Kanto Region, Cerulean City.
In a luxurious villa, Kairos stood up from his computer desk and stretched with a long yawn.
Ever since realizing Cynthia's game progress was way faster than expected, he'd been glued to his computer, frantically producing follow-up content.
After an all-nighter, he had made solid progress.
He had finished the entire Petalburg Woods map, including the Weather Institute and Flying-type Gym.
On top of that, he had completed the land and sea modeling around Dewford Town, plus all the swimmer and sailor battles.
As he worked, Kairos couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
For a pixel game, Emerald was downright massive. With so much content, it was hard to believe this was a game released back in the 2000s.
His version was basically standing on the shoulders of giants.
"Okay, this should be enough, right?"
He exhaled in relief. This much content should keep players busy for quite a while.
Kairos sat back down, opened the game interface, and checked player progress.
What he saw left him completely stunned.
Cynthia had already cleared Norman's Gym and obtained Surf. His eyes widened.
"Seriously, Cynthia? Even Norman's Gym couldn't stop you?"
He was dumbfounded.
If Roxanne's Gym was a newbie killer, then Norman's Gym was easily the hardest among the remaining ones.
Norman basically cheated—using Mega Kangaskhan with Parental Bond against his own kids, teaching them brutal lessons.
Kairos honestly couldn't figure out how Cynthia had gotten past him.
But after thinking it over, he shook his head.
Well, good for her. At least it proved the difficulty wasn't so high that clearing it was impossible.
Checking again, he saw Lance—ranked second in progress—had just beaten Flannery and was heading toward Norman. Iono's pace was about the same.
Kairos breathed a sigh of relief. Good. Not everyone was progressing at Cynthia's insane speed... otherwise, the pressure would be unbearable.
He switched to the backend to check sales figures.
The 59 million ₽ investment in promotion had been ridiculously effective.
After just one more day, sales had already reached nearly 180,000–190,000 copies, far beyond his expectations.
Naturally, his game had taken first place in the New Game Festival rankings.
That visibility brought even more players, creating a positive feedback loop.
At this pace, both the main and side quests should be no problem.
With that thought, Kairos pulled out his phone, contacted another ad company, and tossed another 59 million ₽ into promotion.
The system's 5,922 ₽ price point actually felt like a blessing—every 10,000 copies sold meant another 59 million ₽ in revenue, so he didn't even feel bad spending money anymore.
(t/n: 5,992 ₽ is the official price as of now.)
He had long since stopped checking his account balance—too numb from seeing so many zeroes.
After finishing the ad arrangements, Kairos shut off his monitor and got ready for a shower and some much-needed sleep.
Litwick was still nowhere in sight.
That little guy only showed up at mealtimes lately, like a free-range cat. But since Kairos spent most of his time making games anyway, he didn't mind—as long as Litwick didn't get lost outside.
With that, he stood up to wash up and rest, planning to wake up early tomorrow and continue developing.
But just then, a series of notifications suddenly appeared before his eyes.
---
[Ding! Please note, your current cycle's emotion points have been calculated. This time you received a total of 1,135 points from all players and livestream viewers.]
[728 points from Cynthia, 639 combined from Iono and other special players.]
[Including the above income, your current balance is 1,767 emotion points!]
---
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
As his player base kept growing, his emotion point income was becoming impressive.
What used to take ages of saving to buy one intermediate production module now only required about a day.
He couldn't help but look forward to the future. Once his games went global, who knew how high the income might climb?
But then he thought about the astronomical cost of advanced modules and forced himself back to reality.
Forget it. Better to just focus on finishing quests...
He glanced at his balance—4,562 points remaining, enough to buy a decent intermediate module.
But he didn't have anything specific in mind to purchase.
If anything, he wanted to upgrade his game creation efficiency module to the advanced level.
The intermediate version had boosted his speed a lot, but the workload was still exhausting. And this was just a pixel game. When it came time for 3D or VR projects, the strain would be even worse.
