Pokémon: Did you play Pokémon today?

Chapter 201 Posted by: Dodo Bird, Invincible in the Sky

Pokémon trading cards have become incredibly popular.

It didn't simmer slowly; instead, it swept through the entire market in a way that exceeded everyone's expectations, becoming incredibly popular.

Its audience is surprisingly broad.

It's not just hardcore card game players who delve into battles and research deck compositions; it's also elementary school students chasing and playing on the street and busy office workers in office buildings.

Even established and experienced trainers are willing to spend some spare change to buy a few heavy card packs.

Experience the instant surprise of "unpacking".

Oh, right.

There are also those scalpers and dealers with a keen sense of smell who try to hoard and speculate on the cards, reselling them to remote areas where they haven't been fully distributed yet.

However, thanks to The Pokémon Company's visionary, affordable pricing and strict purchase limits, their "card reselling" business has been quite difficult.

Customers have different reasons for buying Pokémon trading cards.

Some people are obsessed with the exquisite Pokémon illustrations drawn by top artists on the cards, just to collect that visual art.

Some are staunch "full collection" enthusiasts, enjoying the satisfaction of collecting a complete set.

Of course, there are also those passionate about studying card effects and wielding their skills at the card table.

Regardless of the initial intention, this explosive growth in purchasing power has undoubtedly added a significant amount of fuel to the wildfire that has ignited the "Pokémon trading cards" craze.

As a result, the Pokémon Company's initial production, based on conventional market forecasts, was snapped up in a very short time, leading to a complete sell-out.

The cooperating printing factory immediately entered a "wartime state".

The machines roared 24 hours a day, and the workers worked in two shifts, day and night, to rush production, fearing that the supply speed could not keep up with the seemingly endless market enthusiasm.

Downstairs at the Pokémon Company headquarters building.

Xiaozhi and Mingyi stood by the roadside, occasionally tiptoeing to look around, seemingly anxiously waiting for someone.

Today marks the official start of the "Spark Competition," and both of them have successfully passed the preliminary rounds thanks to their solid skills.

Before the competition, in order to motivate their fighting spirit and desire to win (especially that electric mouse who liked to "act" at crucial moments), Bai Zhou made a special promise:

If they successfully advance to the top 32, they will be invited to visit The Pokémon Company headquarters, and there is a hint that a "surprise" awaits them.

The effect of this "bait" is obvious.

In today's round of 32 to 16 elimination, the two crushed their opponent with almost no pressure, and their advancement process could even be described as "brutal".

It left a significant psychological scar on the opponent.

Especially Ash.

This "pure newbie," who had already traveled to two regions and had extensive practical experience, gave a solid lesson to those truly inexperienced trainers.

And Pikachu on his shoulder, this time, didn't even bother to act.

In just ten minutes, they completed a clean and efficient "one-in-three" with lightning speed!

When the opposing trainer watched helplessly as his Ground-type Hippowdon was swiftly and decisively defeated by a Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack, which was of a different type.

He was completely stunned.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then jumped up excitedly and shouted, "This is not scientific!"

They even suspected that they had been set up by capital and strongly demanded a rematch!

Zhi also had his reasons for playing so "impetuously".

Before going to Master Shiraishu's place, he still had to squeeze in time to buy Pokémon cards!

The card shops near the competition venue were already sold out. If you were any slower, not only the area around the venue, but the entire stock in Dragon City would probably be swept clean by enthusiastic players!

Fortunately, hard work pays off.

At this moment, Ash, with Pikachu perched on his shoulder, looked at the Pokémon card packs in his hands that he had finally obtained after going through so much hardship, and was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes.

"Pikachu! We did it! We went to six different stores! We finally got it!"

Xiao Zhi's voice trembled.

"I've decided, I'm going to get one of your signature cards today! Preferably a sparkly one!"

"Pikachu~"

Pikachu responded listlessly, clearly exhausted from Ash's "marathon" shopping spree, its little belly practically flat from hunger.

Xiao Zhi, however, remained completely calm and didn't even flinch. He eagerly squatted down by the roadside, not caring about his appearance at all.

