Pokémon: Did you play Pokémon today?

Chapter 202 Posted by: Pocket Speaker Squirrel

"Top comment 1: Kona is a solo stan."

"The original poster's analysis makes sense! There's actually a simple but often effective way to solve this problem; think back—"

In this game, each gym leader has a significant role and a unique character model.

"You don't even need to challenge the gyms right away. Just wander around their cities and talk to them. You might just bump into them in different places and learn about their personalities and backgrounds."

"Therefore, to target the Viridian City Gym Leader, we only need to conduct a thorough search in Viridian City! Talk to every passerby who looks like an 'important NPC' and has an extraordinary demeanor, and even try to trigger a battle."

"By using a process of elimination based on the type of Pokémon they use, their strength, and the content of their conversations, we can eventually pinpoint the target with a high probability!"

"Top comment 2: How did you know I just flashed Onix?"

"OP is awesome! I've always felt that the Viridian Gym Leader's identity is definitely not simple! Here's a bold hypothesis based on the current storyline!"

"Think about it, everyone, there's that person who's been by our protagonist's side since the very beginning of the game, someone who knows almost everything..."

A handsome and mysterious researcher with close ties to the leaders of various dojos—could he possibly be the true leader of the Viridian Dojo?

"Considering his position in the plot, his network of relationships, and his unassuming demeanor, what identity could be so unique and plausible? The answer seems obvious!"

Top comment #3: I'm not a bug-catching boy.

"I think it's Giovanni! The leader of Team Rocket! His Lv.80 Great Needle is so cool! So domineering! It's a pity I didn't get a chance to fight him in the game—"

Unlike the previous two comments, which were relatively logically rigorous and reasonably speculative.

Although this third comment was also highly praised, when Bai Zhou opened its reply section, he found that it was almost entirely filled with good-natured teasing and well-reasoned rebuttals.

Many people praised him, mainly because they thought his idea was "unique and imaginative" and quite entertaining.

Reply 1: LOL! Giovanni is here! Dude, did you even read the story? He's the head of the biggest criminal organization in the Kanto region! He's super high-class! He probably wouldn't even look at a regional gym leader, right?

"Reply 2: Although the idea is exciting, the possibility is basically zero. Viridian Gym is an officially designated Ground-type Gym, and the only Pokémon that Giovanni has clearly shown so far (not counting Mewtwo) is Beedrill, which is Bug/Poison type and has nothing to do with Ground type at all."

Reply 3: Exactly! Gym Leader is an officially recognized position by the League. How could they let a gang leader hold that position? Does the League have no shame?

Bai Zhou silently browsed through the discussions, a subtle, mysterious smile playing on his lips.

He didn't say anything, but simply tapped his finger to give a thumbs up to the "insect-catching boy" who had proposed the "Sakaki theory."

He then exited the thread, re-filtered the content, and limited the displayed content to "today," which is the day of the major update.

The page refreshed, and a flood of posts about new discoveries, experiences, and issues after the update appeared instantly, filled with players' enthusiasm and surprises in exploring the new world.

Sort by popularity, the top three most popular posts immediately caught Bai Zhou's attention.

1. "Major Version Update! The Backstory of the Handsome Researcher and 'Dream'! You Need to Know! (Quick Read! Contains a Shocking Easter Egg!)"

2. In-depth analysis of the hidden storyline discovery event launched alongside this update! Let's see what outrageous rewards this event offers!

3. "Detailed Distribution of All Pokémon Groups! (Brand new version, PS: Slight errors may exist, please forgive me!)"

He decisively clicked on the post that was ranked first.

However, as soon as he saw the poster's ID, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily, but a hint of anticipation also rose in his heart.

Posted by: Pocket Speaker Cricket

The post was very simple, just a video link, omitting even a text description, highlighting the confidence that "all the content is in the video."

Bai Zhou clicked play, and a warm male voice, brimming with barely suppressed excitement and speaking at an extremely fast pace, instantly burst forth from the speaker.