That upgrade would clearly be the best investment.
Unfortunately, upgrading required over 10,000 emotion points.
At his current pace, he'd need to wait several more days.
With that thought, Kairos closed the panel and prepared to finally shower and sleep.
But the system clearly had other plans.
---
[Ding! Host has met the trigger conditions for a hidden quest.]
[Hidden Quest: First Game Forum Established.]
[Hidden Series Quest Activated!]
[SS-rank Hidden Series Quest: Player Empire!]
[Please note: This is a series quest. Completing each phase will unlock the next until the final objective is reached for the ultimate reward.]
---
Kairos froze.
The system had hidden quests too?
And the condition this time...
A game forum? Already?
He had actually considered setting one up before.
But the procedures in this world were complicated—starting a forum from scratch would've taken half a month. So he hadn't rushed it.
Apparently someone else had beaten him to it.
His focus returned to the quest itself.
All his previous quests were S-rank—this was his first SS-rank!
So the rewards should be huge, right? He quickly scanned the details.
---
[Final Objective: Player-created derivative content for all your Pokémon games reaches 1 million heat value online.]
[Heat value is system-calculated. Each share or view adds to the total. Current value: 1,211.]
[Current Phase Objective: Emerald forum reaches 100,000 registered players.]
[Phase Rewards: Random intermediate special module, random advanced Pokémon item, new system function unlock.]
[Progress: 364 / 100,000.]
---
The info was overwhelming.
So this Emerald forum had triggered the quest?
And the rewards... another special module?
The last one, the Easter Egg Module, had been spectacular. That Zacian vs. Eternatus battle had even surprised him.
It alone had earned him thousands of emotion points.
Clearly, special modules were far stronger than regular ones—the more, the better.
And this quest also offered advanced Pokémon items and a new system function.
Honestly, the current functions alone could last him a lifetime. He never expected new ones.
Decision made. This quest needed priority.
Especially since this was just the first phase—the final rewards must be incredible.
He pulled out his phone and searched. Sure enough, he quickly found the Emerald forum.
There were only a handful of posts so far, but the member count had already grown from 364 to 380.
Someone was clearly promoting it.
Still, with the game's total player base at only around 160,000, hitting 100,000 would be tough.
Kairos immediately had an idea.
Tomorrow, he'd add the forum's website to the in-game announcements.
If possible, he could even offer forum-exclusive rewards to encourage sign-ups.
Industry veterans used this tactic all the time—it worked.
Satisfied with that plan, Kairos checked his other quests.
The side quest only needed another 140,000 sales—just a matter of time.
The main quest, first place in the New Game Festival, had less than a week left.
Dream Factory's new game was releasing the day after tomorrow.
Unless they pulled off some miracle, Kairos doubted Emerald would be dethroned.
He had full confidence in his game.
...
Night deepened. Exhausted from the day's work, Kairos quickly fell asleep.
But the bedroom door soon creaked open.
A small figure slipped inside—Litwick.
Its body was drenched in sweat, its flame dim, but noticeably larger than before.
Clearly, it had been training hard these past few days, which explained its absence.
Now, Litwick peeked around the room. After confirming Kairos was asleep, it tiptoed inside.
It quietly shut the door, padded to the cabinet, and began eating its Pokémon food.
While eating, it looked at Kairos and nodded solemnly.
Its trainer worked hard every day—so it had to keep up.
But just then, a shadow accompanied by icy mist flickered past the window.
A moment later, the figure materialized in front of Litwick.
A purple-black mass of shadow floated in the air.
Large white eyes squinted into crescents, crimson pupils gleaming, with a grin stretched ear to ear.
Saw-like fangs bared as it stared at Litwick.
Fear and crushing pressure instantly froze Litwick in place.
It knew this feeling. Back in the Ghost World, stronger Pokémon had stolen its food and territory, leaving behind this exact dread.
Its instincts screamed—the opponent was far stronger. It had no chance.
