Pokémon: Did you play Pokémon today?

Chapter 252 "Wakaba Town"

"Huh!? It's Professor Elm?"

Ajin raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat suspiciously at Professor Elm, who, after introducing himself, began explaining the basics of Pokémon as is customary in the game.

"I thought it would definitely be Old Man Da Mu opening! Could he have secretly given Brother Bai Zhou two cases of Moo Moo fresh milk in exchange for this chance to appear at the beginning?"

"Please show some respect to Professor Oak!"

Chris immediately corrected her with a serious attitude, her cheeks puffing out slightly in dissatisfaction.

"Besides, Dr. Kuroki is clearly a very respected doctor! Gin, stop talking nonsense!"

"Stop chatting, focus on the game."

Xiao Yin calmly interrupted their conversation and pointed to the screen.

"Quickly select your character and begin."

The familiar character gender selection screen popped up on the screen.

Above the options are exquisite illustrations of the sunny boy and energetic girl who appeared in the game's opening animation.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ajin directly chose the character portrait of the boy with a somewhat unruly look in his eyes.

The screen went dark and then lit up again, displaying the naming interface.

What is your name?

"name?"

A Jin's lips curled into a smile that he considered to be somewhat wicked.

"Then of course we'll use my resounding, incomparably handsome name—the most handsome and invincible super-name in the entire world—"

His fingers flew across the virtual keyboard, typing out a long string of extremely exaggerated and cringeworthy characters.

"Be serious for once!"

Chris looked at the name, which was so long it almost overflowed the screen, and could no longer bear it.

A swift chop landed on Ah Jin's head, making a soft "thud".

"Aww!"

Akin let out an exaggerated scream in agreement, rubbed his head, stole a glance at the sullen Chris, and shrank back a little.

He pouted and reluctantly deleted all the words he had just typed.

I intended to enter my real name, "Ah Jin," but my gaze fell upon the "Default Name" provided next to the input box.

When I selected the options, I saw the default name.

For some reason, he had a sudden thought and, as if possessed, clicked on the option and then confirmed.

In the game, Professor Elm looks at the encyclopedia information in his hand, smiles and nods in confirmation.

"Ah-Xiang? What a nice name—"

As Dr. Elm spoke these gentle words, the game screen was slowly swallowed by darkness.

When the lights come on again, it's an animation of someone waking up from a dream, and a lively boy's room comes into view.

The Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen game console is turned on.

A television is broadcasting the news that "renowned scholar Dr. Oki has arrived in the Johto region for academic exchange."

An oversized Poké Ball patterned rug laid out beside the bed —

All of these elements together form the small home of the protagonist, "A-Xiang," in Ruoye Town.

The game character "Ah-Xiang" nimbly flips off the bed, and the game perspective automatically switches to the familiar third-person follow mode.

Ah Jin officially took over control of "Ah Xiang".

"Hehe! This is truly my home!"

Ah Jin proudly shook the controller, making Ah Xiang spin around the room.

"Look at this layout, this space! It's so much bigger than Red's little house in Pallet Town!"

"You'd better pray that Crimson Senior didn't hear you say that."

Silver poured cold water on the idea without any expression, then switched to guidance mode, instructing, "Don't waste time, go downstairs. The process should be similar to the previous generation; you'll need to go to the professor's lab next door to get your starter Pokémon first."

A-Jin glared at Xiao-Yin defiantly, but his hands didn't stop moving. He decisively controlled A-Xiang to start "treasure hunting" in the house.

They rummaged through drawers and cabinets, checking every corner of furniture where props might be hidden.

They acted like "thieves" who had broken into their own home.

Any seasoned Pokémon player knows this truth.

Any item on the map is only truly yours once it's actually put into your inventory!

As for them, they were originally there—

Cough cough, that's not important. Maybe I dropped it by accident before?

Finally, Ah Jin, satisfied, pulled out a bottle of healing medicine from behind the computer case. After confirming that there was nothing else "left behind" in the room, he controlled Ah Xiang to go down the stairs.

As soon as I entered the living room on the first floor, a striking yellow exclamation mark appeared above the head of the elegant and beautiful woman who was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

She quickly got up from the sofa and greeted them with a smile.

