It was clear that not only Cynthia was shocked by the game's price, but the live stream viewers were also completely overwhelmed, commenting nonstop:
"288?! This pixelated game is only a few hundred megabytes, how big can it be?! They dare to sell it for 288?!"
"The game creator is so kind. They could have just ripped us off, but they created a game and gave it to us for free."
"Even the Stone of Anguish only costs 99, and the first season of the Battle Pass is only 150. Why is it so expensive?"
"I think they're just using the 100,000 prize as bait to make a quick buck and then run away." Pixel games, plus this kind of marketing gimmick... it's not the first time I've seen it.]
The audience was unaware of Cynthia's thoughts on the Rayquaza cover and the game's creator at that moment.
To them, this was just an outrageously expensive game designed to make money, so, unsurprisingly, a barrage of criticism erupted.
After all, what good game would sell for 288?
But the next instant, under everyone's gaze, Cynthia pressed the buy button and selected the payment option.
The chat was silent for a moment.
A few seconds later, it erupted again, and the screen filled with question marks.
[???]
[Calm down! Honey! I can earn this money, but you can't spend it like this!]
[Damn it! 288 without even blinking?
[The boss is confused!]
At these comments, Cynthia quickly continued her explanation.
"Relax. I was only interested because of the high price."
"If the content isn't good, as a game tester, I can offer a full refund later."
"Relax, according to him, it's a Pokémon battle-related game. If I manage to beat it, I can get a reward of 100,000."
Hearing Cynthia's words, the chat viewers understood instantly.
[That makes sense. How dare they write such a description on the League's official website? If someone beats it and doesn't hand over the 100,000 reward, the developer will be arrested and go to jail.]
[Hahaha, the developer definitely wanted to make a quick buck and run away, making the game incredibly difficult.] But she probably didn't expect the first person to play it to be the Sinnoh Champion!
[Yes, yes, and Sister Nana is the League's officially appointed professional game tester. If you're not satisfied with the game, you can request a refund at any time.] [Hahaha, this guy only sold one copy and he's already losing 100,000!]
[Up, it's 99,712. Be precise.]
Seeing the comments subside and the laughter return, Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief.
She definitely couldn't reveal the information on the game's cover or its true hidden purpose.
Information about the top-tier "Legendary Pokémon" is top secret and can't be easily shared with the general public; otherwise, it could cause panic or other problems.
Therefore, she needed a reasonable explanation for buying the game.
Moreover, upon seeing the price, for some reason, an idea occurred to her:
Perhaps she really deserved the money to create a game like this?
How could someone who knew the legendary Pokémon "Rayquaza" be an ordinary person? Would she really bother creating a low-quality game just to make money?
Besides, 288 wasn't much to her.
So, why not give it a try and see how it went?
In short, her real goal was to be the first to complete the game and get the developer's contact information.
With this in mind, Cynthia took a deep breath and, under the watchful eyes of her onlookers, clicked the game's download button.
The biggest advantage of pixel games is their small file size. A few seconds later, with a crisp "ding," an emerald icon suddenly appeared on Cynthia's desktop.
With a click of the mouse, a window opened instantly.
Behind a black screen, a drop of water fell from a green leaf, accompanied by dynamic electronic music, into the pond below, creating ripples.
The camera panned upwards, and in the sunlight, a young man with a green bandana was riding a bicycle across a vast meadow, speeding through the air.
Countless Pokémon appeared and disappeared around him, accompanying him on his journey!
An Electabuzz running, a Flygon flying, and a Volcarona following closely behind...
And then there was an adorable Torchic, awkwardly launching itself forward with its tiny claws, stumbling and falling, then quickly getting up and running again, as if afraid of being left behind.
The camera panned upwards again, and the screen lit up with a flash of light, followed by the appearance of the game's emerald green logo.
[Pokémon Emerald]
This opening animation startled Cynthia.
Six months ago, invited by the League to become a tester for special games, she had streamed herself playing and experimenting with quite a few.
Pixel games were among them, and in her memory, they were characterized by their simple, rough graphics, focused entirely on the core gameplay.
After all, pixel games have the lowest production costs, making them the preferred choice for many companies and studios with ideas but no initial capital.
However, consequently, their visual presentation is often poor.
But now, this opening animation alone has completely overturned her understanding of pixel games.
While it retains the familiar pixelated feel, the graphics are incredibly refined, even possessing a three-dimensional quality, as if she were actually seeing them right before her eyes.
At that moment, upon seeing the opening scene, Cynthia realized immediately.
"This is definitely not just a scam!"
At the same time, viewers of the live stream also realized something was amiss and exclaimed:
[Holy crap? Is this a pixel game?]
[How come the graphics and expressiveness are so strong?] [The rhythm of this music is amazing! I was hooked after just one listen.]
[Although it's nowhere near as good as the opening animation of Victory Road, it's still way better than any other game I've seen!]
[Oh no! Is it really worth 288?]
Cynthia glanced at the comments and shook her head slightly.
It's definitely not worth 288 just for animation like this.
The details depend on the actual game content.
But deep down, she was starting to feel a little excited.
She took a deep breath and pressed the X key as the game instructed.
The logo disappeared, replaced by a message.
[Please enter your name]
Cynthia hesitated for a moment and then typed:
[Strawberry Ice Cream]
Of all the sweets, ice cream was her favorite.
Strawberry was her favorite flavor.
A notification popped up on the screen again.
[Welcome to the world of Pokémon, Strawberry Ice Cream.]
[An adventure filled with courage and friendship awaits you!]
[Never forget your original aspirations, use bonds and passion to become the strongest Pokémon Trainer!]
