The adrenaline from the sales figures and the Litwick incident slowly began to ebb, replaced by a cold, calculating focus. Leo sat in his darkened room, the glow of the monitor illuminating his tired face. Litwick was snoozing in the corner, a faint, rhythmic snoring sound coming from its little blue flame.
Leo leaned back, interlacing his fingers behind his head.
Two thousand copies sold. Roughly ninety thousand dollars in revenue. For a guy who couldn't afford instant noodles yesterday, this was a fortune. But Leo knew better than to get comfortable. In the grand scheme of the gaming industry, this was a drop in the ocean.
His eyes drifted to the calendar widget on his desktop.
[Alliance Indie Game Festival][Time Remaining: 32 Days]
This was the real battlefield. The "Golden Globe Award."
Every indie game released in the first half of the year was entered into this four-month marathon. The winner didn't just get a trophy; they got a multi-million dollar promotional contract with the Pokémon League. It was the golden ticket to becoming a household name.
The problem? The festival had started three months ago. Ultimate Emerald was joining the race in the final lap.
And there was a shark in the water.
DreamWorks Interactive. The juggernaut behind Battle Road. Rumor had it they were dropping a "secret project" in the final two weeks of the festival. It was a classic corporate power move: wait for the indie devs to exhaust themselves, then swoop in with a AAA budget and suck all the oxygen out of the room.
"Fairness isn't really their business model," Leo muttered, tapping a pen against his desk.
Most people said it was over. DreamWorks was inevitable.
But Leo had something they didn't. He had the System.
He pulled up the System Store, scrolling past the low-level modules he had been browsing earlier. He clicked on the [Intermediate] tab, which had been greyed out until his recent point influx.
One item caught his eye, shining with a tantalizing golden border.
[Intermediate Module: Neural-Link VR Technology][Description: Mass-producible Virtual Reality hardware with direct brain-computer interface. Allows players to physically enter the game world. Accelerates VR development by 500%.][Cost: 5,000 EP]
Leo stared at it, his throat going dry.
Full-dive VR. The holy grail of gaming. The kind of tech that existed only in sci-fi novels back on Earth. Here, it was just sitting in a menu, waiting for him to earn enough "emotional points."
"Five thousand," Leo whispered. "That's the goal."
If he wanted to beat DreamWorks, he couldn't just make a good game. He had to change the paradigm of gaming itself.
But first, he had to survive the month.
He cracked his knuckles and turned back to his code. The "Advanced AI" module he bought earlier was already integrating itself into the game's architecture, rewriting lines of code faster than humanly possible.
"Okay," Leo said to the empty room. "Time to open the world."
Currently, the Beta ended at Oldale Town. It was time to push the boundaries.
He expanded the map. Route 102. Petalburg City. Route 104. Petalburg Woods. The majestic glass-and-steel architecture of Rustboro City.
In the original game, the first Gym was in Petalburg, run by the protagonist's father, Norman. But for balance reasons, you skipped him until later. The real first boss was in Rustboro.
Roxanne. The Honors Student. The Rock-type Gym Leader.
In the base game, she was a pushover if you picked Water or Grass. But in Ultimate Emerald? She was a gatekeeper. A dream-crusher.
And now, Leo was giving her the Advanced AI.
"I hope you guys like Cradily," Leo grinned, a wicked glint in his eye. "Because she's going to use it like a surgeon uses a scalpel."
He worked through the night, fueled by cheap coffee and ambition.
The Next Morning.Levincia City, Paldea Region.
While Leo slept, the internet was waking up.
On SkittyStream, the world's fastest-growing streaming platform, a notification pinged on millions of devices.
[CHANNEL LIVE: The Iono Zone!][Title: ⚡ Your Eyeballs Are MINE! Mystery Box Event! ⚡]
In a studio that looked more like a neon-soaked spaceship than a bedroom, a girl spun around in a high-end gaming chair. She had pastel blue and pink hair that resembled oversized Magnemites, an oversized yellow jacket, and a smile filled with shark-like teeth.
Iono. The Electric-type Gym Leader of Levincia. An influencer, a streamer, and a chaotic force of nature.
" 'Ello, 'Ello, Hola! Ciao and Bonjour!" Iono shouted into her diamond-encrusted microphone, striking a pose. "Welcome back to the Iono Zone! I'm your host, Iono, and today... we have a crisis!"
She gestured dramatically to the window behind her. Rain was lashing against the glass.
"Look at this! Disgusting! Wet! Gross!" She pulled a face. "We were supposed to do an outdoor hiking stream to hunt for Wattrel, but nature said 'No way, sister!' So, plan B!"
She whistled shrilly. "Bellibolt! Get in here!"
A chubby, green, frog-like Pokémon waddled into the frame. It looked squishy and cheerful, carrying a cardboard box balanced precariously on its head.
"Bellibolt~" it croaked, its belly-button dynamo glowing softly.
"Thanks, partner!" Iono grabbed the box and shook it violently. "Chat, you know what time it is! It's the Box of Destiny!"
