After finishing his meal, Zhou Yuan returned to his computer and opened the virtual battle team configuration system, adding a Pokémon rarely seen in the wild: Butterfree.
“Since I’m going for a spectacle, I might as well go all out. For my first spectacle, I’ll make it a big one. What do you call the universe’s number one Bug-type Pokémon?”
Zhou Yuan hummed a tune as he refined his team.
Choosing a four-on-four single battle with limited moves, Zhou Yuan found his ranking was currently around 12,000th in the world.
“Not bad, no need to start from scratch. Let’s go, let’s climb the ranks.”
With that, Zhou Yuan opened his recording software and then clicked to start matching.
While waiting for a match, Zhou Yuan began his introduction:
“Hello, everyone! This is A Yuan, a new blogger. Today, I’m bringing you a battle team video centered around Butterfree.”
“Many viewers might be curious, isn’t Butterfree generally considered a weak Pokémon? What’s the point of centering a team around it?”
“A Yuan will keep you in suspense for now. Let’s find out in the battle.”
“OK, we’ve matched with our first opponent. A Yuan chose the six-to-three, limited-moves, four-on-four single battle mode. We’ll start with Whimsicott, the second slot is the star of this video, Butterfree, and the third slot’s choice is inconsequential.”
On the game screen, Zhou Yuan was matched with a user from Modu with the ID “The Crown Won’t Fall.”
“We’ve entered the battle. Our Whimsicott’s ability is Prankster, which allows it to use status moves first.”
“Whimsicott, use Tailwind!” Zhou Yuan began his command.
Meanwhile, at Modu University, Wang Jin Yu also began his command, “Rhydon, use Fire Punch.”
In the game, after Whimsicott unleashed Tailwind, it was struck in the face by Rhydon’s punch, trembling and about to fall. But then, a red ribbon wrapped around Whimsicott’s hand dissipated with a “ber” sound.
“Focus Sash? No matter, Rhydon, Encore Fire Punch!” Wang Jin Yu didn’t take the Focus Sash seriously. A mere Focus Sash was a minor thing.
Just as Rhydon was about to finish off the weakened Whimsicott with another punch, Zhou Yuan’s command arrived:
“Whimsicott, use Memento.”
Whimsicott threw a gift at Rhydon and gracefully landed, causing the Fire Punch to miss.
“Go, Butterfree.” Zhou Yuan sent out Butterfree and began to explain: “The Butterfree I chose has the Compound Eyes ability, which increases the accuracy of its Skills. Combined with our Tailwind, its speed is doubled, allowing it to use Sleep Powder more quickly.”
“Butterfree, use Sleep Powder.”
Wang Jin Yu, far away in Modu, even laughed when he saw Butterfree. “What’s the use of Butterfree? I still have three full-health Pokémon. If you can beat me, I’ll eat my computer screen right here.”
On the game screen, Butterfree’s Sleep Powder directly hit Rhydon, and then, under Zhou Yuan’s command, it used Substitute. While Rhydon was still asleep, Butterfree used Quiver Dance twice in a row to boost its stats.
Wang Jin Yu was demonstrating the Trainer’s traditional art: “Rhydon, show some backbone, wake up!”
With his Trainer’s encouragement, Rhydon finally woke up. Just as Wang Jin Yu thought the situation was clear, another puff of Sleep Powder sent Rhydon back to sleep.
“I can’t let this continue. Come back, Rhydon. Go, Weavile, use Ice Shard.” Wang Jin Yu saw that Rhydon wasn’t getting any results, so he sent out the high-attack, high-speed Weavile, attempting to forcibly knock out Butterfree.
Just as Wang Jin Yu was preparing to switch, Zhou Yuan was also commentating: “The opponent has been put to sleep twice by us, and we’ve also boosted our stats twice. At this point, the opponent is very likely to switch Pokémon to prevent us from continuing to boost. To be safe, we’ll use Sleep Powder one more time.”
So, just as Weavile threw Ice Shard, Sleep Powder also covered its entire face. As for Ice Shard, it hit the Substitute, causing no effective damage to Butterfree’s main body.
The rest of the battle was simple. After Butterfree used Quiver Dance again, it began to sweep with Air Slash. Wang Jin Yu’s Pokémon fell one after another under Butterfree’s wings. Soon, Zhou Yuan won the battle.
As for the “Gaia” sound coming from a certain dormitory at Modu University, Zhou Yuan naturally had no way of knowing.
After this battle, Zhou Yuan clicked to match again and began to explain:
“Our Butterfree team composition is like this, very simple and easy to understand. First, one Pokémon activates Tailwind. It doesn’t have to be Whimsicott; any Pokémon that can set up Tailwind will do.”
