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Chapter Four: The Fish God Emerges
🕑 Added 2025-10-19 16:14:14 +0000 UTCAfter the screen full of question marks, mockery and insults followed in quick succession.
"Magikarp: Huh? I'm challenging a gym? (confused.JPG)"
"Streamer, with just one Magikarp that just learned Tackle, who gave you the courage to challenge a gym? Buizel?"
"Reaching for the stars!"
"Streamer, streamer! Even though Cerulean Gym is the weakest and most unprofessional gym in our Kanto region, challenging it with a Magikarp is kind of disrespectful."
"How dare you! What did Cerulean Gym ever do to you? Do you know how hard the three Cerulean Sisters work? Attached image.jpg"
"Bro, if you've got more, post them. We love to see it, hehe!"
"I don't care about this or that!"
...
At first, everyone was mocking Caster for not knowing his place, but as glamor shots of the three Cerulean Sisters appeared, the bullet chat and comment section gradually went off the rails.
Sure enough, netizens were all people of culture.
Looking at the beautiful photos and water ballet GIFs of the Cerulean Sisters that kept appearing in the comments, Caster couldn't help but start "critiquing" them himself.
By the time he finished critiquing all the photos and GIFs, it was somehow already noon without him realizing it.
"Hiss~ I've been wounded by beautiful images and comments, wasting time like this?"
Looking at the time displayed on his phone, Caster first gasped, then solemnly declared, "Starting today, I'm quitting the comment section!!!"
After closing his phone, Caster first fed Pokéblocks to Magikarp in its glass tank, then washed up and combined breakfast and lunch into one meal.
"Nothing to do today, fishing at the small lake!"
Caster hummed a little tune, grabbed his fishing gear, and happily headed out.
He didn't take the netizens' doubts and mockery to heart.
On the contrary, this was actually exactly what he wanted to see.
After all, even negative publicity was still publicity!
Precisely because everyone believed "challenging a gym with Magikarp" was impossible, the reversal after he succeeded would be explosive enough.
When the tables turned completely and netizens were left amazed, they'd naturally convert from haters to fans, maybe even become die-hard fans.
These were all tried and tested strategies!
Anyway, with his cheat ability, Caster was completely confident in training Magikarp.
After all, the three Cerulean Sisters' combat skills... better not even mention them!
"Setting a small goal: first max out Magikarp's Tackle and Splash move levels!"
Caster arrived at a small lake. Looking at the shimmering water surface, he sent out Magikarp again. "Same as always, try to lure water-type Pokémon over here."
"Karp~"
Magikarp's gaze turned serious as it went off on its mission.
Before long, Caster started catching fish one after another.
...
Time flew by, and ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, Caster sat fishing under a willow tree by the river.
Whoosh!
The float suddenly sank into the water. Clearly, a fish had taken the bait.
"Up!"
Caster mechanically raised his rod.
Soon, a large fish was pulled from the water, its red body dazzling like a jewel in the sunlight.
Caster's face showed no emotion. "Of course it's another Magikarp."
Because during these ten days, he'd lost count of how many Magikarp he'd caught, but it was definitely two to three hundred.
He was completely numb to it!
As for other water-type Pokémon, they simply didn't care for his bait.
[Caught 'Magikarp', rewarded 1 bottle of 'X Attack'.]
However, as the notification from his cheat ability appeared, Caster's pupils contracted sharply.
"A rare reward!"
After confirming he wasn't seeing things wrong, Caster's face lit up with wild joy.
He'd caught two to three hundred Magikarp and received two to three hundred rewards.
The most common was undoubtedly energy orbs, followed by TMs. Besides those, there was nothing else.
But now, he'd finally gotten a rare reward, a probability of just a few in a thousand.
"Let me see!"
With just a thought, an orange nutritional drink appeared in his hand.
[X Attack: A nutritional drink for Pokémon. After consumption, increases a Pokémon's attack capability.]
"Increases a Pokémon's attack capability? Simple enough! Straightforward enough! I like it!"
After reading the description, Caster was overjoyed. "With this, my chances of challenging Cerulean Gym are even higher."
"Fishy!"
After his excitement subsided, Caster couldn't be bothered to fish anymore. He stood up and called out loudly for Magikarp.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
A dark underwater current and whirlpool suddenly appeared on the distant water surface. A red figure was rapidly swimming over the water, fast as lightning.
Its golden dorsal fin emerged above the water, creating ripples that spread continuously to both sides wherever it passed.
Boom!
When it swam closer, the underwater figure suddenly leaped from the water, reaching a height of dozens of meters above the surface, as if it could fly.
It was Caster's Magikarp.
"Karp~"
Magikarp glided freely through the air, proud and content, having the time of its life.
Compared to before, Magikarp's body had noticeably grown a size larger, its muscles more compact, full of explosive power.
Besides that, its body scales had also become much harder and thicker, each piece like iron armor, seemingly gleaming with a metallic luster. One look and you could tell its defense was excellent.
In just ten days, Magikarp seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. It was simply incredible.
And this was naturally inseparable from the nourishment of energy orbs.
Because energy orbs could accelerate a Pokémon's growth, and Caster could harvest dozens of energy orbs almost every day. Since he was currently doting exclusively on Magikarp alone, it would be hard for it not to become stronger.
"Karp Karp"
After leaping dozens of meters through the air and landing precisely on the shore, Magikarp raised its head and gently nuzzled Caster's hand, appearing very docile.
Because Magikarp knew that all these changes in itself were brought about by Caster.
"Not bad! Very spirited!"
