Pokémon, but cultural invasion.

Lines of text begin to appear at the bottom of the pixel animation.

At the age of ten, you met your lifelong companion outside Pallet Town.

The three left one after another. The pixelated figure seemed to be deep in thought, jumped off a rock by the stream, and turned to walk into the mountains.

He was searching for something among the knee-high weeds when, after a rustling sound, he found a green caterpillar crawling in the weeds.

The next second, the caterpillar stood up and confronted the pixelated figure holding up its insect net.

Should we capture Caterpie?

Qishu remarked, "Trying to capture it personally? That's typical of a self-taught trainer."

This appears to be the process of choosing your starter Pokémon.

She preferred Electric-type Pokémon to Bug-type, so she hesitated when making her decision.

I heard that Pikachu are as common as stray dogs in Kanto, so it shouldn't be too hard to spawn one, right?

"How nostalgic! My Butterfly flew away many years ago during the season of love, and went to live a happy life on the other side of the sea."

"It reminds me of the countless sleepless nights when Butterfly used hypnotic powder to treat my insomnia."

"Who wasn't a bug-catching boy when they were young?"

Caterpillars have always been a top must-eat for insect-catching boys in the Kanto region.

However, Qishu also had his own ulterior motives: could he really become a top trainer by using Bug-type Pokémon?

It should be noted that there has never been a champion in the Bug type, and even the only Bug type champion, A-Liu, showed signs of fatigue when facing opponents of the same level.

She still decided to give it a try.

The pixelated figure puts away the insect net, and the green caterpillar warily leaves the pupa.

After searching in the grass again, this time I found a timid little ball of fur, just like the green caterpillar.

The bug-catching boy seemed to only be able to find Bug-type Pokémon, and Qishu tried several times without any unexpected results.

She reluctantly chose a Weedle, thinking on the bright side, what if it could Mega Evolve?

The insect net caught a brown unicorn beetle, and the pixelated figure threw out a small red ball, which shook twice and then stopped moving.

News of your decision to leave Pallet Town spread, and many girls came to see you off, but you remained unmoved.

A group of pixelated beauties watched the boy leave with the unicorn beetle in the sunset, feeling sad and disheartened.

"That's right. Romantic feelings are a minor thing; climbing to the peak of combat is the right path."

"When people reach thirty and can't find a partner, they'll be forced into blind dates by their families and then they'll behave themselves."

"Don't date someone who's obsessed with gaming, otherwise if you try to surprise them, they'll think it's a high-five."

The beginning of a story is always full of novelty.

The pixelated character initially had a smooth journey, traveling through the lush and complex forest with the unicorn beetle.

When the sun shines, they fight with the walking grass by the pond; when it pours rain, they hide in caves to warm themselves by the fire.

The journey has gone astray. Once the pixelated character climbs up a cliff, below lies a sunny, sandy, azure city.

Upon arriving in Cerulean City, you eagerly challenge the Cerulean Gym.

There were no scenes of intense battles, nor any mutual respect between the gym leader and the challenger.

After witnessing a dazzling underwater ballet, the performers presented Qishu with the Cerulean Badge.

[By chance, you gained the approval of the Cerulean Pavilion Master and received the Blue Badge.]

"Are Kanto trainers eating so well? Is the event still going on?"

"Friendly reminder: Cerulean's tradition of giving badges is an old one from many years ago. If you challenge them now, you'll only encounter a ferocious Misty."

"The trainers of the past decade have truly benefited from the era's advantages."

With your confidence greatly boosted, you've decided to head to Dark Grey City to claim your second badge in one fell swoop.

The pixelated figure on the screen rushed headlong toward Dark Grey City.

Strange Tree: ?

"Why not evolve Weedle into Beedrill first, or catch a few more Pokémon?"

She suddenly had a bad feeling.

As a gym leader, adjusting the difficulty based on the number of challenger badges is a basic principle.

Picking up a badge for free offers no benefit; in fact, it increases the difficulty of the challenges to come.

Sure enough, her guess came true.

The scene changes.

The pixelated boy appears on a rocky battlefield, his opponent a tall, squinty-eyed man with bronze skin.

With his arms crossed, Xiao Gang didn't give any instructions, but Onix lashed out with its tail and sent the wriggling weevil flying.

There were no special effects or voice-over, but the unicorn spun around like a top dozens of times before getting dizzy, which was incredibly expressive.

[Challenge failed, and darkness has enveloped you...]

"We should catch Water-type Pokémon in Cerulean City first; the type disadvantage cannot be ignored."

"With Onix's physical durability, it would be difficult to defeat even if it evolved into Beedrill."

"You greenhorn, you should go outside and catch some Grass-type Pokémon."

The pixelated figure sits on a park bench, looking lost and dejected.

Kiju sighed: "It's normal for a rookie trainer to fail in their first gym battle. If you train hard and show the gym leader your progress, you still have a chance to get a badge."

She examined every nook and cranny of the pixel animation, but couldn't find any interactive buttons.

That's not right. If players can't control the characters they create, then the gameplay and freedom are practically nonexistent.

Just then, the pixelated figure on the bench, who had been contemplating life, suddenly looked up blankly.