At that moment, the live stream chat exploded with comments.
[She still loves ice cream, I'm crying!]
[Haha, what if I told you that the streamer is already the strongest trainer in the world? How would you react?]
Cynthia stared at the text, stunned.
Courage, friendship...
Bonds and passion...
Strange emotions seemed to flicker in her eyes.
After a long pause, Cynthia took a deep breath and solemnly pressed the "Start" button.
Upon entering the game, a little girl wearing a green straw hat, representing her, appeared in a moving truck.
As she stepped out of the truck, "Mom" greeted her and explained the situation: the player and her family had moved to a new home in Littleroot Town, a small town in the Hoenn region.
This day was also important for the player, as she received her starter Pokémon and embarked on her adventure as a trainer.
As Cynthia explored, the exquisite architecture of Littleroot Town surprised and amazed her once again.
Although she had never been to Littleroot Town in the Hoenn region,
the surrounding buildings looked exactly like the features of the Hoenn region she remembered, completely identical.
It was clear the author had carefully researched and compared the examples.
The grass and trees swaying in the breeze, the details of the blooming flowers, and even the Pokémon accompanying the townspeople seemed incredibly realistic to Cynthia.
They were all so vivid, albeit somewhat blurry, but remarkably lifelike.
"Could this really be achieved with a pixelated game?"
Then, as the story progresses, after setting the clock at home and encountering a boy from her neighbor's house, he asks Cynthia to call him by name.
Cynthia, unaware that this boy will become her next formidable rival, has named him "Black-Haired Boy," eliciting another burst of laughter from the audience.
[That's just how Cynthia is; [He can't name anything without ice cream.]
[Haha, seeing as the champion is as bad at naming things as I am, I feel relieved.]
Meanwhile, discussions have also arisen about the game mechanics:
[So, the next step is collecting Pokémon?] How can you even make Pokémon battle animations in a pixelated game? It seems impossible.
[Yeah, maybe they'll just skip the battle animations? The scenery in this game is already pretty beautiful, so maybe it'll be more like a journey?]
[That can't be right, doesn't the game description say it's very difficult? And it says they're not responsible for heart attacks or strokes.]
As the comments swirled, Cynthia's character arrived at the entrance to the forest above the town. A cry for help came from afar; a Poochyena was chasing a professor in a lab coat.
Cynthia blinked, looking at the professor.
Does this professor look familiar...?
Isn't that Professor Birch from the Hoenn region?
"Strawberry Ice Cream! You arrived just in time! There's a Poké Ball in that bag over there, please help me!"
A dialogue box appeared.
The live chat erupted in laughter.
[Wow, Professor Birch! Is that you? You've become so careless in just a few days! Even a Poochyena can chase you now?!]
[The top research professor in the Hoenn region asks the strongest champion in Sinnoh for help dealing with a Poochyena that's biting his butt.] Why am I having such a dream?
[Hahahahahahaha Strawberry Ice Cream, please help me hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]
[Hey, that comment you posted is bothering me!]
At the same time, the Pokémon selection screen appeared in front of Cynthia.
Three Poké Balls, each corresponding to:
A Fire-type Pokémon that looks like a chick with orange-yellow down: Torchic.
A Grass-type Pokémon that looks like a lizard with a twig in its mouth: Treecko.
There's also the seemingly adorable Water-type Pokémon: Mudkip.
These three Pokémon are the "Starter Trio" exclusive to the Hoenn region, popular choices among novice trainers in the area.
Looking at the images of the three Pokémon, Cynthia began to reflect.
If this were a high-difficulty fighting game, choosing this starter Pokémon would be crucial.
After all, she'd need it to get through the early stages.
As Cynthia pondered this, the comments section offered her suggestions.
[Choose Torchic! Torchic is adorable!]
[Mudkip is great, okay? Do you like my Swampert's well-rounded stats?]
[When will a Pokémon with a x4 weakness to Grass be available? Here's a Grassy Slide as a reward!]
[What do you think of Treecko?] "I think Treecko is pretty well-rounded, and its evolved form, Sceptile, is quite powerful."
Seeing the comments and combining them with her own thoughts, she quickly made a decision: she chose Treecko's Poké Ball.
The reason for this choice was that she had previously been interested in Pokémon like Treecko. Now that she had the chance to try it out, it wasn't bad at all.
Furthermore, Grass-type Pokémon theoretically have some advantages early in the game, thanks to their multiple methods of restoring HP, such as Absorb and Leech Seed.
With a cool wave on the screen, the game instantly switched to the battle screen.
At once, a burst of exciting battle music filled the air: the vibrant drum rhythms and orchestral electronic harmonies were truly electrifying!
Looking at the interface and the options before her, Cynthia instantly understood the game's battle system.
"Turn-based."
In short, it's a turn-based system where players take turns attacking; whoever is faster attacks first.
For a pixelated game, this battle system seems perfect.
While controlling Treecko and using "Slap" to attack, she addressed the viewers on the live stream:
"From what I've seen so far, this game is quite innovative."
But I've never encountered a game that uses turn-based combat for Pokémon battles before. I wonder how deeply this game takes this aspect.
The chat was filled with comments:
[Indeed, turn-based combat seems to be working well.]
[You move, I move, it feels a bit boring. Doesn't that mean there's no room for skill? Whoever has the stat advantage or a higher level wins?]
[Indeed, that seems to be a problem.]
[Excellent graphics, good music, good concept, but the combat system is weak and uninteresting. It's just a matter of comparing stats. It's inferior to Battle Road in this aspect. Out of five stars, four stars overall. Full review.]
(End of chapter)