With the budget approved and the deadline set, the atmosphere in Division B shifted from the frantic energy of survival to the rigorous discipline of execution. The "miracle" of the board meeting was over; now came the grunt work of polishing a product for the masses.
Zhong Ming stood in front of a whiteboard, a marker in his hand. The board was filled with numbers: 001, 004, 007, 025, 150.
"We have a problem," Zhong Ming announced to the room.
Wang Hao looked up from his screen, eyes baggy but alert. "The code is stable. What's the problem?"
"The problem is identity," Zhong Ming said. "Right now, our monsters are just data entries. 'Monster 001' is a plant dinosaur. 'Monster 004' is a fire lizard. Players won't bond with a number. They need names."
Lin Yue nodded from her desk. "I've just been calling them 'Green Guy' and 'Fire Tail' in my files. It's getting confusing."
"Exactly," Zhong Ming said. "A name defines the character. It gives it soul. I've compiled a list based on pre-war etymology and biological characteristics."
He turned to the whiteboard and began to write.
Under *004*, he wrote: **Charmander.**
"Char (charcoal/burning) + Mander (salamander)," Zhong Ming explained. "Simple, descriptive, easy to remember."
He moved to the next one. Under *007*, he wrote: **Squirtle.**
"Squirt (water) + Turtle. Cute, sounds youthful."
Under *001*: **Bulbasaur.**
"Bulb + Dinosaur. The origin of life."
Wang Hao scratched his head. "Bulbasaur... Charmander... Squirtle. They sound a bit like scientific classifications, but... softer. I like it. It fits the 'Professor' character in the intro."
"Speaking of which," Zhong Ming continued, "The Professor needs a name. In the original concept, he was named after the Oak tree. Stability, wisdom. In this world, let's call him Professor Oak. It retains that sense of ancient knowledge."
He moved down the list. The starters were easy. The mid-stage evolutions—Charmeleon, Wartortle, Ivysaur—flowed naturally. The final stages—Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur—carried weight and power.
But then Zhong Ming stopped at a specific entry.
*025.*
This was the most crucial number. In his previous life, this yellow electric mouse had become the face of an empire. It wasn't the strongest, but it was the most recognizable.
Lin Yue watched him hesitate. "Is something wrong with that one? It's just a electric mouse, right?"
Zhong Ming shook his head. "No. This one is special. It's the mascot. The face of the brand. It needs to be cute enough for girls to want to hug it, but cool enough for boys to want to battle with it."
He wrote the name on the board in big, bold letters.
**PIKACHU.**
"Pika... chu?" Lin Yue tried saying it. "It sounds like the static noise it makes."
"Exactly," Zhong Ming smiled. "Pika is the sound of an electric spark. Chu is a squeak. It's onomatopoeia. It transcends language barriers. Even a child who can't read well can say 'Pikachu'."
He turned to the team. "Lin Yue, I need the promotional art to focus heavily on Pikachu. It needs to be on the box art, the posters, everywhere. It's the ambassador."
"I'll sketch a few poses," Lin Yue said, already visualizing the chubby yellow rodent with lightning-shaped ears. "Cheeks red with electricity. A lightning bolt tail. Got it."
Zhong Ming moved to the final names. The legendaries. The gods of this world.
*150.* **Mewtwo.**
"It sounds artificial," Wang Hao noted. "Like a clone."
"That's the point," Zhong Ming said darkly. "It represents the arrogance of science. A warning."
*149.* **Dragonite.**
*143.* **Snorlax.**
One by one, the database of numbers transformed into a roster of characters. By the end of the session, the whiteboard was a tapestry of a new language.
***
The next morning, Zhong Ming received a notification on his bracelet. It was a message from Li Cheng.
*"Come to my office. We need to discuss the marketing budget. Bring your strategy."*
Zhong Ming walked into Li Cheng's office. The Director looked stressed. He was scrolling through a media buying report.
"Bad news?" Zhong Ming asked.
