Streaming in the Pokémon World

Joseph jolted awake, tangled in a blanket shaped suspiciously like Tyrunt's tail. It was 6 AM, the sun barely peeking through the dusty curtains of the little motel room he'd booked after the festival.

His first clue that something was off? Rotom hovering right over his face, screen lit up with a blinking TRENDING NOW! alert.

"Gah—! Rotom, personal space!" Joseph groaned, swatting at the buzzing Pokémon.

Rotom bleeped out a laughing emoji, then zoomed over to hover above Bean — who was curled up on the nightstand. Next to Bean: an entire bag of dried shiitake mushrooms. Apparently, he'd made a final stealth raid before bed.

Chat Replay: "HE SLEPT WITH THE MUSHROOMS 😭" "Bean: 'What's yours is mine.'" "Joseph, control your gremlin."

Joseph rubbed his eyes and squinted at Rotom's screen. The top trending video on EeTvee? A replay clip titled:

"Bean the Chef: The Mushroom Marauder Strikes Again!"

It was an edited montage of Bean sneaking behind the ramen shop counter, tossing mushrooms to Tyrunt, and getting carried out by Riolu like a kitten. Someone had added dramatic background music and fake subtitles.

The comment section was out of control:

"Bean needs his own cooking show!"

"Tyrunt's face when the mushroom hit him LOL."

"Riolu = the real MVP dad."

And the view count? Half a million and climbing.

"Great," Joseph muttered, patting Bean's head. "You're officially more famous than me. Happy?"

Bean squeaked, flipped his hat dramatically, and nuzzled the mushroom bag closer.

Joseph stumbled out of bed, ready to plan his day, when he found Tyrunt hunched over a big piece of cardboard on the floor.

"Tyrunt? What are you—"

Tyrunt looked up proudly. In his tiny claws, he clutched a thick black marker. The cardboard was covered in… well, they were definitely something. Jagged scratches, bite marks, and giant Tyrunt footprints. Right in the middle, in huge shaky letters, was the word: "TYRUNT."

"Are you trying to sign autographs?" Joseph asked, tears threatening to burst out. "Buddy, you can't— your claws— oh no."

Tyrunt nodded, teeth gleaming. He tried to sign another piece of paper. The marker snapped in half.

Chat: "😭😭😭 The autograph king we deserve." "Imagine getting Tyrunt's paw print." "He's so proud."

Once the team had breakfast (Bean with exactly one allowed mushroom omelet, Tyrunt with an entire mountain of eggs, Riolu with a peaceful bowl of berries), Joseph settled onto the bed with his tablet.

He tapped through notifications, replies, and fan art — so much fan art. One drawing even showed Bean wearing a tiny chef's hat while Tyrunt flipped ramen bowls in the background.

"I swear, we're gonna make that Fan Meet-Up happen," Joseph mumbled, pulling up a blank note file. "Big park, a friendly battle ring, maybe a food truck or two—"

Bean perked up at the word food, squeaking and waving his hat. Tyrunt let out a deep, pleased growl. Riolu, cross-legged in a corner, gave a calm approving nod. Even Rotom bleeped out a sparkling 'Yes!'

Just as Joseph was about to draft an announcement for the meet-up, Rotom buzzed with an incoming message alert.

He frowned. "Huh? Who's messaging me this early?"

He tapped it open — and nearly dropped the tablet on Bean's head.

[Incoming Message: Gym Leader Aiko 🌿] Hey, Joseph. Loved your festival battle. Tyrunt and Bean are a riot. How'd you like to stream your first Gym Battle? Viridia Gym is open tomorrow. What do you say?

Joseph stared at the screen so long that Tyrunt snuck up and gently nudged his elbow, demanding the rest of his eggs.

"A Gym Leader… wants me to battle… and stream it?" Joseph whispered. He turned to the team. "Guys. This is huge."

Bean squeaked, flicking his leaf hat like a cape. Tyrunt reared up, jaws open in a goofy, excited roar. Riolu cracked one eye open, then closed it again with an 'I told you so' air.

Joseph typed back with shaking fingers.

Count me in! But uh… go easy on us, please? We're still new!

Aiko's reply came back with a winking emoji.

No promises! Can't wait to see what your team can do when the cameras are rolling for real. Bring your best.

Joseph dropped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling while Rotom floated above him.

"Alright, EeTvee fam," he said, starting a quick update stream for his viewers. "Looks like the ramen festival chaos wasn't enough — we're officially headed for our first Gym Battle tomorrow! Tyrunt's ready, Riolu's always ready, Bean's probably gonna redecorate the Gym with mushrooms. But you know what?"

He sat up, smiling at Rotom. "We're gonna stream it. Every step. No fancy edits, no hiding my panic — you'll see exactly how we do this, win or lose."

By the time the short stream ended, the chat was losing its collective mind:

"BEAN VS GYM LEADER. LET'S GO." "Tyrunt's gonna bite the badge." "Can we get 'Property of Bean' stickers as merch???"

Joseph snorted, tucking his team in for a quick nap before training. Bean curled up on Riolu's lap, Tyrunt flopped down with his tail in Joseph's blanket again, and Rotom hovered by the window, scanning Gym battle videos for them to study.

Joseph closed his eyes, heart pounding with both nerves and excitement.

"First Gym Battle," he whispered, drifting off. "Tomorrow, it's real…"

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