The three-day closed Beta test for Pokémon had been an absolute goldmine of data.
Hundreds of players from across the Accord had gleefully thrown themselves into the tall grass, attempting to capture monsters, break the economy, and push the game's limits to the absolute breaking point. Unsurprisingly, they found plenty of creative ways to do exactly that.
For the next four weeks, the Round Table Studio headquarters transformed into an incredibly focused, highly efficient hive of activity. Staying true to Arthur's strict "no-crunch" policy, the teams didn't stay up until dawn, but during their working hours, they were an unstoppable force of nature.
Logan's programming team compiled massive telemetry logs, Bem's design team sorted the combat feedback to perfectly balance the elemental typings, and Liseli's art department smoothed over every clipping texture and animation glitch.
They methodically squashed every single bug the beta testers had unearthed, and then they squashed a hundred more just to be safe.
In the end, against all industry odds, Pokémon: FireRed was perfectly polished and ready to launch exactly on time.
Inside the main junction room of the RTS headquarters, the atmosphere was electric. The massive central holographic table was projecting a giant digital countdown clock, the glowing red numbers ticking away the final seconds.
10... 9... 8...
Dozens of developers were crowded around the table, holding their breath.
3... 2... 1...
Dorian smiled and firmly hit the 'Enter' key on his main console.
The digital lock disengaged. The master build files were instantly transmitted through the secure quantum-links, going live across the entire galactic network.
The junction room instantly erupted into thunderous, deafening applause.
Ross Dalle let out a booming cheer, his massive hands clapping together like thunderclaps. Lin Liseli hugged a junior animator who was practically crying tears of joy. For the veteran core team, it was a moment of immense pride. But for the newly hired developers, the emotion was overwhelming. This was their very first completed game under the Round Table Studio banner, and they had poured their absolute hearts and souls into it.
Logan Kim adjusted his glasses, a weary but deeply satisfied grin on his face. He nudged Bem. "Well, enjoy the clapping for the next hour. Because as soon as ten million people log on, they're going to break something we missed, and we'll be drafting the Day One patch."
Bem chuckled easily. "Let them break it. I'm confident, Logan. We can fix a few cracks in the paint."
Amidst the roaring celebrations, Dorian leaned back in his hover-chair, letting the warmth of his team's joy wash over him. He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
'System,' Dorian called out in his mind.
Instantly, the familiar, iridescent blue panel materialized in his vision, hovering silently right over the cheering developers.
[Host has successfully released a new title: Pokémon: FireRed.]
The text scrolled rapidly, the System executing its complex, multiversal algorithms to map the newly birthed world onto Dorian's soul.
[Creating banner...]
[Input the world rule...]
[Loading profile...]
[Profile Created: 'Champion of Kanto']
Dorian's smile widened as he read the new profile title. The absolute rush of nostalgia it brought was incredibly potent. He immediately tapped the newly generated 'Banners' section on the interface, eager to see what kind of Gacha rewards the world of Pokémon would offer him.
The digital storefront within his mind updated, displaying three distinct, glowing banners side-by-side.
[Stardew Valley Banner]
1 Point for 1 Pull.
10 Points for 10 Pulls.
100 Points for 100 Pulls.
[Hades Banner]
1,000 Points for 1 Pull.
10,000 Points for 10 Pulls.
100,000 Points for 100 Pulls.
[Pokémon: FireRed Banner]
10,000 Points for 1 Pull.
100,000 Points for 10 Pulls.
1,000,000 Points for 100 Pulls.
Dorian's smile instantly froze.
He stared at the numbers beneath the bright red Pokémon logo, frantically verifying the zeroes. It wasn't just the same price as Hades. It was exactly ten times more expensive. The System had categorized the elemental powers, the biological data, and the sheer scale of the Pokémon universe as high-tier cosmic assets. In short, it was astronomically expensive.
"Fuck," Dorian muttered quietly under his breath, already doing the mental math on how much Resonance he would have to burn just to guarantee a single decent pull.
In the corner of the junction room, Raja Farzir stood calmly, watching a series of fluctuating green data graphs on his datapad. The Qerrian manager had been incredibly busy over the last forty-eight hours. Remembering the catastrophic server meltdowns that had plagued the launches of Hades, Raja had aggressively contacted the top executives at both the HelioStore and the Void platform.