"Chen Xu happened," Li Cheng sighed, putting down the tablet. "He used his influence to lock down the prime advertising slots for *Warfront: Siege*. He bought out the homepage banners of the three biggest entertainment news sites and the primetime slots on the District broadcast channels."
"He's trying to smother us in the crib," Zhong Ming realized.
"Essentially. We have a budget, but the best real estate is taken. We can't compete with his ad spend. If we try to outbid him now, we'll drain our production funds," Li Cheng said. "We have to settle for banner ads on forum pages and late-night radio spots."
Zhong Ming sat down. He expected this. In the corporate world, political maneuvering was just as dangerous as coding bugs.
"Don't worry about the ad space," Zhong Ming said, his eyes gleaming.
"Don't worry? Zhong Ming, if no one sees the game, no one buys it."
"They will see it," Zhong Ming said confidently. "But not because we shouted at them with a banner ad. They will see it because their friends won't shut up about it."
He pulled out his own tablet.
"We are changing the strategy. Instead of buying ads, we are buying... manpower."
"Manpower?"
"Street teams," Zhong Ming explained. "We hire university students and part-timers. We give them demo units and merchandise. We send them to schools, parks, and commuter hubs. We don't show a commercial; we put the controller in their hands."
Zhong Ming activated his [Marketing Insight Module]. The system had given him this reward for a reason. The module highlighted a specific strategy that had worked wonders in his previous life but was nonexistent here.
**Viral Marketing.**
"We create a mystery," Zhong Ming said. "We don't reveal all 151 monsters. We reveal 50. We hide the rest. We leak 'rumors' on forums. 'I heard there is a ghost type in the Pokémon Tower.' 'I heard if you press the truck, you find Mew.'"
Li Cheng blinked. "Why would we hide content we worked so hard to make?"
"Because curiosity is a stronger motivator than information," Zhong Ming replied. "If you show them everything, the game is 'solved' before they buy it. If you hide things, they have to buy it to find out. It becomes a topic of conversation. 'Did you find this?' 'Is this real?'"
Zhong Ming leaned forward.
"And for the media... we ignore the big sites. We go to the small ones. The fan blogs. The independent reviewers. We give them exclusive early access copies. Chen Xu is buying the giants; we will win over the ants. And in the internet age, the ants outnumber the giants."
Li Cheng looked at Zhong Ming with a complex expression. "You think like a fox, Zhong Ming. Fine. I'll authorize the street team budget. It's cheaper than TV ads anyway."
"There's one more thing," Zhong Ming said. "The packaging."
He slid a design across the table. It was the box art for *Pocket Monsters: Red* and *Pocket Monsters: Green*.
The art featured the charismatic Charizard on Red, and the serene Venusaur on Green. But in the corner, a small yellow mouse peeked out.
"We need to print the slogan on the box," Zhong Ming said. "In big letters."
**GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!**
Li Cheng read it aloud. "Gotta Catch 'Em All... Simple. Greedy. Infectious."
"It turns the game into a challenge," Zhong Ming said. "A command."
"I'll send it to the printers," Li Cheng agreed. "But Zhong Ming, remember. Chen Xu is launching the same week as us. He has the budget to crush us if we slip up. The 10,000 unit run... if it doesn't move, we're done."
Zhong Ming stood up. "It will move. Because Chen Xu is selling a game. We are selling a legacy."
***
As Zhong Ming left the office, he checked his system.
**[Marketing Strategy: Viral Word-of-Mouth. Estimated Effectiveness: High.]**
**[System Points: 35]**
He was close to another lottery draw. But he didn't need it right now. He had the knowledge.
He walked back to Division B. The sounds of Wang Hao typing and Old Zhang humming filled the air. They were a small team, working in the shadows of a corporate giant.
But soon, the shadows would be lit up by the glow of a yellow mouse's electric cheeks.
"Only two weeks left," Zhong Ming whispered. "Let's finish the Pokedex."