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Chapter 8: Iono's Gaming Experience
🕑 Added 2025-08-09 17:09:46 +0000 UTCEven though she had realized this, Iono knew there was no turning back. She’d already bought the game and made promises to her viewers—there was no way out now.
She let out a quiet sigh and refocused on the game before her.
"Is it the classic WASD movement controls?"
Iono tested the key bindings and controlled her character to step out of the truck. The scene that appeared before her made her eyes widen slightly.
She'd played plenty of pixel games before, but the graphics in this one were truly exquisite—you could honestly call them a work of art!
The chat filled with amazed comments at that moment.
【The pixel art style is actually this good? Are you sure this is made by an indie developer?】
【This looks better than most games in my library... no wonder this game costs so much!】
【But if it's just pretty graphics, that doesn’t mean much, right? After all, what matters most in a game is whether it's fun to play!】
Following the game’s tutorial, Iono quickly completed the opening storyline—choosing a Pokémon from the grass above town to help Professor Birch defeat a Poochyena.
After brief consideration, she chose Torchic.
When she returned to the lab with Professor Birch, he offered to give her the starter Pokémon. Then, a notification popped up on Iono’s screen.
【Notice: Smart Interaction feature unlocked!】
【Players can press "E" to use voice commands or text input to interact. Any character or Pokémon in the game can be interacted with.】
Seeing this notification, Iono raised an eyebrow slightly.
Oh? They’re actually going for it??
But honestly, that seems pretty unlikely...
With a "might as well try it and see" attitude, she pressed "E" while facing Professor Birch and spoke into her microphone.
"Hello, Professor Birch. I’d like to have an Electric-type Pokémon as my starter. Would that be possible?"
Iono didn’t really expect this request to work out.
Obviously, the Pokémon selection in this game was already predetermined—otherwise, why would they have just presented her with three starter options to choose from?
However, what happened next caught her completely off guard. Professor Birch actually nodded and responded:
"Oh? You like Electric-type Pokémon? You should have said so earlier! I actually have a special Pokémon here."
"But if you want to receive her, you’ll need to tell me why you like Electric-type Pokémon."
Iono froze completely.
"Huh? There's actually AI?"
She thought it over and shook her head slightly.
No... it must have triggered some keyword, right? Maybe the developer set "Electric-type Pokémon" as a trigger phrase, causing Professor Birch to activate this dialogue.
But even so, being able to pull off something like this meant the game’s creator really put their heart into it.
From what she could see so far, this game was performing way better than she’d expected.
Meanwhile, the chat shared similar thoughts to Iono’s.
【These are probably pre-programmed responses, right? If you prepare enough answers, it's basically AI-lite, haha】
【+1】
【But still, this isn’t true AI coverage—this is false advertising! You could totally sue them for this!】
At the same time, facing the question Professor Birch had just asked in the game, Iono’s expression suddenly became serious.
Even though this was a virtual game, her love for Electric-type Pokémon was real.
She pressed "E" and answered word by word:
"Because I think Electric-type Pokémon are full of enthusiasm, with lightning-fast speed and power. Being with them gives me endless energy!"
However, Professor Birch’s next response came with the sound of applause:
"Excellent! I never expected you to have such passion for Electric-type Pokémon!"
"Actually, I feel the same way about Electric-types. And just between you and me, my favorite Pokémon is Pikachu—I think their lightning bolt-shaped tails are just too adorable to resist."
At that moment, hearing the voice from the game, Iono suddenly realized something.
Wait a minute!
If these responses were also pre-programmed by the developer... then they’d have to be incredibly thorough!
Plus, for some reason, during this conversation, she didn’t feel like she was talking to a fake game NPC at all—it felt more like she was speaking with a real Pokémon professor.
Could it be that these NPCs actually have autonomous consciousness?
Her mind raced as she thought this through. The best way to verify this would be to ask a completely random question that had nothing to do with the game itself!
A question the developer would never think to prepare for, and that ordinary pre-programmed answers couldn’t handle!
Having made up her mind, she immediately pressed "E."
"Professor Birch, changing topics completely—do you think miso soup or curry rice tastes better? Could you tell me your reasoning?"
As soon as she said this, Professor Birch’s expression in the game seemed to pause for a moment, followed by a somewhat puzzled voice:
"Huh? Why would you suddenly ask something like that?"
"...But if I had to answer, I’d say curry tastes better. And potatoes and carrots are essential ingredients."
"Also, I don’t like adding chicken—I prefer beef. That’s what makes the most fragrant curry!"
This response made Iono’s eyes widen in shock.
It’s actually real!
The NPCs in this game really have achieved AI coverage!
There’s no way they could answer her question like that otherwise.
But how is this even possible?
How could a pixel game that’s only a few hundred megabytes pull off something like this??
At the same time, viewers were starting to realize something was off, too.
【Holy crap, wait—this actually seems like real AI?】
【Yeah, if these were preset answers and keywords, there’s no way they could be this detailed!】
【Damn, they’re actually for real??】
【Where’s that person who said they’d sue for false advertising? Come out here!】
While Iono and the livestream viewers were all amazed, Professor Birch’s voice in the game drew everyone’s attention back.
"Alright, getting back to the point—since you want an Electric-type Pokémon, I just thought about it, and there actually is a suitable starter in the lab."
He moved to a machine and operated it briefly. A Pokéball marked with lightning was immediately transported over.
