Chapter 44: Basalt Goes Viral
The High School Elite Selection Tournament was currently the most eye-catching event in Seaside County. Therefore, tonight's Seaside County Daily newspaper dedicated a huge amount of space to report on it, even including several illustrations.
Jack was the owner of the fashion brand J&L. In his thirties this year, his dream was to establish his own fashion brand and spread his own fashion philosophy. J&L was an abbreviation for Pokémon, and his brand incorporated many Pokémon elements, having a certain audience in Seaside County.
Unfortunately, the competition in the clothing industry was too fierce. Over the years, although his brand had expanded to some extent, slowly reaching other counties and cities, the pace was still too slow, and the results were less than satisfactory.
This evening, after settling the accounts for his five stores, Jack propped his feet up on the table, silently took out his Pokédex, and began to browse the local news. As a businessman, Jack paid close attention to local news because there might be business opportunities hidden within.
"Oh? The preliminaries of the selection tournament are over? Youth is truly a wonderful thing."
Seeing the pictures of the young boys and girls commanding their Pokémon in battle, a smile appeared on Jack's face as memories were stirred. He recalled that he had also participated in a similar competition back in the day. Unfortunately, he hadn't achieved any significant ranking.
"Leavanny~"
Just then, a slender Pokémon with a beige body, bright red eyes, two crescent-shaped antennae on its head, and a body wrapped in clothes tailored from leaves, with leaf-ends on its hands shaped like blades with semicircular notches, brought a cup of coffee and placed it in front of Jack.
"Thank you, Leavanny."
Jack said thanks and quickly put his feet down.
Leavanny, a Bug/Grass dual-type Pokémon, could use the sharp blades on its hands and the sticky silk from its mouth to sew leaves into clothes. Jack's decision to enter the fashion industry was greatly influenced by this Leavanny.
"Leavanny~"
A smile appeared on Leavanny's face, like that of a virtuous wife. This could be seen from its name. According to the Pokédex description, Leavanny is an extremely gentle Pokémon with a strong maternal instinct. It takes care of Pokémon eggs or young Pokémon and often provides small Pokémon with leaf clothes it has personally tailored.
"Ah… that's the stuff."
After taking a satisfying sip of coffee, the slightly bitter taste instantly washed away his fatigue. Jack felt like he had come back to life.
Continuing to browse the news, Jack saw a picture of a young man wearing a baseball cap, high-fiving a Drilbur, seemingly celebrating a victory. Jack paused for a moment and lamented, "This kid is so handsome, why is he wearing such an ugly hat? He has no fashion sense at all. What a waste of that face."
When it came to fashion trends, Jack had his own philosophy. It was clear that the young man in the picture had violated his fashion principles and fell into the category of "tacky."
"If he were wearing our new J&L hat, he would be handsome enough to break the heavens! Paired with that face, it would be absolutely perfect."
At first, Jack felt it was a pity, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the young man in the picture seemed to be a perfect fit for his brand's image. Young, handsome, a Pokémon trainer—if paired with his brand's clothing, it would definitely make people's eyes light up, and he would evolve from a handsome guy to a super handsome guy!
"He's also a contestant who made it to the main tournament? Is he from First High? Or Second High? Or another school?"
Jack's eyebrows shot up. He felt he had come up with a good idea. He sent the news link and the photo to a high school student who worked part-time at his store and left a message: "Little Lee, find a way to get this person's basic information and contact details as soon as possible. If you succeed, I'll give you half a month's salary as a bonus."
Boss Jack had activated his money power.
…
The day's preliminaries were over, and the official list of the top thirty-two who had advanced was posted. The discussion on the forum exploded, and posts were constantly being updated.
"I've tallied the top thirty-two of the selection tournament. Only 1 from Third High advanced, 5 from Second High, and the remaining 26 are all from First High. What are your thoughts, everyone?" (smirk.JPG)
"First High is awesome~~ (voice crack)!"
"I feel like the top four of Seaside County are going to be monopolized by our First High!"
"Brother upstairs, be more confident. Please remove the words 'I feel like'!" (I'm so awesome.JPG)
…
As the high school with the best student resources, First High's academic achievements had always been far ahead of other schools. The results of this selection tournament also confirmed this. So when the list of those who advanced to the main tournament was posted, it once again became a festival for the students of First High. Although students from other schools tried to argue back, they lacked the confidence to make a decisive impact. The flame wars were only happening on a small scale.
"Three minutes! I want this handsome guy's information!"
Just then, someone posted Basalt's picture. The entire thread was immediately derailed.
"Ehh~~ Who is this handsome guy? Looking at the photo, it seems to have been taken at the gymnasium, right? Could he also be a contestant in this competition?"
"OMG, he's killing me! It looks like he's a contestant. Too bad he's probably not from our First High, otherwise I would definitely have an impression of him."
"Not from Third High either, confirmed!"
"After eliminating all possibilities, there's only one possibility left. He… is from Second High!" (Smart as me.JPG)
"Upstairs, you're an idiot!" (scorn.JPG)
"His name is Basalt, from Seaside County Second High. I lost to him this afternoon. He's so strong… P.S. he seems to be even more handsome in person. I've observed him up close, hehe!"
"Wow! So jealous~~~"
"So strong and so amazing, how can there be such a 'perfect' boy in this world?"
…
"What's the use of being handsome? When he runs into one of the favorite contestants, he'll definitely get his ass kicked."
A male user, seeing the thread getting more and more off-topic, became disgruntled and tried to discredit Basalt, but all he got in return was a barrage of insults from the girls, almost driving him into depression.
A photo of a handsome guy had instantly brought out countless lurking girls, who all followed the post and left comments. The competition discussion thread had instantly turned into a large-scale fan meeting. With the help of the students from Second High, especially Basalt's classmates, his information was instantly leaked. As it turns out, there are no walls in the world that are completely airtight.
Basalt himself never would have thought that one day, his information would become the bragging capital for the young girls in his class online.
Ring-ring-ring!
At a little past ten in the evening, just as Basalt had finished his shower and came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, he heard his Pokédex ring. He picked it up and saw that it was an unknown number.
"Who is it this late at night?"
Basalt frowned but answered the call anyway.
"Hello, may I ask if this is student Basalt?"
"Who is this?"
"Student Basalt, hello. I am Jack, the person in charge of the fashion brand J&L. We feel that your image and charisma are a perfect fit for our brand and would like to invite you to be our J&L brand's official critic…"
Jack's voice was very gentle, but before he could finish his sentence, the call was disconnected.
"Official critic? I might as well be the brand ambassador," Basalt scoffed, tossing the Pokédex onto the bed and shaking his head. "Are the scam tactics in the Pokémon world all this ridiculous?"
It's not like I like to sing, dance, and rap!
So damn ridiculous!