Chapter 107. Sirin: I Want to Become a Pokémon Master!
[Thanks for the invite.
Reporting from North America.
Twenty million units, sold out in ten seconds.
Couldn't even grab a single one.
Do you know how conflicted I felt when I saw Fugu already had the glasses?]
[Thanks for the invite.
My father's middle management at Anti-Entropy.
He says internal controls are extremely strict—he couldn't get one early himself.
When sales opened, he pulled some strings and snagged two ahead of time.
He just messaged me with the good news and isn't even home yet.
But the Far East hasn't started sales, and Fugu already has one in hand.
Terrifying.]
[Don't tell me Fugu really has some powerful connections?]
[I'm scared, bros...]
Staring at the stream chat's nonstop speculation, Sirin puffed out her basically flat chest with pride.
She was clearly grinning smugly, yet she put on a modest act and waved a hand.
"This is nothing, okay?"
"I just happen to have a friend over at Anti-Entropy who mailed me a few sets along the way."
"It's not as exaggerated as you're saying~"
[Uh-oh, she's in full show-off mode!]
[Alright, alright—so that's how we're playing.
Does your friend need a lackey?
I'm lightning-fast at pouring tea and carrying water!]
Sirin glanced at chat again, feeling even more pleased.
Mei and Kiana had run out early.
Sirin, however, held back until now just to flex for everyone in the stream.
"Ahem, ahem, now let's open it up and take a look inside."
Sirin swung the follow-cam drone to face the half-person-tall box in front of her.
She took out a box cutter and—swish—sliced through the packing tape.
She opened the box.
Inside, it was packed to the brim.
A dozen-plus Pokémon plushies and all sorts of little peripherals stuffed the whole box with zero gaps.
[Wait, it's the full set of special-edition bonuses???
Ridiculous!!]
To get one special-edition bonus, you only get one corresponding Pokémon.
To collect the full set, you'd have to buy a dozen-plus copies to put it together.
Viewers grew more and more convinced Sirin must have serious connections.
After bending over and rummaging for a good while, showing every piece of Pokémon merch one by one, Sirin finally took out a not-so-big little box from the very bottom.
She quickly unboxed it without dilly-dallying.
A pair of glasses with dark-purple frames and gloves patterned with dark-purple motifs appeared on screen.
Sirin hurried to pull on the gloves, then put on the glasses.
"Power on!"
...
Over ten minutes later, with all settings finally adjusted, Sirin—prodded on by the viewers—launched Pokémon.
As the first streamer to showcase Pokémon, she siphoned over half the platform's traffic in barely ten minutes.
Those engineers were probably sweating bullets already.
No helping it.
Right now "Pokémon" equals "hype."
After three months of relentless promotion by Anti-Entropy, everyone was intensely curious.
Forget other games.
Forget borderline streamers.
Everyone was glued to Sirin's stream to see what Pokémon was really like.
Reality didn't disappoint.
A few seconds after Pokémon booted, three red-and-white Poké Balls appeared out of thin air before Sirin's eyes.
The glasses also had streaming software support, letting Sirin export her POV in real time.
Combined with the follow-cam drone behind her, a big and small camera could be switched live for side-by-side views.
"So these are the starter Pokémon?"
She reached toward the Poké Balls, and, sure enough, a text-and-image profile popped up for each of the three inside.
"Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle... which one should I pick?"
Staring at the three adorable cuties on the cards, Sirin was torn.
Chat, naturally, started pointing fingers with their own picks.
Sirin didn't even look.
This was her very first Pokémon.
Of course she'd choose the one she liked!
Bulbasaur looked super cute.
Charmander was great too.
Squirtle looked adorably goofy.
Picking one of the three was really tough.
After hesitating for a long moment, Sirin finally steeled herself and tapped the Poké Ball containing Squirtle.
"Squirtle, I choose you!"
"Squirtle, squirtle~"
The instant she decided, the other two Poké Balls vanished under her reluctant gaze, while Squirtle popped out of its ball, landed on the floor, and chirped at her happily.
Sirin's eyes went wide.
She crouched down at once and, nervously, set her hand on its round little head, stroking it carefully.
The haptic gloves simulated an almost real touch.
Watching her little Squirtle nuzzle back and forth in her palm, Sirin felt her heart melt on the spot.
What an unbelievably cute creature.
So great!!
"Squirtle~"
After a few nuzzles, Squirtle suddenly stood up on two legs.
Arms akimbo, it stretched out a little three-fingered paw at her, looking thrilled.
Sirin froze for a second, then subconsciously reached out her hand as well.
Seeing that, Squirtle took a step forward, clasped her gloved hand, and gave it a gentle shake.
"Squirtle~"
That happy look was like it was saying, "From now on, we're partners."
[It's this smart?]
[Uh-oh, I think I'm falling, completely and utterly.]
[Why does the Far East have to wait another week to start sales?
I'm anxious, anxious, so anxious!]
[Listen to me—you don't be anxious.
Let me be anxious first!]
After a bit more bonding with little Squirtle, Sirin finally remembered the main event.
She stood up fast and said to Squirtle with a serious face, "We should go on an adventure, little Squirtle!!"
"Squirtle~"
Squirtle's expression turned solemn at once.
It nodded to Sirin, then patted its shell with a little hand.
Under everyone's curious gaze, it produced a pair of sunglasses, put them on, crossed its arms, and radiated big-boss vibes.
[No way, this little turtle's pretty funny, huh.]
[Starting with the bit already?
Guess I have no choice but to pick Squirtle now!!]
[Am I the only one wondering how it hid the sunglasses in its shell?]
The whole scene had everyone cracking up.
Even Sirin couldn't help but stifle a laugh.
She bumped fists with her gang-boss-looking Squirtle, then finally opened the door and headed out.
On the way, she plopped a red cap—same as Ash Ketchum's—onto her head.
In that instant, she suddenly recalled a scene from the Pokémon teaser.
A heroic swell rose in her chest.
She looked at the wide world outside and shouted to the sky, "I want to become a Pokémon Master!"
"Squirtle!"
But before Sirin could savor the afterglow of acting cool, she lowered her head and met her parents' eyes in the yard.
Her father covered his mouth, struggling not to laugh.
Her mother was better; she looked at Sirin gently and even raised a hand to applaud.
"Do your best~"
"....Aaaah!!!!"
Her face visibly flushed red.
Unable to hold it in, she covered her face and bolted out the door.
"Squirtle, squirtle!!"
Behind her, Squirtle hurried after.
One girl and one turtle thus set out on their journey.
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