He had practically demanded they instantly divert massive amounts of auxiliary bandwidth specifically to the RTS storefront pages.
Thanks to his ruthless foresight, the platforms were actually ready. When the massive, unprecedented tidal wave of millions of simultaneous transactions hit the servers, the corporate architecture groaned under the weight, but it did not break.
The downloads flowed smoothly into millions of HelioPads and Computers across the Accord.
And finally, the galaxy began to catch its very first, breathtaking glimpse into the world of Pokémon.
…
The sun was just beginning to set over the sprawling, golden plains of Planet Obelia II.
Ewron let out a heavy, bone-deep groan as he trudged into his rustic farmhouse, kicking off his mud-caked boots by the door. His muscles ached, his clothes smelled of fertilizer, and his back felt like it had been hit by a transport shuttle. It had been an incredibly tiring day.
He slumped heavily onto his worn fabric sofa, his weight making the cushions completely sink in. Reaching over to the side table, he cracked open a cold can of synth-beer. The sharp psshh echoed in the quiet living room, immediately followed by a happy, familiar "Woof!"
Ewron smiled, looking down at the hound sitting expectantly by his feet.
"Lulu, come," Ewron called, patting the cushion beside him.
Lulu happily scrambled up onto the sofa, immediately curling up and snuggling warmly against Ewron's side. He exhaled a long breath, taking a sip of his drink, and glanced out the living room window.
Out in the distance, near the edge of his property, a large touring group of Core World citizens dressed in completely pristine, overly expensive "farmer" outfits were currently taking holographic pictures next to a patch of dirt.
Ewron shook his head, still utterly baffled by the phenomenon. Ever since Stardew Valley had been released several years ago, Obelia II had seen a massive influx of tourists. When the public saw that Obelia II was one of the farm layouts available in the game, it sparked a bizarre cultural trend. People from the highly urbanized Core and Inner Rims began traveling to agricultural planets just to experience "real farming."
In a way, Stardew Valley had single-handedly birthed a multi-million credit tourist economy for these rural planets. Local tour agencies had started paying farmers a massive cut just to let tourists come and "play farming" on their actual land for an afternoon.
Ewron, being a notoriously private man who preferred the quiet solitude of his fields, had initially rejected the notion entirely. But eventually, the sheer persistence of the agencies wore him down, and he agreed to open up exactly five percent of his land to a touring group. However, because Ewron was also the famous Stellarcaster known as Ewron Life, his specific farm had become the most highly desirable tourist spot on the entire planet.
Was he suffering from success? Probably. But having random tourists wandering near his property every single day was tiring nonetheless.
Ewron turned away from the window and booted up his Void console.
After a grueling day of physical labor, his usual routine was to boot up Hades. It sounded counter-intuitive to play a fast-paced action game to relax, but to Ewron, it was perfect. Real-world farming was incredibly punishing; a single mistake in watering or harvesting could ruin an entire season's yield.
But in Hades, the game never punished him for failing. Every single death just meant another fascinating conversation in the Underworld, a new story beat, and another permanent upgrade at the Mirror of Night. In a strange way, the cycle of dying and returning stronger had become the most relaxing part of his life.
But as he reached for the Hades icon on his dashboard, something else caught his eye in the corner of the screen.
It was a massive, vibrant banner: POKÉMON: FIRERED - NOW AVAILABLE.
Ewron blinked, tilting his head. "Oh, it's already out?"
He clicked on the storefront page and checked the price. He was fully prepared to drop a premium amount of credits for RTS's newest project, but the price tag surprised him. It was listed at exactly 30 credits, down from its normal galactic baseline of 45.
It seemed Arthur's infamous dynamic pricing algorithm had correctly analyzed the humble agricultural economy of Obelia II and made a localized adjustment.
Ewron didn't hesitate for a single second. He hit 'Buy' and started the download.
He leaned back, ruffling the fur behind Lulu's ears. "Lulu, fetch snacks."
The hound instantly perked up. She jumped off the sofa, trotted over to the wooden dinner table, and stood on her hind legs. She carefully grabbed the handle of a small woven basket filled with potato chips in her teeth and proudly carried it over to Ewron, dropping it onto his lap.
"Good girl," Ewron chuckled warmly, pulling a dog-safe jerky treat from his pocket and tossing it to her.
He grabbed a handful of chips just as the console chimed. The download was complete.
