Under the suppression of the level difference, the outcome of this battle was naturally no surprise.
——Treecko was defeated directly by two Embers from Torchic.
Because both Pokémon had leveled up, this time Torchic's single Ember took away 2/3 of Treecko's HP, which was even more exaggerated than the last time.
Watching the computer screen go black again, the character reappearing in the Pokémon Center, and the money symbol in the top right corner turning into -1000...
In Cynthia's livestream, the viewers began to spam the chat frantically again.
[Holy crap, now I know what that bro meant by 'I won't fall behind'... turns out he's always one level higher than the player.]
[This game creator is too much of a dog, right? Why does the NPC level up with the player??]
[Hahahaha the money is negative one thousand. The streamer is officially bankrupt.]
...
While the comments were refreshing, Cynthia didn't notice them at all.
At this moment, she had fallen into a state of serious contemplation.
Clearly, the game creator had already anticipated the player's potential response methods and directly blocked the path of "grinding levels to clear the stage."
In that case, she had to use other methods to deal with this opponent!
The biggest problem for Treecko facing Torchic was the type disadvantage.
Treecko's physique simply couldn't withstand the massive damage brought by the double effectiveness.
And to solve the disadvantage of type effectiveness...
Thinking of this, Cynthia's eyes suddenly lit up.
Wait a minute. When I left, didn't Professor Birch give me 5 Poké Balls?
I just need to catch a Pokémon that counters Torchic in the nearby grass. Wouldn't that solve the problem?
But saying that was one thing; capturing a Pokémon was obviously not something that could be done casually.
During the gameplay just now, she had checked the bag interface and obtained some rule hints.
Players not only had a level cap in each area but also a cap on the number of Pokémon they could hold simultaneously.
For example, right now, her Pokémon limit was "2."
The maximum Pokémon limit for the entire game was only "15."
Moreover, once a Pokémon was obtained, there was no way to release it. You had to carry this Pokémon with you until the game was cleared.
For a game, such a requirement was indeed a bit too hardcore.
However, this rule made Cynthia feel a sense of agreement in her heart.
Even in a game, these Pokémon were partners fighting side-by-side with them, not just data to be discarded casually after use!
Anyway, under these circumstances, she had to plan the position of every Pokémon in her team carefully.
She had to ensure that the Pokémon she captured next could play an important role in the future adventure and also successfully help her pass the test of the rival before her!
Cynthia began to quickly recall the Pokémon she had encountered along the way...
But just then, an abrupt ringtone interrupted her thoughts.
——It was her phone on the computer desk ringing.
She picked up the phone, glanced at the contact name on the screen, and answered immediately.
A voice that only she could hear came from the phone:
"Miss Cynthia, I'm sorry. I know you're on vacation, but the Pokémon in the Spirit World have started to get restless again for some reason. We suspect a new Spirit Tide will appear. The Spirit World entrance in Eterna City needs your support!" (TL/N: AU)
Hearing this, Cynthia's expression changed slightly, and she nodded.
"Okay, got it. I'll head over immediately."
Then, she turned her head and spoke apologetically to the viewers in the livestream:
"Sorry everyone, I have some matters to attend to. Today's stream will have to end here."
"But once I'm free, I'll come back and continue streaming as soon as possible. Please wait patiently."
After speaking, she cut the livestream signal directly.
On the black screen, comments floated by.
[No——Wifey!!]
[Ahhhhh I was just getting into it!!]
[Probably some arrangement by the League?]
[I think so too. Heard the situation in the Spirit World hasn't been peaceful lately. Probably related to that.]
[Can't be helped. Let's wait for the streamer to come back. Scatter, scatter.]
Some viewers in the livestream had already left to watch other streamers, but at this moment, one comment woke everyone up:
[Brothers, I'm going to buy this game and try it first!]
[Holy crap, right! We can play it too!]
[Looks pretty fun. Let's go, let's go!]