"Enough with the chit-chat, everyone! Guess what I discovered the moment after the update! That's right!"

As the title suggests, I've made a groundbreaking discovery in the super hidden storyline between the handsome researcher and the dreamlike protagonist!

The video then flashes back rapidly to clips of related videos previously created by the content creator, accompanied by his key points and narration.

"As long-time fans who have watched my previous videos know, the handsome researcher's first encounter with Mew was in the wild forest of Pallet Town."

The video flashes a GIF of a handsome researcher taking down a Team Rocket member with his bare hands.

"Mew was being chased by Team Rocket when the handsome researcher appeared out of nowhere and cleanly kicked down all the Team Rocket minions with just his fists! The scene was absolutely amazing! It also successfully aroused Mew's great curiosity about him."

"Then, there's the hidden storyline at Mount Tsukimi, where the handsome researcher makes a dazzling appearance to save the day, a scene I'm sure everyone remembers vividly."

The video plays footage of Tsukimiyama's rescue efforts.

"But! Here's the key point! If you look closely, you'll notice that Dream never formed a contract with the handsome researcher! After this rescue, it simply said goodbye and vanished in a flash! What does this mean? It means we players still have a chance!"

At this point, Pocket Fan Speaker Squirrel's tone became even more excited, and the screen switched to a recording of Salty Fish Teacher and Qishu's past live streams.

The content shows a handsome researcher riding a fire-breathing dragon, breaking through a mountain wall and descending from the sky.

"Before the update, we went to the Easter egg room in Rainbow City. The handsome researcher inside, who can break the fourth wall and chat with us, always says something profound."

"After this update, if you deliberately try to talk to him about the topic of 'Fantasy Westward Journey,' he will initially refuse to discuss it in depth and will be somewhat evasive."

"But! If you persist, or get to know him better by completing certain events (I suspect it's related to affection level or game progress), he'll open up and reveal a shocking secret!"

"The secret is—Dreamy's affection for the handsome researcher is ridiculously high! She even once wanted to go on a trip with him!"

"But!!! — The handsome researcher refused! He actually refused!!!"

"I'm sorry, I lost control of my emotions—but what I said is absolutely true! He said it himself! He refused the offer to follow the legendary Pokémon Mew!"

As he uttered this explosive information, the video feed switched to the Easter egg room, where various Pokémon phantoms appeared intermittently.

The screen was instantly filled with countless "???" comments.

"And that's not all! If you have enough patience to stay in the Easter Egg room, you'll find that every now and then, at irregular intervals, a random Pokémon will come to drop by!"

The scene rapidly switches between several clips of Pokémon appearing.

"It could be Pikachu, Rattata, Pidgey, or other common Pokémon—but what I'm here to tell you is—one of these visiting Pokémon is Mew in disguise!"

"During its disguised visit, as long as you don't deliberately expose its identity, it will maintain its disguise and play around in the room like an ordinary Pokémon."

"This is the perfect opportunity for you to interact with it and build up its affection! Although theoretically it's difficult to raise its affection to surpass the level it has for the handsome researcher, this is the affection of the legendary Pokémon Mew! Who knows what the future holds!"

"But this isn't the most surprising Easter egg I discovered this time!"

At this point, Pocket Speaker Squirrel paused for a moment, seemingly taking a deep breath to calm his excited emotions.

"What really shocked me was that you can challenge the handsome researcher in the Easter egg room to a battle!"

"The trigger condition is extremely strict: you must challenge the handsome researcher when Mew happens to be disguised as Gengar and visits the Easter egg room, for there is only a very small chance that he will accept your challenge!"

"His battle team consists of only one creature! That's Gengar, transformed from Mew!"

"However, when you scan it with your Pokédex, the screen is full of question marks! It can't be recognized at all!"

"Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to beat it—but skilled players can give it a try! Maybe there'll be a super hidden reward if you win!"

He finished speaking in one breath.

The video ends with a freeze-frame in the Easter egg room, where the handsome researcher stands with his arms crossed and a faint smile on his face.