"Take a look at this little guy—do you like what you see?"
Professor Birch opened the Pokéball, and in a flash of white light, a Pokémon covered in pale white wool like a sheep appeared before him.
Though it was pixelated, it still looked incredibly lifelike and adorable.
This was a Mareep, an Electric-type Pokémon. Despite its cute appearance, all the wool on its body could store electricity, which it could discharge all at once when necessary!
The moment Iono saw Mareep, her eyes lit up.
This was a Pokémon she’d never trained or encountered before!
"I’ll take him! Thank you, Professor!"
After leaving the lab with her starter Pokémon, Iono tried talking to several NPCs around town, which completely confirmed her earlier conclusion—this game had indeed achieved full AI coverage.
Even including the Pokémon!
When Iono typed the command "pet the wool on Mareep’s head," her character in the game actually crouched down and began petting Mareep.
Mareep closed its eyes and made happy sounds, enjoying Iono’s petting.
It even ran over to nuzzle her ankles, with heart symbols appearing above its head.
The chat exploded again at this scene.
【Holy shit!! This actually works?? With this kind of interaction, what’s the difference from reality?】
【Didn’t Dream Factory make a Pokémon interaction game before? I feel like this Emerald game’s Pokémon interactions are even better than that one.】
【Are we sure this is a pixel indie game?】
【This level of freedom is insane!!】
Having plenty of gaming experience, Iono naturally understood what this kind of game performance meant.
She’d already made her judgment—this definitely wasn’t an indie game from a small studio, but a game secretly created by a major gaming company on the scale of Dream Factory!
Although she didn’t know why they were being so secretive about it, she had to admit she was getting more and more excited about this game’s content!
Next, she spent a full two minutes at home petting the sheep, then left Littleroot Town to begin her journey.
Unlike Cynthia’s previous playthrough, this time she didn’t battle her "rival" at the top of the upper route. Instead, she simply went to find him and brought him back to get their Pokédexes from the Professor together.
By the way, Iono named her rival "Banana King."
Viewers in the livestream who had watched Cynthia’s previous stream immediately sent questioning comments when they saw this.
【What’s going on? I was waiting for this rival to show the streamer what real cruelty looks like, but suddenly they’re not fighting?】
【Exactly! Did they secretly patch this in an update? Damn, I was waiting for this!】
These viewers naturally looked forward to seeing the streamer struggle when hitting difficult parts.
But they’d been eagerly waiting for Iono to face the rival again, and now "Banana King" wasn’t even fighting her!
Having received the Pokédex and Running Shoes from the Professor, Iono opened her map and headed toward the next city, wearing a somewhat disappointed expression.
"Even though this game has turn-based combat, I think it’s pretty interesting."
"I wonder when I’ll get to battle a trainer."
But just as she finished speaking, a gray-brown mist suddenly exploded from the grass around the corner ahead, completely obscuring the entire screen.
Three silhouettes gradually emerged from the mist.
"Huh?? Is this some kind of easter egg?"
Iono was curious for a moment.
The next moment, uplifting and dynamic orchestral music suddenly rang in her ears.
This was followed by a male voice.
"I think I just heard someone asking a question, didn’t I?"
From the mist, a blue-haired man in uniform stepped forward, revealing himself with a rose in his mouth.
"Since you asked so sincerely!!"
Following him, a red-haired woman strode forward, flipping her long hair with incredible flair:
"We’ll be generous enough to answer you!"
Against a brilliant galactic background, the two figures danced alternately, like an epic theatrical performance!
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"We're Team Rocket, blasting off through the galaxy!"
"White hole—a white tomorrow awaits us!"
"That’s right, meow~"
A Meowth with a gold coin on its head popped out, showing a smug smile as it delivered the final line.
At that moment, everyone in the livestream fell completely silent!
Several seconds later, comments flooded the chat.
【？？？？】
【What is this??】
【Uh, why do I feel like laughing but also kind of impressed?】
【Wait, Team Rocket? Isn’t that the huge criminal organization from Kanto? The one the League crushed two years ago and hasn’t been heard from since!】
【Are we sure this is Team Rocket? They seem more like comedians to me.】
【Tsk tsk, this creator actually dared to use Team Rocket as NPCs. Should I say they’re creative, or just really bold...】
No wonder everyone reacted this way.
Although Team Rocket had kept a low profile in recent years under League pressure, they were still the world’s largest criminal organization, bar none.
In gaming history, no one had dared to put them in a game as villains, because without a doubt, this would be seen as a provocation to Team Rocket!
Yet this game directly inserted three such characters, calling them Team Rocket members.
—Could these three really be considered Team Rocket members?
Also, wasn’t the company that made this game afraid of Team Rocket’s retaliation?
However, at that moment, Iono’s attention was focused elsewhere.
Her eyes lit up as if she’d seen some rare treasure!
"Wow! Did that Meowth just talk?"
As soon as she said this, the chat snapped back to attention.
【Oh yeah! That Meowth can talk!】
【What’s the big deal? It’s just a game—totally normal for Pokémon to talk in games.】
【Exactly, it’s not like there could really be a talking Meowth in real life, right? If there is, I’ll eat my hat!】
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in a dark underground warehouse.
"Achoo!!"
A Meowth sitting on a couch suddenly sneezed violently.
He wiped his face with his paw, looking pleased.
"Huh?"
"...Could it be that the boss finally remembered me, meow?"
