As Kairos stepped out of the truck, warm sunlight composed of pixel light particles slanted down on Littleroot Town. He controlled his on-screen character standing in front of his house, and the familiar scene stirred some emotion in his heart.
This was a world he'd built with his own hands, and one he knew intimately. Now, entering it again as a player, it had a different flavor altogether.
The background music was a melodious music box variation, mixed with the clear chirping of Pidgey outside the window. The details were so rich that even he was surprised—the system's technology was truly top-notch.
"You're awake? We finally moved to Littleroot Town! How does it feel?" A pixel-style mother figure popped up in a dialogue box at the center of the screen, her tone quite gentle.
Kairos skillfully pressed the confirm key to skip the dialogue, controlling his character to quickly run upstairs. He could complete the alarm clock setup process with his eyes closed, and soon had the time set.
However, just when all the viewers thought he'd immediately rush downstairs and out the door straight to the lab, his on-screen character made a sharp turn and walked directly toward the unremarkable computer on the left side of the room.
A wave of question marks instantly flooded the stream.
[??? Streamer got lost?]
[Set the alarm and instead of going downstairs you're just wandering around?]
[One week, bro! One week to reach the latest story content! You have time to slack off?]
[Don't tell me he's nervous and his hands are shaking, hahaha!!!]
Kairos ignored the chat's urgings, a barely perceptible smile playing at his lips. Playing Pokémon and not checking the computer at the start—what kind of person would that be?
He positioned his character in front of the computer and pressed the interact key.
「Opened the PC.」
「Logged into the Item Storage System.」
「Withdrew a Super Potion from someone's PC!」
「Withdrew a Poké Ball from someone's PC!」
Two system notifications clearly appeared.
After a brief pause, the chat exploded!
[Holy crap??? There's stuff in the PC?!]
[Free Super Potion and Poké Ball???]
[This is actually a thing??]
[No way... I've restarted several times! Never knew about this detail!]
[Dumb luck! Absolutely dumb luck! Streamer just stumbled onto it!]
[Yeah, and it's just one Super Potion and one Poké Ball anyway—can't save him. He'll probably get stuck on the rival for ages, haha.]
The word "rival" instantly triggered a stress response in many chat messages.
[Damn, can we not mention that demon?]
[What rival? That's clearly the newbie village nightmare!]
[Cynthia got destroyed three times before finding any strategy—so terrifying.]
[Haha, our sweet Iono was so cute, she almost cried when she got beaten up.]
[True, so cheap! Level sync is bad enough, but it deliberately picks types that counter your starter! This design is just inhumane.]
While the chat was immersed in memories and discussions of their "rival phobia," Kairos had already controlled his character downstairs and out the door, smoothly heading along the town's edge upward to cleanly help Professor Birch, who was being attacked by Poochyena in the grass above Route 101.
Following the story, the grateful professor invited him back to the lab to choose his starting partner.
Inside the lab, three classic red and white Poké Balls sat in front of the professor. But Kairos's gaze directly bypassed them, landing on an inconspicuous option button nearby—「I prefer the resilience of Bug-type Pokémon (randomly obtain one Bug-type Pokémon)」.
The chat instantly perked up.
[Here we go! Bug-type mystery box!]
[Gambling time!]
[Streamer, hurry up and open it! Will it be some powerful Bug-type Pokémon?]
[Front row selling snacks and drinks—betting on Scyther or Heracross!]
At this moment, as Kairos made his choice, light gathered at the center of the screen and a Poké Ball slowly opened. When the light faded, a small, light purple insectoid Pokémon appeared in the center of the screen.
It had a rounded head with two tiny antennae twitching slightly, its body covered in a thin, seemingly fragile translucent shell. Eight tiny legs were tightly curled up, and a pair of round black eyes timidly surveyed the surroundings, its body seemingly trembling slightly.
The appearance of this Pokémon instantly left the chat collectively speechless.
[...What is that?]
[New species? Never seen it!]
[Looks... really pathetic?]
[Kinda like a snail? Or a slug?]
Kairos's eyebrow also raised almost imperceptibly.
He actually drew Wimpod?
He certainly recognized this Pokémon. In the original Ultra Emerald, this was basically a freebie that every player could pick up right after leaving home—low presence, extremely weak early-game combat power, needing to evolve at level thirty before having any real fighting ability... and not much even then.
In his own Emerald version, he'd removed that unreasonable setting and moved it to later maps...
But why did his random Bug-type selection have to pick this one?