Standing in front of him was Gengar, with its malevolent eyes, a wide grin, and an ominous aura.

The Pokémon Pokédex interface next to it displays all the question marks indicating that the scan failed.

This concludes the video.

After watching the entire video, Bai Zhou couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for the content creator with the ID "Pocket Speaker Squirrel".

It hasn't even been 24 hours since the major update was released.

I never expected that this player would have discovered the "stable refresh mechanism of Fantasy Westward Journey" so efficiently.

He even triggered an Easter egg that he thought was buried very deep: "fighting against a hidden NPC"!

He thought he had designed it to be well-hidden.

It's intentionally restricted to only triggering when Mew transforms into Gengar, and the probability of accepting the challenge is set to be extremely low.

Even so, it was found and made public within a single day.

All I can say is—

The talented individuals and hard-working people on the internet are truly amazing (and have just as much time and energy).

He casually clicked on the video's comment section, and sure enough, it was filled with nothing but praise and amazement.

"Following you was the best decision I've ever made! Enough said, I'm logging in to set up my tent at the Easter Egg room entrance!"

"Holy crap! Other content creators had previously speculated that you could actually encounter Fantasy Westward Journey randomly across the entire map, but the probability was lower than winning the lottery. I had almost given up hope! Thank you, Speaker Hero!"

"Handsome cricket researcher! Let me see what's going on! But there's a Gengar (Mythic version) around," watch me take care of it in no time!

"Haha, if you can handle the one in front, I'll eat it! Don't forget that this Gengar's true form is Mew!"

Oh right, I just remembered, why does Mew have to transform into Gengar to trigger a battle? Is there some hidden clue?

"Speaking of which, aside from Mew visiting in various forms, it seems like the handsome researcher hasn't had any other Pokémon of his own, right? Has he ever actually sworn in any other Pokémon? He's getting more and more mysterious—"

Bai Zhou looked at the enthusiastic comments, smiled, shook his head, and exited the post page.

He also quickly browsed through the second and third most popular posts.

One is the reward items (such as Magic Candy) for the "Hidden Story Discovery Event" launched simultaneously.

Discussion of the effects.

Another one is a new version Pokémon distribution map compiled by players themselves. Although it is marked "may contain errors", it is extremely valuable for novice players. Bai Zhou casually clicked to bookmark it.

In addition, he also read some less popular but insightful posts to get a general understanding of the player community's feedback on this major update.

What relieved Bai Zhou was...

With only one day since the update, not many players have explored the deeply buried hidden storyline like Pocket Speaker Cracker has.

However, many substantial side quests were triggered for the players.

Such as mining deep in Mt. Tsukimi, or beachcombing in Konoha City, etc.

Overall, the reputation is quite good.

As Bai Zhou stretched and prepared to exit the player community, ending his "public opinion monitoring" work for the day.

The little bracelet on his wrist suddenly emitted a peculiar vibration that only he could perceive.

A brand new holographic projection interface appeared directly on his retina.

"Genesis Terminal has been updated"

Version: v2.0

"Contractor: White Boat"

"Core logic of the mission system has been restructured: In response to feedback, the mission module mechanism has been corrected. Future mission issuance and settlement will be more closely aligned with the core actions and goals of the contractors (e.g., game production and release, the establishment of specific factions, and the advancement of key plot points)."

"Little A's Assistant reminds you: Build Team Rainbow Rocket! Key members (Crimson, Blue, Azure, Yellow, etc.) have been recruited, all regional base levels have been controlled, and faction missions are in progress—"

"Special Ability Acquired: Superpower (Through highly concentrated and powerful willpower, preliminary interference with physical matter and energy, capable of basic telekinesis, forming a weak mental barrier, and slightly enhancing thinking speed and sensory acuity.)"

"Note: The strength, accuracy, and duration of your superpowers are directly related to your mental strength, concentration, and physical exertion. Contractors should use them with caution and take breaks."