February 25th, Wednesday.

Just another ordinary day.

Everyone, as usual, opened Bilibili to find something to watch with their meals.

While unboxing their takeout, a notification suddenly popped up—Mr. Lu had posted a new update.

The fans’ eyes lit up. Their excitement was beyond words.

“Holy crap, top-tier content just as lunch hits!”

“He’s back! Mr. Lu finally remembers he’s a food-content uploader too!”

But just as the fans were settling in for a chill mealtime watch—

They saw the episode title and video content… and were stunned.

“M-Mr. Lu made it to world number one?!”

“That guy actually climbed to the top!”

“My youth is over. Strongly suspecting account sharing!”

As everyone knew, every time Mr. Lu was about to reach the top, some act of god would strike him down.

Like “four Hydro Pump misses in a row,” “controller ran out of battery,” or “opponent pulls off double Protect.”

But this time—

The day had finally come. Mr. Lu reached the summit!

“Steven got wrecked! (crying)”

“Celebrate him! He’s the dirtiest strat-man with the worst RNG—yet still the strongest tactician!”

“Holy sh*t, this was a faith-based team?!”

When everyone assumed Mr. Lu had cooked up some crazy new meta to crush Steven…

He had instead relied on pure command skill—

Using a low-tier “faith team” to completely reverse the match.

Granted, Steven was using his beloved team as well.

But compared to something as trashy as Onix… a shiny Metagross was outright terrifying.

And yet, with that sheer disparity in team strength—

Mr. Lu actually pulled off a triple KO with Helping Hand + Earthquake!

“Onix went absolutely feral!!”

“Helping Hand Earthquake — absolutely savage!”

“Even his own teammate got wiped? Mr. Lu, be a decent human!”

Veteran Trainers from all walks—including the International Police and Team Rocket operatives—

Were left speechless as they watched this video.

“He solo’d Steven with pure personal skill?”

“No wonder it’s called a faith team… I’ve learned something today!”

“My Onix just gets one-shot. What’s the point?”

This nearly showboaty lineup left everyone’s scalps tingling.

But—

Just as Mr. Lu explained in the video—

A Trainer must have a dream.

Even a weakling like Onix still has a chance to KO a pseudo-legend.

Even the trashiest Magikarp might clear the whole game.

Even if you’re not Mr. Lu—

Your opponents aren’t Steven either.

Just flex it… who knows, maybe this match makes you a legend?

“Don’t copy this, bros. I’ve already faced ten Onix teams in a row and can’t eat another point!”

“What kind of cursed comp is this?!”

“Lose the next match, win for a whole year!”

Mr. Lu’s “Top of the Ladder” video—

Sent shockwaves across every major video platform.

While netizens celebrated, they also interpreted the battle in vastly different ways.

Competitive fans admired the command technique. Sentimental fans saw unwavering devotion.

Some players went all Edward with muskets. Others took the Leap of Faith… and de-synced.

In the end—

This was the best answer Mr. Lu could offer on his climb to the top.

As sites reuploaded the video, they also highlighted some of the top comments:

【Wanna Hatch Eggs with Gardevoir: From the early stall-and-toxic metas to today’s faith comp—Mr. Lu’s command skill has visibly improved. Maybe it’s because he raised a Togepi. (muttering)】

【Fighting Master Bruno: Onix? Mr. Lu knows more about Onix than I do.】

【I’m Totally Not Wusong: Everyone knows the Dragon Champ loves Flying-types, the Fighting King loves Rock-types… it’s a small world. Gonna dip.】

After posting, Wusong adjusted his blue-tinted glasses and panicked.

F*ck me—Bilibili doesn’t have anonymous mode!

Wusong replied to his own post: “Stop liking this. If it gets any more likes, Champion Lance will come knocking. Σ(っ°Д°;)っ”

In just one day—

Mr. Lu’s ladder-climbing video shot to the top of all major trending charts.

Lu Ye also saw Wusong’s reply and paused.

Good lord, that guy’s a master at farming likes!

Looks like Cynthia didn’t give him enough work—he needs more overtime!

Maybe it was the technique boost from 【Glamorous Command Lv3】.

Or maybe the adrenaline of the Steven comeback.

Mr. Lu felt like his psychological warfare had leveled up again.

He could now bluff an opponent on every switch!

To any hardcore battler, that’s an absolutely broken ability.

Of course, “He Who’s Cursed by the Heavens” wasn’t just a nickname.

And with a version update on the horizon—

Mr. Lu had no plans to stream again for now.

Instead, he posted a Tranquill meme in his stream chat and went on break.

“Crap, Mr. Lu’s ghosting us again!”

“Tragic. Can’t even enjoy food anymore.”

“Look on the bright side… maybe next time it’ll be a live IRL event?”

