11: Chapter 10: Why Does It Feel Like You’re the Protagonist?!
11: Chapter 10: Why Does It Feel Like You’re the Protagonist?!
Chapter 10: Why Does It Feel Like You’re the Protagonist?!
The next day, the restaurant boss, who hadn’t slept well, let out a yawn as he rolled up the metal shutters of the hotpot restaurant.
However, a massive line of customers had already formed at his doorstep, practically blocking half the street!
Rubbing his eyes in disbelief at the scene before him, he gave himself two sharp slaps.
Realizing this wasn’t a dream, an immense wave of joy washed over him!
“Could it…
could it be that I actually misjudged him?
That kid really has a million followers!
His video took effect this quickly and brought in this many customers?!” At that moment, the boss felt a bit of guilt in his heart.
But he quickly adjusted his state of mind, promptly piling a massive smile onto his face, straightening his back, and beginning to welcome the guests.
“Welcome to the ‘Can’t Fly’ Hotpot Restaurant!
Sorry to keep you all waiting, please come inside~” The customers filed into the shop in an orderly line.
However, the boss quickly picked up on a slight anomaly.
The customers’ gazes all seemed to be focused on him, their expressions incredibly bizarre, looking as if they were actively holding back laughter.
The second they saw him, quite a few people couldn’t help but lower their heads, their shoulders shaking slightly, and some even let out outright snorts of laughter.
What puzzled him even more was that even his own employees were looking at him with similarly bizarre expressions!
They were stealing glances at him while serving dishes to the customers, then pursing their lips to hide their snickers…
“What’s going on?
Is there something on my face?!” The boss instinctively felt his own face.
Finding everything normal, the more he thought about it, the fishier it seemed.
Finally unable to contain himself, he snatched a young waiter whose face was completely flushed red from holding back laughter, dragging him into a corner to interrogate him: “What on earth are you all laughing at?
Is there a flower blooming on my face?!” Staring at the boss’s completely bewildered and slightly exasperated face, the young waiter couldn’t hold it in any longer, bursting into a hysterical fit of laughter.
The boss glared at him, prompting the young waiter to immediately cover his mouth, not daring to laugh anymore.
He quickly pulled out his phone, tapping open a video that was currently going viral on “Jigglypuff Jigglypuff,” even taking the number one spot on the local trending list.
The title read in bold: “The Chump Boss of the Violet City Hotpot Restaurant, Hoodwinked into Free Food by a ‘Million-Follower Vlogger’.
Highly Recommended for Anti-Fraud Textbooks!” The video clearly recorded Sean’s entire process, from posing at the door when entering, to being warmly entertained by the boss with tons of free dishes thrown in, all the way to Sean’s hundred-meter sprint when asked for his ID.
The filmer was clearly a customer dining in the shop at the time.
They had even captured various close-up shots of his face transitioning from flattering to utterly dumbfounded, and finally to pure rage!
The editing was incredibly dramatic.
The comment section of the video had amassed thousands of comments, with the most popular ones being: [Instead of outright dining and dashing, he actually paid for the cheapest combo?
Silver-chan, you magnificent beast…
I’m crying my eyes out!
(10k+ Likes)] [My popularity might be trash, but my ability to trigger people is top-tier!] [Boss: I thought I caught the traffic cheat code, but turns out it was a giant scam!] [He even asked the waiter to bring juice.
I’m laughing my head off at this madness.] [Already bought my ticket to Violet City.
Boss, I seriously have a million followers!
(Dog face)] […] So these queuing customers hadn’t come because of some gourmet recommendation at all—they had come to laugh at him!
The boss was both humiliated and furious!
But right then, he caught a stray glance of the soaring revenue at the cash register, and turned to see the restaurant absolutely buzzing and packed to maximum capacity.
The curses hovering at the tip of his tongue were instantly swallowed right back down.
Although it was a bit embarrassing, his shop had indeed become an absolute overnight sensation!
The boss took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
The rage within him gradually dissipated, replaced instead by a feeling of being caught between tears and laughter.
“Forget it.
Bad publicity is still publicity.
Maybe I really should thank that brat!” The corners of his mouth ticked upward slightly.
The boss adjusted his collar, hung his professional smile back on his face, and flashed a peace sign at the customers who were secretly filming him with their phones.
“Come on, folks, eat well and drink well!
The taste of our shop’s dishes definitely lives up to the hype!” …
…
Violet City Pokémon Center.
Since Sean didn’t have Trainer status, he could only wince in pain as he spent a chunk of Pokédollars to secure a standard single room in the Pokémon Center.
Staring at his deflated wallet, he let out a deep sigh.
After packing his luggage, Sean stuffed all of it directly into Gengar’s massive mouth, which connected directly to a pocket dimension.
A miraculous Pokémon like Gengar couldn’t just phase through walls, turn invisible, and slip into shadows at will—its body actually connected to the Spirit World, making it the absolute perfect mobile storage unit!
Sean laid out today’s plan to Cyndaquil and Gengar: “We’re going to find a third partner.
Once we meet the 3v3 requirement, we’ll challenge the Violet Gym and smoothly film our Gym challenge vlog!” “Ke-giah!
Ke-giah!
