People from another world would probably find it hard to imagine just how terrified someone could be of a Metapod that was merely hardening itself.
Even Chen Mo—who had received professional training—found it difficult to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Everyone, there's no need to worry about me. Metapod is a type of monster with virtually no offensive capabilities. If you don't believe me, just take a closer look."
Sure enough.
The viewers soon realized that as the light surrounding Metapod gradually faded, nothing else seemed to happen at all.
[What just happened?]
[All bark and no bite. That scared the hell out of me.]
[The streamer's this confident… could this 'popularization' thing actually be real?]
"Since we're already here, just like I said at the start of the stream, I'll use this 'Metapod' to give everyone a simple introduction to its species traits."
As one of the earliest, veteran Pokémon to appear in the anime, Chen Mo could easily talk about Metapod even without using [Eye of Detection]. Still, since the skill he'd freeloaded from the system had no usage limit, he subconsciously activated it on the Metapod anyway.
[Species: Metapod]
Type: Bug
Ability: Shed Skin
Base Stats: 205
(HP: 50, Atk: 20, Def: 55, Sp. Atk: 25, Sp. Def: 25, Speed: 30)
Known Moves: Harden
Current Emotion: Wary, nervous
Physical Condition: Perfect
Affinity: 0 (It does not know you)
…
A flood of information poured into his mind. At this point, Chen Mo could say he had a thorough understanding of the Metapod before him, as well as its entire evolutionary line.
After organizing the information slightly, Chen Mo spoke in a calm voice.
"It's actually pretty fascinating. The Metapod species is a kind of monster that shares similarities with butterflies from our world."
"In their juvenile stage, they're a monster called Caterpie. In terms of appearance, they look a lot like butterfly larvae—caterpillars—but compared to ordinary caterpillars, Caterpie has one very distinctive feature: a red, Y-shaped antenna on its head."
"Caterpie usually feed on leaves. Once they've absorbed enough energy, they spin silk around themselves and enter a cocoon state, transforming into what you see now—this crescent-shaped, cocoon-like Metapod—while they wait for the day they'll undergo a complete metamorphosis."
"In the monster ecosystem, Caterpie sits at the very bottom of the food chain and has almost no offensive power. And Metapod, which evolves from Caterpie, is even more extreme—it only has a single self-defense move called Harden, which is exactly that green-glowing move you just saw."
As soon as Chen Mo finished speaking, the livestream exploded. Countless comments flooded across the screen as the stream's popularity skyrocketed.
[?????]
[Holy crap, you actually know this stuff?!]
[The streamer sounds so convincing, I almost believed it.]
[To be fair, it actually makes a lot of sense.]
[If it's like butterflies in our world, then after Metapod breaks out of its cocoon, does it also turn into some kind of butterfly monster?]
"Some of you guessed right," Chen Mo said with a slight smile. "After breaking out of the cocoon, Metapod evolves into a monster called Butterfree. In terms of appearance, it does share many similarities with butterflies."
He paused briefly, smiling at the camera.
"Isn't that amazing?"
[I don't believe it. I won't believe it unless the streamer finds a Butterfree and shows it to us.]
[A butterfly from another world? That actually sounds really interesting. Streamer, can you talk more about it?]
[No way, no way—people aren't seriously believing this guy's nonsense, right?]
[Breaking out of the cocoon into a butterfly… that actually sounds reasonable!]
Although many viewers still scoffed at what Chen Mo was saying, when he checked the system, he found that his Knowledge Points had already climbed into the triple digits—his first breakthrough from zero.
And since Knowledge Points were only generated when the audience developed a certain level of trust in the information being presented, this meant that some viewers genuinely believed his explanation.
Of course, that also owed a lot to Metapod's "contribution."
Chen Mo looked toward the Metapod hiding in the grass, slowly inching away as if trying to sneak off.
Even without using [Eye of Detection], Chen Mo could sense through aura that Metapod was extremely frightened at this moment.
From Metapod's perspective, a human had suddenly barged into its territory, disturbed its life, and then stood there explaining things about it nonstop. Anyone in its place would be scared.
"Do-lang…"
Noticing Chen Mo's gaze, Metapod clearly grew even more afraid, its wriggling escape becoming noticeably faster.
"Clearly, we've disturbed this little guy."
Chen Mo didn't stop Metapod from leaving. He gently withdrew the hand that had parted the grass.
"Metapod gets its name because its shell is as hard as steel. But compared to that shell, its body inside is actually extremely soft. That's why most of the time, it stays perfectly still, choosing to endure external threats silently. We've already bothered this little one long enough, so we won't continue troubling it."
"By the way, I'll add one more thing. Metapod evolves very quickly. From what I know, it's among the fastest-evolving monsters out there. Under normal circumstances, it only takes about a week for Metapod to evolve into the beautiful Butterfree. So, if we ever run into that little guy again, it might already have taken on an entirely new and beautiful form."
It was just an offhand remark from Chen Mo, but somehow, the viewers found themselves looking forward to it—how Metapod would evolve into Butterfree, and what that Butterfree would actually look like.
Of course, everyone also knew that the forest was vast. The chances of running into it again were slim, and even if they did, it might not be the same one.
[Why don't you take that Metapod home and raise it, streamer? It doesn't seem dangerous to humans at all compared to other monsters.]
[Yeah, yeah! Take it home and livestream the whole evolution process!]
[So monsters aren't all harmful after all. The more I look at Metapod, the cuter it seems.]
After this round of popularization, the livestream's attitude toward Pokémon seemed to have shifted—if only slightly—at least when it came to Metapod's species.
It was an excellent start.
Chen Mo smiled sincerely.
"We won't be raising Metapod. That one was already clearly terrified of me. Forcibly taking it back wouldn't be appropriate."
"However, if you're not too repulsed by bug-type creatures, you could consider raising a Caterpie instead. Among monsters, it's probably one of the most beginner-friendly choices."