A group of people had already developed a strong interest in Pokémon Emerald through Cynthia's stream and went directly to buy the game to play.
With such high quality and seeming so novel, they naturally didn't mind spending money to try it out.
Meanwhile, another group expressed different opinions.
[Those buying it above must be really rich. ₽288 is too expensive. I'll wait and see.]
[True. My living expenses for a week aren't even that much. I can't afford it at all.]
[₽288 for a pixel game. Although it looks good so far, what if it sucks later? I'm not in a rush to buy.]
As the last comment said, the price of ₽288 was indeed not low for ordinary people. Buying a pixel game required careful consideration.
But even so, the sales of Pokémon: Emerald had quietly begun to soar after Cynthia's stream...
After all, even though today was a workday, the number of people watching her stream still exceeded 200,000. Even if only one percent of the audience was willing to buy the game, that was still 2,000 sales!
–
Meanwhile, in the sky above Celestic Town, beneath the clouds.
A deep blue shadow tore through the sky like lightning, rushing into the distance.
It was a bipedal shark-like Dragon-type Pokémon with a streamlined and powerful body—Garchomp!
Its body was like deep blue armor, with red stripes across its abdomen. Golden scales covered its legs like a fully armed ancient warrior, exuding a powerful aura and oppressive presence.
And if one observed carefully, they could see a person sitting on this Garchomp's back.
That person was precisely Cynthia!
According to League regulations, to avoid accidents, using Pokémon to fly over city areas was prohibited. But as a Champion, she naturally possessed such privileges.
Especially since she had an urgent mission to handle right now.
At this moment, Cynthia was looking at the distant sky, seeming to ponder something.
Even though she was about to face dangerous Pokémon, she was currently thinking about that game from just now!
Because those Spirit World Pokémon weren't really considered dangerous to her, but that game had truly stumped her.
The game NPC actually levels up with me?
And even the first checkpoint in the starter village is so challenging. How strong will the opponents arranged for me be later on?
Thinking of this, Cynthia couldn't help but feel a bit more anticipation in her heart.
She hadn't encountered such a sense of challenge in who knows how long!
Speaking of which, she was becoming more and more interested in the game's creator...
It was a pity she couldn't contact them for the time being.
Otherwise, she would definitely want to get to know such an interesting creator properly.
At the same time, she realized a problem:
Given the quality of this game, it was only a matter of time before it exploded in popularity. If someone cleared the game before her and took the author's contact info, that would be troublesome.
Spirit World side—quick battle, quick resolution. Then hurry back to clear the game!
Cynthia made a decision in her heart.
Just then, the phone at her waist rang again.
Unlike usual, there was no number or contact name on the screen. Instead, a string of garbled code was displayed!
However, seeing this garbled code, Cynthia paused first, then showed a look of pleasant surprise and answered immediately.
On the other end, a somewhat lazy voice came through:
"Hello, Cynthia-sis. Long time no see. Did you miss me?"
Cynthia still seemed a bit surprised.
"You got out so quickly this time?"
"What, you don't want me to come out?"
The voice joked.
"It went quite smoothly this time. The number of weird monsters in the 'Dungeon' was relatively small. After dealing with them, we came out early."
"Ah, it's great. I thought it would take at least two months..."
Hearing this, Cynthia immediately said:
"You came out just in time! Can you help me find someone?"
The voice instantly became interested:
"Oh? Who is the guy our Sinnoh Champion has her eyes on?"
"A League fugitive? A dark figure of the underworld?"
"...Or some crazy scientist who went down the wrong path?"
Cynthia denied it:
"None of the above."
"I'm looking for a game creator."
As soon as these words came out, the other end of the phone went silent instantly.
"...?"
After a long while, he spoke helplessly:
"Cynthia-sis, you should know that my database and hacking skills shouldn't be used to find a game creator just to send him hate mails, right?"
Cynthia also realized her words were inappropriate and immediately added:
"It's like this: he might have clues about Rayquaza."
