"You! How is your Pokémon a Typhlosion?"
At first, she thought it was a Cyndaquil, but she never expected him to bring out the final evolved form of a Cyndaquil. How could her Totodile possibly win against that? There's a world of difference between an evolved and an unevolved Pokémon, especially in a battle with two evolutionary stages separating them. Even with a type advantage, facing a Typhlosion was simply not enough. Unless her Totodile was also in its final form, a Feraligatr, then it might be possible.
"Why can't I have a Typhlosion?" the Boy with Glasses sneered. "What, scared now? I'm telling you, you only have two choices: first, surrender obediently and transfer two thousand dollars to me; second, let your Totodile battle mine, let my Typhlosion enjoy the thrill of combat, and then transfer the money to me."
"You're shameless, you're despicable, setting this trap on purpose!" the Young Woman was furious. If he had said earlier that his Pokémon was a Typhlosion, she would never have approached him.
"Then you can only blame yourself for being greedy," the Boy with Glasses scoffed. He then took out his phone. "Stop talking nonsense. If you're too scared to fight, then transfer the money obediently. I hate people who lose and don't honor their debts."
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and the Typhlosion beside him took a step forward, glaring fiercely at the Young Woman. The flames around its neck burned even hotter than before.
Seeing Typhlosion's menacing look, the Young Woman gave in, took out her phone, and transferred two thousand of her only three thousand dollars.
After receiving the Young Woman's transfer, the Boy with Glasses continued to loudly challenge the crowd: "Come, come, come, who else wants to battle me? This round, twenty of you can fight me alone. Your bet is two thousand dollars each, and mine is two hundred thousand dollars. If you win, I'll give you two thousand each."
The onlookers exchanged glances, some starting to feel tempted, asking if anyone else was willing to join. Two minutes later, twenty Totodile stood opposite the Boy with Glasses.
"Brothers, let's all use Water Gun! I refuse to believe that even if his Typhlosion's flames are scorching hot, it can withstand the attacks of twenty Totodile!" a young man shouted.
"Exactly, let him know the consequences of his arrogance!" the others echoed.
The Boy with Glasses looked at them, his lips curling up again, and he reached behind his back to pull out two more Poké Balls. Two flashes of red light appeared, revealing a Bayleef, the evolved form of Chikorita, and a Croconaw, the evolved form of Totodile.
Immediately, everyone was shocked again. Besides Typhlosion, the Boy with Glasses actually had two other evolved Original Starters.
"Why, this isn't fair!" Someone couldn't help but exclaim.
One Typhlosion was already enough to make people intensely jealous, and now he could bring out two more evolved forms of Original Starters. How could they possibly win?
Seeing their angry glares, the Boy with Glasses, with a mocking expression, toyed with a Poké Ball and said, "There's nothing unfair about it. It's the same as before, you have two choices now: first, surrender obediently and transfer two thousand dollars to me; second, let your Totodile battle mine, let my Typhlosion, Bayleef, and Croconaw enjoy the thrill of combat, and then transfer the money to me."
"You're dreaming!" the leading young man roared. "Brothers, let's go together! Even if he has three evolved Starters, there are twenty of us. We might not truly lose!"
The young man's words ignited the fighting spirit of the others, and they began to command their Totodile to attack the Boy with Glasses's evolved Starters.
Facing their attacks, the Boy with Glasses looked disdainful.
"Croconaw, Astonish!"
A roar erupted from its mouth, and Croconaw showed a terrifying face, glaring at the surrounding Totodile that were attacking it. The Totodile were immediately startled, standing frozen in fear and unease.
"Bayleef, Poison Powder!"
A large amount of green pollen scattered from Bayleef's neck, drifting towards the Totodile. Terrified by Croconaw, the Totodile, unable to dodge, were then poisoned, their expressions extremely uncomfortable, crying out in pain, "Wali wali!"
"Typhlosion, Flamethrower!"
The next second, a scorching flame erupted from Typhlosion's mouth. The Totodile, experiencing both fear and the double torment of poison powder, soon fell to the ground one after another. They were extremely weak. In less than a minute, all twenty Totodile had fallen. Their owners hurriedly picked up their respective Totodile, about to seek medical attention.
"Hey, hey, hey, transfer the money before you leave."
A flame shot out from Typhlosion's mouth, blocking their path.
"You!"
Those people looked at the Boy with Glasses in anger.
"What 'you'? A bet is a bet. Just a friendly reminder, this isn't like handheld games. If your Pokémon dies, it's truly dead, and even immortals can't revive it," the Boy with Glasses said with a smile. The next second, he thought of something and quickly corrected himself, "Oh, no, that's not right. There is one way: unless you're lucky enough to encounter the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh; it does have the ability to revive."
Those people gave in, reluctantly walking towards the Boy with Glasses, taking out their phones to transfer money. After they transferred the money, the Boy with Glasses continued his previous trick, shouting to the remaining onlookers: "This time, all of you can come at once! As long as you defeat me, it's four thousand dollars per person, I won't go back on my word."
But this time, no one was willing to take advantage of that offer again.
Seeing no reaction from the crowd, the Boy with Glasses said, "How about this: four thousand dollars per person. If I lose, I'll give each of you four thousand dollars. If you lose, each person only needs to give me two thousand."
However, the more the Boy with Glasses spoke, the more wary the onlookers became, until a Boy with Glasses stepped out from the crowd.
The Boy with Glasses said, "You're a Closed Beta Player, aren't you? Is it fun to bully us new players in New Bark Town?"
The Boy with Glasses leaning against the tree was stunned, as if he hadn't expected anyone to guess his identity.
The onlookers immediately asked the Boy with Glasses what a Closed Beta Player was, and why they didn't know about such a thing.
"A Closed Beta Player is someone from a year ago when the game was still in closed beta. DivineTech distributed ten thousand beta slots worldwide, allowing them to experience the game first and provide feedback," the Boy with Glasses explained, then turned to look at the Boy with Glasses. "As a Closed Beta Player, blocking new players in the starter town, aren't you afraid DivineTech will reclaim your account?"
The Boy with Glasses scoffed: "Reclaim? Kid, you've probably forgotten that the game has already crashed and cannot be exited. This means no one can stop my actions here."
"But no matter how much it crashes, the game will eventually be fixed," the Boy with Glasses said.
The Boy with Glasses burst into laughter, as if he had heard the funniest joke: "Let me tell you the truth, the game can't be fixed. All of us will be trapped here forever."
After speaking, the Boy with Glasses clapped his hands: "Come out, Alex, Lily. Since someone knows about our existence, there's not much fun left in toying with them like this."
Soon, a Young Man and a Young Woman walked out from the crowd of onlookers. They each took out a Poké Ball and released their respective Pokémon. A Charizard and a Venusaur. The final forms of the Kanto region's Original Starters, Charmander and Bulbasaur. As soon as these two Pokémon appeared, they walked to either side of the crowd, blocking their escape.
"Alright, I won't waste any more words. I'm here to block you all for one purpose: to rob you while you're still weak," the Boy with Glasses said, looking at the crowd with an arrogant expression. "Everyone, I won't take too much from you, two thousand dollars per person is enough. Transfer the money, and you'll be released immediately. If you don't transfer, hehe… then release your Pokémon and let us kill them."