Pokémon: Did you play Pokémon today?

Chapter 400 Pokémon: Delta Emerald

Hoenn region, Little White Town.

A van bearing the eye-catching "Rocket Express" logo slowly drove along a country road and eventually stopped in front of a rural villa.

Bai Zhou kicked open the cargo compartment door and stretched his neck, which had become stiff from sitting.

Steven and Ash followed closely behind and jumped down.

Looking around, the road is flat and winding, like a light gray ribbon weaving through the lush green fields.

The houses are scattered among the trees, and the air is filled with the faint fragrance of grass and unknown wildflowers, making it a very pleasant place.

"Hoenn! I've finally arrived!"

Ash spread his arms wide and shouted at the sky.

He couldn't wait to rush out and plunge into this unknown land to begin his new adventure.

"Master! Shall we begin our journey now?"

He turned to look at Bai Zhou, his face full of eagerness.

"I heard there's a large forest near Littleroot Town, filled with many Pokémon I've never seen before!"

"No rush."

Bai Zhou glanced at him and took a deep breath of fresh air.

"Let's move first and then talk about it."

He looked around and nodded in satisfaction.

"The environment here is really nice; it truly deserves its reputation as a livable town on par with Pallet Town."

Finally, he turned to Daigo and added a sentence, his tone slightly teasing.

"I really didn't expect you to actually own a villa here—by the way, did you actually live here?"

Daigo paused for a moment, then pondered seriously.

"Aren't you moving in now?"

He answered matter-of-factly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"After all, I also enjoy traveling around Hoenn. Having a place to stay is always more convenient, and it's better to be prepared."

Bai Zhou rolled his eyes, about to curse "Damn rich people," when he suddenly realized that he was actually quite rich himself.

"Um----"

So he changed his mind at lightning speed before he could finish speaking.

"Fine, it's good to be rich."

Daigo chuckled lightly, not exposing his lie.

At this moment, the truck driver had already directed the brute force to unload all the new furniture in the yard, and then quickly ran to Bai Zhou and respectfully saluted.

"Boss! The system just assigned me another order! The destination is also Weibai Town!"

He glanced at the order information on his phone screen, his tone tinged with surprise.

"I'll head out to pick up a job now! Is there anything else you need help with?"

Bai Zhou waved his hand, indicating that he understood.

After the truck drove away, he tapped his shadow on the ground with his heel and spoke lazily.

"Gengar, come out and get to work, move some things."

"Genga~"

The shadow beneath their feet wriggled and spread, and a Gengar dressed in a black dragon robe popped out of the shadow with a "pop".

He even stretched dramatically and yawned widely.

then.

Then chaos ensued.

"Gengga! Gengga genga!"

Gengar, hands on hips, solemnly directed Larvitar and Growlithe as they tried to carry the large sofa from the yard into the living room.

As a result, Young Gilas lost his balance, tripped over the sofa leg, and fell into the flower bed next to him, along with the sofa.

"Awoo!"

The Growlithe excitedly pounced on it, wanting to help "rescue" the dog, but ended up biting the sofa cushion and tearing off a large piece of sponge with a flick of its head.

It was completely unaware, wagging its tail and waiting for praise.

Young Gilas crawled out from under the sofa, his head covered in mud, and blinked blankly.

"Yo?"

Gengar covered its face, looking heartbroken and devastated, as if saying, "You have ruined my kingdom."

The entire ghost slumped down, and the hem of its dragon robe drooped to the ground.

Gardevoir stood to the side and sighed softly.

It stretched out its slender little hand, and a flash of pink psychic light appeared.

The sofa then floated up steadily and was gently placed in the living room, along with the Growlithe dog that was still hanging on it.

Ugly Fish emerged from the diving ball at Bai Zhou's waist and splashed around happily on the ground twice.

Then, realizing there was no water, she looked at him pitifully.

Gardevoir used its psychic powers to lift it up and put it into the huge swimming pool that had been prepared in advance in the backyard of the villa.

With a "plop," the ugly fish spun around happily in the water a few times, splashing out a string of joyful sprays.

Bai Zhou looked at the mess and rubbed his temples.

The flower bed in the yard was destroyed, the sofa had a hole chewed in it, Larvitar had turned into a mud monster, and Growlithe was still stubbornly clinging to that piece of sponge.

Gengar squatted in the corner, drawing circles and muttering incantations.