The Gengar's grin widened as it turned its gaze toward the sleeping Kairos.
Its expression was that of a predator spotting prey.
Dark mist gathered around it, warping the air.
Litwick's eyes widened.
This thing was after Kairos's soul!
Fear vanished, replaced by fierce determination.
Litwick lunged forward, spitting a shadowy energy ball at Gengar.
But the larger Ghost vanished, reappearing behind Litwick in an instant.
With one slap, it sent Litwick flying into the wall.
The energy ball dissipated.
Dazed, Litwick saw the contempt in Gengar's eyes.
From the moment it entered, Gengar hadn't considered Litwick worth its attention.
Turning back to Kairos, it raised a claw. Black mist poured out, wrapping Kairos's body.
Kairos twitched in his sleep, brow furrowed in pain. Something was being pulled from him...
Litwick struggled to move but was crushed under the heavy aura.
Despair filled its heart.
It was still too weak.
It finally had a human who stayed by its side—yet it couldn't protect him.
If only it could become stronger...
Wait—stronger?!
Litwick's gaze darted to the deep-blue candy boxes in the open cabinet.
It remembered Kairos's words clearly:
"Eat these when you're stronger—they'll boost your power all at once. Don't waste them."
And now, only one phrase echoed in its mind:
Become stronger.
Gengar's mist poured deeper into Kairos, solidifying its form.
Litwick didn't hesitate. It slammed into the cabinet, spilling the candies onto the floor.
A dazzling rainbow light filled the room.
Startled, Gengar turned, but saw nothing unusual.
Shrugging it off, it moved again to claim Kairos's soul—
Only to feel a tap on its back.
Annoyed, it turned—
And froze.
No weak Litwick stood behind it, but a towering chandelier with blazing crimson eyes and dripping blue flames.
The oppressive aura hit Gengar like a tidal wave.
Its instincts screamed—predator.
This was a power far beyond its own.
Terrified, it gathered dark energy to strike.
But Chandelure casually patted its claw, and the energy instantly collapsed.
Gengar was stunned.
This aura... Elite Four level?!
It had never seen such power before—not even in the Ghost World.
Panic set in. Forget eating—time to run!
But before it could move, shadows bound it.
Blue flames surged, pressing down on it...
---
The next morning, Kairos woke groggy.
He rubbed the back of his head, puzzled.
He had gone to bed early, but still felt exhausted, as if he hadn't rested at all.
Maybe it was just the fatigue from nonstop development.
Should he sleep more?
No, that wouldn't work—he was never one to sleep in.
Getting up, he opened his door... and froze.
Two Pokémon stood there.
The first, a familiar balloon-shaped figure.
Even in ashes, he would recognize it: Gengar.
But this one radiated terrifying pressure. At least Gym Leader-level strength.
And behind it—
A Chandelure, body glowing with eerie blue flames, aura even stronger than Gengar's.
Kairos's breath caught.
Stronger than a Gym Leader... could this be an Elite Four-level Pokémon?!
Then he noticed the color.
A shiny blue-flamed Chandelure...
Wait.
His eyes met Chandelure's, and it immediately lit up, circling him excitedly.
A familiar voice echoed: "Litwick! Litwick!"
Kairos: "???"
Wait—that was Litwick's voice?
He looked at the scattered blue candy boxes, then back at Chandelure.
Slowly, he asked:
"So... you're Litwick?"
Chandelure bobbed its head.
"And you ate all the Rare Candies and evolved?"
Another nod. Then it turned, glaring at Gengar.
Gengar shuddered, dropped to its knees, and frantically bowed.
"Gengar! Gengar! Kekeke!"
[Big bro, I was wrong! I shouldn't have disturbed your sleep—or tried to eat your soul! I swear I didn't mean it—I was just hungry!]
Kairos blinked.
"Eat my soul?"
Oh.
So that's why he hadn't slept well—this guy had taken a bite of his soul.
...
...
—Like hell that's normal!!