"This is bad. My levels are nowhere near where they need to be. That fight with Wally already had me sweating, and if the Gym Leader here comes close to that, I'll just get steamrolled. I need to grind first."
Iono glanced at the map. There were trainers scattered up and down both sides of the road.
"Even if this is New Game Plus, the randos at the start should be total pushovers. Their levels shouldn't be anything crazy. Perfect. I'll use them to warm up and get a feel for where my team's at."
With that, she steered her character toward a familiar-looking kid loitering by the roadside.
"Alright, let's see what you've got."
Iono tapped on the trainer.
Battle triggered!
The screen flashed white, and the kid tossed out his Pokéball.
"Go, my ace!"
Iono was already doing the math in her head.
New Game Plus or not, this was still the first town, and her opponent was just some random kid in shorts. Whatever his ace was, it had to be some level thirty-ish Mightyena or Linoone, right?
But when the Pokémon landed and its name and level appeared on screen, Iono's smile died completely.
It was a tall, dark-type Pokémon with an absurdly over-the-top hairstyle and eyes that just begged to be punched.
Lv. 75 Grimmsnarl.
Iono: "....."
She rubbed her eyes.
Lv. 75. That was real.
Ten levels above the nightmare Gardevoir Wally had thrown at her.
Iono's hand hovered in the air, frozen for a long moment.
Honestly, she felt kind of numb.
After a beat of stunned silence, the chat erupted:
[WHAT THE HELL!! Lv. 75 Grimmsnarl?? On a ROADSIDE TRAINER??]
[RUN Iono!! That's not an exp pack, that's an exp DAD!!]
[Absolute suffering. Pure, exquisite suffering. The Gen 3 experience is BACK, baby!]
Iono stared at the ridiculously overleveled Grimmsnarl, then glanced at her own team's strongest, Entei at Lv. 71, and felt the urge to cry. Some random guy on the side of the road was packing a level 75.
Hey Colress, you said this was a good place to grind.
This isn't grinding. This is a straight shot to getting wiped.
Meanwhile, in the Third World.
The Night Owl was staring at his computer screen, the bags under his eyes somehow even worse than yesterday, though those same eyes burned with a sharp, restless energy.
"Again..."
He muttered something about how this update speed made no sense, but his hands were already moving on their own. His fingers flew across the keyboard.
Less than a day — not even a full day had gone by, and the draft for episode three had already landed in his inbox.
"Is this person even human? Or do they have a whole team hiding behind the curtain?"
He kept talking to himself as he unzipped the file.
Whatever he may have said out loud, his respect for this creator had long since crossed into something he couldn't quite put into words.
That kind of output, at that level of quality, every single time without fail. This was someone operating on a completely different level.
"Let's see... Episode three. Viridian Forest."
The Night Owl scrolled through the storyboard, and the corner of his mouth tugged upward.
"Oh? A new character gets a proper intro, and there's a whole Caterpie storyline? Nice."
He snapped into focus, drew a slow breath, and knocked back a cup of coffee that had gone completely cold.
"Alright. If they're going this hard, I'm not falling behind."
The glow of the screen lit up his face as the sound of rapid keystrokes filled his room once more, deep into the night.
Two hours later.
Dan the Demon King's livestream room.
The screen showed gameplay from a popular shooter.
"Bang! Bang!"
Dan swung his character out from behind cover, fired two clean shots, and dropped an enemy.
"Phew..."
He let go of the mouse and sank back into his chair with a long, heavy exhale.
He'd won the round, but there wasn't a hint of satisfaction on his face. Just boredom — the kind that sits behind your eyes and makes everything feel two inches further away than it should.
He stared at the post-match screen, his eyes somewhere far away.
Ever since he'd watched that Pokémon anime, every other game felt like eating cardboard. Flat. Pointless.
Dan rubbed his temple, irritation creeping into his tone. "I swear, not being able to watch more Pokémon might actually kill me. Not knowing when the next episode drops is legit painful."
The chat was mostly idle chatter, and the whole vibe felt sluggish.
[Demon King's off today. He won but his plays were noticeably sloppy.]
[Yeah, he looks checked out.]
