While the comments section buzzed with debate, with many considering the turn-based system a flaw in the game, Cynthia had a different opinion.
She reflected seriously: the turn-based system, though seemingly lacking in depth, could offer plenty of room for development.
In fact, the "Battle Road" mechanism, in a sense, is also a form of turn-based system, as it's still the program that executes the game's content.
Especially in PvP, the response time is considerable every time a player inputs a command.
However, Battle Road allows for voice commands, making battles more realistic thanks to the excellent individual AI of each Pokémon.
Therefore, she had some expectations for the game's future performance in combat.
Despite this, she didn't believe this game could provide the same level of Pokémon understanding as "Battle Road."
Because all Pokémon battle games face an unavoidable problem: developers must have an exhaustive knowledge of each Pokémon!
From the abilities they can master, their types, skills, base stats, and even the actual characteristics of each Pokémon, everything must be perfectly recreated to give them true value and meaning in battle.
Although "Path of Battle" barely manages to do so, it does have a professional team of hundreds of people providing the database...
Even so, "Path of Battle" frequently suffers from various errors and glitches, such as incorrect abilities for certain Pokémon or problems with their types...
For example, Piplup, a Grass type, and Torkoal, a Flying type...
This isn't due to laziness; in fact, it's quite normal. Given the sheer number of Pokémon, converting them all into game data inevitably leads to problems.
However, the fact that the Emerald game she was playing was developed by a single creator was clearly a bigger issue.
Thinking about this, Cynthia shook her head slightly and continued to focus on the game.
With Treecko's attack, Poochyena's HP was instantly halved.
Poochyena responded with a Tackle attack, and Treecko lost some health.
With Treecko's second attack, Poochyena was completely unable to fight, and the battle ended.
Seeing this, the chat viewers erupted into a heated discussion once again.
[I knew it would be like this; turn-based games are a bit boring.]
[This doesn't seem difficult at all. Two hits and the opponent's Pokémon disappears. Just pick the most powerful move each turn and use it? It can't be as ridiculously difficult as the description makes it out to be!] [However, I didn't expect the battle details to be so well done. The Pokémon have corresponding animations when using abilities, and their appearances are constantly moving; they're not static at all.]
[In fact, the art design is flawless.] I think the gameplay development team should acknowledge the art team.
Unlike Cynthia, they didn't know this game had been developed by a single person; they assumed it was a game developed by a studio or a large company.
After all, judging by the game's current state, some aspects are of very high quality, making it impossible for a single person to have developed it.
Now, with the battle over, Cynthia and Professor Birch returned to the town's research lab.
As a reward for her help, Professor Birch gave Cynthia Treecko as her starter Pokémon.
The rival, the "black-haired boy," chose Torchic as his starter Pokémon. As soon as he got the Poké Ball, he immediately suffered a fit of superhero syndrome, demanding a Pokémon battle against Cynthia. This battle, like the previous one, was quite easy. Torchic's level was even lower than Treecko's, and Cynthia defeated it easily.
After her rival left, Professor Birch instructed her to head north to the end of the path to find him, telling her he had left something behind and given her five Poké Balls.
Cynthia obediently set off with Treecko.
Before leaving, she checked her Pokémon's stats on the player panel, grasping the general difference between this game and others.
With stats and types fully replicated, Pokémon stats are labeled with numbers.
Her Treecko's most prominent stats were "Speed" and "Special Attack," significantly higher than those of other types.
This made Cynthia raise an eyebrow.
Initially, she thought the game wouldn't be very good at recreating real-world Pokémon, but the situation was far from what she expected.
Although she hadn't raised Grovyle before, she knew that Treecko, one of the starter Pokémon, was characterized by its high Speed and Special Attack.
Clearly, the game developers had replicated it.
So, could she infer that the data for all the Pokémon in the game could also be replicated?
Cynthia quickly dismissed this idea; probably not.
Information about Treecko is readily available online; it's public knowledge. Therefore, replicating it doesn't necessarily prove anything.
It's unlikely that other, less common or unknown Pokémon could be recreated without access to a database.
However, the developers have already invested a lot of effort in reaching this level.
After checking the Pokémon information in her inventory, Cynthia followed the game's directions, ascending, passing through a small town, and arriving at an area of tall grass in the far north.
Along the way, she encountered many wild Pokémon in the tall grass and battled them all.
The battles were easy, and Treecko's level rose from 5 to 8 thanks to its improved stats and learning the new move "Quick Attack." (Treecko learns Quick Attack at level 11 according to the wiki.)
However, after speaking with the "black-haired boy," he claimed that his Pokémon were now much stronger and demanded another battle.
At that moment, the chat erupted in laughter.
[This guy is quite charming, isn't he just a walking bag of experience?]
[Barely two minutes later, he's already busy giving away experience again.] [May good people live long and prosper, and may good people have eight children at once.]
Amid the cheers and laughter in the comments, Cynthia entered the battle.
However, two seconds later, she realized the gravity of the situation.
Because the opponent's Pokémon was still that Torchic.
But… its level was a level higher than Treecko's, reaching level nine!
Suddenly, Cynthia had a bad feeling.
Level eight versus level nine… Couldn't it win?
No, it shouldn't be that bad, right? It seems like a beginner's mission; level nine is probably intimidating.
This "black-haired kid," as she called herself, was probably just a beginner's guide, tasked only with teaching her a few basics.
Thinking this, she controlled Treecko and used Quick Attack.
Treecko charged forward, spinning its body at incredible speed, striking with its tail.
Torchic's health bar dropped to less than a third.
The next instant…
Torchic opened its beak and spat out a burst of flame!
—[Torchic used Ember!]
—[It's super effective!]
