"You! How is your Pokémon a Typhlosion?!"
At first, she thought it was a Cyndaquil. She never expected him to send out Cyndaquil's final evolution.
How could her Totodile possibly defeat that?
The difference between an evolved Pokémon and an unevolved one was enormous.
Especially when two evolutionary stages separated them.
Even with a type advantage, facing a Typhlosion was still hopeless.
Unless her Totodile had already evolved into Feraligatr, its final form—only then might she have had a chance.
---
"Why can't I have a Typhlosion?" the bespectacled young man sneered.
"What? Scared now?"
"I'm giving you two choices."
"First—surrender and transfer 2,000 yuan to me."
"Second—let your Totodile fight my Typhlosion. Let it enjoy the thrill of battle… and then transfer the money to me afterward."
"You're shameless!" the girl snapped angrily. "You set this up on purpose!"
If he had said from the beginning that he had a Typhlosion, she would never have challenged him.
"Then blame your own greed," the bespectacled young man scoffed.
He took out his phone and waved it casually.
"Stop wasting time. If you're too scared to fight, transfer the money. I hate people who refuse to honor their bets."
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers.
The Typhlosion beside him stepped forward, glaring fiercely at the girl.
The flames around its neck flared even hotter.
Intimidated by the terrifying sight, the girl finally gave in.
She took out her phone and reluctantly transferred 2,000 yuan—almost all the money she had.
---
After receiving the payment, the bespectacled young man shouted to the crowd again.
"Come on, who else wants to battle?"
"This round, twenty of you can challenge me together!"
"You each bet 2,000 yuan, and I'll put up 200,000 yuan."
"If you win, every one of you gets paid."
---
The onlookers looked at each other.
Some were tempted.
After a short discussion, twenty players stepped forward.
Soon, twenty Totodile stood facing the bespectacled young man.
---
"Brothers, all of us use Water Gun!" one of them shouted.
"I refuse to believe his Typhlosion can withstand attacks from twenty Totodile!"
"Exactly! Let's teach him what happens when he's arrogant!" the others echoed.
---
The bespectacled young man watched them with a mocking smile.
Then he reached behind his back and pulled out two more Poké Balls.
Two flashes of red light appeared.
When the light faded, two more Pokémon stood beside Typhlosion.
A Bayleef—the evolved form of Chikorita.
And a Croconaw—the evolved form of Totodile.
The crowd gasped.
Besides Typhlosion, he also had two other evolved starter Pokémon.
---
"This isn't fair!" someone shouted angrily.
One Typhlosion alone was already overwhelming.
Now he had three powerful Pokémon, two of which were evolved starters.
How were they supposed to win?
---
Seeing their furious expressions, the bespectacled young man casually spun a Poké Ball in his hand.
"There's nothing unfair about it."
"You still have two choices."
"Surrender and pay 2,000 yuan…"
"Or let my Typhlosion, Bayleef, and Croconaw enjoy themselves first—and then pay afterward."
"You're dreaming!" the leader of the group shouted.
"Brothers, attack together!"
"Even if he has three Pokémon, there are twenty of us. We might still win!"
His words reignited everyone's fighting spirit.
They immediately ordered their Totodile to attack.
---
The bespectacled young man looked completely unimpressed.
"Croconaw — Astonish!"
Croconaw suddenly made a terrifying face and let out a roar.
The attacking Totodile were immediately frightened, freezing in place.
"Bayleef — Poison Powder!"
Green spores scattered from Bayleef's neck, drifting through the air.
The Totodile, still stunned by Croconaw's attack, failed to dodge.
They were quickly poisoned, their bodies weakening as they cried in pain.
"Totodile! Totodile!"
---
"Typhlosion — Flamethrower!"
A blazing torrent of fire erupted from Typhlosion's mouth.
Already weakened by poison and fear, the Totodile collapsed one after another.
Within less than a minute, all twenty Totodile had fallen.
---
Their trainers hurried forward to pick up their injured Pokémon and rushed to leave.
"Hey, hey, hey."
"Transfer the money before you go."
A burst of flame shot from Typhlosion's mouth, blocking their path.
"You—!"
The defeated players glared angrily.
"What? A bet is a bet," the bespectacled young man said with a grin.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"This isn't like the handheld games."
"If your Pokémon dies here… it's really dead."
"No one can revive it."
He paused for a moment.
"Well… actually, there is one exception."
"If you're lucky enough to encounter the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh, it supposedly has the power to revive the dead."
---
The defeated trainers had no choice but to surrender.
One by one, they reluctantly transferred 2,000 yuan each.
After collecting the money, the bespectacled young man once again shouted to the remaining crowd.
"This time, all of you can challenge me together!"
"If you win, I'll give each of you 2,000 yuan!"
But this time, no one moved.
After witnessing what had just happened, everyone had become cautious.
Seeing their hesitation, the young man raised the stakes.
"Fine. 4,000 yuan per person."
"If I lose, each of you gets 4,000."
"If you lose, you still only pay 2,000."
---
However, the more he talked, the more suspicious the crowd became.
Finally, another young man with glasses stepped forward.
"You're a Closed Beta player, aren't you?"
"Is it fun bullying new players here in New Bark Town?"
The man leaning against the tree froze slightly, clearly surprised someone had figured it out.
The crowd immediately turned to the newcomer.
"What's a Closed Beta player?"
"Why haven't we heard of that?"
---
"A Closed Beta player," the newcomer explained, "is someone who participated in the game one year ago, when it was still in closed testing."
"Tianshen Technology released 10,000 beta accounts worldwide for early players to experience the game and provide feedback."
Then he looked at the arrogant young man.
"As a Closed Beta player, blocking new players in the starter town… aren't you afraid Tianshen Technology will revoke your account?"
---
"Revoke it?"
The bespectacled young man burst into laughter.
"Kid, have you forgotten something?"
"The game has already crashed, and no one can log out."
"That means no one can stop me here."
"But no matter how bad the crash is, the game will eventually be fixed," the other young man insisted.
The bespectacled player laughed even harder.
"That's the funniest joke I've heard today."
"Let me tell you the truth."
"This game can't be fixed."
"All of us…"
"…are trapped here forever."
---
After saying that, he clapped his hands.
"Come out, Ziqiu. Zi Ling."
"Since someone exposed us, there's no point continuing the act."
Two people stepped out from the crowd.
A young man and a girl.
They each threw a Poké Ball.
Two flashes of red light appeared.
Then two powerful Pokémon emerged.
Charizard.
Venusaur.
The final evolutions of Charmander and Bulbasaur, the starter Pokémon from the Kanto region.
As soon as they appeared, they moved to opposite sides of the crowd.
Blocking every escape route.
---
The bespectacled young man looked at the trapped players with a cold smile.
"Alright. I'll stop wasting time."
"I came here for one reason."
"To rob all of you while you're still weak."
He raised two fingers.
"Don't worry, I'm not greedy."
"2,000 yuan per person."
"Transfer the money, and you can leave immediately."
"But if you refuse…"
He smiled darkly.
"…then release your Pokémon."
"And we'll kill them." ⚡