Gardevoir and Feebas are still the best, they're so well-behaved.

"Forget it, you guys play, I'll do it myself."

He sighed and bent down to start tidying up the scattered boxes.

Xiao Zhi couldn't stand it.

After unloading a few pieces of luggage, he began to look around restlessly.

After running back and forth inside and outside the house several times, I finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Master! I want to go on an adventure!"

Bai Zhou was squatting on the ground picking up the boxes that Gengar had knocked over, waving his hand without looking up.

"Go ahead, but don't go too far. Remember to come back before lunch."

"Okay! Pikachu, let's go!"

Ash cheered, and with Pikachu on his shoulder, he dashed out of the yard and disappeared at the end of the country road.

Bai Zhou shook his head and continued to clean up the mess.

It took a while to finally put the main household items in their proper places.

Although there were a few minor issues during the process.

For example, Gengar tried to move a vase with its shadow but broke it, and Larvitar bumped into a wall and dented it, etc.

But at least it feels like a home now.

He straightened up, dusted off his hands, looked at Daigo who was examining the interior of the villa, and gave him a meaningful smile.

"Let's go, pick a room, and while we're at it—I'll help you set up your work equipment."

Daigo's heart skipped a beat.

Looking at Bai Zhou's ambiguous smile, a bad feeling arose spontaneously.

He instinctively wanted to take a step back, but reason told him that he could only hide for a moment.

So he could only follow Bai Zhou upstairs with a resentful look, watching helplessly as he pushed open a room with excellent natural light.

Then he started directing Gengar to pull out various high-end-looking live-streaming equipment from Shadow Cube —

After a series of smooth operations, a fully functional live streaming room was created in the room.

Daigo stood at the door, looking at the equipment, his expression gradually stiffening.

"White Boat—These are—"

"Live streaming equipment."

Bai Zhou didn't even turn his head, speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Didn't you promise me you'd be a streamer? Of course, the equipment needs to be ready; only professional equipment is worthy of your former champion status."

Daigo opened his mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

He did agree.

But even though I agreed, when I actually saw these devices in front of me...

The real feeling of "being tied to this place for the next period of time" truly welled up in my heart.

He looked out the window at the sky.

There are white clouds, flying birds, and distant, rolling mountains.

There are stones in the mountains.

All kinds of stones.

Rare stones.

The stones waiting for him to dig.

Daigo's eyes became somewhat resentful.

That expression was just like a Flying-type Pokémon locked in a cage, gazing longingly at the free sky outside the window.

"Hey, hey, don't do that."

Seeing his expression, Bai Zhou couldn't help but laugh out loud. He patted him on the shoulder and teased, "A former champion of Hoenn, what storms haven't you weathered? How could you be afraid of this?"

Daigo sighed helplessly, his shoulders slumping slightly.

"It's not that I'm afraid—it's just that—"

He couldn't find the right words to describe the complex feelings he was experiencing at that moment.

"I just feel like I can't go digging for stones anymore, and I'm a little disheartened?"

Bai Zhou spoke his mind for him, then smiled mysteriously.

"Don't worry, since I agreed to let you help, I've definitely prepared a surprise for you that I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Daigo glanced at him, then looked away indifferently, continuing to gaze at the alluring mountains outside the window.

surprise?

What kind of surprises could there be?

What surprise could dispel his disappointment at not being able to personally dig for rare stones in the wild for the next few months?

He didn't believe it.

Bai Zhou ignored his questions and stood in front of a specially designated area.

He raised his hand and waved it gently.

next moment.

A device with a futuristic, sci-fi design appeared out of thin air in front of the two of them.

It was a streamlined cabin about 2.5 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, with an overall pearly white color.

The canopy is made of transparent reinforced glass, and the interior looks like both a medical device and some kind of high-end hibernation pod.

Immersive neural-connected virtual reality pod.

This is the official name given by Xiao A, but Bai Zhou thought it was too awkward to pronounce, so he simply called it "Virtual Pod".

"This is----"

Daigo, unusually flustered, strode to the virtual pod.

I reached out and gently touched the outer shell of the cabin; it felt cool and smooth to the touch.

From his perspective as the future heir to the Devon company, the manufacturing process of this equipment was simply exquisite.

Let alone the Hoenn region, even if you gathered all the top industrial capabilities in the entire Pokémon world, you absolutely couldn't make something like this!

