33 Professor Birch
Busy, busy, busy irl.
***
The Youngster, Peter, was startled and took a step back. He quickly put the money in his hand into his pocket and said cautiously, "My Pokemon is almost out of strength now and can't battle!"
Chen Yue lowered his gaze and looked at another Poke Ball hanging from Peter's waist.
Peter immediately covered it and cursed loudly, "You shameless! You're already an adult, and I'm only ten this year! This isn't fair!"
Chen Yue chuckled and thought for a moment, realizing that the Youngster had a point.
If the Infinite Space were to award him some strange achievements during the settlement of the mission, it wouldn't be good.
Being publicly executed throughout the entire Infinite Space, he might as well commit social suicide the next day.
People might say this about him then:
Chen Yue? Just a pervert who kills kids.
Thinking of this, Chen Yue's brow furrowed in a serious contemplation. Under Peter's anxious gaze, he spoke up:
"You don't have to battle me, but you have to do me a favor."
"What favor?" Peter immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it didn't involve battling for his money.
Chen Yue looked in the direction of Littleroot Town and asked, "Today is the day when new trainer travelers set out on their journey, right?"
Peter nodded and replied, "Yes, the League distributes starter Pokemon to new trainers who are ten years old at this time every year."
Chen Yue said, "It's simple. help me intercept all of them and bring them here."
He paused and asked, "If they lose, can they continue their journey?"
Peter shook his head, "No, it's not possible. The wilderness is very dangerous, and wild Pokemon can jump out of the grass and attack passing trainers anytime and anywhere. If they don't have Pokemon with them, they'll get knocked out."
"So, most people return to Littleroot Town, heal their Pokemon, and then continue their journey."
Hearing this, a bright light sparkled in Chen Yue's eyes.
He seemed to see Gardevoir standing on a bright path, waving at him.
What a perfect opportunity to earn points!
With that in mind, Chen Yue cleared his throat, his expression turning serious. He looked at Peter and said, "You go guard the road next door, don't let them have a chance to detour, bring them all here, and we'll split the money we get, 37-63!"
Peter's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"A real man never tells lies!"
"You're bluffing, aren't you?" Peter stared at Chen Yue, carefully scrutinizing him, as if trying to determine the truth of his statement from his eyes.
Chen Yue shrugged, "Of course."
After all, he couldn't take Poke Dollars out with him, so giving Peter a rounded share was like hiring a little brother to work for him.
"Alright, I'm going!"
With that, he turned and left without looking back.
***
At the same time, a large group of new players woke up in Littleroot Town.
The continuous exclamations resounded among the crowd:
"What the heck, did I just time travel?"
"Ah ah ah! Look at that!" One newcomer pointed excitedly at the red and white spherical object on Professor Birch's research institute table and shouted, "I'm not mistaken, right? That's a Poke Ball, isn't it?"
"So you mean to say... this is the Pokemon world?"
At this moment, Professor Birch, dressed in a researcher's suit, walked out.
He smiled at the group of "new" trainer travelers in front of him and said, "Congratulations on reaching the age where you can go on a journey with your own Pokemon. I am Professor Birch, responsible for distributing starter Pokemon to you. Now, come and pick a Poke Ball you like!"
The excitement among the new players was so overwhelming that they almost fainted. Beside them, a short-haired man rolled his eyes and muttered, "Pathetic."
The man was named Zhou Tao, an experienced player who had gone through three missions.
His companion sighed, "Who's better than who? Weren't you also shaking all over with excitement back then? I even thought you got electrocuted."
Zhou Tao: ...
An awkward expression appeared on his face, and he awkwardly changed the topic, "It seems like this is the Hoenn Region, and Professor Birch... seems to be from the Pokemon game. Qin Ming, I remember you used to play Pokemon games before you came here, right?"
The player known as Qin Ming nodded, looked around, and said, "This is Professor Birch's research institute in Littleroot Town, a large-scale role-play scenario. Our identity should be that of novice trainer travelers who have just set out on a journey."
Zhou Tao thought for a moment and said, "So this is the game's world view."
Qin Ming made a sound of agreement and looked at the group of new players who were receiving their Pokemon, silently counting their numbers.
There were a total of twenty-three people.
Adding the five experienced players, there were a total of twenty-eight people.
The competition is quite fierce...
Qin Ming thought to himself.
After the new players received their starter Pokemon, everyone left the research institute following the instructions.
Just as they stepped outside, they saw rows of middle-aged women holding travel bags and Poke Dollars, waiting outside.
They accurately found their own children in the crowd and said, "Be careful when you're out there alone. Here are the running shoes, travel bags, and three thousand Poke Dollars I prepared for you. Be frugal!"
At the same time, the Main Quest for these new players popped up.
[Main Quest 1: Travel through Route 101 to get to Oldale Town!]
[Main Quest 2: Obtain eight Gym Badges (not activated yet)]
[Main Quest 3: Participate in the Fenyua League Championship (not activated yet)]
Some of the new players weren't in a hurry to complete the Main Quests. They went straight to explore Littleroot Town, sometimes sneaking into the Pokemon Café and other times venturing into the forest to observe wild Pokemon.
Zhou Tao and Qin Ming stood at the entrance of Route 101, exchanged a glance, and Zhou Tao asked, "Should we first understand the background of our identity and see if there are any hidden quests, or should we go straight to Oldale Town?"
Qin Ming thought for a moment, "Let's go to Oldale Town first and activate the second Main Quest. This world is too vast, somewhat like an open-world game."
Zhou Tao nodded, "Indeed, if that's the case, it seems like we don't have to challenge the Gyms in order!"
After some discussion, the two of them directly set foot on Route 101.
After dealing with a few Poochyena and Zigzagoon that jumped out, they saw a guy standing by the roadside wearing shorts.
Youngster Peter waited for a long time and finally greeted two novice trainers with excitement in his eyes, quickly jumping out to block them:
"Hurry up and have a Pokemon battle with me!"
Zhou Tao and Qin Ming exchanged a glance, immediately understanding the situation.
It seemed to be consistent with the game's setting.
They had to defeat the Youngster in order to continue.
But just as they were about to take out their Poke Balls, the Youngster said, "Follow me!"
Zhou Tao and Qin Ming were baffled.
They followed the Youngster to another route, where they saw a guy wearing a straw hat and holding a bug-catching net, sitting on the ground playing a childish game of "you hit me, I hit you" with a little girl.
"What's going on? A double battle between the Youngster and the Bug Catcher?"
Zhou Tao used his eyes to inquire his partner.