With a surge of anticipation washing away his exhaustion, Ewron grabbed his controller, settled into the cushions, and pressed 'Play'.
The introductory sequence began to play, filling Ewron's quiet living room with a bright melody.
On the screen, a crisp, beautifully rendered 2.5D visual of a man in a white lab coat appeared.
"Hello there! Glad to meet you! Welcome to the world of Pokémon! My name is Oak."
Ewron watched in quiet fascination as the Professor threw a capsule, releasing a spiky, purple 3D monster that stomped playfully on the screen. It was an incredibly charming aesthetic. The highly detailed 3D sprites of the characters and monsters blended flawlessly with the polished, vibrant 2D environment, creating a visual style that felt entirely unique to Round Table Studio.
As the intro concluded, Ewron was dropped into the game. His character, a young boy with a red cap, was standing in his bedroom.
Using his controller, Ewron walked the character around the room, testing the movement physics. It was perfectly responsive. He guided the boy down the stairs, where he was greeted by the character's mother, before finally stepping out the front door and into Pallet Town.
Ewron paused, simply absorbing the atmosphere. RTS had breathed genuine life into this simple starting town. The tall grass swayed gently in the virtual wind, digital Pidgeys occasionally fluttered through the sky, and the few NPCs wandering around actually felt like they were going about natural, daily routines rather than just walking in rigid, programmed circles.
Seeing that there was nothing else to explore in the small village, Ewron guided his character north, toward a patch of tall grass.
Instantly, a voice box popped up, and Professor Oak came rushing up from behind.
"Hey! Wait! Don't go out! It's unsafe! Wild Pokémon live in tall grass!"
Ewron chuckled, taking a slow sip of his synth-beer. "Hoo... dangerous, huh? Well, I'm incredibly curious about these Pokémon. Lead me to them, Professor."
Following the script, Oak led Ewron's character into his bustling research laboratory, ultimately presenting him with a choice between three Poké Balls resting on a table.
Ewron clicked on each one, reading the descriptions of the starter monsters. Bulbasaur, the Grass-type. Squirtle, the Water-type. Charmander, the Fire-type.
He leaned his head back against the sofa, looking down at the hound resting her chin on his leg.
"Hmmm," Ewron mused. "Which one, Lulu? The green one seems cute."
"Woof!" Lulu barked happily, thumping her tail against the cushions.
Ewron smiled, looking back at the little green quadruped with the bulb on its back. "It does look like it has a giant onion on its back. Hmmm... alright. Bulbasaur it is, then."
Ewron firmly pressed the confirm button, beginning his journey with his very first Pokémon.
…
Meanwhile, somewhere deep in a bustling trade hub in the Mid-Rim, the atmosphere in a small, rented lodging was incredibly cozy.
Gale Vadran was busy in the small kitchenette. Today was supposed to be a highly anticipated vacation day. He had saved up enough guild credits to take Jess to a massive orbital amusement park two sectors over. Unfortunately, their transport ship's hyper-drive motivator had blown a fuse that morning, completely grounding them.
Though Jess hadn't seemed too upset about the cancellation, Gale still felt incredibly guilty. To make up for it, he had gone down to the high-end market and spent a minor fortune on genuine, natural food. No synth-paste or compressed nutrient blocks today. He had bought real, pan-seared meat and fresh vegetables.
"Let's eat, Jess!" Gale called out, carrying two steaming plates into the living room.
He paused. Jess didn't answer. She was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, completely and utterly engrossed in her HelioPad.
Curious, Gale quietly set the plates down on the table and stealthily walked up behind the sofa, peering over the little girl's shoulder.
On the screen, a fierce, high-stakes battle was taking place inside a digital laboratory. Jess was commanding a small, fierce red dragon, a Charmander against a blue turtle wielded by a rival character.
The health bars on both sides were completely in the red. It was coming down to the wire.
Jess's small fingers rapidly mashed the screen, desperately selecting the 'Scratch' attack over and over again. The blue turtle took the hit, its HP bar dropping lower, before it retaliated with a harsh 'Tackle'. The red dragon flinched, its health dropping to a single, terrifying pixel.
Jess held her breath. She tapped 'Scratch' one last time.
The dragon lunged, swiping its claws across the screen. The blue turtle's health hit zero, and it fainted with a digital cry.