"Mom: Oh! Xiang! You're finally up!"

A gentle smile graced Mom's face.

"Mom: Your childhood sweetheart Qinyin just came to play with her Marillu~ It's a pity you were still sleeping in and didn't get to see her————"

A hint of good-natured teasing flashed across Mom's face, but then she remembered the important matter and continued speaking with a smile.

"Mom: Oh, right! Professor Kongmu from next door came to see you earlier, it seemed like he wanted to ask you for something~"

"Mom: The doctor's research institute is right next to our house, very close. Don't go to the wrong place ————"

"Mom: Oh, and did you forget anything before you left? Mom has packed all the adventure items you need in this backpack, and the other daily necessities are in another bag—"

"Okay, okay! I didn't expect to get nagged by my beautiful mom even in a game~"

Although Ah Jin was complaining, he didn't control Ah Xiang to interrupt his mother. Instead, he obediently let the character stand still and listen to all of his mother's instructions and concerns.

"but----"

He added in a softer voice.

"This feeling is pretty good."

"The Sound of the Qin—is that my name in the game?"

Chris, who was standing to the side, was analyzing the information in the conversation with a smile, but suddenly realized something and her cheeks flushed uncontrollably.

Her voice unconsciously softened, and she murmured in a whisper, barely audible to herself, "But—childhood sweethearts and all that—why did Brother Bai Zhou have to add such—strange settings—?"

Only Xiao Yin remained silent. A barely perceptible hint of envy flashed in his eyes as he looked at the game screen, but he quickly suppressed that emotion.

He reverted to his usual indifference.

His childhood was spent in loneliness and shadow.

For him, there was only one true family member, and that was his older sister, Azure—well, perhaps now—

We have to reluctantly add another one.

He subconsciously turned his head and glanced in the direction of the kitchen.

The faint sound of someone humming a song while preparing snacks could be heard from there.

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Xiao Yin's lips, and the slight bitterness that had welled up in her heart was completely dispelled by this warmth.

At this moment, Ah Jin had already manipulated Ah Xiang to leave the house.

The melodious yet slightly melancholic sound of a flute plays in the background.

It seemed as if carried by a gentle breeze, drifting towards the ancient windmills slowly turning in the distant fields, and finally blowing towards the boundless, vast blue ocean.

Everything in Ruoye Town seemed so peaceful and serene.

"Wakaba Town"

"Tales of a Town Where the Winds of Change Begin to Blow"

A brief description of the town slowly appeared, then quietly disappeared.

"Hehe, I'm back in my hometown!"

Ah Jin said with deep feeling, just as he was about to control Ah Xiang to head to the research institute.

A mischievous gust of wind blew in from somewhere, and a round, blue ball rolled with the wind to Ah Xiang's feet and bumped into his arms.

The little blue ball moved, and then it stood up with two round, chubby ears, revealing its full appearance.

It turned out to be an incredibly cute Marie-Loo!

"Kotone: Maril! Come back soon!"

A lively and energetic girl's voice came from behind, and Ah Jin subconsciously controlled Ah Xiang to look in the direction of the sound.

Not far away, a girl with cute pigtails and a bright smile stood.

A gentle breeze swept by, lightly lifting a few strands of hair from her forehead, making her look both adorable and full of vitality.

Upon hearing her master's call, Marillu excitedly jumped out of Ah Xiang's arms and ran quickly towards the girl without looking back.

The girl bent down to catch the pounced Maril, held it in her arms, and smiled shyly in Ah Xiang's direction.

Then he turned around and disappeared around the corner of the street with Maril.

"Hey, stop staring at Chris in a daze."

Seeing that Gold hadn't made a move for a while, Silver urged impatiently, "Hurry up and go to the lab to find Professor Elm. Getting your starter Pokémon is the most important thing."

"Who, who was staring at Chris like that! Little Silver, if you keep talking nonsense, I'll sue you for defamation!"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Akin immediately retorted loudly but lacked confidence, but didn't dare to turn around to see how the real Chris was reacting.

His voice trailed off, as if he were trying to defend himself.

