Silver Wolf caught the deadpan stares radiating from her holographic screen. Instead of flinching, she blew a neat, pink bubble with her gum, her expression a perfect blend of digital arrogance and childish triumph.
"Did you both code yourselves into a corner?" she asked, leaning back. "Have you forgotten that there's a massive piece of infrastructure already running in the cosmos designed specifically to turn collective fantasy into a tangible reality?"
Julian and Stephen traded a glance, their minds racing through directories of advanced physics, simulated realities, and localized terraforming algorithms. They came up entirely blank. When had a machine capable of rewriting the laws of the physical world on a mass scale been deployed without the Genius Society knowing?
Yet, looking at Silver Wolf's smug grin, it wasn't a bluff.
"Stop keeping us in suspense," Julian sighed, rubbing his temples. "Just tell us what you're tracking."
Silver Wolf leaned forward, her eyes narrowing with a mischievous glint. She was clearly enjoying making Stephen squirm. "I'll give you a single keyword: Penacony."
"Penacony? Dreams?" Stephen snapped, his suited avatar throwing its hands up in frustration. "What do dreams have to do with the economic logic of a real-world server cluster? I was sitting here trying to stabilize my Mind Palace, and you drop a psychological dimension on me? That's absurd!"
He was practically vibrating with irritation. If Silver Wolf had been standing in the room physically, Stephen would have grabbed her by her jacket and demanded a retraction.
"Oh? Then let me ask you this, Mr. Genius," Silver Wolf countered, her voice dripping with mock condescension. "Was the Synesthesia Dreamscape architecture developed using magical fairy dust, or was it built using real-world quantum computing and memetic engineering?"
Stephen choked on his response. His jaw worked silently for a moment before he shook his head violently. "Don't change the subject! The phenomenon of dreaming and the structural mechanics of a constructed dreamscape are two entirely different categories! Don't try to blur the line to save face!"
"My first sentence used the word technology, didn't it?" Silver Wolf smirked, pointing a finger at him. "You walked right into the trap. No room for a rebuttal."
Julian couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Silver Wolf had completely baited a member of the Genius Society using basic conversational misdirection. "Alright, alright, let's call a truce. Stop teasing Stephen and lay out the actual execution."
"It's basic crowd-sourcing," Silver Wolf explained, her tone turning professional. "Instead of launching a closed-beta server within a physical grid—which exposes our code to the IPC's Traditional Department and risks a massive public relations backlash if the economy breaks—we build a prototype. We construct a massive, persistent Pokémon World within the Dreamscape of Penacony. And then, we open the gates."
Julian's eyes lit up, and beside him, Stephen's avatar froze as the logic snapped into place.
"It's... brilliant," Stephen muttered, his irritation vanishing.
On the surface, a dream server sounded like a standard test environment. But the psychological and political differences were massive. When developers test a live video game, the audience expects a polished, final product. Any glitch, balance flaw, or inflationary spike immediately damages the brand's reputation, giving the vultures in the Traditional Department fuel to declare the project a failure. The average player didn't look at data logs; they looked at their own frustration.
But a dreamscape? That fell under Penacony's jurisdiction as the "Planet of Festivities."
Fans wouldn't view a Dreamscape world as a buggy beta test; they would see it as a massive, interactive amusement park—a peripheral wonderland created by Arceus Studio. If an economy broke or a feature felt tedious, it wouldn't be a "broken game mechanism." It would just be a part of the dream that needed refinement.
Furthermore, it solved the scale problem. Julian could use the slogan: "Help us build the Pokémon world from the ground up." He could actively invite millions of dreamers to test the boundaries of the ecosystem, rewarding them with exclusive cosmetics or real-world merchandise if they identified bugs or economic loopholes. The sheer processing speed of millions of casual dreamers analyzing the balance curve would do more in a weekend than the three of them could calculate in a century.
"Maybe I should go outside more," Stephen murmured softly.
He knew the technical specifications of dream-construction like the back of his hand, but as a member of the Genius Society, he had always dismissed the Dreamscape as a trivial playground for ordinary minds. Why bother building a world out of memories when you could just write a better algorithm? Yet, in this specific scenario, he had to admit that the "useless" playground offered a perfect tactical shield.
Then he shuddered, his avatar shrinking slightly. No. Dealing with real people in a crowded plaza sounds terrifying. I'll just wait until Herta or Ruan Mei plan a research trip so I have a buffer.
"I see the vision," Julian said, his fingers already flying across his terminal. "I'll reach out to Penacony immediately to check their current grid availability."
"Keep grinding, Julian," Silver Wolf said, her projection starting to pixelate as she prepared to disconnect. "I'll let you off the hook for tonight, but tomorrow, you owe me two full rounds of Soul Link battles. Don't be late."
"And put me down for a session too!" Stephen added quickly. "I want a turn with the Wisdom Projection."
Julian looked at the cartoon avatar with amusement. "I don't mind, Stephen, but who are you going to battle? Herta? I don't think she's going to log in just to trade Hyper Beams with you."
Stephen paused, realizing he literally didn't have anyone else to play with. He frowned, his stubbornness flaring. "Never mind that! Just record my slots. Whatever number of sessions Silver Wolf gets, I want the exact same amount. I'll figure out the opponent later."
"Understood. I'll keep the ledger," Julian smiled. If this project helped the kid chip away at his extreme social anxiety, it was worth the extra server tracking.
The Call to the Star of Festivities
Once the channel cleared, Julian dialed a private frequency. He didn't call the official diplomatic lines of the Penacony Family; he went straight to Robin.
The Oak Family, led by her brother Sunday, currently held the keys to the Dreamscape's grandest sectors. Sunday was a man of cold, meticulous order—Julian wasn't entirely sure if a direct corporate pitch would appeal to his rigid worldview. But Robin was different. She had a genuine affection for the charm of Pokémon, and her star-power was the ultimate wedge. If she supported the idea of an interactive Pokémon haven, the Oak Family would find a way to make the logistics happen. It was a win-win: Penacony would see an unprecedented influx of tourism, and Arceus would get its stress test.
The line connected with a bright chime.
"Mr. Julian!" Robin's voice came through, clear and melodic. She sounded remarkably lively, a stark contrast to her usual guarded public persona. "Congratulations on the explosive launch of Gold and Silver! The forums are completely flooded with Johto news. Tell me, what brings the Champion's producer to my line? Is there a new event in the works?"
Julian cleared his throat, focused on the task. "Thank you, Miss Robin. I'm calling because I have a structural proposal for a large-scale collaboration with Penacony. Since you're the person I trust most in the sector, I wanted to run the core concept by you before I submit an official brief to the Family."
Robin listened quietly as Julian outlined the basic premise. On the surface, her response remained perfectly professional, but through the high-fidelity link, Julian could sense the underlying shift in her emotions—the vibrant, erratic flutter of a traveler who had just spotted an entirely new horizon.
"Mr. Julian," she whispered, her voice tinged with absolute wonder. "Are you telling me... you want to build a living, breathing Pokémon world inside our dreams?"
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