[Still thinking about that anime? lol same, when is episode three dropping??]
[Don't get your hopes up. Animation that good takes at least two weeks per episode. Don't hold your breath.]
[We can dream. Who doesn't want to binge twenty episodes of Pokémon straight?]
[Twenty? Make it a hundred!]
Dan scrolled through the comments with a tired smile, and was just about to close the stream and sleep off the hollow feeling, when the corner of his eye caught a small red notification bubble next to his follow list.
He almost ignored it, figuring some gaming streamer he followed had just gone live. But when his eyes drifted to the name attached to it, his whole body went completely still.
[Pokémon: Indigo League has just updated!]
"What the..."
Dan shot upright so fast he nearly sent his headset flying across the room.
He stared at the notification, wide-eyed. He had to be seeing things.
"It... updated?!"
"How long has it even been? Half a day? Barely a full day, right?!"
His hand was shaking as he clicked it open.
The familiar interface loaded, and there in the playlist, clear as day, sat a brand new entry: "Episode 3: Viridian Forest, The Capture Operation."
Dan felt his heart slam against his ribs.
He yelled it out loud, voice cracking with barely contained disbelief.
"Everyone, wake up! Don't you dare go to sleep!"
"Episode three just dropped! It actually updated!!"
The chat, dead quiet just moments ago, exploded like someone had set off a bomb under it.
[NO WAY?! Is this real?!]
[OH MY GOD. I see it too. It's REAL!!]
[What is happening? This is TWO days in a row! They dropped episode two YESTERDAY!!]
[This production team must be living inside their computers.]
[Less talking, more watching!! Demon King, I need to see what happens after Misty starts chasing Ash!!]
Dan took a deep breath and pulled himself together. He closed the game and pulled up the Pokémon: Indigo League player full screen.
"Alright! No more wasting time!"
"Let's go. Episode three."
He hit play.
The viewer count started climbing fast.
The screen brightened.
Soft, nature-infused music drifted in as the scene opened on a wide, lush forest. Sunlight filtered down through a thick canopy of leaves in shifting, dappled patches, and birdsong layered in from every direction. Everything felt alive.
Viridian Forest.
Along a winding trail through the trees, Ash and Pikachu walked side by side.
Ash stretched his arms out in a big, lazy yawn, taking in the dense woodland around him with the easy enthusiasm of a kid who had nowhere he had to be and everywhere he wanted to go.
"Alright! I'm full of energy today. I'm gonna catch tons of Pokémon!"
He pumped his fist, eyes bright with that familiar conviction, like he could already picture himself at the top.
Pikachu, perched on his shoulder, chirped along. "Pika pika!"
The two of them, framed against the sprawling forest, made for an oddly peaceful image. After everything that had happened, the distance between them had quietly narrowed quite a bit.
But the peace didn't last.
"Hey, you! Stop right there!"
A sharp, indignant voice rang out from somewhere behind them.
Ash stopped and turned around, puzzled. "Huh?"
The chat lit up immediately.
[She's here! SHE'S HERE!]
[Ash, RUN!! Your debt collector just showed up!!]
[HAHAHA here comes the suffering arc, I am SO ready.]
The camera cut to Misty — ponytail blazing, already at a half-jog, closing the gap fast. She stepped in front of Ash and planted herself right in his path, hands on her hips, eyes practically shooting sparks.
Ash looked at this girl who had appeared out of nowhere and blinked. "You are...?"
Misty didn't answer. Instead, she dug something out of her bag and shoved it directly into his face.
It was a tangled, blackened heap of scrap, still covered in scorch marks, completely unrecognizable as anything at all.
Ash tilted his head and studied it carefully. "Uh... is that... trash?"
The entire chat lost it.
[HAHAHA Ash you absolute LEGEND!!]
[This boy has zero survival instincts. That's her BIKE. The bike YOU fried!!]
[Misty: "My precious dowry (crossed out) MY BIKE! You RUINED it!"]
[Ash's self-awareness: negative. Truly beyond saving at this point.]
On screen, Misty went completely still the moment the word "trash" left his mouth.
Then, in that classic exaggerated animation style, her head appeared to swell to twice its size. The background erupted into roaring flames.
