In this world, Pokémon had long become a part of people's lives, their figures visible in every corner of the city.
"Humans and Pokémon living in harmony" was not just an empty slogan, but a reality that had truly been achieved!
In the week since James Green transmigrated to this world, he hadn't actually seen few Pokémon. Whether it was a Meowth grooming itself on a street corner in the city, an Eevee being carried by a girl, or Pidgeys flying in the sky... he had long become accustomed to them.
However, the problem was that during this week, aside from the few times he went out, he had basically stayed in his room, pondering over making games.
——After all, the rent was about to due. If he didn't get money soon, he would be thrown out by the landlord!
So, during this week, he hadn't actually come into close contact with any Pokémon.
But now he had!
And this contact came completely unexpectedly!
After subconsciously taking two steps back from the sudden jump scare, James calmed down a bit and carefully observed the Pokémon in front of him.
An appearance like a candle, a deep blue flame...
This was actually a Litwick, and a Shiny one at that!!
Why would such a Ghost-type Pokémon appear in his room??
James instantly became nervous again.
Ghost-type Pokémon were an extremely special existence. They were very rare in cities and mostly distributed in the wild because they almost all fed on the energy of other living beings. They were very dangerous!
And Litwick was one of them. According to his memory, although these guys looked cute, they would quietly devour life force!
In other words, if he wasn't careful, his soul might be sucked away by this guy!
At this moment, James stared tightly at the Litwick, and the Litwick stared back at him.
One human and one Pokémon, staring at each other. The air fell into silence.
As James stepped back, he found that the Litwick in front of him didn't seem to make any moves...
Besides that, despite being so close, he didn't feel any physical discomfort.
So... this little guy didn't "eat" me?
James began to think carefully.
This Litwick probably hadn't just arrived in his room. After all, during his sleep just now, he had vaguely felt a bit cold.
It was summer right now. Logically, this situation shouldn't happen... so this guy must have been here for a long time.
But after waking up, he felt refreshed and full of energy. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't seem like someone who had their life force sucked.
Looking at the Litwick again... the flame on its head was flickering and very weak, as if it were about to go out at any moment. How could it be in this state after a full meal of soul?
Combined with the situation before him, could it be said that this little guy actually had no malice towards him?
"Um... Hello?"
James tentatively waved his hand and greeted it.
"Mofu——"
The Litwick glanced at him and responded with a soft cry.
But James found that he couldn't understand it at all.
What does he mean?
"Mofu Mofu!"
The Litwick cried out again, its voice somewhat urgent. The flame on its head twisted its angle, pointing towards its own body like an arrow.
From a human perspective... that position... was probably the stomach?
James immediately had a guess and asked tentatively:
"Are you hungry?"
The Litwick nodded like it was pounding garlic.
"Then wait a moment. Stay right here, don't move. I'll go get you something to eat immediately."
After speaking, James turned around directly and rushed out of the room.
Leaving only the Litwick staying in place, tilting its head, its small green eyes watching the direction James left, seeming somewhat confused.
The human... left?
But he seemed to say there was food.
There's food... that's good.
So hungry.
But I absolutely cannot eat the human.
The human will feel uncomfortable.
Mhm.
In a situation where the world was full of Pokémon and Trainers, the industry related to Pokémon was naturally quite developed.
Although James lived in a relatively remote location in Viridian City, there was still a shop selling Pokémon items downstairs.
Withdrawing the money from selling two thousand copies of the game from the platform, he walked directly into the shop and picked out the most expensive Ghost-type Pokémon food.
This kind of food was specially made by Breeders for Ghost-type Pokémon. Considering their unique need for life force, it was a carefully formulated food containing special energy to provide corresponding supplements for them.
Although it couldn't compare to the effect of Ghost-type Pokémon directly absorbing life force, it could satisfy their basic needs.
After all, as a Trainer, you couldn't really let Ghost-type Pokémon go suck people, right?
That would make you an evil cultivator running around with a "Ten Thousand Soul Banner," and you would be arrested by the League...
After buying the food, James hurriedly brought it back home and placed the can in front of the Litwick.
"Sorry for the wait. Eat up."
The Litwick poked its head out, curiously sniffed the smell of the black food in the can, and its eyes instantly lit up.
"Mofu Mofu!"
