It was obvious that Cynthia wasn't the only one stunned by this game's price.
The viewers in the livestream chat also completely lost it and flooded the screen:
[288?? For a tiny pixel game? It's only a few hundred megabytes—how big can it even be? And he dares charge 288??]
[The developer is such a nice guy—he could've just robbed us directly, but he even bothered making a game to go with the robbery.]
[Even "Angry Stone" only dares sell for 99, and the Season Pass for "Road to Battle" is only 150. What gives him the right to charge 288??]
[He's obviously using that 100k prize as bait to scam money, then run. Pixel game + cliché description… we've all seen scams like this before.]
Of course, none of them knew Cynthia's real thoughts regarding the Rayquaza silhouette and the mysterious creator.
To them, this was simply an overpriced cash-grab, so the complaints came naturally.
After all, what good game sells for 288?
But then—
Cynthia pressed the purchase button without hesitation.
The barrage instantly froze.
A few seconds later, it exploded again with question marks.
[???]
[Calm down, wife!! I can earn that money, but you can't just throw it away like that!!]
[Damn, she didn't even blink before paying 288??]
[Boss… you are out of your mind…]
Facing this chaos, Cynthia quickly explained:
"Don't worry, everyone. The high price is exactly why I'm curious."
"If the content is bad, as an official game tester, I can request a full refund."
"Besides, since it's a Pokémon battle–related game, if I manage to clear it, there's a 100k reward apparently."
Her explanation calmed the chat a bit.
[Makes sense. If the dev dares put that on the official League website, and someone clears the game, he has to pay the 100k or he goes to jail.]
[LOL, he probably designed the game to be impossible, so nobody clears it.
But little did he know—the first person to play his game is the Sinnoh Champion herself!!]
[Right, and Cynthia is a League-certified professional game tester. If she's unhappy, she can refund instantly.]
[Hahaha, this dev just sold one copy and immediately owes 100k.]
[No, 99,712. Be accurate.]
Seeing the chat relax again, Cynthia quietly let out a breath.
The truth about the cover image and her real motive couldn't be revealed.
Information about top-tier legendary Pokémon—true Legends—was classified.
Ordinary citizens knowing about them would only cause panic.
So she needed a normal excuse for why she purchased the game.
Besides…
When she saw the price, a strange intuition surfaced in her mind:
Maybe… this game is actually worth the money.
After all—
Anyone capable of recreating Rayquaza's image so precisely could not be a normal person.
Would such a person really need to create a trash game to scam coins?
And honestly, 288 meant nothing to her.
So the only way to know…
was to play it.
Her real goal was to be the first to clear the game and receive the developer's contact.
Taking a deep breath, Cynthia clicked the download button.
Pixel games were small, so just a few seconds later, a green gem icon appeared.
She clicked it, and the screen faded to black.
A drop of water fell from a jade-green leaf, splashing into a pond with electronic music swelling behind it.
The camera panned upward—
A young man in a green bandana rides a bike across an open field.
Various Pokémon run beside him:
A Manectric sprinting with sparks flying,
A Flygon gliding in the wind,
Illumise fluttering…
And a little Torchic running after them with its tiny arms stretched out—
tripping, rolling, scrambling back up, then desperately running to not be left behind.
The screen burst with light, and the emerald-green logo appeared:
[Pokémon: Emerald]
Even Cynthia was stunned.
In the last six months as an official League game tester, she had played all kinds of titles—including many pixel games.
Pixel games were usually rough, simplistic, and low-budget.
Their charm was gameplay, not visuals.
But this?
This intro alone shattered everything she knew about pixel games.
The pixel art was crisp, beautiful, immersive—almost 3D in its depth.
At that moment, Cynthia immediately made a judgment:
—This was absolutely NOT some cheap cash-grab.
Meanwhile, the livestream chat also realized something was off:
[Wait… THIS is a pixel game???]
[Why does the animation look so good??]
