dares to lay a finger on this Caterpie, I will personally lead a team overnight and wipe out their entire base! This is a miraculous lifeform under official watch. Anyone who dares to touch it is going against Federal Law!]
The moment the authoritative message appeared, the chat exploded into an ocean of cheers.
[Viewer "Berserk Raichu": Officer Barrett is an absolute boss! Official intervention to protect the kids, you love to see it!]
[Viewer "Frontline Gossip": Hahaha, it's secured now! With an official blue-check backing them, let's see which black-market thief wants to catch a case!]
[Viewer "Outlaw John Doe": Cops and chat working together, invincible! The streamer discovers the miracle, the officials protect it. This is the perfect ecosystem!]
[Viewer "No-Cilantro Charizard": GGs in the chat! W ending! Just watching this one appraisal tonight was worth the subscription!]
Hearing the promises from both Miles and Officer Barrett, the siblings wept tears of profound gratitude.
"Thank you... Thank you, Master! Thank you, Officer! Thank you, everyone!"
The frail sister and chubby brother hugged each other tightly, bowing deeply to the camera.
Even though their background was still a dilapidated, dimly lit woodshed, it was as if a bright beam of light had completely illuminated their previously bleak future.
"Go on. Take good care of your Lord of Thunder," Miles said warmly.
Beep. With a soft sound, the connection cut off.
The screen returned to Miles's slightly shabby but cozy rented apartment.
He let out a long breath, slumping back into his large gaming chair like a deflated balloon.
Even with the cheat-like assistance of his System, maintaining high-pressure mental focus for that long—combined with the psychological warfare required to guide public opinion and control the room's narrative—was incredibly draining.
'Phew... The sense of accomplishment from doing a good deed really is vastly better than just making money,' Miles thought, rubbing the sore bridge of his nose.
Despite his exhaustion, he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling into a smile.
Right at that moment, a rustling sound came from beside him.
"Munch... lax?"
A lazy, heavily nasal cry from something that had just woken up sounded near his leg.
Miles looked down to see his massive, slightly skinny, yet still incredibly heavy Munchlax rubbing its sleepy eyes as it crawled out from a pile of empty energy block bags.
The little guy seemed to sense its owner's exhaustion.
Instead of throwing a tantrum for food like it usually did, it waddled over with incredible obedience.
It affectionately rubbed its furry, chubby head against Miles's thigh, its two large paws gently wrapping around his arm.
It was as if it was using its own clumsy method to pass warmth and strength to him.
"You little glutton, acting all cute the moment you wake up."
Looking at Munchlax's endearing, dopey expression, all the fatigue in Miles's heart vanished in an instant.
He reached out and vigorously rubbed the Pokémon's long, rabbit-like ears. The texture was astonishingly soft and bouncy.
Munchlax narrowed its eyes in comfort, letting out a rumbling purr.
It leaned its hundred-plus-pound weight unreservedly against Miles's side. While a bit heavy, it brought him an incredibly grounding sense of security.
[Viewer "Woodland Fawn": Waaah! Munchlax is awake! So cute, so cute! I want to hug it too!]
[Viewer "Frontline Gossip": Bro's life is too good! Successful career and such an adorable Pokémon by his side. He's winning at life!]
[Viewer "Sober at Midnight": Even though Munchlax eats enough to bankrupt a person, seeing how well-behaved it is, I'd be willing to sell my house just to raise it!]
[Viewer "Berserk Raichu": Master, why does your Munchlax look a size smaller than normal ones? Did you spend all your money on charity and forget to buy it good food?]
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
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