"Catch rate? HP status?" Roy mulled it over. "Sounds like there's quite a bit to this thing."
After saying goodbye to May, Roy rushed out of the lab, heading straight for the grass patches outside town.
Besides his starter Pokémon, he was going to catch his very first wild Pokémon!
He'd barely taken a few steps into the grass when the familiar battle trigger sound effect rang out!
"Oh! Here we go!" Roy perked up instantly.
On screen, a creature he'd never seen before appeared. It looked like a small dog, brownish in color and kind of fierce looking.
[A wild Zigzagoon appeared!]
"Zigzagoon? That na... actually fits pretty well." Roy looked at the little creature with its bared teeth and tail sticking straight up. "Torchic! Get ready to battle!"
"Tor~Chic!" A flash of red light, and Torchic appeared on screen, full of fighting spirit.
"Use Growl first!" Roy rembered from the tutorial earlier that Growl could lower the opponent's attack.
Torchic imdiately puffed out its chest and let out a young but powerful cry.
Zigzagoon seed startled. Its aggressive montum clearly weakened, and a notification appeared showing its attack had dropped.
"Good! Now use Quick Attack!" Roy commanded.
Torchic transford into a streak of red light and slamd into Zigzagoon with a "bang." Zigzagoon stumbled, its HP bar dropping by a huge chunk.
"Now's my chance!" Roy saw his opening and imdiately opened his bag, selected a Poké Ball. "Go!"
A red and white ball flew out, hitting Zigzagoon squarely and pulling it inside in a beam of red light. The ball hit the ground and began shaking violently, its red light flashing.
Once... twice... three tis!
"Ding!" With a crisp notification sound, the Poké Ball stopped shaking, and the button in the center lit up white.
[Successfully caught Zigzagoon!]
"Yes! Got it!"
Roy couldn't help pumping his fist. This felt way more exciting than getting his first Pokémon in the real world.
"This is amazing! What a rush!"
He eagerly opened his Pokémon list to check out his newly caught Zigzagoon.
[Zigzagoon (Normal type) Level: 3 Ability: Pickup...]
A dense stream of information imdiately appeared.
"Pickup? Ability?"
Roy scratched his head.
These were terms he'd never heard before. Naturally, he didn't understand them.
"Whatever, doesn't matter. I caught it anyway!"
He continued exploring the grass with Torchic and Zigzagoon, and soon encountered a Poochyena, which he also successfully caught after wearing it down with Torchic.
Just as he was about to head back to Littleroot Town to see what the next quest was, he noticed an NPC standing by a retro-looking machine near the town entrance.
"What's that thing called again? Oh right, a bicycle?"
Roy's eyes lit up. In the real world, these human-powered transportation devices had been phased out after the Great Cataclysm. He'd only seen them in so historical docuntaries.
If he hadn't happened to watch that film, he probably wouldn't even know what this was.
This imdiately grabbed his attention. He ran over and pressed the interact button to talk to the NPC.
NPC: "Oh, you're a new trainer, right? Want to try the bicycle? This one's on loan. You can ride it anywhere outdoors. It's really fast!"
[Obtained Mach Bike (on loan)!]
Roy imdiately selected the bicycle and clicked to use it.
The on-screen character smoothly mounted the bike, and the view instantly switched to sothing like an overhead racing perspective.
The character rode the bicycle down a flat road at high speed, with a real sense of velocity. The wind blew through the character's hair and clothes.
"Wow! I can move like this! So cool!"
Roy had a blast, riding several laps on the cycling road outside Littleroot Town, experiencing this long-lost, pure sense of speed.
Movent within cities was done by riding electric trains on fixed tracks. The speed wasn't actually slow, but compared to the feeling of riding a bike, sothing seed to be missing.
After playing around in the ga for a good while, Roy finally rembered sothing important.
The huge mystery from the start of the ga still hadn't been solved. Why did the ga character have the sa na as him?
And why was he called the "Champion of the Hoenn region"? Plus there was that "trapped in a nightmare" opening background...
Whatever. He'd find out what was going on if he kept playing.
He controlled his character to go to Professor Birch's lab, wanting to see if he could trigger more story content.
In the lab, Professor Birch was discussing sothing with Colress. When he saw Roy co in, Professor Birch showed a warm but worried smile.
