Pokémon, but cultural invasion.

What will become of our DianDian live broadcast room? (choking up)

Chapter 55 Use all your knowledge to please me

Manjin City, Johto Region.

It is a huge city on the western coast, known as the economic and technological center of the capital.

Convenient waterway transportation greatly accelerated the development of Manjin City, and high-rise buildings gradually filled the sky over the decades.

Highly developed modern cities have brought about a fast-paced lifestyle.

Office lights burning all night, workaholics in small companies working day and night, people leaving early and returning late, a predominantly young age structure...

The atmosphere you experience here will make you unconsciously quicken your pace of life.

Kawajin was one of them.

He is a hard worker who rose through the ranks in a remote town in the capital through education, and currently works in an administrative position at a branch of Silver Company.

Despite working for a large company that many people envy, and with his family and friends believing that Hejin was living a happy life.

But it was only after joining Silver that he realized that the competition in large companies was no less intense than in small companies.

The heavy workload has taken over his life in Hejin.

The numbers on his bank card were constantly increasing, not because he was frugal or had a high salary.

It's simply because he doesn't have the energy to develop hobbies, doesn't have time to interact with the opposite sex, and naturally has nowhere to spend money.

The long hours at work and the pressure accumulated over the years... the only solace he finds is playing games and playing Pokémon in his rented room on his days off.

After finishing a week's work, He Jin walked out of the office building with excitement on his face.

How lucky I am that the weekend after get off work coincides with the long-awaited game release date.

Do you remember this company's last game – Plants vs. Ghosts?

He Jin was so captivated that he almost missed clocking in for work the next day because he stayed up all night playing games, thus losing his perfect attendance record of over 600 days.

But he doesn't regret it.

As a hardcore gamer, Kawazu had never discovered before that games could be so fun; it was like opening a door to a whole new world for him.

Unfortunately, after the game was completed, this new door, which had been open briefly, closed again.

After searching through all the games on the Gear platform, Hejin could not find a game experience similar to "Zuyu".

So, the moment Tingxiang's new work was released, he unusually asked his team leader for half an hour to leave work early.

It was naturally agreed upon. The team leader was worried that something might have happened to him and told him to go back and get some rest.

"So that I can play the game as soon as it's released."

Kawazu couldn't bring himself to say such a reason, so with a guilty conscience and the relief of surviving a close call, he took the tram back to his rented room.

He lives alone and has a proud and aloof Eevee dog and two potted succulents.

No matter how arrogant he is, when Kawazu comes home, Eevee will always use its heart-shaped tail to brush off his trouser legs.

He had no time to play with Ibrahimovic; instead, he sat down in front of his computer with a lunchbox he'd bought from the convenience store.

I ate a couple of bites of rice while the game was downloading, but I didn't touch my chopsticks once the game started.

To prevent himself from becoming too addicted, Hejin specifically set his alarm for 11 p.m. to remind himself to wash up and go to bed.

Anyway, he still has two days of rest time, so he has plenty of time to spend on the game and there's no rush.

It was 1 a.m. that night.

"boom!"

Seeing the Salt Stone Treasure fall again, Kawazu couldn't help but punch his own thigh in frustration.

He wasn't sleepy at all!

I really want to see how the traps at higher elevations are designed, but this is so agonizing!

He Jin has extensive gaming experience, but he's a complete novice when it comes to games—a player who's bad at them but loves to play.

A trap that an ordinary person could overcome in three or four tries, he had to try more than ten times.

If it were just another unoriginal and rubbish terrain-based kill game, Kawazu could have easily given up on it. But the trap design in this game gives the illusion that he and the creators are engaged in a battle of wits.

Before the game begins: Hagiquan, use all your knowledge to please me!

1 a.m.: I'm sorry I couldn't make Izumi-sama enjoy himself.

Kawazu wiped his face with both hands. This game is torture! I don't want to play anymore! I really want to keep playing!

With these two conflicting ideas clashing, the overworked office worker's back, bent over for a week, finally broke.

Feeling hungry late at night, Hejin went downstairs and found a noodle shop with good reviews.

While waiting for his food, he started streaming his favorite gaming section.

To Hejin's surprise, there were quite a few game streamers active late at night, even an odd number of them.

As he scrolled through the various live streams, seeing how even well-known gaming bloggers were being tortured, Hejin felt much more at ease.

While eating his steaming hot noodles, feeling the warmth soothe his stomach, he watched with great interest the clips of various streamers wailing in pain.

Isn't this much more interesting than suffering yourself?

Even the most skilled gamer can be knocked down by a trap that sends them flying backwards, making them no different from a novice like him.

Kawazu had some wicked thoughts: he wished the streamers could die a few more times in the levels where he had died.

After thinking for a moment, he took out his Navigator and sent a message to his former gaming friend.

"Kawazu: There are two really special games out there, more fun than all the games we've played together combined. You've probably seen them on video sites, right? Seriously, don't you want to come back?"

Sending long messages to a close friend who has lost interest in the game is like throwing a stone into the sea.

He sighed. Games are more fun when played with friends, but his former comrade-in-arms had developed electronic impotence and seemed unlikely to return.

"Sure enough, people nowadays like things that are difficult and challenging."