(No need to go through all that trouble, watch this!)” Gengar utilized the move Substitute, conjuring two identical copies of itself.
“Whoa—” Sean inspected them from front, back, left, and right with sheer curiosity, only to find that he couldn’t tell them apart at all!
“Holy crap, god is on my side!
This way, it counts as two Gengars, and plus Cyndaquil makes exactly three!
Who cares about catching a new partner?
We’ll just fake our way through first!” Sean was absolutely ecstatic.
He immediately made his way to the Violet Gym in high spirits, launching a Gym challenge against the Leader Falkner, who pursued “speed and sincerity”!
“Violet Gym, your boy is back!” Sean immediately started recording on his phone, handing it to Cyndaquil on his shoulder to take charge of the filming.
Falkner took the League registration details handed over by the staff.
Seeing that Sean didn’t possess a single Badge and wasn’t even registered as an official Trainer—making him a rookie greener than fresh grass who hadn’t even set out yet—he followed standard protocol.
He sent out the perfect Pokémon for a beginner battle— A Pidgey with naive eyes and pale yellow feathers.
[Pidgey Level: 10] Gym battles were primarily instructional.
A Gym Leader had to adjust the difficulty of the challenge based on the number of Badges the challenger possessed.
“Gengar, you’re up first!” Sean decided to let the very imposing-looking Gengar take the lead.
“Ke-giah!” Seeing that Sean was ready, the referee nearby immediately announced: “And now, the Violet Gym Challenge Match officially begins!
Both sides are permitted to use three Pokémon.
The battle will conclude when all Pokémon on one side are rendered unable to battle!
Furthermore, only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokémon!” Having declared the rules, the referee snapped his flag downward: “Battle start!” Falkner waited for Sean to make the first move, but Sean froze completely in place.
A fatal question flashed through his mind: *I only know Gengar can use Substitute and Shadow Ball, but I have absolutely zero clue about its other moves—I didn’t even ask!
To make matters even more lethal, Pidgey is a Normal/Flying-type, meaning Ghost-type Shadow Balls are completely useless against it!
Hiss…
what do I do?
Should I switch Cyndaquil in?* While Sean was hesitating, Falkner, seeing that he had failed to launch an attack for a long time, issued his command: “Pidgey, Wing Attack!” “Pidg—!” Pidgey let out a cry, its wings flaring with white light as it bravely charged toward Gengar.
The Wing Attack slammed solidly into Gengar’s round, rubbery belly.
And then…
nothing happened.
Gengar’s belly went *boing*, bouncing Pidgey right back off.
It lowered its head in bewilderment, scratching the spot where it had just been hit with its little hand.
“Ke-giah?
Ke-giah?
(Huh?
Was I just attacked?)” Falkner’s brows furrowed tightly.
He realized this Gengar’s level was incredibly high—not at all the kind of standard a rookie Trainer should possess!
How on earth did he manage to get a Gengar to listen to his commands?!
[Gengar Level: 40] Even though a Poké Ball could capture a Pokémon, it didn’t possess brainwashing capabilities like those hypnosis apps in doujins.
Furthermore, Pokémon didn’t possess low intelligence like kittens; the intellect of certain individuals was not a single bit inferior to humans.
They would only listen to commands if they respected their Trainer and had built a bond with them.
Sean blinked: “I almost forgot Gengar is a literal veteran!” Faced with such a “frail” Pidgey, he threw all move selections and type matchups completely out the window!
“Gengar, go, slap it twice!” “Ke-giah!
(Understood!)” Gengar’s figure blurred, instantly appearing right in front of Pidgey.
Pidgey was startled!
Immediately after, Gengar raised its hand, and under the watchful eyes of Falkner and the referee…
*SMACK!
SMACK!* It delivered two slaps right across Pidgey’s tiny face.
“Pidg…
pidg…” Fat tears instantly welled up in Pidgey’s eyes.
It fled straight behind Falkner without looking back, curling up into a miserable ball, completely refusing to continue the battle.
The referee’s cheek twitched.
Watching this joke of a Gym battle left him entirely speechless.
But by the rules, Pidgey had indeed been rendered unable to battle.
He could only lower his flag with great difficulty and announce: “Pi…
Pidgey is unable to battle!
For the first round, the challenger, Sean, wins!” Falkner glanced at Sean, who was currently using his hand like a blade to mimic Pidgey’s Wing Attack, gently chopping Gengar’s belly to watch it bounce back, before bursting into a massive laugh alongside Gengar.
He then looked at Pidgey, which was hiding behind his legs, curled up and sobbing uncontrollably…
He gritted his teeth in sheer rage, clenching his fists tight.
Seeing Falkner completely infuriated by him, the absolute death-seeking urge in Sean’s bones surged instantly.
Taking advantage of Gengar’s level superiority, he activated his taunt mode: “Please, you’re so weak~” ???
In all his years of being a Gym Leader, Falkner had never witnessed such a shameless challenger!
“You…
are very good!!” He resolved to teach this arrogant brat a lesson he would never forget for the rest of his life!
With a fierce expression, Falkner violently hurled an Ultra Ball!
“Let me show you the true strength of the Violet Gym—the speed and sincerity I pursue!!” “Wait, why does it feel like you’re the protagonist?!” —