In the next moment, it buried its head directly into it.
The food inside the can began to disappear rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This eating speed startled James.
Good lord, how many days has it been starving to eat this fast?
Only after a full half-can of food disappeared did the Litwick stop.
The flame on its head was also much more vigorous than at the beginning.
"Mofu——"
It let out a satisfied cry, its eyes narrowing. The gaze it directed at James was also full of kindness and gratitude.
"Glad you're full. You're welcome."
James smiled, and at the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Luckily, this food is expensive for a reason. Although a can costs over two thousand, at least the Litwick likes to eat it... that's enough.
But speaking of which... I actually can't understand Pokémon speech?
According to the portrayal in the original works, Pokémon can understand human speech. And although humans can't directly understand the detailed content of Pokémon speech, they can at least understand the gist.
When the relationship between Trainer and Pokémon becomes intimate, this barrier will completely disappear, allowing for barrier-free communication.
But just now, listening to the Litwick speak, I couldn't understand it at all... I could only rely purely on my own guesses.
This is really a bit troublesome...
Just as James was pondering, a line of golden notifications suddenly floated before his eyes.
[Detected that the Host has a need regarding Pokémon language!]
[Recommending for you: Pokémon Language Translation Module (Low Level)]
[After unlocking this module, you can understand the language of any Pokémon. Simultaneously, it will correctly recreate Pokémon cries and language within the game to match reality.]
[Unlocking this module requires consuming 100 Emotional Points.]
Looking at the information before him, James's eyes instantly lit up.
With this thing, I can understand the Litwick's speech!
Not only that, after unlocking this module, it will also be useful for future game production.
The effect of completely recreating Pokémon cries and language... can add a lot of realism to the game!
I can even immediately add this function to Emerald!
And this module isn't expensive, only needing 100 Emotional Points!
Right now, he has over six hundred points.
With this thought, James chose to purchase it without hesitation.
[Purchase successful. Module activated. Host currently has 562 Emotional Points remaining!]
After scanning the notification, James looked back at the Litwick and asked:
"Are you full?"
"Mof! Mofu!" [I'm full! Thank you, human!]
The Litwick nodded in response. James could now clearly understand the meaning of the sounds it made.
But this speech format... why does it feel so familiar?
James paused for a moment, then asked again:
"How long have you been in my room?"
"Mofu Mofu, Mof." [A long time! The human kept playing with the big metal box. I was waiting for you to sleep... then I could eat you.]
Hearing this made James's hair stand on end. Although he knew the Litwick was referring to his life force, it still sounded quite scary.
He composed himself before continuing to ask:
"Then why didn't you eat in the end?"
This time the Litwick didn't answer immediately but thought for a moment:
"Mofu, Mof." [Because, the human would feel uncomfortable. I don't want to make the human uncomfortable.]
James was stunned.
Holy crap?!
What is this? Did I pull a peerless SSR Litwick?
Just as the flower language of a stray purebred cat is "First come, first served," the flower language of an ownerless Pokémon is also "First come, first served." James made a decision without hesitation and extended a hand towards the Litwick:
"In that case, do you want to follow me from now on? I'll cover all your food. This way you won't go hungry, and you won't have to worry about sucking other people's life force and making them uncomfortable anymore."
Ghost-type Pokémon absorbing life force, aside from being an instinct, was actually their body's way of replenishing energy.
But if they replenished the energy in their bodies to the brim through other channels, why would they insist on eating life force?
Unless it was a naturally vicious Ghost-type Pokémon that took pleasure in devouring life force...
But clearly, the Litwick before him was not such an existence.
Hearing this, its eyes instantly lit up. It nodded repeatedly and jumped happily around James.
"Mofu!" [Human is so good! Thank you, human!]
James smiled and reached out to pick the Litwick up.
"Then please take care of me from now on, Litwick."
"Mofu~"
Contrary to James's expectations, the Litwick's ethereal Ghost-type spirit body felt like a soft jelly, very comfortable.
And holding it in his arms didn't feel cold at all; instead, it made him feel very warm.
Uh.
Warm is warm, but why is it suddenly a bit hot?
James subconsciously looked down.
Oh, Turns out my clothes are on fire.
Hm?
Wait?
ON FIRE??
In the next instant, screams of misery echoed once again in the rented room.
"FIRE!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Five minutes later.