"YOU LITTLE--!!"
She let out a shriek that shook the trees.
"How is that TRASH?! That's my bicycle! The one you DESTROYED!!"
Ash flinched at the explosion and seemed to shrink where he stood.
"I... I'm really sorry about that..."
He scratched the back of his head, wearing the most genuinely baffled, innocent expression imaginable.
But Misty was nowhere near done. She reached out and grabbed Ash by the ear, twisting hard enough to make him yelp.
"Sorry doesn't cut it! Pay me back! I want a brand new bike!"
Pikachu, watching the whole thing from the sideline, slowly covered its eyes and looked away.
The comments flooded in.
[Pikachu playing dead is peak comedy. He's been through this before, you can just TELL.]
[She's got him now. Ash is suffering and it's only going to get worse, lol.]
[Is this the main heroine?? The enemies-to-lovers energy is immaculate.]
[Officer Jenny catching a stray for absolutely no reason whatsoever.]
Ash, on the verge of actual tears from the ear-twisting, threw his hands up. "I really don't have any money! But I swear, once I become a Pokémon Master, I'll get you a brand new one! I promise!"
The words "Pokémon Master" made Misty pause. The grip on his ear eased up just slightly.
She let go, crossed her arms, and turned away with a sharp scoff. "Pokémon Master? You?"
Her voice was dismissive, but something shifted behind her eyes — a small, quiet flicker of something that might have been curiosity.
"Fine. Then I'm coming with you. I was already traveling anyway. Until you pay me back, don't even think about trying to ditch me."
Ash blinked. Then, with the long-suffering look of someone who had already accepted his fate, he let out a slow exhale. "Seriously?... Alright. Fine."
And just like that, the threads of their fates were officially, and permanently, tied together.
The next stretch of scenes followed Ash and Misty pushing deeper into Viridian Forest side by side.
Misty still insisted she was only there to make sure Ash didn't take off, but the forest around them was beautiful enough that her mood had, gradually and almost against her will, started to lift.
Then the underbrush nearby rustled.
A small green shape crept out from the grass.
It had red antennae, a segmented body, and wide, endearingly dopey eyes.
Ash's own eyes lit up on the spot. He whipped out his Pokédex and pointed it.
"Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon. It releases a powerful odor from the antennae on its head to repel enemies and protect itself."
The chat moved fast.
[Aww!! What is THAT?! It's adorable!!]
[A bug. That's a bug.]
[Wait, so there are Bug-type Pokémon? Are they all based on real animals?]
[It looks kind of like a silkworm, but like... a really big one.]
Ash didn't spare a single thought for how Misty might react. He reached for a Pokéball from his belt.
"Go, Pokéball!"
No battle. No setup at all.
He just chucked it, and the ball sailed through the air and bonked Caterpie right on the head with a clean thwack.
A flash of red light, and Caterpie vanished inside.
Misty put her hand over her face.
"That's not how you catch Pokémon! You're supposed to weaken it in a battle first and THEN throw the ball!"
But the Pokéball hit the ground and rocked once.
"Ding!"
A clear, bright chime rang out. Catch successful.
Ash jogged over and picked it up, striking a triumphant pose.
"I caught a Caterpie!!"
He let it right back out.
"Come on out, Caterpie!"
Caterpie appeared in the grass. It looked up at Ash for a moment, then slowly, cheerfully began making its way toward Misty.
"Caterpie~"
It seemed to be saying hello.
Misty looked at the small green creature wriggling in her direction, and the color drained from her face instantly.
"AHHH! It's a bug, it's a BUG! Stay away from me, stay AWAY!!"
She scrambled back and pressed herself behind Ash, her voice shooting up several octaves.
"I HATE Bug-type Pokémon!!"
Ash scooped Caterpie up in his arms and turned to stare at Misty, genuinely lost.
"Misty, that's so mean! Caterpie is cute! Look at it!"
Misty leaned out from behind him just far enough to get one look at the wriggling green caterpillar, and immediately shuddered back into hiding.
"There is NOTHING cute about that!! It's disgusting!! Keep it AWAY from me!!"