Chapter 48
Yes, that's exactly right!
The next day, early morning.
The piercing ringtone of the phone relentlessly dragged Bai Zhou out of his sleep.
He sat up with dark circles under his eyes and rubbed them irritably.
Last night, I was dragged by Cynthia to play Pokémon with her, and we played until late at night until the champion finally gave up because she couldn't resist the sleepiness.
At first, he refused outright—until Zhu Lan casually mentioned, "I could help promote it."
Sigh... What's wrong with friends helping each other out and playing games?
It's only natural!
Absolutely, absolutely not because I'm after the GG effect brought by her championship aura.
Bai Zhou is not the kind of vulgar person who would abandon morality for personal gain!
Bai Zhou ruffled his hair, which looked like a bird's nest from sleeping, and groped for his phone on the bedside table.
Upon seeing this, people were stunned.
The screen was filled with video notifications.
What happened? Was I cyberbullied?
He clicked on the notification, which redirected him to the video he had uploaded the previous night.
The video title prominently displays two large red characters: "Popular".
300,000 likes!
100,000 coins!
150,000 favorites!
And... 800,000 views!
"Um?"
Bai Zhou instantly regained most of his senses.
"It's only been half a day, right? I didn't buy any promotions..."
He clicked on his own video with some disbelief.
The barrage of comments flooded in.
"Where Dreams Begin" ×10086
"If you play Pokémon, then we're best friends!!!"
"Grandpa, the YouTuber you follow has finally come back to life!"
"Second Chi!"
Open the video's comment section; everyone there is incredibly talented.
"Does anyone in my family know the answer? That handsome researcher always gives me gifts whenever he sees me. Does he have a crush on me?"
"Dreamlike! Oh, dreamlike! Salty Fish Teacher, please stop hiding it! Tell me how to form a bond with it!"
"Nine hours! A full nine hours without an update! Unfollow! ...Wait, I don't think I've followed yet? Okay, I'll follow first and then unfollow!"
Bai Zhou's gaze was firmly drawn to a highly-rated comment.
"Teacher Salty Fish is still hiding! Someone has uncovered a deeper storyline involving the handsome researcher! It's all about fantasy! Check it out now → @PocketFansSpeakerShuaiXia"
Pocket Fan... Speaker Screamer?
Bai Zhou (click to jump)
She is a new content creator on YouTube, with only one video on her profile page.
The video is:
"Secrets you absolutely need to know about the handsome researcher..."
!
A chill ran down Bai Zhou's spine.
The game has only been out for one day!
Will my disguise be exposed?
He clicked to play the video, and a gentle male voice came out.
"Hello everyone, this is Squeak, the speaker expert from Pocket Fan. I believe many of you are already immersed in the world of Pokémon, right? Last night, Teacher Xianyu released a strategy video about hidden storylines, full of useful information! But—"
The uploader's voice suddenly rose, tinged with excitement.
"I'm telling you, he's still hiding! He's awful!"
The screen then cuts to a live game session.
The content creator creates a character and officially enters the game world.
"Do you all remember the information that Teacher Salty got from the Team Rocket grunts during the preview livestream? Team Rocket's dream capture operation was disrupted by a mysterious person, which is why it was moved to Mt. Tsukimi."
He controlled his character to leave his house and arrive in Pallet Town.
"At this point, some people might say, 'Hey, uploader, what does this have to do with the title? What does it have to do with the handsome researcher and the dream?' Don't worry—"
The content creator deliberately kept them in suspense.
Following the normal procedure, the next step is to go to Professor Oak to receive the starter Pokémon.
But instead, he maneuvered his character onto an inconspicuous side road, bypassing the inevitable Highway 1, and plunged into the wild area on the outskirts of Pallet Town.
"At the start, we'll bypass Highway 1 via this hidden path and head straight into the wilderness. Caution! Do NOT take the main road, or Professor Oak will arrest you on the spot and send you back to your starter Pokémon territory!"
After successfully infiltrating the wilderness and reaching a specific location, the uploader had the character lie down in the dense grass nearby, and the screen immediately went silent.
"Once we arrive, the real show is about to begin!"
As we waited, a blurry, dreamlike pink light suddenly streaked through the forest like a shooting star!
Immediately afterwards, hurried footsteps could be heard off-screen.
Through the gaps in the grass, a group of figures dressed in Team Rocket uniforms were chasing the pink light in a disheveled state, but they could not get any closer.
The video's comments section was suddenly flooded with "High energy ahead!"
next moment!
A familiar figure leaped down from the treetops!
In just a few breaths, he single-handedly took down more than sixty Team Rocket members, leaving them sprawled on the ground in disarray!
"That's right!"
The content creator's excited voice rang out.
"The mysterious figure who sabotaged Team Rocket's capture operation is none other than the handsome researcher! And this—is also the starting point of his encounter with the legendary Dream!"
The barrage of comments exploded.
"WC! Eastern Kung Fu! Humanoid Pokémon!"
"Pokémon battles? Mortal Kombat!"
"Case solved! No wonder he dared to venture into the wilderness alone! He was a Pokémon!"
……
After the video finished playing, Bai Zhou slowly exhaled, surprised yet appreciative, and followed the uploader.
"I underestimated the netizens' thirst for exploration..."
He shook his head helplessly.
I was planning to use this Easter egg to make another filler video...
After getting up and washing up, Bai Zhou walked to the mirror and called out to himself.
Little A, check your assets.
"Assets: 11240.13 BP (The overall impact is continuing to expand, and the subsequent sustained impact is expected to yield 23112.11 BP)"
Looking at the tempting projected figures, Bai Zhou felt a surge of excitement, and a bold idea couldn't be suppressed.
"Ahem, little Ah, we've known each other for so long. I wouldn't say we're inseparable, but we're definitely partners who've been through thick and thin together, right?"
He cleared his throat, his tone becoming incredibly sincere, and tentatively began to speak:
"Look... give me a special internal price? Just these 20,000+ BP points, and you'll get me Rayquaza? Don't worry! This is a secret between you, me, and everyone else. If we run into an alpaca, I won't tell it!"
"Little A's Assistant reminds you: Simulation in progress... You mean, you want to use the 2 BP points that haven't been fully credited yet and only exist in the prediction to summon Rayquaza, which requires 10 BP points to summon, right?"
"That's right, exactly!"
Bai Zhou nodded without batting an eye, his skin incredibly thick, showing no embarrassment whatsoever.
Since I'm going to be rejected anyway, there's nothing to be afraid of anymore.
"Little A Assistant reminds you: The summoning system is undergoing urgent optimization..."
"Little A Assistant reminds you: Optimization complete. Rayquaza (ID: Sky Purger) is currently in a relaxed state and shows a strong willingness to respond to summons. Do you wish to execute the summoning procedure immediately?"