He opened the party screen. The display clearly showed Wimpod's information:
[Wimpod Lv.5]
[Type: Bug/Water]
[Ability: Wimp Out (Speed increases when HP is below half)]
[Moves: Sand Attack, Defense Curl]
Looking at this Pokémon's information, the entire stream fell silent for a second, then seemed to erupt with earth-shaking laughter as chat messages rapidly refreshed:
[PFFT HAHAHAHAHA!!!]
[Sand Attack?? Defense Curl???]
[This movepool... more abstract than Magikarp...]
[The last pure punching bag this pathetic was Magikarp.]
[This is the streamer's luck! Disaster start!]
[Um, why not restart? I think this run is already over.]
[Yeah, pick Bug-type again—any other Bug would be fine! What can Wimpod do? Perform Defense Curl to boost defense for the opponent? Hhhh]
Kairos glanced at the chat frantically trying to discourage him, then looked at the Super Potion and single Poké Ball quietly resting in his item bag. This extra Poké Ball easter egg was something he'd casually planted, never expecting it to become his only lifeline now.
He shook his head slightly, his low and clear voice carrying through the microphone to fill the stream: "Don't worry. There are no weak Pokémon, only weak trainers—even the Bug-types you look down on can surprise you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he controlled his character to walk straight out of the lab without looking back, heading toward the grass leading to Route 101 above Littleroot Town.
Almost simultaneously, golden light exploded in the stream as familiar dazzling effects once again dominated the screen!
[User 'Bug-Type Enthusiast' has gifted streamer 'Decent Person' 'Sinnoh Crown' x 5!]
[Bug-Type Enthusiast: Keep it up.]
Another 500,000 Pokédollars in gifts reignited the chat!
[Holy crap? More gifts! Boss has lost it!!!]
[Does the boss have a mine at home?]
[Did someone curse the boss? Still tipping with this start?]
[I'm new here—one question: is this streamer super lucky or super unlucky? Starting with free items then drawing a trash Pokémon? This can still earn 500,000 in gifts?]
Kairos smiled slightly and simply thanked them.
"Thanks for the gift, boss."
His attention was already fully focused on the screen—his character stepped into the lush grass, and the classic wild encounter sound effect immediately played! The screen instantly went black!
[A wild Poochyena appeared!]
Without hesitation, Kairos pressed "Run Away"!
[Got away safely!]
Then he began repeatedly moving through the grass again.
[A wild Zigzagoon appeared!]
"Run Away"!
Success!
[A wild Sentret appeared!]
"Run Away"!
Success!
A series of smooth escape operations left the chat completely puzzled.
[???]
[Streamer, you keep running into Pokémon but won't fight them!]
[You think the streamer doesn't want to fight? Hahaha, deal damage with Defense Curl and Sand Attack? Neither of those moves do damage!]
[Pretty good at hitting the run button, but isn't this situation completely hopeless now?]
"Don't rush." As the chat questioned him, Kairos's voice carried a steady confidence that controlled the rhythm.
"Wimpod's ability means it needs time to develop and evolve before showing its true power. Before it grows strong, we naturally need another partner to fill this gap."
He explained while scanning the rustling grass.
"Every Pokémon has its strong periods and weak periods. Excellent trainers know how to make them complement each other, rather than dismissing possibilities based on initial impressions alone."
This speech drew praise like "makes sense" and "sounds professional," but was also mixed with mockery like "stubborn" and "waiting for the reality check."
Just then, the grass at the screen's edge shook violently!
Accompanied by a distinctive insect cry, a worm Pokémon covered in bright red fur with yellow ring patterns dotting its back emerged!
The Y-shaped red antennae on its head twitched alertly—it was the Bug-type Pokémon Wurmple!
Before the chat could react, Kairos's eyes sharpened and his finger moved!
Without any hesitation, he decisively opened his item bag, selected that single Poké Ball, and firmly pressed "Use" on the Wurmple on screen!
The red and white Poké Ball traced an arc, precisely hitting the Wurmple! Red light burst forth, sucking it entirely into the ball!
Clack!
The Poké Ball fell into the grass, violently shaking left and right!
Once!
Wurmple struggled desperately inside the ball!
Twice!
The shaking intensity didn't diminish at all!
The stream instantly fell quiet as everyone held their breath—even the chat stopped scrolling. Kairos unconsciously leaned forward slightly, staring at that frantically vibrating Poké Ball. This was his only hope, the key team piece to compensate for Wimpod's early weakness!
Three times!
The shaking intensity seemed to... weaken?
The button in the center of the Poké Ball flashed with blinding white light!
Ding!
A crisp, pleasant notification sound symbolizing successful capture rang throughout the stream! That Poké Ball sat steadily in the grass, no longer moving!
[Congratulations! Wurmple was caught!]