I carefully tore open the card pack seal and then took out the cards one by one to examine them.

"Polivine, Machamp, Jigglypuff—hmm, these are all Pokémon I recognize."

He looked at the cards and muttered to himself. Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the last card, and his brows furrowed.

"Huh? What's that yellow bird—?"

The card features a giant golden bird Pokémon with bristling, spiked feathers, sharp eyes, and an arrogant posture.

"Damn it! I still didn't get Pikachu!"

Ash's excitement was instantly replaced by frustration, and he sighed.

"Pikachu?"

Pikachu, infected by his emotions, clung tightly to his cheek with its little paws and curiously turned its head to look at the card in his hand.

The card depicts the legendary lightning god, Zapdos!

And right next to them.

With her overly perfect figure, which made her seem somewhat "burdened," Mingyi accidentally caught a glimpse of the shiny Zapdos card that Ash had drawn.

Her little mouth unconsciously puffed out into an adorable bun-shaped face, and she stomped her foot lightly as if venting her anger.

"Ugh—"

She successfully bought the cards, but her luck seemed to be a bit bad; she only got some ordinary R cards.

There are eight or nine duplicate Pikachu images alone!

"Snivy, you said—"

Mingyi picked up the graceful vine snake at her feet and asked in a whimsical whisper:

"If I trade all these Pikachu cards for Ash's Zapdos card, would he agree? He doesn't seem to really like that yellow bird—"

"Fuji—"

Just as Tengi was about to express her opinion, Mingyi pulled her into her arms, her face instantly enveloped in that overly generous "warmth," and her voice was muffled.

"Hmm—never mind, it's obviously impossible after all—"

Mingyi denied herself, her pretty face instantly crumbling into a big "囧" shape, her mouth radiating deep resentment.

"Why is he so lucky?! It must be Teacher Salty's fault! What kind of drop rate is this?! It's so unfair!"

She complained angrily, then remembered her business and shook the vine snake in her arms.

"By the way, Snivy, how long have we been waiting here? Why isn't Shio-sensei here yet? Did he forget about it?"

...

"Achoo!"

Bai Zhou, sitting in his office, suddenly sneezed violently, making him sway.

"Strange—I feel like I've forgotten something—"

He rubbed his nose and looked around suspiciously.

"never mind."

He quickly put this unease aside and thought optimistically:

"If I can forget about it, then it must not be anything serious~"

He put aside his distractions and refocused his attention on the phone in his hand.

On the screen was a private message he had just sent, and the other party had already replied.

They expressed their strong willingness to sign a cooperation agreement and become an official content creator (UP master) under The Pokémon Company.

Bai Zhou chatted with the other party for a few more minutes, learned about their general situation and creative direction, and then forwarded the information to Olive.

She was asked to transfer a dedicated person from the company's marketing department to handle the liaison.

As for the subsequent tedious procedures such as identity verification, qualification review, and finalization of specific contract terms, these are not things that he, as a "hands-off manager," needs to worry about.

After all, he was mainly responsible for grasping the overall direction and making key decisions, while the specific execution and detailed considerations were things that professionals like Oliver needed to worry about.

Bai Zhou wasn't just acting recklessly based on personal preferences.

This content creator with the ID "Pocket Speaker Squeeze" does indeed have some real talent.

He also showed an extraordinary love for Pokémon games, especially Pokémon.

Bai Zhou carefully reviewed all of his previous videos and posts and discovered that he had poured tremendous enthusiasm into Pokémon since its release.

He even uncovered many deeply hidden storylines and meticulously designed Easter eggs within the game.

For example, he discovered that if you leave Pallet Town before receiving the starter Pokémon from Professor Oak and patiently wait in a specific location, you can succeed.

You might unexpectedly witness the handsome researcher's first mysterious encounter with the dreamlike creature.

For example, he made in-depth speculations and logical reconstructions about the story behind the special Eevee entrusted to him by the handsome researcher in a certain Easter egg room in Rainbow City.

Its imagination even revealed some new ideas and possibilities that the designer, Bai Zhou, had never thought of.