"You call this a surprise?"

Daigo's voice was a little dry, and he swallowed.

Shirashu didn't answer immediately, but instead watched Daigo's expression with great interest.

He redeemed this virtual pod with BP points on his way to Hoenn.

It's very easy to use.

Insert the special cartridge, lay it in, and start it.

However, the dedicated cartridges needed to be "manufactured," and Shirashu obviously didn't have that technology.

So he had to spend another 100 BP points to use the already made Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire cartridge as a template.

I asked my classmate Xiao A to help me "convert" and create a special virtual reality cartridge for Pokémon Delta Emerald.

At this point, a total of 3100 BP points have been spent.

Once back to square one, the assets column was empty again.

"Want to know what this is?"

Bai Zhou deliberately kept everyone in suspense, his smile deepening.

"It's very simple, just lie down and try it out, you'll see."

Daigo looked at him, then at the virtual pod, and hesitated.

Is there any risk in using this device that I've never seen before? Could it be some kind of strange prank?

After all, while Bai Zhou can be very reliable when he's in a good position, he can also be quite a headache when his quirky sense of humor kicks in.

Daigo is still wary.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine."

Bai Zhou saw through his concerns at a glance and winked teasingly.

"I'm not Mikey, I'm not interested in your body."

Daigo didn't realize what was happening at first.

When he realized what was happening, his face turned completely black.

"Mickey and I aren't in that kind of relationship!"

He retorted irritably.

"And both he and I are heterosexual! Perfectly heterosexual!"

"Okay, okay, it's normal, it's normal."

Bai Zhou smiled and nodded, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, and stopped teasing him.

If we keep teasing him, this former champion might get angry and embarrassed.

After this interruption, Daigo's hesitation and curiosity ultimately overcame his wariness of the unknown.

However, before lying down, he felt it was necessary to understand the most basic function of this thing.

"So what exactly is this thing for?"

You can understand it as ————

Bai Zhou thought for a moment and gave a simple explanation.

"A game console, but it's not quite the same as a regular game console."

Daigo frowned slightly.

Does a game launcher really require such advanced equipment?

With this level of hardware configuration, it's more than capable of running games, let alone simulating an entire ecosystem.

He wanted to ask something else, but Bai Zhou had already smoothly pushed him into the virtual pod.

"Don't ask, you'll find out soon enough."

Bai Zhou took out the special cartridge and inserted it into the reading slot on the side of the virtual pod.

Daigo vaguely saw the words "Pokémon Delta Emerald" on the cover.

Before he could react, a soft light shone into the cabin, and the transparent hatch slowly closed.

Daigo felt the light growing brighter and brighter, but it wasn't dazzling; instead, it carried a comforting warmth.

He suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him, but it wasn't the kind of heavy, dull sleepiness.

It was more like my consciousness was being gently enveloped by some tender power.

It was just a blink of an eye.

He found himself standing in a pure white space.

There was nothing around, only an endless expanse of white, soft and bright.

Daigo subconsciously frowned, wanting to move his body, but found—

It seems like I don't have a "body" right now?

He looked down and could only see himself as a blurry human silhouette.

Without arms, without a torso, and unable to touch anything, it floated in this white void as if its soul had left its body.

Just as he was filled with doubt and surprise, a middle-aged man with a smile on his face, wearing a white research lab coat and flip-flops, suddenly appeared in front of him out of thin air.

He tossed a red and white ball in his hand, and it flashed with light.

A somewhat adorable-looking lotus leaf child appeared at his feet, tilting its head and looking around.

"Professor Tomato?!"

Daigo blurted out, his brow furrowed.

"Wait! Where is this? Why are you here?!"

However, Dr. Oda seemed not to hear his question at all, and began to introduce herself in an enthusiastic tone.

Moreover, a dialog box appeared in front of him as he spoke.

"Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon! I'm Birch, and people call me Professor Pokémon!"

"————"

Daigo then realized that the other person was not talking to him.

This confused him even more.

What exactly is my current state? Am I dreaming? Or is it some kind of hallucination caused by Bai Zhou's magical device?

But this is all too real.

Trusting Shiraishu, he suppressed his doubts and patiently watched as Professor Birch continued his narration.

After a brief introduction to the background of the Pokémon world and an explanation of the trainers' mission.

Professor Birch finally posed the first question to Daigo.