"Oh, it's Roy. Have you already gotten the Pokédex and Poké Balls? Looks like you're ready to begin your journey."
Colress also pushed up his signature blue glasses, his sharp gaze sizing up Roy.
"Roy... you've finally co." At the sa ti, a special notification suddenly appeared.
[You seem to have heard sothing unusual. Do you want to respond?]
Roy's heart skipped a beat. Here it cos!
He quickly selected a dialogue option: [Colress, do you know ?]
Colress suddenly smiled, and the ti around them seed to freeze in that mont.
"You, like Champion May, have fallen victim to that strange 'Nightmare Freeze' incident.
Your soul seems frozen in darkness, impossible to awaken... We've tried many thods, including searching for the legendary Cresselia, but nothing has worked."
He pointed toward the depths of the lab. "You saw that machine earlier, right? That's our last hope.
By guiding you through the strongest fragnts deep in your own mories, we're trying to awaken your soul.
Your starting point, or rather Champion Roy's starting point, is set on the day you first ca to the Hoenn region."
He continued, "Child, I know this is hard to believe, but since you've chosen to embark on this path, perhaps... fate works in mysterious ways?
I hope you can find your own answers on your journey, and maybe... bring back so clues to help with the awakening?"
Roy looked at Colress's complex expression on screen, and an indescribable feeling welled up inside him.
So right now, he was basically playing through the past of that character in the ga?
And this professor... had also gone back to the past along with his "consciousness"?
Tsk. This kind of setup was really novel and compelling.
At the sa ti, the chat in his livestream was going absolutely crazy, showing explosive growth.
"I will," Roy responded in the ga, his tone carrying a seriousness he himself hadn't noticed.
"I'll explore this world properly and see if I can et your expectations... uh, wake myself up."
anwhile, at Levincia Gym.
In the livestream.
After returning to the ga, Iono used a Special Attack booster item on her Raichu.
The ga notification showed Raichu's Special Attack had increased, but in actual battle, there wasn't much of a noticeable change.
This piqued her curiosity.
If the effect was so diocre in the ga, what about in real life?
At this mont, in front of the cara, she looked at the vial of liquid shimring with starry blue light in her hand, feeling a bit hesitant.
Whatever. She'd already used the Rare Candy, what was there to be afraid of with this?
She grabbed the potion and her selfie stick, then walked out of her streaming room with Bellibolt and headed to the gym's battle arena.
"Bellibolt, co on, try using Thunderbolt! Aim at that target!" She first had Bellibolt use a move on the insulated target in the corner of the training field.
A bright flash of electricity left a clear scorch mark on the target. This was the standard you'd expect from a Gym Leader-level Pokémon's technique.
Iono took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice its usual upbeat tone, and unscrewed the cap on the Special Attack booster.
A faint, berry-like fragrance wafted out. She crouched down and carefully fed the liquid to Bellibolt.
Bellibolt smacked its lips, seeming to think it tasted pretty good.
After a few seconds of quiet, though, its round body began glowing faintly blue, as if electric current inside was accelerating.
Seeing this, Iono imdiately ordered:
"Good! Bellibolt, use Thunderbolt again! Full power!"
This ti, the instant the electricity burst forth, even Iono herself froze!
What appeared was no longer the bright electric flash from before, but a terrifying current nearly twice as thick and blazing white in color. Accompanied by crackling explosive sounds, it slamd violently into the target!
"BANG!"
The insulated target was blown to smithereens, fragnts scattering everywhere. The air filled with an acrid burning sll.
The entire livestream fell into montary silence, then the comnts and donation effects erupted like a tsunami, completely drowning the screen.
[Holy crap!!! It straight-up exploded?!]
[That power more than doubled, right?!]
[This is insane! Actually insane!]
[Why does it barely do anything in-ga but beco this broken in real life??]
Right now even Iono herself was stunned. Looking at the debris all over the floor, then at Bellibolt who also seed surprised by its own power, she took a deep breath.
Is... is this right?
Items that were godlike in the ga could directly boost a Pokémon's strength massively in reality, that was one thing.
But how co sothing basically useless in the ga was this broken in real life too??
She was about to say sothing to her livestream viewers when, at this peak mont of hype, soone knocked on the streaming room door. The knocking was urgent and forceful, completely different from little Yu's usual sound.