Three speech bubbles were floating above his head: [Catch a new Pokémon], [Evolve Weedle], [Continue the challenge], and [Head to the next city].

The first bubble has the most solid color, while the last bubble is the lightest.

Qi Shu, who had been paying close attention to the bullet comments, was surprised to find that all four options that appeared on the screen were related to the bullet comments, and the number of them also corresponded.

The vast majority of people believe that Water-type and Grass-type Pokémon should be caught.

Is it a coincidence?

She tried clicking on "Catch a New Pokémon" but received no response.

The pixelated figure looks up, its gaze shifting back and forth between the four bubbles.

It seems that the decision was made not by the strange tree, but by the little flower on the screen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this webpage seems to have something really new."

If game characters make decisions based on opinions given in the comments, then this mini-game would need to be categorized into a new, dedicated category.

If Qishu were to name it, she would call it a "bullet screen interactive game".

Chapter 109 There are bad people among the crowd

Bullet screen interactive games?

After Qishu shared his guesses with the fans in the live stream, the viewers who were just there for fun got excited.

A game where viewers can control their characters remotely, while the streamer can only watch from the sidelines?

This is truly a reversal of the natural order, something never heard of before.

Throughout the more than ten years of live streaming history of the Mega Shark platform, only the slightest possibility of viewers tipping streamers has any impact on the game's progress.

Live streaming is just about watching streamers play games; giving a viewer ID to a character in the game gives you a sense of participation.

The audience never considered participating in the game; they mostly observed from the sidelines.

And now, a game is telling everyone in the live stream that they can influence the protagonist's next move?

Suddenly, the viewers in the live stream were no longer sleepy, and the number of comments on the screen surged.

"Catch five Magikarp and have them perform the Splash Jump for Xiaogang."

"Evolve into a shelled pupa, constantly hardening until it exhausts Onix."

"Steal Brock's Poké Ball so he has no Pokémon to face the challenges."

Netizens kept offering suggestions, using all their cunning to torment Xiaogang.

Qi Shu frowned, wondering what all this was all about.

A new bubble is slowly forming above the pixelated figure's head.

[Working hard and selling off all his possessions, he's going all in to win the Quartz Grand Prix for the next few years.]

"Brothers, if the Cerulean Gym is still giving away badges, Lance probably hasn't won the championship yet. Let's go all in!"

"This game is set several years ago. Going all in was a smart move, a way to get rich overnight, folks."

"Buying up Rockets shares after getting rich quick and then selling them at the peak, I think becoming the richest man in the world would be a piece of cake."

The gamblers in the live stream were already fantasizing when the pixelated character slapped away the fifth bubble that was about to form.

"Xiaohua's dream is to become a top trainer, so naturally she wouldn't listen to this kind of advice."

Qi Shu pondered, "Since he has his own way of thinking, he may not necessarily choose the decision that receives the most popular support."

On a moonlit night in the park, the pixelated figure looked at the unicorn in his arms, as if he had made up his mind.

The time we spent together on this journey taught me that there's no obstacle in the world that you and Unicorn can't overcome together.

You've decided to stay in Dark Grey City for the time being to improve yourself.

On the dark gray city road, pixelated figures and unicorns run hard, sweat pouring from their heads.

Along the highway, there are all sorts of trainers, and he fights alongside Weedle.

The audience can see the joy of the man and his insect when they win, and their disappointment and helplessness when they lose.

Finally, on a rainy night, the unicorn beetle emitted a white glow.

Your unicorn has evolved into an iron-shelled pupa.

Although it has evolved, Flower's strength has actually weakened due to the immobility of the Metapod.

On the screen, he began battling some other trainers who also frequented the park.

The carefully selected opponents mostly consisted of two metal pupa clinging to each other, motionless under the scorching sun.

Fortunately, Bug-type Pokémon evolve quickly. After a few brief moments, the metal pupa in the pixelated figure's arms cracked open.

White light burst forth from the crack in its back, a pair of white cicada wings unfolded, and the yellow and black body of the giant bee broke out of its shell.

After rigorous training, your Metapod has evolved into a Beedrill.

The calls for returning to the Pyrenees Gym to avenge the defeat grew louder and louder in the comments.

As if in response to the audience, the pixelated figure turned around and resolutely walked towards the Dark Grey Gym.

The visuals of this battle have become more detailed.

The incredibly fast Beedrill appeared and disappeared intermittently, repeatedly harassing Onix above it.

The bronze-skinned man standing opposite him crossed his arms and nodded with satisfaction.

"Brock: Despite the disadvantages in attributes and poor offensive compatibility, even if you lost, your performance with Beedrill was already outstanding."

Although you didn't beat Xiaogang, your significant progress earned his recognition.

Xiao Gang gave you a gray badge.

The screen erupted with cheers.

Earning the badge means you can legitimately proceed to the next city.

Originally, they had nothing to do with the game, but the bullet screen interaction mechanism connected them with the pixelated characters on the screen in a secret way.

If Xiaohua can climb to the champion's throne step by step with the guidance of tens of thousands of viewers in the live broadcast room, it will be quite an interesting thing.