“Streaming a Baby Cup with Rotom? Now that’s the stuff!”

Lu Ye glanced at the comments and muttered:

“Baby Cup? I never play Baby Cup.”

The day was still young.

With points earned from various platforms, Lu Ye exchanged them all for rare berries.

Say what you will—the berry quality was insane—

Glossy, juicy, blush-pink like honey peaches. Pecha Berries tasted heavenly.

Lu Ye munched on the juicy fruit, standing on the second-floor balcony.

The fields stretched endlessly, breeze rustling through pampas grass, and a white windmill turning in the distance.

BOOM!!

Suddenly, a huge explosion sounded from the direction of Professor Rowan’s lab.

Black smoke billowed upward.

Lu Ye looked around the empty house and remembered the little ones had gone out to train.

He wiped a bead of cold sweat.

“Ha… what bad intentions could Pokémon possibly have? Definitely just an accident!”

Around 6 PM, dusk had already settled over the countryside.

After five days in Sinnoh, Lu Ye had gotten used to the local rhythm.

True, retiring in Masago Town was comfy.

But even if rich ladies are nice—one must still train.

According to his original plan—

He wanted to take the little ones on a tour around Sinnoh.

Then squeeze in a trip back to Kanto to shoot a promotional MV for Pocket Monsters.

The lyrics and music were ready—based on the classic OP from the original series.

As for the singer...

Red was way too expensive. Just get Ash!

(Note: Ash’s voice actor, Rica Matsumoto, also sang the original OP.)

Night began to fall.

“Gengarr! (￣▽￣)／” Gengar led the crew back from Rowan’s lab for dinner.

Sylveon came back a bit later, having traveled from Canalave City—and brought another badge.

Lu Ye looked at the “Coal Badge” with mixed feelings.

Thanks for the hard work, Gym Leader Roark!

In the chat group, Ruby and others were discussing the upcoming Mikuri Cup.

“Heard a lot of Coordinator Masters are joining?” Blue asked curiously.

Ruby replied, “Yep, Master Wallace still draws a huge crowd!”

“Oooh!” Blue’s eyes turned into dollar signs—another business opportunity spotted!

“Wallace invited me too.” Steven smiled helplessly. “But I’m clueless about that stuff. Better leave it to Ruby.”

Suddenly, Ruby lit up, hands clasped, stars in his eyes:

“@Mr. Lu, you’ll bring Sylveon to compete, right?!”

Mr. Lu: “I refuse.”

“Nani?!”

No appearance fee, and you still wanna mooch off me?

Lu Ye smirked.

Dream on!

“Um…” Ami’s cheeks flushed. She spoke softly, “When is the Mikuri Cup exactly?”

“I’m kind of interested in the Grand Festival too…”

“Probably mid-March,” Ruby said after a pause. “Winners can go straight to major celebrations in other regions—tons of entrants!”

Ami nodded slightly.

This ordinary girl wanted so badly to shine—

Just like Sabrina the star, Erika the model, Lila the noblewoman…

Ami looked down at her plain figure, her twin braids drooping.

Even eating more doesn’t help, quack!

There weren’t many Coordinators in the group.

Lila was busy teaching.

Misty’s sisters barely counted… Misty herself was firmly on the battle side.

In the end, Ruby drooped in defeat, fists clenched and tears welling.

He really wanted to see Mr. Lu perform on stage!

The conversation shifted to a solo match between Gold and old man Ironspin.

Gold used his beloved Baton Pass team and narrowly beat Ironspin’s Raichu team. He laughed wildly, “Too weak, old man!”

“Y-You brat!” Ironspin bristled. “One more round!”

“This… is the power of belief! Hahaha!”

No—this is just reckless idiocy.

After all, Gold is the guy who dares to throw hands with Arceus…

Lu Ye wiped his sweat.

Suddenly, his Rotom Pokédex started vibrating.

Lu Ye: “Hm? You shake, I shake?”

“Beep beep…” Rotom froze, confused. Then said:

“Incoming call, Roto!”

Rotom swiped to unlock—Cynthia’s face appeared.

“See you tomorrow in Hearthome?”

Half her face was hidden by golden hair, eyes smiling like crescent moons.

“We need to transport a museum relic from Hearthome to Celestic Town.”

“How many people?”

Cynthia blinked. “Planning to bring backup?”

Lu Ye shook his head.

“I don’t have any either.”

Cynthia smiled: “Then just the two of us. See you in Hearthome tomorrow?”

Lu Ye blinked, then grinned.

“See you tomorrow.”

Was it a date? Whatever—he was mainly going to haul boxes!

“Gengar, we’re going out to find Cute One tomorrow!”

“Gengarr! （๑`▽´๑)۶”

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read