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Chapter 5: Stuck and... Echoing Screams
🕑 Added 2025-08-09 16:45:04 +0000 UTCWith the level advantage once again, this battle's outcome was naturally no different.
—Treecko was directly defeated by Torchic's two Embers.
In fact, since both Pokémon had leveled up, this time Torchic's single Ember took away 2/3 of Treecko's HP, even more extreme than before.
Watching the computer screen go black again, her character reappearing in the Pokémon Center, and the money counter in the upper right turning to -1000 yen.
In Cynthia's stream, viewers started spamming the chat again.
【Holy crap, now I get what that guy meant when he said "definitely won't fall behind"... turns out he's always one level higher than the player!】
【This game developer is such a troll, how can they make NPCs level up with the player??】
【Hahahaha, the money went to negative 1000, now the streamer's completely bankrupt】
As the chat exploded, Cynthia paid no attention to it.
At this moment, she had entered deep contemplation.
Obviously, the game developer had anticipated the player's possible responses and completely blocked off the path to winning through leveling up.
In that case, she'd have to solve this opponent through other means!
The biggest problem that Treecko faced was the type disadvantage.
The massive damage from double effectiveness was completely unbearable for Treecko's frail body.
And to solve the type disadvantage...
Thinking this, Cynthia's eyes suddenly lit up.
Wait, when she left, didn't Professor Birch give her 5 Poké Balls?
She just needed to use those Poké Balls to catch a Pokémon in the nearby grass that could counter Torchic - wouldn't that solve the problem?
But having said that, Pokémon obviously couldn't be caught willy-nilly.
During her gameplay, she'd already checked the bag interface and learned some rule hints.
Players not only had level caps in each region, but also limits on how many Pokémon they could hold simultaneously.
For example, right now, her Pokémon limit was "2."
The game's maximum Pokémon limit could only reach "15."
Moreover, once you obtained a Pokémon, there was no way to release it - you had to keep that Pokémon until the game was completed.
For a game, such requirements were indeed quite hardcore.
However, such rules made Cynthia feel somewhat approving.
Even in a game, these Pokémon were companions fighting alongside you, not data to be casually discarded after use!
That said, under these circumstances, she had to carefully plan each Pokémon's position in her team.
She needed to ensure the next Pokémon she caught could play an important role in future adventures while also helping her pass her rival's test!
Cynthia began quickly recalling all the Pokémon she'd encountered along the way...
But just then, a sudden ringtone interrupted her thoughts.
—Her phone on the computer desk was ringing.
She picked up the phone, glanced at the contact name on the screen, and immediately answered.
A voice only she could hear came through the phone:
"Miss Cynthia, sorry, I know you're on vacation, but the Pokémon in the Distortion World just started getting agitated again for some reason. We suspect a new spirit tide will appear, and the Distortion World entrance in Veilstone City needs your support!"
Hearing this, Cynthia's expression changed slightly, and she nodded.
"Alright, understood. I'll head over right away."
Then she turned to address her stream viewers with an apologetic tone:
"Sorry, everyone, I have some matters to handle, so today's stream ends here."
"But when I'm free, I'll be back streaming as soon as possible. Please wait patiently."
After saying this, she directly cut the stream signal.
On the black screen, chat messages appeared.
【No—honey!!】
【Ahhhhh right when it was getting good!!】
【Probably some League business?】
【I think so too. I heard the Distortion World situation hasn't been peaceful lately, and it might be related to that.】
【No choice, gotta wait for the streamer to come back. Dispersing, dispersing.】
Some viewers in the stream had already left to watch other streamers, but just then, one comment woke everyone up:
【Brothers, I'm gonna go buy this game and try it!】
【Oh crap, right, we can play it too!】
【Looks pretty fun, let's go for it!】
A batch of people, through Cynthia's stream, had developed a strong interest in Pokémon Emerald and went straight to buy and play the game.
With such high quality and looking so novel, they naturally didn't mind spending money to try it out.
But another group expressed different opinions.
【Those planning to buy must be really rich, 288 yen is too expensive, I'll wait and see.】
【True, I don't even have that much for weekly living expenses, can't afford it at all.】
【288 yen for a pixel game, though it looks pretty good so far, what if it gets worse later? I'm not rushing to buy.】
As the last comment said, 288 yen was indeed quite high for ordinary people - buying a pixel game required serious consideration.
But even so, after Cynthia's stream, "Pokémon: Emerald" sales had quietly begun soaring.
After all, even though it was a weekday, over 200,000 people watched her stream. If even 1% of viewers were willing to buy the game, that was still 2,000 sales!
Meanwhile, above Twinleaf Town, beneath the clouds.
A deep blue figure streaked across the sky like lightning, rushing into the distance.
It was a dragon-type Pokémon with a bipedal, shark-like appearance, possessing a streamlined yet powerful body - Garchomp!
Its body was like deep blue armor, with red stripes across its abdomen and golden scales covering its legs, resembling a fully armed ancient warrior, radiating a powerful aura and pressure.
If you looked carefully, you could see someone sitting on this Garchomp's back.
That person was none other than Cynthia!
According to League regulations, to avoid accidents, using Pokémon to carry humans for flight was prohibited in city airspace, but as Champion, she naturally had such privileges.
Moreover, she truly had urgent business to handle.
At this moment, Cynthia gazed at the distant sky, seemingly pondering something.
She was about to face some dangerous Pokémon, but right now she was thinking about that game!
Because those Distortion World Pokémon weren't really dangerous to her, but that game had genuinely stumped her.
The game's NPCs actually leveled up with her?