"Yeaayy!" Jess shrieked in absolute triumph, throwing her hands in the air.
"Yes! Nice hit!" Gale cheered instinctively, pumping his fist.
Jess violently startled, nearly dropping her HelioPad. She whipped her head around, her eyes wide. "Whaaa! You scared me! When were you behind me?!"
Gale chuckled warmly, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "Since the battle started. You were completely in the zone. Now come on, put the game on pause. Let's eat before the food gets cold."
Jess immediately hopped off the sofa. But instead of putting the device down, she kept her eyes glued to the screen, waddling awkwardly toward the dinner table while reading the level-up dialogue for her Charmander.
Gale pulled out a chair, crossing his massive, scarred arms. He raised a stern eyebrow, engaging his parental voice.
"Jess. What do I say about no HelioPads while eating?" Gale scolded gently.
Jess stopped walking. She slowly lowered the screen. She looked up at the towering, deadly ex-Accord soldier. Her large eyes instantly widened, pooling with a masterful, weaponized innocence.
"We didn't go on vacation," Jess stated to-the-point, her voice carrying the perfect, tragic cadence of a heartbroken child.
Gale physically recoiled as if he had just taken a kinetic slug directly to the chest. It was a critical hit. She had flawlessly weaponized his one major soft spot.
Gale stared at her for three seconds, his stern demeanor completely crumbling into dust. He let out a long, heavy sigh of absolute defeat.
"Fine," Gale muttered, pulling her chair out for her. "Just this time."
…
Several hours ticked by in the blink of an eye.
Back on Obelia II, Ewron was leaning entirely forward on his sofa, his previous exhaustion completely forgotten. On the screen, his Bulbasaur launched a final 'Tackle', successfully defeating a Caterpie belonging to 'Bug Catcher Sammy' in the middle of Viridian Forest.
Ewron let out a satisfied breath as the victory fanfare played. This game was weirdly, incredibly addicting. The core gameplay loop of exploring tall grass, not knowing what entirely new creature was going to jump out at him, and strategically capturing it filled him with a profound sense of childlike wonder he hadn't felt in decades.
His character finally broke through the tree line and arrived in Pewter City. The music shifted into a calm, steady town theme. The first thing Ewron did was head straight for the building with the bright red roof: the Pokémon Center.
He walked up to the counter and handed his Poké Balls to the pink-haired receptionist.
"Welcome to our Pokémon Center!" the text box read. "We restore your tired Pokémon to full health."
Nurse Joy took his digital capsules, placing them on a machine that healed them with an incredibly satisfying dun-dun-dun-dun-dun! jingle. Ewron smiled, ready to take on the city's Gym Leader.
…
At that exact same moment, deep within the Core Rims, the legendary Stellarcaster MatTheory was live-streaming his very first playthrough to an audience of three million viewers.
His character had also just arrived in the Pewter City Pokémon Center. However, Mat didn't immediately skip through the dialogue. He stared at the pink-haired receptionist on his screen, his eyes narrowing in intense suspicion.
"Wait..." Mat muttered, leaning an inch away from his monitor. "Wait a minute. Aren't you the exact same lady we just saw back in Viridian City?"
He instantly frantically grabbed his datapad and a stylus.
"Chat, look at her!" Mat shouted, pointing aggressively at the screen. "The hair geometry, the uniform texture... it is an absolute 1:1 match with the receptionist in the previous town! Did Nurse Joy just run ahead of us? Does she have a twin sister?"
Mat began furiously scribbling on his digital whiteboard. "Wait. What if Nurse Joy herself is a Pokémon?! A shape-shifting entity mimicking human form to gain our trust?! Or maybe she is a highly advanced biological super-clone created to control the medical infrastructure across all Pokémon Centers?!"
He tapped his stylus against the desk, his eyes gleaming with absolute madness. "For now, we have only visited two cities. But if I get to the next town and see another identical Nurse Joy... my clone theory might hold completely true. RTS, what dark secrets are you hiding from us?!"
…
Back on Friton, the dark secrets of Round Table Studio were currently experiencing a crisis of his own.
Inside his luxurious bedroom at the Kepler estate, Dorian was sprawled out on his back on his large bed. His eyes were completely hollow, staring blankly up at the ceiling as if his soul had forcefully left his body.