Caster stroked Magikarp's cold, hard scales. With just a thought, its stat panel immediately appeared.
[Pokémon: Magikarp]
[Type: Water]
[Ability: Rattled (When hit by Bug, Ghost, or Dark-type moves, becomes scared and raises Speed)]
[Moves: Splash (Mastered), Tackle (Mastered), Flail (Proficient)]
"Mastered-level Splash and Tackle, proficient-level Flail, plus a terrifying physique. The current fishy can definitely be called 'King of Magikarp.'"
Looking at the displayed panel data, Caster nodded with satisfaction.
Learned, Proficient, Expert, Transcendent, and Mastered—these were the skill levels divided by his cheat ability.
Based on Caster's experience, just one TM was needed to let a Pokémon learn a certain move.
Going from Learned to Proficient required two TMs, Proficient to Expert needed four, Expert to Transcendent was eight, and Transcendent to Mastered was sixteen.
Magikarp had already known Splash and Tackle before, but after all this time of power-leveling, the skill levels had now reached Mastered, with no room for further improvement.
These were all achievements Caster had ground out one fish at a time!
Besides those was Flail, a move from a TM Caster had obtained later and naturally taught to Magikarp.
[Flail: Normal-type move. Rampages and attacks wildly. The lower one's HP, the greater the move's power.]
The only regrettable thing was that Flail rewards appeared far less frequently than Splash and Tackle, so it had only been raised to Proficient for now.
However, Proficient-level Flail was enough for regular battles, and at critical moments might even have the miraculous effect of turning the tide.
"Come on, open your mouth. I've got something good for you."
Caster lifted Magikarp's mouth and poured the X Attack into it.
"Karp Karp"
Magikarp gulped it down in big swallows. Soon it felt like a ball of fire was burning fiercely in its stomach.
Magikarp was shocked.
It felt like it was burning up, its whole body tingling and aching.
This feeling was a hundred times more intense than the energy orbs!
"Don't panic, just bear with it and it'll pass!"
Seeing the restless Magikarp, Caster quickly soothed it.
Before long, the medicinal effect passed and Magikarp was overjoyed, constantly swimming and jumping in the water.
Because it could feel that its muscles had been significantly strengthened, with noticeable improvements in both explosive power and stamina.
"The Magikarp that’s been grinding in the shadows is finally ready to emerge!"
Seeing this, Caster's eyes focused. He knew the time was ripe to challenge Cerulean Gym.
If successful, the hype around Caster and Magikarp would absolutely explode.
After all, Magikarp was a universally acknowledged weakling. Using it to challenge a gym was simply a pipe dream.
So while Magikarp was adapting and getting familiar, Caster filmed a few more segments, edited them into a video, and uploaded it online.
"After another ten days of special training, I feel Magikarp's strength has grown tremendously. So I've decided to officially challenge Cerulean Gym tomorrow."
"I'll be starting a livestream then, so everyone can witness Magikarp's moment of glory together."
"Friends who haven't followed yet, hurry up and hit that follow button. Better yet, subscribe to my channel. That way you'll get notified when I go live tomorrow and won't miss any exciting content..."
As soon as the video was uploaded, the comment section exploded, with jokers flocking in droves.
"Fish bro, are you serious?"
"Streamer's gone crazy! Challenging a gym with Magikarp is pure fantasy!"
"For real! If Magikarp were that strong, why would I need starter Pokémon?"
"Can't wait to watch the streamer and Magikarp get wrecked by the three sister gym leaders!"
"Posting for evidence! If even a Magikarp can successfully challenge a gym, I'll livestream myself doing a headstand while eating shit."
...
Looking at the constantly refreshing comments, Caster selectively replied to a few, using interaction to boost engagement.
"@LovesGardevoir: The streamer is an honest person, true to his word. If I say I'm challenging the gym tomorrow, I'll definitely go. No backing out."
"@OfficerJennysGrowlithe: Posting for evidence is fine, but no freeloading allowed!"
"@CharmanderIsCoolest: The streamer admits starters are strong, but Magikarp also has great training potential. Tomorrow's gym challenge, the streamer will prove everything."
...
Seeing that Caster dared to respond, the netizens in the comment section got even more fired up.
"The streamer is dead set on humiliating himself? What kind of mindset is this?"
"Sneaky frog, I've got it. The streamer must have some masochistic tendencies. He just wants to get thrashed and humiliated by the three Cerulean Sisters for pleasure (Mudkip has seen through everything.jpg)."
"Streamer, you call that challenging a gym? I hate to break it to you, but you just want to enjoy mental pleasure. You're depraved!"
"The way you put it, those of us watching the livestream are also part of his twisted play? We're there to boost the intensity?"
"Ew~ The streamer is so perverted. I love it! Followed and subscribed, don't let me down!"
...
"???"
Caster's brow furrowed slightly, feeling like strange knowledge had increased again.
Besides doubts and mockery, there were also a very few relatively fair comments.
"The streamer's Magikarp is plump and large, robust in build, with gleaming scales. It's clearly been trained quite well. And did you guys notice? The streamer's Magikarp swims very fast and jumps very high. Its overall qualities are quite outstanding."
"Streamer, go for it! If you can win a badge with Magikarp, I'll tip you a thousand poké dollars directly. No backing out."
The video's popularity kept rising. Caster's goal had been achieved.
"Come back, Magikarp!"
Recalling Magikarp, Caster decided to head home early today to rest up and prepare for tomorrow's Cerulean Gym challenge.
...
The night passed without incident.
The next day, Caster got up bright and early and headed to Cerulean Gym with Magikarp.
