Pokémon: Starting with a Dragon Dance Gible [17]

Kaiba wasn’t stupid.

It was just that everyone had their own way of looking at the world.

Some people were optimists, believing the world was genuinely beautiful.

Others were pessimists, holding no high expectations for human nature.

But he wasn’t stubborn—no, his selling point as a streamer was precisely that he was someone who listened to advice.

People online always said: as long as you listen to your viewers, you could become a god-tier streamer.

“ε=(′ο｀*))) Sigh… Although part of me wants to say, ‘Buddy, isn’t your thinking just a little extreme?’”

Seriously, it was only his first day streaming, and he already had to worry about real-world threats?

Was this game really that difficult?

“But even a single grain of sand from the age could weigh as heavy as a mountain when it lands on an ordinary person’s shoulders. No matter what, I don’t want even the smallest chance of trouble happening to me.”

“Better safe than sorry, I guess.”

“...........”

---

On the other end of the screen, Cynthia was also feeling a headache coming on. She reached up with a delicate hand and rubbed her temples gently.

To be fair, she didn’t want to view human nature from such an extreme, cynical perspective either.

Cynthia was fully aware that the vast majority of ordinary people and Pokémon Trainers in this world were kind-hearted and peaceful.

Unfortunately, there were always those occasional outliers—extreme ideologues, antisocial personalities, or Jokers who just wanted to watch the world burn.

And, of course, Pokémon poachers who would resort to any means necessary for profit.

Those types were unavoidable, beyond anyone’s control.

As Sinnoh’s Champion, Cynthia had faced more than her fair share of encounters with villainous organizations and Pokémon poachers.

She’d seen plenty, both the goodness and wickedness of humanity.

She never hesitated to view ordinary people with the utmost kindness—
but also never hesitated to imagine the worst from strangers.

Balanced precariously between the extremes of good and evil—
That’s what made humanity truly human.

“All I’m saying is, in the worst-case scenario, you can’t rule out that unexpected bad things might happen,” Cynthia explained carefully.

“I’m not saying it’s certain someone will target your ‘[Dragon Dance] Gible.’”

In a sense, Cynthia herself was someone who’d taken an interest in Kaiba’s “[Dragon Dance] Gible.”

Of course, she’d never resort to threats or force, like using real-world intimidation tactics to pressure him.

She just wanted a normal conversation about raising Gible and Garchomp.

But if it were someone else…

Well, that might be a different story.

---

“Man—What can I say?! Mamba Out!”
Buddy, what else can I say? Guess I’m out…

Kaiba shrugged and spread his hands helplessly.

“Next time, I won’t use the ‘[Dragon Dance] Gible’ gimmick in my stream. Better drop the shortcuts and stick to something more conventional and less risky.”

[Drawing-Water-With-a-Bamboo-Basket]: That would probably be for the best.

From Cynthia’s perspective, she could clearly see Kaiba’s remarkable tactical skill.
Combined with having a starter Pokémon just like hers—but even more unique, having mastered [Dragon Dance]—

He was guaranteed future success in competitive Pokémon battles.

It was just a matter of time.

---

“......”

After pushing Kaiba to be more cautious, Cynthia now felt embarrassed to suddenly ask him directly how exactly he’d managed to teach his Gible [Dragon Dance].

It was just like the old saying:

“Searching high and low with worn-out shoes, only to find it effortlessly right before your eyes.”

After spending so much time and effort, nearly giving up hope and mocking herself as truly “Drawing Water with a Bamboo Basket,” she’d finally found a credible lead.

There was no rush. She didn’t want to startle away this promising young Trainer.

Theoretically, Cynthia could use her influence to track down this rookie streamer’s identity through Poke-TV’s backend—even “open the box” offline and confront him directly if she wanted.

But she’d never do something so despicable.

Her only real concern was whether other unscrupulous Trainers might try something similarly crazy.

“Life is always so difficult,” Kaiba sighed again, shaking his head. He’d assumed that stacking both “transmigration” and “rebirth” buffs would mean life would automatically become easy mode.

Clearly, he’d been far too naive and impatient.

The obsession with “instant victory” was clearly misguided.

[Drawing-Water-With-a-Bamboo-Basket has sent the gift ‘Super Rocket’ x1, helping the streamer soar to new heights!]

“?”

Kaiba slowly typed out a confused question mark.

Life, perhaps, is always so… unexpectedly generous?

“Buddy, what’s this supposed to mean?”

“It’s nothing. Just felt I’d taken up a bit of your time. Besides, I just watched your stream—your skills and strategies are genuinely impressive. It’s not just because your Gible knows [Dragon Dance]. You’ve carefully built a solid tactical framework around your Pokémon’s strengths. That’s why you can keep beating opponents in one-versus-three matches.”

Cynthia continued, “So, it’s just a small gift to show my appreciation.”

A “small gift,” huh?

Kaiba’s gaze turned thoughtful.

Had he really been lucky enough, during his very first stream, to run into an actual wealthy benefactor? That sounded far too good to be true…

But for Cynthia, this truly was just a small token.

If she hadn’t worried that sending anything more might overwhelm him, she could easily have sent more—it wasn’t much money to her at all.

—But there was no need!

It was like that famous meme circulating online: pouring cat food for your cat.

Pour just enough, and it’s fine.

Pour too much, fill the bowl until it spills everywhere, and you’d only scare your cat.

They wouldn’t understand what you were doing. Anything too unusual naturally seemed suspicious—after all, the more bizarre the act, the more likely something sinister was going on behind it.

---

This is a fan translation of 宝可梦，开局龙舞圆陆鲨 by 眼含泪光 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!