A crisp voice rang out from behind. Kawazu turned around and discovered that besides him, there was also a girl with cherry-red hair in the noodle shop.

She wore a wristband on her right hand and a gold hair clip behind her ear.

"Master Xiaoqian?!"

Living in Goldenrod City, Kawazu couldn't possibly fail to recognize the city's Gym Leader.

"This person is one, that person is one too..."

Xiaoxi's phone was playing the live stream, and she was watching the reactions of the viewers in the chat.

Whenever the streamer dies in a high-difficulty trap, everyone's reaction is particularly lively and joyful.

“Everyone loves surprises and challenges,” she said to Kawazu.

"Well...maybe."

I was going to say that what you think is probably not quite the same.

However, the long-term work-study and stay-at-home life has given Kawazu a slight social anxiety, making him even more speechless in front of this beautiful female dojo master.

"Just what I thought."

Xiaoxi spoke and then walked away on her own.

She looked up at the night sky and muttered, "I'm cute enough, but if I want everyone to like me, I'll have to make the gym challenges a bit more difficult."

"The streamers in the battle zone are all showcasing high-difficulty challenges, which is why their audience likes it."

"My dojo must also have features that make challengers cry to be considered qualified."

Kawazu could never have imagined that his casual remark would have such a profound impact on future trainers in the Johto region.

Chapter 56 Then I'll ask you

The family of Class 1, Grade 11, Zhijiang No. 3 Middle School.

"Class monitor Ma Qianli: Attention students whose initial partner is a Bug-type Pokémon! The semester is halfway over, and it's time for your Bug-type Pokémon to evolve for the first time."

Each student must apply for permission before their Pokémon evolves. Evolution without prior application is illegal and can result in penalties ranging from a fine to administrative detention by the Galactic Federation. Please reply upon receipt.

Below the group notification was a series of "1"s.

Quanshu also repeated one of the sentences.

Evolution is mostly a good thing, but there are a few rare cases where Pokémon lose control of their power and go berserk.

They might even disobey their trainer's commands, like Ash's Charmeleon.

Even if law enforcement arrives immediately after a sprite rampages in a densely populated modern city, it can still cause irreparable economic losses.

To prevent extreme situations, the Galactic Federation requires trainers to report any anticipated evolutions of their Pokémon. The Federation will provide a simple test to confirm whether the Pokémon meets the evolution requirements.

Pokémon owners who are worried about their Pokémon evolving uncontrollably usually carry an Everstone.

"A whole bunch of rules and regulations."

Quanshu had a strange feeling, as if he were entering society for the first time after graduating from university, and encountering all sorts of industry rules and regulations.

The longer I live on Earth, the more I can feel the huge difference between this place and my previous life.

It wasn't just the development of technology that puzzled him, but also the social atmosphere.

He observed a peculiar phenomenon: the people in this world seemed exceptionally indifferent compared to his previous life.

An elderly person falls down on the street, and the passing crowds do not stop, mostly ignoring them.

Quanshu had done his research and found that there were no legal cases in this world where someone was falsely accused after helping another.

The phrase "Why did you help if you didn't hit him?" was never uttered, but it was undeniably present, and it has existed for longer than he imagined.

Unlike the previous life, which had a clear time point to let everyone know that social morality had begun to deteriorate, the social atmosphere on Earth was like this from the beginning.

Indifference is the most prominent characteristic, which is particularly evident among older people with more assets.

The working class and Izumi's peers, struggling together, seem normal.

"Why is this happening? It can't be that the social atmosphere was bad from the beginning, right?"

Could it be that because there are no legends about the gods of the lake, they don't value spiritual virtues?

Quanshu pondered, realizing there was actually another possibility.

To the people of Earth who are accustomed to this, his way of thinking and public order and good customs as an outsider are heretical.

"I really don't want to know that possibility."

He decided to give up on it.

With a thought, his figure vanished from the room and appeared under a bridge in Yuhong City.

Homeless people are rare in the Pokémon world, so there's no need to worry about being discovered.

Or rather, unless you're intentionally homeless, the alliance will definitely be able to help you find a job.

Therefore, Quanshu thinks that AZ's ability to persist in wandering for three thousand years is quite remarkable in a certain sense.

After logging in, his consciousness did not immediately leave the handheld console's home screen.

Compared to before, two new apps suddenly appeared on the screen: "The Little Mermaid" and "Saltstone Treasure".

[The Little Mermaid's reach: 49621/500]

[Mermaid's Song LV1: Slightly increases the power and casting speed of sound-based attacks.]

[Water Dance LV1: In rainy weather, slightly increases the speed of Pokémon.]

Just as Izumi had predicted, stage plays are naturally easier to spread than games, since they can appeal to people of all ages and genders.

I never expected that a stage play could generate two effects for the handheld console.

【Mermaid's Song】is decent, but I don't have any Pokémon that can learn sound-based moves right now. It might come in handy in the future.

【Water Dance Steps】is essentially a severely stripped-down version of Effortless Swimming, but thankfully it can be upgraded.

However, if you specifically activate the rainy day effect for this purpose, the Rock-type Salt Stone will face a problem—who should activate the rainy day effect for?