And if even the first checkpoint in the tutorial village was this challenging, how strong would the opponents this game prepared for her later be?
Thinking this, Cynthia couldn't help feeling more anticipation.
She hadn't encountered such a sense of challenge in who knows how long!
Speaking of which, she was becoming increasingly interested in that game's creator.
Unfortunately, she currently had no way to contact them.
Otherwise, she'd definitely want to get to know such an interesting creator properly.
At the same time, she realized a problem:
Given this game's quality, popularity was just a matter of time, and if someone finished the game before her and got the creator's contact information, that would be troublesome.
Quick victory in the Distortion World, then hurry back to complete the game!
Cynthia made her decision internally.
Just then, her phone rang again.
Unlike usual, the screen showed no number or contact name, but displayed a string of garbled characters!
However, seeing this garbled text, Cynthia first froze, then showed delight, immediately answering the call.
From the other end, a somewhat lazy voice came:
"Hello, Cynthia-sis, long time no see, did you miss me?"
Cynthia still seemed somewhat surprised.
"You got out so quickly this time?"
"What, don't want me out?"
The voice joked.
"This time was indeed smoother. The weird creatures in this 'Black Hole' were fewer, so we came out early after handling them."
"Ah, so nice, I thought it'd take at least two months."
Hearing this, Cynthia immediately said:
"Perfect timing! Can you help me find someone?"
The voice immediately perked up with interest:
"Oh? Who caught our Sinnoh Champion's attention?"
"League fugitive? Dark underworld figure?"
"...Or some mad scientist who went down the wrong path?"
Cynthia denied:
"None of those."
"I'm looking for a game developer."
At this, the phone went silent.
"...?"
After a while, he spoke helplessly:
"Cynthia-sis, you should know my database and hacking skills shouldn't be used to find game developers to send them death threats, right?"
Cynthia realized her words were inappropriate and quickly added:
"It's like this - he might have information clues about Rayquaza."
"I don't know if he's an individual developer or a studio, though I think the latter is more likely, so I want you to help me investigate."
The voice immediately agreed:
"Ah, you should've said so earlier!"
"Alright, I'll help you look into it."
Cynthia said sincerely:
"Thank you, I'll treat you to dinner later."
The voice chuckled:
"Thanks aren't necessary, we go way back - life-and-death friendship and all."
"But I'll still take that dinner - that steakhouse at Canalave City docks, you're paying."
"Hanging up now, I'll contact you if there's news."
The call ended. Hearing the dial tone, Cynthia also put down her phone and sighed in relief.
With this person's help, finding that developer shouldn't be a problem.
But one thing at a time...
She still had to play the game!
She'd take first place!
"Garchomp, accelerate."
"Roar!"
A pale blue light with a sonic boom flashed by and vanished into the horizon.
Six hours later.
Kanto Region, Viridian City.
"Ahh, slept so well."
Kairos opened his eyes in his rental apartment, sat up, and stretched comfortably.
He instinctively opened his phone to check the time.
Instead, he was stunned by the crazy stream of notifications on his screen.
【Joy Gaming Platform reminds you: Your game "Pokémon: Emerald" sold 1,823 copies today!】
This number was still constantly increasing.
Seeing this, Kairos was completely dumbfounded.
Huh?
It hasn't even been a full day since release. How did it sell so much?
When he finished making the game and before uploading, he needed to set a sale price.
Initially, he wanted to price it cheaply, since this was his first game and still a test version. He wasn't looking for profit, mainly wanting to harvest more emotion points and build reputation.
But the system prompted him that the minimum price had to be 288 yen.
Kairos was stunned then, since 288 yen was already quite expensive - a level where many players might not buy it even if they liked it.
But no matter what he said, the system insisted on this price, saying something about "you get what you pay for." Kairos could only reluctantly compromise and price it at 288 yen.
With this launch price, he'd mentally prepared himself before sleeping that he might wake up to zero sales.
But now...
Looking at the sales number about to break 2,000, Kairos was completely confused.
What's going on??
Are players in this world really this wealthy?
As he puzzled over this, another golden notification suddenly appeared before his eyes:
【Ding! While the host was sleeping, you gained a large amount of emotion points from: Disdain, Shock, Anticipation, Joy - totaling 720 points!】
【Including points from livestream viewers: 320 points】
【Points from game purchasers: 100 points】
【Surprise and anticipation points from important character "Sinnoh Champion—Cynthia": 300 points!】
Cynthia, livestream?
Kairos immediately understood.
No wonder he woke up to such high sales!
Turns out Cynthia streamed his game!
—That explained everything!!
But what's with his game? How did Cynthia notice it?
The Sinnoh region Champion actually plays games in her spare time?
Kairos pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly.
Whatever, he'd investigate that later.
Regardless, this was undoubtedly a great start.
From the sales and emotional point of feedback, "Emerald's" content had clearly initially attracted this stream's audience, including Cynthia herself!
Now, let's see what new game development modules these points could be exchanged for, to further improve the game.
He still had many ideas that he hadn't implemented yet due to insufficient modules.
Just as Kairos was about to open the system panel...
He suddenly felt an eerie cold wind, along with something, attacking from behind!
Hair standing on end and blood running cold, Kairos quickly turned around!
—But saw nothing.
"Huh? Am I still groggy from sleep?"
Scratching his head, Kairos muttered to himself in confusion.
"I'll wash my face in a bit."
However, the next moment, when he turned around...
He came face to face with a pair of dark green little eyes.
And a ghostly pale blue candle flame was burning eerily.
In the rental apartment, an explosive scream rang out, echoing endlessly.
"HOLY CRAP IT'S A GHOST AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
