Next, just as expected, Green chose Charmander, which had the type advantage against Bulbasaur, and immediately challenged Red to a battle.
The first battle wasn't difficult.
Its main purpose was to help players quickly get familiar with the real-time battle system.
The difficulty was intentionally low, mostly serving as a tutorial.
After briefly demonstrating the basics—movement and dodging, timing for issuing move commands, and type effectiveness—Rei Akagi ended the battle cleanly.
He didn't demonstrate the trainer free-combat system.
After all, teaching that during an official livestream might not look great. It was better for players to discover those mechanics on their own.
Leaving Pallet Town, he quickly passed through Route 1.
Red arrived at the first city of his journey—
Viridian City.
Rei Akagi showed the audience the city's basic exploration features.
Freely talking with various NPCs to obtain information, buying Poké Balls and Potions from the item shop, and using the Pokémon Center for free healing services.
He didn't linger long and originally planned to head straight to the next city.
But the viewers in the livestream were completely fired up, and the chat began flooding the screen.
"Gym! Gym! Viridian City has a Gym!"
"Teacher Salted Fish, don't leave! Go check out the Gym!"
"Yeah! Isn't the first main storyline Gym here?"
Rei Akagi thought about it.
After the official release, players would definitely rush to investigate the Gym immediately anyway.
Information about Giovanni would inevitably be uncovered sooner or later.
So showing it now wouldn't really matter.
"Alright, alright. Since everyone's asking for it so loudly, let's go check out the Viridian Gym."
He guided Red to the Gym.
But the Gym doors were tightly shut.
From the old man at the entrance, they learned that the Gym had been closed for a long time.
And the Gym Leader had disappeared without a trace.
Just as Rei Akagi expected, the chat immediately became fascinated by this mystery.
"No Gym Leader? Isn't the main story about collecting badges for the League Conference? Is this a bug?"
"Impossible. The old man said the Gym Leader just isn't here. The Gym's closed."
"According to the timeline, who was the Viridian Gym Leader at this time? I only know that later it became Green."
"I just checked the League public database! The Viridian Gym Leader entry is completely blank! There isn't even a name! Who has enough power to hack the League system and delete records?"
"Kanto local here! I remember a friendly-looking uncle with a powerful aura. His strength was unfathomable. But later he suddenly disappeared…"
"As for that question," Rei Akagi said with a smile, guiding the conversation, "you can explore it yourselves once the game releases. We won't dig too deeply into it here."
He then directed Red toward Viridian Forest, preparing to continue toward the next city—
Pewter City.
But just before entering the forest, a familiar figure appeared at the road's entrance.
The same white lab coat.
The same handsome face.
Handsome Researcher: "Yo, we meet again. How have things been going lately?"
A blank input box appeared.
Input required…
"Ahem. Everyone, pay attention—this question is very important."
Rei Akagi didn't immediately type an answer.
Instead, he explained to the audience:
"You may have noticed that Pokémon is designed for a very wide audience."
"There are casual players, hardcore players, and even real professional Pokémon Trainers."
"With such a high degree of freedom, balancing the game's difficulty becomes critical."
"Our solution is to dynamically adjust the game's difficulty based on your feedback."
"In other words, if you think the early game is too easy, you can honestly write your thoughts here."
"The system will then thoughtfully increase the difficulty of the challenges ahead."
"But since this is a demonstration stream, we won't raise the difficulty too much."
"And it's definitely not because Salted Fish here isn't good enough—this is purely for the sake of viewing experience."
Then he typed the response.
Red:
"Can't take a single step forward."
Handsome Researcher:
"I see… sounds like this journey has been difficult for you."
"Here, take these."
The Researcher Balooked worried and took several items out of his lab coat pocket, placing them into Red's hands.
The number of items wasn't large.
But the sincerity was undeniable.
Potion ×1
Super Potion ×1
Hyper Potion ×1
Max Potion ×1
In addition, he also gave an important item:
Wild Camping Kit
Handsome Researcher:
"Raising Pokémon isn't only about battling. Companionship and care are just as important."
"If you have time, take your Pokémon camping in the wild and enjoy life together."
"Well then—see you next time!"
With that, the Researcher Rei disappeared down the road, leaving behind a stylish silhouette.
"Flying Salted Fish, what the hell kind of answer is 'can't take a single step forward'? That's way too cowardly!"
"Move aside and let me play—I'll show you real skills!"
"Pretty good design. I already felt the earlier battles were too easy."
"Next time write 'very easy' again!"
"The Researcher Bashowed up again! Based on my analysis, he's definitely an important NPC."
"First appearance: gave items. Second appearance: asked questions and gave items. He'll definitely appear again later."
"You know… what if the Researcher Rei's actually Teacher Salted Fish's in-game avatar? All the other NPCs have names—only he doesn't."
Wait.
How did someone already guess that?
Where are the werewolves? Someone come rescue me!
"Alright, now that we've obtained the Camping Kit, it's time to enter Viridian Forest."
"There's just as much worth exploring in the forest as there is in towns."
Seeing the chat drifting away from the topic again, Rei Akagi quickly guided it back.
"But we won't explore too deeply today."
"We'll take a look around the forest, try out the camping feature, and then continue the main storyline toward Pewter City."
The scene shifted.
Red walked through the quiet, expansive forest.
After discovering a TM, he began setting up a campfire campsite.
Beside the fire, Red sat together with his Pokémon partners.
Rei Akagi briefly demonstrated:
interacting with Pokémoncooking simple mealsteaching moves and practicing move proficiency
After capturing a Growlithe that had been attracted by the food, he packed up camp.
Then he battled several Trainer NPCs along the road to level up while heading toward Pewter City.
After defeating the final Bug Catcher, they arrived at the last intersection before the city.
At that moment, the chat exploded with complaints.
"Damn it! Explore already! I feel like Caterpie are crawling all over my body!"
"Bro, I'm begging you. Please explore the map. I'll kneel if I have to."
Then suddenly—
A donation notification appeared.
"Garchomp and Ice Cream has joined the Master Ball Tier."
"Garchomp and Ice Cream sent Master Ball ×10."
Highlighted Message:
"I'm also quite curious, Teacher Salted Fish. Could you explore the secrets of the forest a bit more?"
"Is that Champion Cynthia?!"
"Of course it is! The verified badge is right there! Champion Cynthia, I love you!"
"…Uh…"
Rei Akagi couldn't hold it together.
For some reason, it felt like he had just been caught doing something embarrassing.
Why are you watching the stream too?!
If you're curious, I could just secretly send you a collector's edition and personally teach you how to play.
That way the platform wouldn't take a cut of the donations.
Even though he thought that internally, he still couldn't neglect the stream's top donor.
He pinched Gastly's round face and made it put on a serious expression before speaking.
"Thank you to the boss for the Master Ball donation. Very generous! May the boss live forever."
"Oh right—how careless of me!"
"There actually is a hidden storyline in the forest."
"Let me show everyone."
"Holy crap! If there's Ditto, how do we even play this game?!"
"How many big names are secretly watching this stream?! Even a Champion showed up!"
"Lady Cynthia! Please work Salted Fish like a slave!"
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