The chat scrolled so fast it was a blur of colors. POG!BOX STREAM!Please let it be Karaoke!Don't pick the Spicy Noodle Challenge again!
"Inside this box are your wildest dreams and my worst nightmares," Iono declared. "Whatever I pull out, we do. No take-backs, no rerolls!"
She reached in, sticking her tongue out in concentration. She rummaged around, bypassing a few slips of paper, before snatching one from the bottom.
She unfolded it, her eyes widening.
"Ooh! Spicy!" She held it up to the camera. "Viewer's Choice: Video Game Request!"
She slammed her hand on a big red button on her desk. A siren sound effect played.
"Alright, chat! The lucky winner selected by the algorithm is... User Starlight_E5763! Connecting you now! Don't be shy, you're live in front of two million people!"
A voice crackled over the stream. It sounded young and incredibly nervous.
"Uhh... H-Hello? Iono? Oh my god, is this real?"
"It's real, bestie!" Iono beamed. "You've got the floor. What are we playing today? Please don't say Angry Geodude. If I have to roll that rock one more time, I'm gonna explode."
"No! No, not that," the viewer stammered. "Um, actually... my friend was watching Cynthia's stream yesterday? The Sinnoh Champion?"
Iono raised an eyebrow. "Queen Cynthia? She streams? I thought she just studied ancient ruins and looked scary-cool."
"She does! But she was playing this new game. She seemed really obsessed with it. She played for hours and didn't even read chat. It's called... Pokémon Emerald?"
"Emerald?" Iono tapped her chin. "Sounds shiny. I like shiny. Let's find it!"
She alt-tabbed to the browser, her screen mirrored for the audience. She navigated to the Alliance New Game Festival page and typed in the name.
The page loaded.
Iono froze. The chat froze.
[Pokémon: Emerald (Beta)][Price: $45.00][Genre: Pixel Art / RPG]
"Forty-five dollars?" Iono shrieked, her voice cracking. "For a pixel game? Excuse me? Is the cartridge made of gold?"
The chat instantly turned on the game. SCAM.LMAO $45 for 8-bit graphics?Pass.Iono, don't do it. It's bait.
The viewer on the call sounded panicked. "Oh! I didn't know it was that expensive! I'm so sorry! We can pick something else! Please don't be mad!"
Iono watched the chat flood with negativity. Rip-off. Scam. Indiegogo trash.
But then, she saw a few comments fighting back.
User: GarchompFan99: "No, seriously, Cynthia loved it. The difficulty is insane." User: MasochistGamer: "It's worth it. The AI cheats. It's hilarious."
Iono's streamer instincts kicked in.
Controversy? Check. High price point? Check. Champion endorsement? Check.
This was content gold.
"Hold on, hold on!" Iono raised her hands, silencing the imaginary crowd. "Starlight, don't apologize! The Box of Destiny has spoken! If Cynthia played it, I have to know why."
She leaned into the camera, her shark-tooth grin returning.
"Is it a masterpiece? Or is it the biggest scam of the year? Today, Iono tests the poison! I sacrifice my wallet so you don't have to!"
She clicked [Purchase].
"RIP my snack budget," she sighed dramatically as the download bar filled up.
It was a small file. It finished in seconds.
"Alright, chat. Let's see this $45 miracle."
She launched the game.
Since she was a pro gamer (and impatient), she immediately mashed the 'X' key to skip the opening cinematic, ignoring the beautiful pixel art that had captivated Cynthia.
"Skip, skip, skip! Show me the gameplay!"
A patch note window popped up in the center of the screen.
[Update Patch 0.1.5][Developer: Feng]
[1. Added 'Skip Intro' feature. (You're welcome, speedrunners).]
"He knew!" Iono laughed. "Okay, +1 point for self-awareness."
She read the next line. Her smile vanished.
[2. Implemented 'True AI' System. All NPCs and Pokémon now possess autonomous intelligence. Supports Voice and Text input for natural conversation. NPC combat strategy significantly enhanced.]
[3. Map expanded to Rustboro City. First Gym Leader 'Roxanne' is now available.]
Iono stared at the second point. She read it again.
"True AI?" she scoffed, turning to the chat. "Voice interaction?"
She let out a loud, skeptical laugh. "Okay, now I know it's a scam. Chat, look at this. Battle Road cost five hundred million dollars to make, and their NPCs still walk into walls and say 'Nice weather!' when it's raining."
She pointed an accusatory finger at the screen.
"This indie dev, working out of his basement, claims he has fully autonomous AI in a 300 megabyte file? That responds to voice?"
The chat agreed. Impossible.Marketing lies.It's probably just a chatbot script.REFUND.
Iono cracked her knuckles.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," she said, her eyes narrowing. "There is nothing I love more than exposing a liar. Let's see how 'smart' this AI really is."
She clicked [Start Game].
"Get ready, Mr. Feng. Iono is about to break your game."
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