James dumped a pile of ashes into the trash can. He had already changed into an old shirt full of patches and sighed slightly.
Forgot that Litwick is also a Fire-type Pokémon. The fire on its head isn't a decoration.
Looks like if I want to hold Litwick in the future, I'll have to buy some fireproof clothing...
Usually, I also have to let Litwick pay attention, otherwise, the house will catch fire sooner or later.
He turned his head and found that the Litwick had already fallen asleep against the corner of the wall.
While sleeping, the flame on its head had also retracted significantly, leaving only a small dot.
"Must be tired..."
James thought for a moment and didn't disturb it.
Originally, he wanted to ask where the Litwick came from, but for now, better let the little guy rest well.
As for himself...
He sat back down in front of the computer desk.
The software showed that the sales of Pokémon Emerald had reached 2125 copies, successfully breaking the 2000 mark.
But this number had stagnated there for seemingly a few minutes without increasing further.
James wasn't surprised by this.
Judging from the System's notifications, Cynthia's stream should have ended, because he hadn't received a large amount of Emotional Points, only some sporadic point income.
This should be coming from those two thousand-plus players who bought the game and were currently playing.
With over 2000 sales, excluding the platform's cut, the income in his hand was a little over 450,000.
The problem of a tight wallet naturally no longer existed.
But from the moment he obtained the System, James's goal in making games wasn't just to make money.
He wanted to let everyone in this world experience the joy brought by Pokémon games!
Mhm, of course, torture is also a kind of joy—painful but happy, right?
Retracting his thoughts, James began to think about his current state.
Currently, the first goal was definitely to completely produce Pokémon: Emerald and officially release it.
And he had many ideas that definitely couldn't be realized with the current System's low-level module technology.
He casually opened the System panel and checked the module interface.
Just the number of low-level quality modules alone was quite large; one couldn't see the end at a glance.
For example, [Card Game Module], [Roguelike Game Module]—modules that increased the production speed and quality of specified game genres.
Or [Ultra HD Blu-ray Graphics Module], [Top-tier Professional Configuration Music Module]—modules that increased the game's expressiveness and comprehensive quality.
The prices of these modules were all around 300 points. With James's current situation, waiting a bit longer to buy two of them wouldn't be a problem.
But his gaze fell unhesitatingly onto one specific module.
[Intelligent Module (Low Level)]
[Description: Can add individually responsive advanced artificial intelligence to your in-game NPCs, Pokémon, and all other units, allowing them to perform intelligent actions based on the actual situation.]
[Price: 500 points]
The price of this module was far higher than other low-level existences, but James's gaze was fixed on it at this moment.
In the world of Pokémon, what was the most important thing when making a Pokémon game?
——It was Realism!
Only by making the player feel that they had entered a real world could they immerse themselves in it!
Those Pokémon and NPCs shouldn't be like data that could only give mechanical responses, but more like living, breathing lives!
Although games were virtual by nature...
A good game could make you forget this point while playing, as if you had truly entered another world!
——This was the greatest charm of games!
When playing Pokémon handheld games in his previous life, James had some regrets.
Regret that he couldn't truly interact and chat with those Pokémon partners, feel their joys, anger, sorrows, and happiness... or live together with them.
Even after transmigrating to the Pokémon world, he found that reality here was also very harsh.
Not everyone had the conditions to become a Trainer, travel with Pokémon, and climb to the peak.
This not only required time and cost but also courage and talent.
For ordinary people, even being able to live with one Pokémon in the city was already very good.
More people could only stay in a fixed city for their entire lives, doing fixed jobs, barely able to support themselves and their families, let alone bear the expenses of more Pokémon.
Even if these people loved Pokémon deeply when they were young, eventually their edges would be smoothed by the pressure of life, gradually getting lost in the cold city.
So, every game James made next had to give all those who loved Pokémon a chance!
Perhaps a chance to experience growing and fighting with Pokémon, stepping onto the peak of the world!
Or perhaps, a chance to live, share hearts, and become friends with Pokémon!
Or maybe, a chance to travel with Pokémon and witness the strangeness and color of the world!
He believed that these opportunities were like clusters of flames.
One day, these flames would ignite the entire world!
It would make everyone recall what it was that they truly loved deep in their hearts!
(End of Chapter)