"But—she really is cute—I, I just made a mistake that every boy in the world would make."

Although Akin spoke very softly, Chris, who was sitting next to him, heard him clearly.

In an instant, a blush spread rapidly from her neck like ink dripping into clear water, covering her cheeks and even turning her ears bright red.

She froze on the spot, her posture becoming extremely unnatural, unsure of what to do with her hands and feet.

Ah Jin — He said I'm cute?

Ugh—really! That shameless guy!

However—the outfit in the game is really good-looking—should I try to tie it up in pigtails too?

No, no! This is too embarrassing! He'll definitely laugh at me!

Akin was completely unaware of the intense inner turmoil Chris was experiencing beside him, and her ears had turned bright red.

Because at this moment, his entire attention was firmly drawn to a furtive figure outside the research institute.

In the shadows of a small alley off the side of the research institute, a boy with striking short red hair was crouching quietly below the institute's window.

They kept peeking inside, as if searching for or observing something.

"Peeping! This must be peeping! In broad daylight, what a degenerate society! Despicable criminals!"

Ajin suppressed his barely suppressed laughter and said loudly, with a meaningful tone.

While speaking, he deliberately glanced at Xiao Yin out of the corner of his eye, wanting to see what kind of interesting reaction Xiao Yin, the "person involved," would have.

However, Xiao Yin just stared at the screen indifferently, showing no signs of "breaking down" as A Jin had imagined.

He simply looked at the younger version of himself crouching in the corner in the game screen and sighed almost imperceptibly.

At that time, he was indeed a thief with an extreme personality and eccentric behavior, and there's no denying that.

Let Ah Jin laugh if he wants to.

He has long since accepted his imperfect past and has been striving to become a better version of himself.

"All evil will be brought to justice!"

Seeing that Xiao Yin was as unresponsive as a wooden stake, Ah Jin felt bored and pouted.

Having mastered the essence of "first move wins in PVP", he decided to give Xiao Yin a tough challenge.

"Watch me sneak over and arrest this suspicious person on the spot!"

So, under A-Jin's control, A-Xiang casually picked up a wooden stick that looked fairly sturdy from the roadside.

Then, under Xiao Yin's utterly exasperated gaze, the dog crouched low and stealthily crept up behind the red-haired boy.

Just as Ah Xiang raised his wooden stick, preparing to deliver a "righteous backstab," the red-haired boy seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and spoke up inexplicably.

"???: This is the famous Elm Tree Pokémon Lab—"

Before he could finish speaking, the red-haired boy suddenly turned around!

His calm yet detached eyes first glanced at Ah Xiang, who was holding the "weapon," then at the wooden stick, and questioned him in an icy tone.

"???: Who are you! What are you trying to do, sneaking around behind me like that?!"

Seeing that his actions were about to be exposed, and knowing the truth of fighting that "if you can take action, try not to make a fuss," Ah Jin did not hesitate at all.

He immediately controlled Ah Xiang and swung the wooden stick in his hand at the red-haired boy!

The wooden stick swung down with a whooshing sound.

However, the expected sound of hitting did not occur.

The red-haired boy in the video reacted extremely quickly, deftly dodging the sneak attack with a nimble sidestep.

Not only that, he then countered with a clean and swift grappling move.

Not only did he snatch the wooden stick from Ah Xiang's hand in an instant, but he also swiftly and firmly pressed Ah Xiang to the ground with his other hand!

"Wait a minute! This isn't right! It shouldn't be like this!"

Akin stared wide-eyed in disbelief, then abruptly turned to look at Little Silver beside him.

"We're all NPCs set up in the game! Our stats should be about the same! What makes you so strong?"

Is this reasonable?!

"There's nothing unreasonable about it."

Xiao Yin simply raised her eyelids calmly, her tone indifferent.

"I've been practicing grappling techniques since I was a child."

In the scene, the red-haired boy, seeing that his whereabouts had been exposed, seemed too lazy to argue any further and kicked the still struggling Ah Xiang out of the alley.

When Ah Xiang got up from the ground looking a little disheveled, and looked back,

The alley was already empty; the mysterious red-haired boy had vanished without a trace, like a ghost.