Kairos finished reading the message and tapped the video.
The screen lit up.
A clear morning in Pallet Town, sunlight pouring through a bedroom window onto a messy bed. An alarm clock blared, and a kid in a cap jolted awake, scrambling frantically to pull himself together.
Cut to Professor Oak's lab, a red-and-white Poké Ball gleaming on the table.
Then came that first meeting everyone remembered.
Pikachu rolling its eyes. Ash's goofy grin. And finally, the moment a flock of Spearow came screaming down from the sky and Ash threw himself in front of Pikachu without a second thought.
The animation budget was clearly tight. The resolution wasn't great, some of the movement felt a little stiff, and the backgrounds could've used more detail. But the atmosphere, the emotion, all of it landed exactly the way it needed to.
Especially that final shot, Pikachu launching itself off Ash's body as lightning split the sky wide open.
Yeah. That was it.
It worked.
Kairos exhaled slowly, then transferred the remaining ten thousand yuan to NightOwl and typed out a short message.
"Good work. Your skills are solid. More is coming, I'll reach out."
NightOwl replied almost instantly with an ecstatic meme, then followed it up:
"Boss, I'll be straight with you. At first I thought your script was kind of childish. But now I actually want to see what happens next. Whatever you're paying, as long as you keep writing, I'll cut you a deal. I want to know where this kid and that... Pikachu, right? I want to know where they end up."
Kairos smiled, then closed the chat.
All that was left now was putting it out there.
He registered an account under the name "Dream Studio" and uploaded the video to EpicTube, the biggest streaming platform around.
The title was simple: Pokémon: Indigo League, Episode 1 - Setting Off! The Goal Is to Become a Pokémon Master!!
The description was just as short: "A story about dreams, adventure, and bonds. Welcome to the world of Pokémon."
No paid promotion. No bought traffic. He hadn't even put together a real thumbnail, just grabbed a screenshot straight from the video.
Once the upload finished, Kairos stretched his arms over his head and listened to the wind outside. A rare, quiet calm settled over him.
Whatever happened next, the first step was done.
--
Across the city, inside a sleek, high-tech streaming room, a long-haired man in glasses sat slumped in a gaming chair, looking completely defeated.
His name was Dan the Dan The Demon King, one of EpicTube's biggest gaming streamers.
Under normal circumstances, his channel would've been packed with hundreds of thousands of viewers by now, all tuned in to watch him play.
But tonight he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Every new game lately had been either a shameless reskin or a shameless cash grab, and he was sick of all of them.
"Guys, I seriously cannot face another game tonight. My hands are shot."
He grabbed a can of iced cola off the desk, took a long pull, and leaned toward the camera. "Let's try something different. I'll dig around for some new anime or shows, and we can watch together. Maybe roast whatever we find."
The comments exploded.
Yes! Dan The Demon King's roasts are the best!
Nothing domestic please. Every recent Chinese release is garbage. Watching them is a public health hazard.
Seriously, that Immortal Cultivation King thing from last month was physically painful. You almost rage-quit your own stream.
Look for hidden gems! Maybe we actually get lucky.
Dan The Demon King read through the comments and laughed. The anime scene was in the same sorry shape as gaming right now, just one pile of nonsense after another.
He scrolled through the animation section of EpicTube, scanning the thumbnails.
Unrivaled Douluo. CEO Falls for Me. Reborn as the System Itself.
His eyelid twitched.
"What even is any of this... Did every writer quit at the same time?"
He was about to close the tab and just chat with his audience instead, when his mouse slowed.
Down in the bottom-right corner, almost buried from view, a video sat quietly where nothing else seemed to be.
The thumbnail showed a boy in a red-and-white outfit cradling a small yellow creature with a lightning-bolt tail.
The art style looked a little... retro.
The title: Pokémon: Indigo League, Episode 1 - Setting Off! The Goal Is to Become a Pokémon Master!!
"Pokémon?"
He murmured it aloud, frowning slightly.
What was that? He'd never heard of it.
And the thumbnail didn't look like any kind of major production. If anything it resembled the sort of bright, simple cartoon you'd throw on for a five-year-old.
But for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on, maybe it was the slightly over-the-top, dead-serious earnestness radiating from the title, his cursor drifted toward it almost on its own.
"Alright guys, we're gambling. This one."
He pointed at the screen.
His finger hovered over the left mouse button for half a second, then clicked.
The screen flickered and the video started loading.
His chat went berserk. Comments came flooding in so fast they were barely readable.
He's actually going for it? "Dream Studio" sounds like some two-bit operation out of a basement.
Front row for Dan The Demon King stepping on a landmine. That thumbnail looks like it's running on 144p.
We waited all night for you to stream and this is what we're watching? I don't want cash grabs OR toddler cartoons.
Bro has been under too much stress. His taste is slipping.
I'm out. This resolution is physically hurting my eyes. I'm going to go watch that new Unrivaled thing. Story's trash but at least it doesn't look like this.
Dan The Demon King watched the flood of complaints roll by and his expression tightened. Honestly, he was already second-guessing himself.
That click had been pure autopilot. He'd noticed something in the thumbnail boy's eyes that caught him off guard, but looking at it again with fresh eyes, this really did look like a cheap, rushed production.
In today's market, even small independent animations opened with some big splashy CG title sequence and a bombastic theme song, just to hook the audience in the first thirty seconds.
This video? Pure black screen after clicking play. Not even a studio logo. The poverty was practically radiating through the monitor.
"Alright guys, we're already here." He took another swig of cola, trying to settle his restless chat.
"There's nothing good out there anyway. Think of this as public service. We're testing it so you don't have to. If this thing doesn't grab me in the first five minutes, I'm closing it and we'll go roast that new disaster that just dropped."
He said it with confidence, but privately he was already bracing for disappointment.