Treecko's HP bar plummeted like a roller coaster, instantly dropping to less than half, and emitting yellow flashes!
Cynthia had assumed that, at a higher level, Torchic's super-effective move would inflict considerable damage on Treecko.
But she hadn't expected it to take away half of its HP!
At that moment, she suddenly remembered that, while passing through that town, she had entered a blue building and discovered it was an item shop. She had casually bought a healing item to restore a Pokémon's HP.
She quickly opened her bag and used it on Treecko. With a purple mist, Treecko's HP was instantly restored to full.
However, before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, Torchic struck again, unleashing a burst of flames that instantly reduced Treecko's HP to less than half.
At that moment, Cynthia realized that, unlike in other games, using an item that restores HP counted as using a turn.
So, was this situation hopeless?
Whether Treecko used Shredder or its newly learned Quick Attack, it only reduced Torchic's HP by less than a third.
Yet, Torchic only needed to use Ember twice in a row to incapacitate Treecko for the battle.
The medicine she had just used only delayed its defeat; it didn't solve the fundamental problem!
What to do now?
It seemed that, no matter what she did, she was destined to lose.
Faced with this situation, her fighting instincts as a champion quickly calmed her, and she began to think of a way to break the stalemate.
However, a few seconds later, a notification appeared on the screen.
[Because you didn't command your Pokémon in time, your opponent attacked first!]
[Torchic used Ember!]
[It's super effective!]
A crimson blaze erupted, Treecko was hit, the screen shook violently, and its health bar instantly emptied.
Two Ember, right under its skin, instantly defeated Treecko!
[Treecko is unable to battle.]
[You have no more Pokémon!]
[Strawberry Ice Cream's vision went dark...]
As the notification appeared, the game screen instantly went black.
Cynthia froze in front of the computer.
Then the scene changed, and the game character reappeared in the city's Pokémon Center.
However, the "money" in the upper right corner was completely empty.
At that moment, the comments section exploded.
[Wow? Is this really a novice NPC, not an elite enemy?]
[Even with a type advantage, being a higher level... two moves and it's over, isn't that a bit much?]
[The guy said he wanted to train, I thought he was just here to give us experience points, but I didn't expect you to go all out!]
[No wonder the streamer had to choose a Pokémon first, so I was expecting this!] "Picking a super-effective type on purpose? How embarrassing!"
"Quickly call your invincible Garchomp to come and think of a solution, Nana!"
[]] "Dude, I had over a thousand PokéDollars! Why does this Pokémon battle system steal people's money? Has Team Rocket arrived?"
As the comments rained down, Cynthia snapped out of her daze.
Now she seemed to understand why the description mentioned the game's extreme difficulty.
The essence of all the other games she'd played, even the PvE modes of Battle Road, was the same: "fun."
Players could easily overpower the NPCs, especially at the beginning of the game. As she progressed, the NPCs' strength gradually increased, but they could always be defeated.
But the NPCs in this game were clearly aiming for "fair competition" from the very beginning! No, it's even "unfair competition": it's all about restraint and being on a higher level; it's simply unfair to the players!
Furthermore, if a player spends too much time thinking during a turn, it's skipped!
All of this can only be described with one word: "tough."
But Cynthia didn't find this situation objectionable at all. On the contrary, something inside her seemed to ignite, and her interest soared.
As a champion with countless experiences, she clearly understood that only challenges and difficulties can lead to the fastest growth. If everything went smoothly, whether for a trainer or a Pokémon, even if they eventually reached a high level of strength, they wouldn't be able to unleash their true power!
But with her current level of strength, few difficulties could stop her, and this game had given her another such opportunity!
Taking a deep breath, Cynthia quickly composed herself and made a decision.
"Since that NPC is a higher level than me, I'll go to the nearby tall grass and level up my Treecko to see if it learns any new moves."
"The best way to face a powerful opponent you can't defeat is to get stronger first!"
With this in mind, Cynthia controlled her character to leave the Pokémon Center and began battling wild Pokémon in the nearby tall grass.
"Rattata, Poochyena, Pidgey, Wurmple..."
"Treecko battled every Pokémon that could appear in the nearby tall grass."
Ten minutes later, when a Poochyena fell, Treecko finally reached level 12!
A notification appeared:
[Your current Pokémon level has reached the limit: 12. You need to reach the next town to level up.]
At that moment, the viewers in the chat began to argue.
"..." [Is there a level restriction?]
[I think it's reasonable. Otherwise, if you stay in the starting village and level up to 50 or 60, you'll become the village demon king and massacre everyone. That wouldn't be fun.]
[+1]
[It's level 12 now, so beating that level 9 Torchic shouldn't be a problem, right?]
[I think so. The level difference is three levels, so it should last at least four Embers, right?] There's plenty of room for error.]
[Actually, if I can lose, I'll accept it!]
Meanwhile, Cynthia had already gone to the Pokémon Center to have Treecko healed and returned to the tall grass at the end of the path to talk to her rival.
The "black-haired boy" was stunned, but smiled:
[Huh?] [It seems you've improved quite a bit.]
[But I won't be easy to beat either! I definitely won't fall behind!] [Now that our eyes have met, let's battle!]
At that moment, Cynthia stared intently at the screen.
Treecko has already reached level 12 and learned two new moves: "Mega Drain" and "Detect."
This time, it will undoubtedly win!
At that moment, the vibrant battle music started playing again, and a notification appeared:
[Rival: The boy with black hair has come to challenge you!]
She threw the Poké Ball, a flash of white light, and there it was again: Torchic!
Everything seemed exactly the same as before.
But something seemed different.
It was the number in Torchic's level box:
lvl13
Cynthia: ???
Live Stream Viewers: ???
Why are you leveling up too?
Seriously?
(End of chapter)