[This music SLAPS. I'm already addicted.]
[This is way better than any pixel game I've seen.]
[Uh-oh… maybe it is worth 288…?]
Cynthia shook her head lightly.
A single opening animation alone wasn't worth 288.
The real test would be gameplay.
Still… a quiet anticipation had begun forming in her chest.
She pressed X as instructed.
[Please enter your name.]
Cynthia hesitated, then typed:
[StrawberryIceCream]
Out of all desserts, ice cream was her favorite.
And strawberry was her preferred flavor.
A new message popped up:
[Welcome to the world of Pokémon, StrawberryIceCream.]
[A journey filled with courage and friendship awaits you.]
[Do not forget your heart—use bonds and passion to become the strongest Pokémon Trainer!]
The chat reacted:
[She really does love ice cream… I'm crying.]
[If I say she's already the world's strongest trainer, how will the game respond??]
But Cynthia froze for a moment.
Courage… friendship…
Bonds and passion…
Complicated emotions flickered in her eyes.
After a while, she took a deep breath and pressed Start.
Her character— a little girl with a green hat —appeared in the back of a moving van.
After meeting "Mom" and adjusting the home clock, she went next door and met the neighbor boy.
He asked her to name him.
Without thinking, Cynthia typed:
[Black-Haired Boy]
The chat burst into laughter.
[Cynthia is like this—without ice cream, she can't name anything.]
[Seeing a Champion struggle with names like I do… reassuring.]
Meanwhile, discussion about gameplay began:
[So next she picks her starter, right?]
[But how do you animate Pokémon battles in a pixel game?]
[Maybe they skip battle animations entirely? Just let us walk around and enjoy the scenery?]
[No way. Didn't the description warn about high difficulty and heart attacks???]
As Cynthia reached the northern exit of Littleroot Town, a cry for help echoed.
A Poochyena was chasing a scientist in a lab coat.
Cynthia blinked.
…He looked familiar.
Wasn't that Professor Birch of the Hoenn region?
"StrawberryIceCream!! Thank goodness you're here! There are Poké Balls in that bag—help me!"
The chat lost its mind.
[OMG Professor Birch—is that you?? How did you become so helpless?? A Poochyena is bullying you??]
[A top Hoenn researcher begging the Sinnoh Champion to save him from a tiny Poochyena…
What am I witnessing?
[Hahaha "StrawberryIceCream please help me" I'M DYING]
Then the starter selection screen appeared.
Three Poké Balls:
Torchic — the fiery chick
Treecko — cool grass-type lizard with a twig in its mouth
Mudkip — adorable, sturdy water-type
Cynthia considered her options seriously.
This was a high-difficulty game.
The starter would matter.
The chat suggested wildly:
[Pick Torchic! It's cute!]
[Mudkip rules. Swampert is a beast.]
[Four-times grass weakness. Sit down. Have a Grassy Glide.]
[Treecko is balanced, and Sceptile is strong.]
Cynthia combined her own thoughts with the chat and finally chose Treecko.
She had always been interested in Treecko anyway.
Grass-types also had early-game sustain tools like Absorb and Leech Seed.
A ripple effect swept the screen—
and the game shifted into battle mode.
Exciting battle music erupted—drums and electronic strings pumping like adrenaline.
Seeing the battle interface, Cynthia immediately understood.
Turn-based.
The enemy and player take turns.
Speed determines who acts first.
For a pixel game, this made perfect sense.
She commanded Treecko to use Pound and spoke to the viewers:
"It's creative so far."
"But I've never played a Pokémon game using turn-based combat like this…
I wonder how deep the system is."
The chat responded:
[Turn-based seems okay.]
[But if it's just turn-taking, isn't that boring? No room for skill. Just stats and type advantage.]
[Yeah… that could be a flaw.]
[Visuals great, music great, concept great…
But if the battle system is shallow, it's worse than Road to Battle.
Out of 5 stars? I give 4. Analysis complete.]