18

The Ponyta on screen was indeed a Ponyta.

However, it looked much smaller and more delicate than a typical one. Apart from its hooves, its entire body was white, and it lacked the signature flaming mane that all Ponyta were supposed to have.

[This Ponyta isn't even fully grown—it's still a bald baby!]

[Looks like it was just born, right?]

[Polly? That's the name? Really?]

Officer Tan glanced at the chat, smiling but not responding.

It wasn't that he didn't want to answer, but rather that he couldn't reveal too much to the streamer.

There was a reason he had brought this Ponyta for appraisal—if it were ordinary, he wouldn't have needed to ask at all.

A few other officers were watching the stream from behind the camera, struggling to hold back their laughter.

Among them, however, was a beautiful female officer, who was the actual owner of the Ponyta.

Unlike her grinning colleagues, who were waiting to see the amateur streamer fail and get scolded by Officer Tan, she was genuinely hoping that Ye Yinchuan could identify what was wrong with her Ponyta.

"Well, kid? See anything?"

Officer Tan's smile held deeper meaning.

He had no ill intentions—he simply wanted to see if Ye Yinchuan was truly as skilled as his recorded streams suggested.

If the streamer failed to find anything, then his previous performances were likely scripted, and Officer Tan would lecture him again.

To put it plainly—Officer Tan suspected that the stream was staged, but he had no proof, so he decided to test it himself.

But if Ye Yinchuan really had the skills to identify the issue—and even suggest a solution—then it would be a win-win for everyone.

"Officer Tan, can you bring the Ponyta closer? I need a good look."

Ye Yinchuan focused his gaze, fully aware of the stakes at play.

Not only was Officer Tan testing him, but this official collaboration was a double-edged sword.

If he handled the situation well, it would be huge exposure, using an official account to boost his credibility.

But if he failed, or worse—made mistakes, he would be destroyed by public backlash.

The reputation and trust he had barely begun to build could be completely erased by this one interaction.

"Hmm?"

Ye Yinchuan narrowed his eyes, studying the Ponyta closely.

[Stop pretending, streamer. This time, the official's testing you—there's no script to follow!]

[I bet he's just thinking of a way to fake his way out!]

[I don't know how good the streamer is, but I do know Officer Tan—this man is a smiling tiger, a professional trap-setter!]

[I swear, the last streamer he tricked had their channel shut down for three years!]

Many of the new viewers tuning in didn't know Ye Yinchuan's actual skills—some were Officer Tan's fans, drawn in by his reputation.

As a public network ambassador for the Pokémon Protection Bureau, Officer Tan had frequent livestreams, often exposing misinformation or staged content.

His humorous and friendly demeanor masked a ruthless ability to trap people in their own contradictions.

A regular Ponyta would have a fiery mane running from its head to its tail, as well as flames on its legs.

But this one was completely hairless—a bald Ponyta.

Only newborn Ponyta, within their first hour of life, would look like this, and they quickly grew their flame mane within that hour.

This particular Ponyta, though young, was clearly older than an hour—yet it still lacked flames.

As the system interface appeared, Ye Yinchuan's confusion began to clear up.

This Ponyta was indeed different.

[Pokémon: Ponyta] Level: 13 Type: Psychic Gender: Female Base Stats: B-Rank (410) Individual Value: A-Rank (164) Ability: Run Away Nature: Naive Moves: Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Confusion Status: Unsettled Evolution Line: Ponyta → Rapidash Special Trait: Mutation

"This is a mutated Ponyta!"

Ye Yinchuan's heart skipped a beat.

Ponyta were always Fire-type.

Yet this one was Psychic-type—which completely explained why it had no flame mane!

"A Psychic-type Ponyta… isn't that the Galarian form?"

But in this world, it was classified as a mutation?

And it didn't even look exactly like the Galarian variant from his memory…

Ye Yinchuan hesitated for a moment.

He wasn't sure how to explain this to Officer Tan and the audience—this was his first time encountering something like this.

In this world, mutated Pokémon were extremely rare.

They were similar to Shiny Pokémon, though more extreme—in fact, Shiny Pokémon were considered a mild form of mutation.

However, Shiny Pokémon only had cosmetic differences.

Mutated Pokémon, like this one, could have completely different types and traits.

In a way, mutated Pokémon were even rarer than Shinies.

That said, their value—just like Shinies—depended on how useful they were.

A cool-looking or powerful mutation could be priceless, but a weak or ugly mutation might hold no value at all.

The female officer behind the scenes sighed.

This Ponyta had already been examined by professionals—

The results?

Completely healthy.

But for some reason, it wouldn't grow its flame mane and couldn't learn Fire-type moves.

It seemed that putting faith in a random amateur streamer was wishful thinking after all.

"Well, kid? You've been looking at it for a while. See anything yet?"

[Streamer's been "analyzing" for a while… but I think he's just sleeping with his eyes open.]

[Or maybe he already ran away mentally.]

[Dude must've just replayed everything he learned in his life, and still came up blank.]

Finally, Ye Yinchuan spoke.

"Officer Tan… I see it now."

He took a deep breath.

"This Ponyta is a one-in-a-million mutated Pokémon."

[Wait, wait, wait. We just saw a Shiny Nidoran, and now you're telling me this is a mutated Ponyta?]

[The streamer might not know about Pokémon, but he sure knows about drama!]

[LMAO, if you had just said it was a newborn or malnourished, I would've believed you.**]

Officer Tan's expression shifted.

He turned toward his colleagues, exchanging brief glances.

Just like the chat, they hadn't expected this answer.

Most of them had assumed that Ye Yinchuan would fail to find anything—or that he'd simply say, "It's too young to grow flames yet."

But calling it a mutation?

That was unexpected.

"Alright, kid. Keep talking."

Officer Tan sat up straight, his expression more serious.

"What exactly is this mutation? And how did you figure it out?"

["Keep talking, kid—I'm recording this."]

[Don't tell me… being bald is a mutation now?]

[Wait… so it's not a baby, and it's actually different?]

(End of Chapter.)