Paldea Region — Levincia Gym
Inside the Gym, the indicator light on the professional camera switched from red to green.
The livestream signal connected.
Viewers who had already been waiting flooded into the stream like a tidal wave. Multicolored comments instantly covered the entire screen.
"Catch your eyes in my Electroweb! Good morning, noon, evening—hello, Ciao! Who's that speaking? It's Iono!"
A burst of energetic girl-power exploded into the broadcast as upbeat background music kicked in.
In the center of the screen appeared a lively girl with pink-and-blue two-tone hair and a loose wide-collared hoodie.
She was the Levincia Gym Leader and viral superstar streamer—
Iono.
"It's time for the Iono Zone~! Today's livestream content is…"
Iono deliberately dragged out the final syllable. Her crystal-pink eyes sparkled mischievously under the lights, her shark-toothed grin dazzling.
"Hehe~ Everyone must be suuuuper curious, right? Right? Riiight?"
She spun lightly in place. Her oversized sleeves traced elegant arcs, while the two Magnemite hair ornaments floating above her head spun happily along with her.
"Today is the big release day for Pokémon! Did everyone manage to buy it? Teehee~ Let me tell you a secret—your girl Iono already got to play it early!"
The chat exploded.
"IONO MOMMY! Hehehe~"
"I got it! I lined up at 3 a.m.! The queue wrapped around the Earth three times!"
"Iono-chan I'm sorry! It sold out right when it was my turn! Waaaah!"
"Pokémon! GOAT game!"
"How far did you get, Iono? Spoilers please!"
Iono's lively eyes scanned the scrolling chat before she responded enthusiastically.
"Looks like everyone's super hyped! That's right! Today's stream will be—entering the world of Pokémon and starting our adventure together!"
She playfully covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve, revealing only her crescent-shaped smiling eyes.
"And! I've invited a special guest! They'll explore the Pokémon world with me! Guess who it is!"
"It has to be me!"
"A special guest? Could it be… Champion Geeta?!"
"Pick me! Playing Pokémon with Iono is my life dream! Onegaaaai—"
"I bet 50 cents it's the missing-person streamer Teacher Salted Fish!"
Click.
As if responding to the guess, the crisp sound of a communication connection rang out.
Then a lazy voice, thick with sleepiness, drifted into the livestream.
"Hello? Iono…? The room's ready. I sent you the key in a private message. Log in and enter the code—you'll be able to join my world."
"HOLY—IT'S REALLY TEACHER SALTED FISH!"
"Iono actually dug up the missing streamer!"
"Salted Fish! You have time to play games with Iono but not time to stream?! Unfollowed!"
"Do you know a player named Red uploaded a video about the hidden event in Professor Oak's Lab in Pallet Town? Meanwhile you—!"
"Iono! Work him like a slave!!!"
The chat exploded even harder.
Iono hurriedly covered her mouth with her sleeve, shoulders shaking as she suppressed laughter. After a moment she announced brightly:
"That's right! That's right! This is the creator of Pokémon—Salted Fish!"
"Huh? The stream already started?"
On the other end of the call, Rei Akagi sounded slightly confused before quickly reacting.
"Iono, please greet everyone in the stream for me."
"Salted Fish, don't call me 'Teacher'~ Just call me Iono!"
She waved her hand awkwardly, though her eyes nervously flicked toward the camera.
Then she suddenly imitated Rei Akagi's tone and said sweetly:
"Everyone~ Salted Fish says hello to you all!"
"?"
"So we're just part of your roleplay now? Salted Fish you monster!"
"Iono! Kick him out and let me play instead! I promise I'll treat you 20,000 times better!"
"Why does Teacher Salted Fish get to do this?!"
"Iono-chan… is that okay for me to call you?"
Rei Akagi's voice sounded slightly tentative.
"Of course it's okay! I'm ready! Let's start!"
Iono's eyes sparkled like stars.
Somehow she pulled out a pink Pokédex, and the game screen immediately projected into the livestream.
She entered the key.
Multiplayer connected.
How could they tell it worked?
Because two completely different characters appeared on the game screen.
One looked exactly like Iono herself—an energetic, adorable mini-Iono avatar.
The other wore a bulky Gengar mascot costume, with an extremely minimalist face made of two dots and a line.
Above the character floated the ID:
Bai.
"WAIT—there's a costume system too?!"
"Clearly someone who didn't get the game. There's not only outfits—there's full character customization! Salted Fish hid tons of stuff during earlier streams!"
"They say it's the legendary adventure of Red, but actually you can fully immerse yourself and create your own legendary story in the Pokémon world!"
"What kind of aesthetics does Salted Fish have? The Gengar suit is one thing—but that minimalist face???"
"You don't understand. That's called postmodern deconstructivism. I think Salted Fish's character has real artistic flavor."
The chat continued arguing.
Meanwhile, Iono and Rei Akagi officially began their adventure.
Iono had already gotten the Collector's Edition early, so her character looked as detailed as a custom figurine.
Rei Akagi used his save file from a previous stream. He had quietly changed the name and switched into his favorite outfit.
Their current progress:
They had just defeated the Pewter City Gym.
"Salted Fish! Salted Fish!"
Iono's voice was full of excitement as she controlled Mini-Iono to spin around Bai, who was standing there motionless.
"Where are we going next? I just got the Boulder Badge too!"
"According to the normal route, we should head to Cerulean City."
Rei Akagi moved Rei forward, walking directly toward the Pewter City Science Museum.
"But…"
He paused slightly.
"The game's already released, so there's no point hiding things anymore."
His voice carried a mysterious tone.
"I'll take everyone to see a certain person… and the hidden events related to Mt. Moon."
"Hidden events!"
Iono's voice shot up instantly.
She excitedly pumped her fist toward the camera.
"Attention everyone! High-energy content ahead!"
After shouting that, she realized Rei had already walked far ahead.
She hurriedly mashed the controls to chase after him.
Soon they reached the grand entrance of the museum.
Just as Iono was about to open the payment screen to buy a ticket, Rei Akagi stopped her.
"Follow me. I've got a shortcut."
"It's free."
"Free?!"
Iono's eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect O.
Then everyone watched as Rei walked around to a remote corner behind the museum wall.
He moved aside a few old wooden crates.
A tiny hole in the wall appeared—barely large enough for a small Pokémon to crawl through.
And under the stunned gazes of Iono and the hundreds of thousands of viewers, Rei dropped to the ground—
And started crawling inside.
The chat exploded again.
"WAIT—'free' means crawling through a hole?!"
"Come on! Tickets are only 50 PokéDollars!"
"Iono don't do it! Protect your image!"
"'How a game developer corrupts a top streamer'"
"Salted Fish: The essence of this game is not following the normal path!"
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