In a rush of sheer, unbridled excitement the exact second Pokémon: FireRed had launched, he had pulled on his System's new Gacha banner.
He had done the 100-pull option exactly ten times.
He had burned through an agonizing, terrifying 10,000,000 Resonance Points.
And all it had given him was an absolute mountain of Oran Berries, Pecha Berries, and a handful of basic, standard red-and-white Poké Balls. No master balls. No elemental evolution stones. No legendary Pokémon. Just fruit and balls.
"Arrgghh!!"
Dorian groaned miserably, sitting up from his bed and violently smacking both of his cheeks with his hands to snap himself out of his trauma.
"Why?!" Dorian whined to the empty room. "Why is my luck absolute dog shit?!"
He forcefully opened the System interface again. Desperate to prove that the System wasn't just explicitly broken, he navigated to the Stardew Valley banner. He spent 10 Resonance Points for a quick 10-pull.
Flash!
The golden light exploded. The inventory screen instantly populated with highly valuable mid-to-late game items: an Iridium Hoe, a stack of Starfruit seeds, and to his absolute bewilderment, a literal, iridium grade milk.
Dorian blinked. The gears in his genius mind suddenly began to turn.
He quickly swiped over to the Hades banner. He spent 10,000 Resonance Points for a 10-pull.
Flash!
A brilliant array of mythical energy materialized. He received a high-tier Centaur Soul, a vial of Ambrosia, and two glowing, ethereal orbs, a Dionysus Boon and a Poseidon Boon.
It clicked.
Dorian bolted off his bed, rushing over to his desk. He frantically began to map out his past pulls.
When Hades had first launched, the banner had only given him completely useless, low-tier Darkness crystals. When Stardew Valley had first launched, it only gave him basic wood, sap, and grass. It took Stardew weeks to finally yield good crops, but Hades had started yielding high-tier weapons much faster.
Why the difference in time?
"The players," Dorian whispered aloud, his eyes widening in profound realization.
He furiously circled the word in his notebook. Was the System's reward pool directly corresponding to the amount of players playing the game? Or rather, their progression? The deeper the player base explored the world, the more "unlocked" the Gacha banner became! Hades had yielded better items faster because the millions of players were dying and repeating the game loop at breakneck speeds, constantly pushing the engine's boundaries.
More players exploring = deeper world synchronization = better Gacha yields.
Dorian spent the next hour throwing dozens of other theories, trying to find flaws in his logic. But no other theory fits perfectly. Maybe… The System was a bridge between realities; it couldn't fully manifest the high-tier assets of a universe until the collective consciousness had firmly anchored that universe into existence by experiencing it.
Dorian immediately checked the launch telemetry on his datapad.
Pokémon: FireRed had only been out for exactly 12 hours. The vast majority of the galactic player base was still stuck in Viridian Forest or fighting Brock in Pewter City. No one had reached the Safari Zone. No one had found the legendary birds. The "world" simply wasn't deep enough yet to yield high-tier items.
Dorian looked out his frosted bedroom window. It was pitch black outside, the Friton winter howling gently over the dark agricultural fields.
He looked back at the screen, a massive, excited grin replacing his previous hollow despair. He just needed to wait for the galaxy to conquer Kanto.
Unable to contain his excitement, Dorian rushed back across the room and practically dove under his heavy blankets. He closed his eyes and actually couldn't wait for tomorrow to arrive.
⋘ 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂.. .⋙
🎮:
- Stardwey Valley: Completed.
- Hades: Completed.
- Pokémon: Completed.
- Sky: Children of the Light: ◌ Loading…
🎬:
-
♬:
- Your Song – Elton John (ch.9)
- A Lovely Night – La La Land (ch.20)
- Merry Go Round of Life – Howl's Moving Castle (ch.25)
- Small Fragile Hearts – Victor Lundberg (ch. 27)
- Skyfall – Adele (ch. 29)
- No Time To Die – Billie Eilish (ch. 30)
- Yesterday – The Beatles (ch. 32)
- Lovely – Billie Eilish, Khalid (ch. 47)
- Best Part – H.E.R. feat. Daniel Caesar (ch. 67)
- Lovely Day – Bill Withers (ch. 68)
- My Song – Labi Siffre (ch. 75)
- Isn't She Lovely – Stevie Wonder (ch. 89)
- Gotta Catch 'Em All – Pokémon OST (ch. 90)