Iono's gaze imdiately sharpened. Obviously, this should be soone from the League.
She showed an apologetic smile to the cara. "Everyone, looks like we have visitors at the gym. Stream's pausing for just a sec, be right back!"
She decisively turned off the stream, took a deep breath, and patted her cheeks to calm herself down.
Yuina was already running to open the door, her face pale. Standing outside were two people in Paldea League uniforms. One was a tall man with a stern expression.
"Gym Leader Iono, we're from the Paldea League's Special Investigation Division.
Regarding the anomalous phenona occurring in your livestream, we need you to cooperate with our investigation."
He spoke while showing a gold-embossed credential.
"Of course, please co in."
Iono appeared very calm, stepping aside. The PR team leader she'd hired earlier also appeared at just the right ti, politely guiding the two investigators to sit down.
The investigation process went more smoothly than Iono had expected. She stuck firmly to her story that she was just a lucky player who knew nothing about how the ga distributed rewards.
"That red box just appeared directly. It actually scared at the ti."
"I just played according to the ga prompts, and then the rewards ca. As for the principle... you'd probably have to ask that 'Wind Studio,' right?"
She repeatedly emphasized that all the rewards she'd received had been tested and seed to only benefit Pokémon without any harmful effects.
"You both saw it. Bellibolt's condition is excellent, and its strength got a real, tangible boost.
I think this might be a new path for trainers to get stronger, don't you?"
As she spoke, Iono subtly steered the conversation in another direction.
The investigators carefully examined the remaining Beast Balls and the empty booster vial, asked about specific details of how the rewards appeared, and took extensive notes.
They were indeed very professional and serious, but faced with this phenonon that completely defied common sense and couldn't be explained by existing science, they were clearly at a loss as well.
Finally, after repeatedly instructing Iono that she must imdiately report any new discoveries, they stood up and left.
After seeing the investigators out, Iono closed the door and let out a long breath, her gaze sharpening.
Since she'd managed to brush them off...
Ti to get back to the ga!
At almost the sa ti Iono was dealing with the investigators, an extrely high-level ergency video conference was being held at Pokémon League Headquarters.
The attendees' portraits appeared one by one on the large screen, all major figures from various regions: Kanto's Champion Lance, Hoenn's Champion Steven, Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia... along with several highly respected professors, like Kanto's Professor Oak and Paldea's Professor Sada.
The eting atmosphere was unusually tense.
The moderator briefly outlined the situation: a ga called Pokémon: Erald could deliver precious items including ga Evolution stones and Rare Candies into the real world, and had already caused a massive sensation globally.
"This is a serious challenge to the existing Pokémon training system, battle rules, and even social order!"
In the League conference room, one League elder spoke first, his tone severe.
"This power from an unknown source must be strictly controlled! I recomnd imdiately banning this ga worldwide and going all out to track down this so-called 'Wind Studio'!"
"Bron, ban the ga? Easier said than done!" A younger official countered. "The news has already spread completely.
Countless trainers are flocking to it. Forcing a ban will only cause greater chaos and resistance.
I believe this is an unprecedented opportunity! We should dig deep into it, figure out exactly what this ga is about.
If we can master this level of technology, the League's capabilities will make a quantum leap!"
"Opportunity? Look at that Paldea strear! A Gym Leader's Pokémon reached that level of power after using the rewards! What if this power gets exploited by criminals?
What if next ti the reward isn't enhancent items but sothing destructive? Who's going to be responsible for ordinary citizens' safety?"
The elder's beard practically bristled as he slamd the table and demanded loudly.
For a mont, both sides held their ground, arguing endlessly.
Just as the conference room descended into chaos, one voice brought the entire eting to silence.
The speaker was none other than Professor Oak.
"Everyone, allow to say sothing."
"From an academic perspective, this technology that materializes virtual data completely overturns our understanding.
Its principles and safety are all unknowns. Blindly promoting it or simply suppressing it are both inadvisable. The urgent priority is to gain deeper understanding."
In a nearby video fra, an elderly professor also nodded in agreent. "We need more samples and data.
Perhaps we should have more in-depth exchanges with those players who've already obtained rewards, such as Champion Cynthia and Champion Lance?"
She directed the topic toward Cynthia and Lance, who had remained silent this whole ti!
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