No real thumbnail, clearly no budget. What could something like this possibly have going for it?
Probably some generic template slapped together by an algorithm. A waste of anyone's time.
He kept his finger hovering near the close button, ready to bail at a moment's notice.
Then the black screen dissolved, and the image came to life.
No flashy effects. No swelling music. The opening was quiet, almost strangely so, carrying the faint grain of something old.
The first thing on screen was a weathered, lived-in face. An elderly man in a white cap looked directly into the camera, his voice deep and unhurried.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Professor Oak. Welcome to the world of Pokémon."
Professor Oak's voice filled the streaming room, accompanied by images of creatures unlike anything his audience had ever seen.
"In this world live creatures known as Pokémon. Some frolic in tall grass. Some soar through open skies. Some glide through the depths of the ocean. They share this world with us - some kept as companions, easing loneliness; others as partners, fighting side by side with humans as they explore everything this wide world has to offer."
The flood of comments, which had been roaring moments ago, started thinning out without anyone quite noticing.
Dan The Demon King blinked.
Something about this didn't feel right.
Not in a bad way. Just... different.
It wasn't the frenzied clashing violence that dominated most shows. It wasn't the senseless spectacle of every cultivation fantasy on the market.
The old man's voice was genuinely calm, like a real explorer describing a world that actually existed somewhere out there.
Then the cuts started coming faster.
A frog with a bulb growing out of its back. A lizard with a flame burning at the tip of its tail. A round, wide-headed turtle with a dopey expression.
The creatures flashed across the screen one after another, each one distinct, each one alive. The art style was vintage, but the design sense behind every single creature was unlike anything this world had produced.
What the heck are those things?
That fire lizard actually looks pretty sick.
Pokémon... this world feels huge.
Wait, you can store them inside those red balls? Like a living creature just fits inside a ball? That's wild.
Okay that's actually a genius idea. Imagine just pocketing your dog when you're done walking it lmao.
Dan The Demon King watched the comments shifting and felt a small, genuine flicker of interest.
The world-building was creative in a way that actually earned it.
The concept of living alongside unknown creatures as partners rather than just conquering them, for an audience raised on the same recycled formulas, this was something fresh.
Then the camera drifted to a quiet, peaceful little town.
Pallet Town.
Warm sunlight. Birdsong in the air.
The shot moved in through a window and into an ordinary bedroom, where a boy in a cap sat watching television.
On the TV screen, in the middle of a roaring stadium, a shadowy ghost-like Pokémon was locked in battle with an enormous stone serpent.
"Onix charges with its massive body! How will Gengar respond?!"
The battle was reaching its peak.
Gengar flickered, passing directly through Onix's enormous body like smoke, drifting up into the air. Then the corners of its mouth stretched into a wide, sharp grin.
"Gengar uses Lick!"
The commentator's voice cracked with excitement as Gengar's enormous tongue snapped out, and Onix let out a strained groan, its massive body going rigid.
"That's incredible!"
The boy on the bed couldn't help sitting up from his blankets, eyes wide, face full of longing.
The comments kept rolling in.
Wait, it just phases through solid rock? Physical attacks pass right through it?
Onix is literally made of boulders and one lick has it flinching?
Is this kid the main character? He looks so young.
Just then the bedroom door flew open.
"Ash! Do you know what time it is?! Why are you still watching TV?!"
A woman in an apron marched in with her hands planted on her hips, staring down at the disheveled boy on the bed with pure exasperation.
"Get up right now! Today is the day you turn ten and go pick your starter Pokémon! If you're late, Professor Oak is going to be furious!"
"Oh no, RIGHT!"
The reminder hit him like a bucket of cold water. Ash launched himself out of bed instantly.
He grabbed the alarm clock off the nightstand, took one look at it, and felt his stomach drop.
"I'm dead, I'm so dead - my starter Pokémon!"
He lurched out of bed in a full panic, jammed one sock on inside-out, crammed his cap down onto his head, and blew out of the bedroom like a gust of wind.
"Mom, I'm leaving!"
"This kid, honestly..." His mother sighed, then turned toward the camera with a helpless, affectionate smile.
The comments kept coming.
Ten years old and you can already take your pet and move out? Best country in any animated universe, no contest.
He put his sock on wrong lmaooo. Nice little detail.
Not gonna lie, this feels exactly like being late for school as a kid.
--
The scene shifted, the camera sweeping quickly through the streets of Pallet Town.
It was a cozy little place. Green trees lined the roads, red-roofed houses tucked between them, and here and there a Pidgey pecked at the grass or a Rattata darted across the path.
Ash sprinted through the streets, sweat running down his face, muttering under his breath on a loop.
"Please don't be late, please don't be late..."
He swung around a corner and nearly got flattened by a strange-looking convertible that came tearing out of nowhere.
Tires screamed.
The car jolted to a stop.
Out stepped a boy in an orange short-sleeved shirt, Auburn hair, holding a red-and-white Poké Ball in one hand, wearing the faintest smirk.
"Ash. Better late than never, i guess."
He turned the Poké Ball lazily in his fingers, voice dripping with casual superiority. "Pretty relaxed for your first day as a trainer, aren't you?"
"Gary!"
Ash doubled over, gasping for breath.
"Don't tell me you already got your starter!"
"Obviously I did. I was there hours ago."
"And what I picked is absolutely none of your business."
Gary gestured back toward the car. A crowd of girls stood cheering from the seats.
Gary! Gary! Go Gary! Gary's the best!
Gary let the corner of his mouth curl upward.
"Gramps already gave me the Pokédex, too. As the most promising trainer from Pallet Town, expectations are high. I'm going to carry this town's name all the way across the world."
He glanced back at Ash.
"As for you, keep standing around and you won't even have a starter left to pick."