“Then, switch in Butterfree. With the high speed provided by Tailwind, it can effectively suppress the speed of most Pokémon. Going back to Butterfree’s ability, Compound Eyes increases Skill accuracy by thirty percent, meaning Sleep Powder is practically a guaranteed hit.” Zhou Yuan took a sip of water and continued:
“Once the opponent’s Pokémon is asleep, you can start boosting. Quiver Dance can raise Butterfree’s Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. Generally, after three boosts, you can effectively sweep the team. Of course, before boosting, it’s best to do as I just did and set up a Substitute first to block damage, because Butterfree’s physical defense is very low. Just like in the last game, if that Ice Shard had hit Butterfree, it might have knocked Butterfree out instantly.”
At this point, he was matched with an opponent again, and Zhou Yuan also took a breath.
“More talk is useless. Let’s continue to watch the next live battle.”
Under Zhou Yuan’s command, he used this team again and won three battles.
Zhou Yuan then spoke again: “Some people might ask, ‘Blogger, blogger, do I have to set up Tailwind before sending out Butterfree? What if I don’t have a Tailwind Pokémon?’”
“This question is actually easy to answer. Do you remember the item I gave Whimsicott in the first battle? A Focus Sash can also be given to Butterfree.”
“Lead directly with Butterfree holding a Focus Sash. If the opponent chooses to attack Butterfree, if it can take the hit, it will. If not, the Focus Sash will activate, preserving Butterfree’s HP. While the opponent is attacking you, you can command Butterfree to use Sleep Powder to control the opponent’s Pokémon.”
“Once control is established, you can start boosting your own stats. During this time, if the opponent’s Pokémon wakes up or switches out, just use Sleep Powder again. Of course, this option can cause some damage to Butterfree itself, so it might backfire when facing priority Skills.”
As he spoke, Zhou Yuan won his fifth battle.
“Viewers can also see that this team is quite powerful to a certain extent, but does it have any weaknesses? Of course, it does.”
“Firstly, Butterfree’s defenses are indeed low, and it’s weak to many types. Once the control chain isn’t maintained or it’s hit by a type-advantage priority Skill, it might lose.”
“Secondly, Sleep Powder is ineffective against Grass-type Pokémon. If the opponent switches in a Grass-type Pokémon that can tank one of Butterfree’s attacks and still has HP, and then puts Butterfree to sleep, that could also lead to a loss.”
“Thirdly, Pokémon with the Vital Spirit ability cannot be put to sleep. This strategy naturally won’t work against such Pokémon.”
“Of course, the weaknesses of this strategy are certainly not limited to these; viewers can think of more themselves, so I won’t elaborate here. But I must say, this strategy is still very strong in everyday battles.”
“Of course, if any viewer uses this strategy to challenge a Gym and fails, I won’t reimburse medical expenses, okay? Well, that’s about it. Today’s video ends here. Viewers, we’ll see you in the next video. Remember to hit follow so you don’t get lost, and don’t forget to hit the like, favorite, and share buttons.”
After finishing his closing remarks, Zhou Yuan also turned off the screen recording. Since there was nothing extra in this recording, Zhou Yuan uploaded the video to A-site after editing the beginning and end.
【Congratulations to the host for completing the achievement: First Step to Becoming a Blogger. Reward: Energy Points +300】
“Oh, not bad, not bad. There’s even an achievement system. It’s a source of income.” Zhou Yuan was pleasantly surprised.
After the video finished uploading, Zhou Yuan looked at his zero followers and scratched his head, only then remembering that he hadn’t washed his bowl yet.
A-site, Review Department
Reviewer Xiao Shen had already reviewed nearly a hundred videos since starting work today. The chaotic colors and video content made his temples throb slightly.
Just a second ago, he had rejected a hot dance video, saying, “Heh, wearing so little, twisting like that, you’re testing the cadres with this? Send it back, send it back.”
The next moment, the system assigned him the next video to review. Upon seeing the video title, even the experienced Xiao Shen was a bit puzzled.
“Meeting My Butterfree Is Your Bad Luck 【Pokémon Strategy 01】? What kind of name is this? Clickbait?”
As a reviewer, Xiao Shen had reviewed many clickbait videos that were deceptive. They either had titles completely unrelated to the video content or overly exaggerated ones. Such videos were usually sent back for revision.
“What kind of strategy could Butterfree have? I raised one myself, how come I don’t know?” With this doubt, Xiao Shen began his work.
“Oh, oh, it can be like this?! It can actually be like this!”
During the review of this video, Xiao Shen became somewhat excited, even starting to fantasize about whether he could turn his fortunes around, making his Butterfree big and strong, and becoming a new generation Elite Trainer.
After completing the review, Xiao Shen initially wanted to approve it, but after thinking for a moment, he didn’t immediately approve it. Instead, he sent it to his team leader.
“Team Leader, take a look at this video. I think it deserves a recommendation.”
Luo Zhi, Xiao Shen’s team leader, after watching the video his team member sent him, indeed felt that the quality was good, higher than most videos. So, he replied to Xiao Shen:
“This video is good. Arrange a small recommendation to test the waters.”