Chapter 94. You Want to Steal My Son's Things?
As the only new face at the entire meeting besides Seele and the others, everyone in the audience cast looks at him—some doubtful, some curious.
Those who'd arrived early knew Xander likely had a connection to Cocolia, and they immediately sat up straight and widened their eyes; when it comes to imposing presence, Cocolia might be even more intimidating than Welt.
Xander didn't go straight to the point.
He first introduced himself and Fantasyland Company.
When they learned he was the designer of To the Moon and Hollow Knight, many people's gazes instantly grew more serious.
Within a year, both To the Moon and Hollow Knight had stirred up heated discussion.
The touching stories and ingenious game design made the proud designers in the hall stop underestimating the young man on stage.
Seeing the encouraging smile in Cocolia's eyes below the stage, Xander returned the smile.
He stepped back, turned sideways, raised his hand toward the screen behind him, and began fluently laying out everything about Pokémon.
First, of course, came the concept of Pokémon.
When they heard Xander describe the fundamentals of catching, raising, battling, and breeding Pokémon, all the designers unconsciously focused.
This was a very novel form of game.
Pet-raising battles.
The concept had appeared long ago, but it was basically used in RPGs as the protagonist's helpers growing alongside them.
This was the first time the concept was being pulled out to stand alone as a game, and in a short time it grabbed most people's interest.
After introducing the core gameplay, Xander also displayed some completed Pokémon character art, and began introducing—one by one—the various types and type matchups among Pokémon, move learning, special effects, battle formats, and a system that—based on rarity and growth values—divided them into ordinary Pokémon, pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, and Legendary Pokémon, each with different levels of AI control.
The itemized data and airtight logic made everyone unconsciously hold their breath, intent on not missing a single word.
By now, they were certain this would be a very fine game.
Especially that battle format—it was practically tailor-made for the real-time interaction features of AR glasses.
Moreover, setting aside gameplay, having such adorable creatures circling you every day would be wonderful in itself.
The hype for this game was guaranteed not to be low.
Cocolia's eyes shone with delight.
Her heart beat fast.
Watching Xander grow more confident by the sentence on stage, she felt like a parent at a class meeting whose child was being praised by everyone.
After finishing the most basic logic, Xander took a sip of water to moisten his throat, and looked at the pairs of burning eyes below—especially Seele, Kaguya, and Bronya's openly adoring gazes—and he relaxed with a light laugh.
Then he opened a new slide.
This was just the beginning.
He hadn't gotten to the real bombshell yet.
"Regarding how to obtain Pokémon, aside from letting players choose a starter Pokémon, all other Pokémon can only be caught by players themselves, or bred using male and female Pokémon."
"We can cooperate with cultural and tourism bureaus around the world, and—based on differing climates and ecosystems—distribute different Pokémon."
"For example, in volcanic regions, the areas where people can move around would primarily spawn Fire-type and Rock-type Pokémon; in forest regions, mostly Grass-type and Water-type Pokémon."
"We could even work with famous landmarks to design exclusive Pokémon..."
The people in the conference room started breathing heavier.
Although this would consume vast manpower and resources from Anti-Entropy, if it could truly be done...
Was this really just a young man who had made two small games?
His ideas were bold indeed.
"Of course, to enhance its competitive nature, we can set up a number of Gyms in each region based on population and area."
"Gyms would be staffed by official personnel for now."
"After clearing a Gym, players will obtain a Gym Badge."
"Collect eight Badges and you can enter the annual Regional Championship."
"The top five of the first Regional Championship would be designated as the Champion and the Elite Four, and the Champion and the Elite Four would then be invited to the World Coronation Series, ultimately deciding the strongest Masters Eight..."
He'd even considered competitive tournaments?!!!
If this plan came true, they didn't dare imagine how hot the World Coronation Series would be by then.
It might even form a carnival to rival—or surpass—the World Cup.
After adding a few specific details, Xander exhaled and ended his presentation with a smile.
Right then, Welt was the first to stand, looking at him excitedly and applauding.
Soon, everyone stood together, and thunderous applause filled the entire hall.
When the clapping finally ebbed, Welt took the mic and said with a smile, "I think there shouldn't be any doubts about our choice."
That line earned unanimous agreement from everyone present.
Even the designers queued after Xander, who hadn't yet spoken, could only shake their heads helplessly.
If this were on PC, people might only consider it a fairly good game.
But the issue was that it was paired with a new generation of AR glasses.
With real-time interaction on its side, this game became an overtuned existence.
Some sharp-eyed veteran designers even saw a hint of Homu in these cute creatures called Pokémon.
From their quick checks on the company's internal network just now, they found that Fantasyland Company's headcount was still small.
Although they'd recently hired, the core team still had only three people.
With so few, it would be impossible to complete such a massive workload in a year.
Since their own pitches hadn't been selected, and they had bumped into such an opportunity, perhaps there might be a chance...
Once Xander stepped off the stage, the meeting was basically over.
Those designers ran even faster than the excited Seele, swarming to surround Xander directly.
"Hello, hello, I'm the lead designer of Homu's Adventure.
Here's my card..."
"A truly genius idea—may I get to know you..."
"I heard your team is short-handed, Mr. Masato —on our side, we could..."
These designers, who usually looked so dignified, were at this moment like aunties crowding a supermarket for discounted eggs.
They jostled and squeezed forward, all trying to make sure their card was the first in Xander's hand, leaving Seele—who'd wanted to rush over and hug her brother to celebrate—stuck on the outside, bewildered.
Being suddenly encircled left Xander a bit dazed for a moment, but, seeing how excited they were, he quickly understood.
With a polite smile, he reached out to accept their cards.
"Thank you for your kindness, seniors.
But this plan is still a bit rough.
How about we wait until later..."
At that, a middle-aged designer grew anxious.
He hadn't made a good work in years.
This was his only hope of promotion and of making a name for himself.
If he didn't lock it in now, something this good would definitely be gone by the time it came back around.
On top of that, he'd arrived late and didn't know about Xander's connection to Cocolia, and—perhaps because Xander looked young—he subconsciously put on the airs of an elder.
"Don't wait.
Mr. Masato, listen to me.
I'll lend you my entire team.
By that time..."
"Silence!!"
A chilling voice suddenly rang out, like a bucket of cold water dousing their heads in an instant.
Tap—tap—tap.
High-topped boots clicked on the floor as Cocolia strode over.
The smiling light in her eyes turned ice-cold at that instant.
Her piercing gaze made everyone avert their eyes and lower their heads, and the crowded group automatically opened a path for her.
The slight discomfort Xander had felt vanished at once.
He watched Cocolia take her place at his side, wrap an arm around his shoulder, sweep the crowd with overwhelming presence, and only when no one dared speak did she finally say, slow and cold: "You want to steal my son's things?"
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