He has produced many in-depth analysis videos like these, which has allowed him, a self-taught content creator, to accumulate more than 100,000 loyal fans in a short period of time.

This is exactly the kind of talent that Bai Zhou has his eye on.

After all, there were the hidden elements of Team Rainbow Rocket that he had painstakingly designed and laid out, as well as the carefully crafted Easter eggs scattered throughout the game.

Naturally, we hope that more and more passionate players like "Pocket Speaker Cricket" will explore, discover, and interpret.

For players who genuinely love Pokémon and are willing to invest a lot of time and energy in creating high-quality content.

Bai Zhou was naturally happy to give him a bigger platform and opportunity.

After finishing the contract signing for the content creator, Bai Zhou switched to a different screen on his phone and started browsing information about Pokémon.

Community feedback after the game update.

This major update accompanying the release of Pokémon Trading Cards is unprecedented in its richness of content.

In addition to the usual bug fixes and performance optimizations, the game experience has been greatly improved.

After the update, the game world became more vibrant.

Besides the hidden storylines attached to the main plot and the emerging subplot of the new "Team Rainbow Rocket,"

A large number of side quests with various rich game content and gameplay have also been added.

Now, when players freely explore the city, they can randomly trigger various interesting quests issued by NPCs, experience short story segments, and obtain generous rewards.

The weather system has also been optimized to be more realistic, with day-night cycles and weather conditions like sunshine, rain, wind, and snow all being more immersive.

In addition, a wide variety of new mini-games have been added, such as "Pokémon Games", "Fishing Contest", and "Pokémon Beauty Contest".

This greatly enriches the game's playability and "retirement" enjoyment.

In short, this update includes almost all the fun content that players can think of, and even those they can't.

Unlike the Pokémon trading card community, which is relatively harmonious and mainly focuses on sharing collections and battle experiences, this community has a different atmosphere.

The Pokémon game forums are buzzing with activity right now, with posts being updated at a dizzying pace.

Intense discussions about the trigger conditions for new storylines, sharing of tips on the best way to "skip class" during the fishing competition, and exciting reports of newly discovered Easter eggs—

It has everything, full of the joy of exploration and discovery.

He skillfully filtered the "popular" tags, refreshed the page, and a highly popular discussion post immediately caught his eye, firmly ranking first.

Title: In-depth analysis: Who exactly is the headmaster of the Tokiwa Dojo?

Posted by: Dodo Bird, Invincible in the Sky

"Uh—could this guy be Watari?!"

Bai Zhou was speechless when he saw the ID, but he decisively clicked on it.

"Greetings, future legends! This is Dodo Bird, invincible in the sky. I wonder if you've noticed a very unique game setting."

"According to the normal game process we've explored so far, when we first arrive at the Viridian Gym, we'll be turned away because the gym door is locked and the gym leader happens to be 'not home'."

"And when we finally collect the other seven badges after overcoming all the hardships and return to Viridian City, we will happen to meet our formidable rival, Green, who has just come out of the gym, and have a fateful showdown with him."

"After the victory, he will grant us the eighth and final Viridian Badge. Only then can we enter the Champion Road with all eight badges and challenge the Elite Four and the Champion."

"However, judging from the previous live stream recordings of Mr. Salty and the others, Red and Ash's next goal is clearly to challenge the Viridian City Gym! As the designer, Mr. Salty couldn't possibly be unaware of the special settings of the Viridian City Gym."

"Then, only one possibility remains."

Under certain storylines, the Viridian Gym can be challenged normally!

This raises a suspenseful question: Why is the Viridian Gym so unique? It had already announced its closure, so why did the gym leader reappear?

"Who exactly is this elusive Viridian City Gym Leader? What is his purpose in doing this? Is there a huge secret related to the main storyline hidden behind this?"

This post didn't appear after the update, but it accurately captured one of the most intriguing mysteries in the game.

In addition, the author's analysis and the players' discussions were exceptionally enthusiastic, which is why it has consistently remained at the top of the popularity charts.

Bai Zhou didn't close it immediately. Instead, he swiped his finger and browsed the top-rated replies with great interest.

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