"I don't know if he's an individual creator or a studio. I think the latter is more likely, so I want to ask you to check for me."
The voice agreed immediately:
"Is that so? You should have said earlier!"
"Alright, I'll help you look."
Cynthia said sincerely:
"Thanks. I'll treat you to a meal later."
The voice laughed:
"No need for thanks. With our relationship? It's a life-and-death friendship."
"But I'll still freeload the meal. Let's eat at that steakhouse at the Canalave City pier. Your treat."
"Hanging up now. I'll contact you when I have news."
The call ended. Listening to the busy tone, Cynthia put down her phone and sighed in relief.
With this person's help... finding that creator shouldn't be a problem.
But one thing is one thing...
She still has to play the game!
She wants that First Clear too!
"Garchomp, accelerate."
"Roar!"
A pale blue light flashed by with a sonic boom, disappearing into the horizon in an instant.
–
Six hours later.
Kanto Region, Viridian City.
"Hiss... that was a good sleep..."
James Green opened his eyes in his rented room, sat up, and stretched comfortably.
He subconsciously turned on his phone to check the time.
As a result, he was stunned by the notifications refreshing frantically on the screen.
[LeYou Platform reminds you: Your game 'Pokémon: Emerald' has sold 1823 copies today!] (TL/N: Wish this happens with this book and powerstones go brrr)
This data was still constantly refreshing and increasing.
Seeing this, James was dumbfounded.
Huh?
It hasn't even been a day since release, how did it sell so many?
Before uploading the finished game, he needed to set a selling price.
At the time, he wanted to set a cheap price. After all, this was his first game, and it was a beta version. He wasn't looking for profit, mainly just to harvest more Emotional Points and make a name for himself.
But the System prompted him that the minimum price had to be ₽288.
James was dumbfounded at the time. After all, ₽288 was quite an exaggerated price, a level where many players might be reluctant to buy 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." James could only helplessly compromise and set it at ₽288.
With this launch price, before going to bed, he had already mentally prepared himself to wake up and find that not a single copy had been sold.
But now...
Looking at the sales number nearing the two thousand mark, James was completely confused.
What is going on??
Are players in this world all this rich?
Just as he was bewildered, another line of golden notifications suddenly floated before his eyes:
[Ding! During the time the Host was asleep, you obtained a large amount of points from four emotions: Disdain, Shock, Anticipation, and Joy. Total: 720 points!]
[Points from online livestream viewers: 320 points.]
[Points from purchasing players: 100 points.]
[Points of Surprise and Anticipation from important character 'Sinnoh Champion — Cynthia': 300 points!]
Cynthia? Livestream?
James reacted instantly.
No wonder it sold so many copies while I was asleep!
Turns out Cynthia streamed my game!
——Then it's not strange at all!!
But what's the deal with my game? It actually caught Cynthia's eye?
Does the Champion of the Sinnoh Region actually play games in her free time?
James pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly.
Forget it, I'll check that later.
Anyway, no matter what... this is undoubtedly a great start.
From the sales and point feedback, the content of "Emerald" has undoubtedly attracted the audience of this stream, including Cynthia herself!
Now, let's see what new game production modules these points can be exchanged for to further perfect the game.
He has so many ideas that he hasn't had time to implement yet because the modules weren't good enough.
Just as James was about to open the System panel...
He suddenly felt a gloomy, cold wind, accompanied by something attacking him from behind!
Feeling his hair stand on end and a creeping horror, James turned around hurriedly!
——But he saw nothing.
"Eh? Was I sleep-addled?"
Scratching the back of his head, James muttered to himself in confusion.
"I'll go wash my face in a bit..."
However, in the next moment, when he turned back around...
He looked directly into a pair of small, dark green eyes...
And a ball of eerily burning pale blue candle fire...
In the rental room, an explosive scream rang out, lingering in the air endlessly.
"HOLY CRAP A GHOST AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"