Reality proved once again that mysticism would emerge anywhere, no matter the context.
Even after countless demonstrations showing that mysticism isn't reliable, there would still be people who firmly believed in it.
Take Pokémon GO, for example.
After several days of explosive popularity, more and more Pokémon fans began going outside in search of the Pokémon they dreamed of.
Even though repeated regional refreshes had already confirmed that Pokémon spawn locations were random, some people still believed certain places had to spawn rare Pokémon.
Some went even further—setting up tents at fixed locations, waiting for Pokémon to practically throw themselves at them.
Others even resorted to divination, tarot cards, and similar methods to predict the exact locations where Pokémon might appear.
And just like that, a brand-new business quietly emerged.
In a circus that had fallen on hard times, a fortune teller had gone months without a single customer.
She was already worrying about her next living expenses.
Then suddenly, dozens of people showed up on the same day.
Their requests were all vague: they wanted to find where "something" might appear.
At first, the fortune teller was completely confused.
She couldn't understand what kind of thing would be described as "might appear."
Treasure hunters?
But real treasure hunters usually relied on scientific detection methods—they wouldn't come to someone like her and her unreliable mystic divination.
"32 degrees north latitude, 86 degrees west longitude, effective radius three meters."
"Thanks. Here's ten dollars. If the location is accurate, I'll come back to make an offering!"
The fortune teller stared blankly at the person's retreating back, and then—almost immediately—another customer walked in.
"Hello, I'd like you to divine which spot in this area on the map will have what I'm looking for."
The request was almost identical to the previous one.
The fortune teller looked at the unfolded map and fell into deep thought.
What on earth were they looking for?
She couldn't understand it at all.
Was there some big treasure-hunting news lately? Were people hoping to use divination to find ancient ruins or something?
Perhaps because she dealt with mystical topics all the time, her imagination began to run wild.
Was some ancient relic about to surface? A world-changing event?
A demon god awakening, maybe?
Of course, she knew that was just her imagination.
Finally, unable to resist her curiosity, she asked cautiously:
"Um… may I ask what exactly you're trying to find?"
"A Pokémon," the person replied matter-of-factly.
"Pokémon?" The fortune teller froze. "What's that?"
The word was unfamiliar to her. She rarely interacted with video games or anime culture—just getting by in daily life already exhausted her.
"No way—you don't know Pokémon? It's super popular right now!"
"Ah… sorry, I really don't know much about it."
"That's fine. It's normal if you don't."
The man waved his hand and took out his phone, patiently explaining what Pokémon were, and what Pokémon GO was.
"I'm telling you, this game is insanely popular. Everyone's gone crazy trying to find rare Pokémon. But every weekly refresh is random within a region—it's incredibly hard to run into them."
The fortune teller blinked at the phone screen.
…That's it?
For some reason, she suddenly felt a little disappointed.
She'd really been imagining a world-shaking event just moments ago.
And now she learned that so many people were coming to her for divination… because of a game?
But games were just data, weren't they?
If it was data, couldn't it be adjusted or modified at will?
Was this really worth divining?
"Actually… my divination might not work for something like this," she said honestly after hearing the explanation. "This kind of thing can be manually modified. There are too many uncontrollable factors."
Perhaps this honesty was why her life had been so difficult.
Unlike other fortune tellers who mostly sweet-talked customers, she tended to tell the truth.
"It's fine. Whether it works or not is up to fate. I'm just wandering around aimlessly anyway—having a general direction helps."
"Then… all right."
Money was money. She'd already explained the situation clearly.
If the client still wanted a reading, there was nothing more to say—she'd do her job properly.
After a complicated divination ritual, she gave the man a precise location.
He immediately left with the map, leaving twenty dollars behind.
"If I really catch a rare Pokémon, I'll come back to make an offering. And honestly, I think you should promote your divination services more—you might make good money!"
With that, he walked away without looking back, leaving the fortune teller sitting silently in her small divination room for a long time.
Making money by divining Pokémon spawn locations?
Could anything be more absurd?
…But oddly enough, it did sound like a viable way to earn money.
Divination didn't offend anyone, after all. Even if the prediction was wrong, most people would understand.
Those earlier customers had all said clearly that they were just looking for peace of mind—whether they actually caught a Pokémon was up to luck.
So… should she use this as a gimmick to make money?
She thought it over carefully, and in the end, decided against it.
At the very least, charging people for Pokémon divination felt a bit unethical to her.
But then another idea suddenly came to mind.
Livestream divination.
She could do divination for viewers for free.
Whether it worked or not wouldn't matter—she wouldn't be taking their money.
But she could earn money from the streaming platform itself.
And just so happened that Facebook's livestream platform was currently recruiting new streamers.
She didn't follow games or anime much, but she loved watching livestreams.
With that thought, her mind grew lively.
No time to waste—she needed to start preparing and begin streaming!
The hunt for Pokémon wasn't limited to the United States.
People all over the world were exploring everywhere.
Some particularly hardcore players even chose to travel abroad, heading to sparsely populated areas in search of Pokémon.
Different countries spawned different Pokémon, after all.
Collecting only the Pokémon from one's own country wasn't enough—
Catching Pokémon from other countries felt far more rewarding.