Chapter 817: Lin Bell Snow
As the popularity of "Pokémon World" continued to surge, other game companies, especially foreign ones, seized the opportunity to launch similar games.
"Pokémon World" was an exclusive game for the Matrix Glasses. While this promoted the Matrix Glasses, it also opened up some market gaps from another perspective.
For example, some players had already bought other smart glasses and were curious about the gameplay of "Pokémon World," but were far from being obsessed enough to buy a Matrix Glasses just for this game. At that point, if other game companies developed similar games, would they download and play them?
Obviously, they definitely would.
Even if the game wasn't as good as "Pokémon World," these people would at least take a look.
So, this presented a business opportunity for other game companies, just like how every blockbuster game inevitably spawns copycats.
From a technical standpoint, "Pokémon World" used relatively mature technologies from the parallel world, so other game companies didn't find it too difficult to clone it. Thus, some manufacturers, especially those cooperating with smart glasses makers, were considering developing similar high-interactivity MR games.
Would they succeed? Hard to say. But if they did nothing, in a while, the strong alliance between "Pokémon World" and the Matrix Glasses would likely squeeze the smart glasses and MR game markets dry, leaving nothing but scraps...
...
"Hello everyone, I'm Lin Xue. Next, I'll show you how to capture those extremely dangerous Pokémon in the virtual Pokémon World. This is a long challenge. I've been at it for eight days straight, and now it's day nine. Welcome to witness it with me."
"As a Pokémon trainer catching Pokémon in the wild seems easy and relaxing, but once you encounter those dangerous and powerful Pokémon, you'll know it's a tough challenge. Without special capture skills, you might wander the wild for an entire day in vain, or even fail to last three days."
"This time, I've come to the capital's famous park. Yes, the one from 'Let's Row Our Oars'... Why? Because according to other players' tips, areas with more water are more likely to spawn some powerful water-type Pokémon. Plus, there's a gym here. The gym leader isn't very strong, so we can try to challenge it."
"Shh, look, what did I find? There's a lone Dratini here. It's not exactly a water-type, but it's still a rare pet. We can try to catch it. Dratini is rich in protein... Oh, sorry, wrong line. Actually, Dratini's evolution tree is pretty straightforward, but it has high beauty and decent combat power, though it's hard to catch."
"We'll slowly approach it from behind. Be careful not to make any noise."
"Of course, we still need to fight. Go, my strongest pet, Ghost Tiger Baby!"
"Dratini has high magic resistance, so we need to use a pet with strong physical attacks to fight it."
"Now's the time! Go, Master Ball!"
"Alright, I caught it! It's struggling hard. Let's take its head... Oh, sorry, I can't eat it. Even though I'm curious if Dratini tastes like chicken and is crunchy, I'll just put it away and feed it well. Anyway, today's capture mission was a huge success!"
In Lin Xue's livestream room, she was still using her Matrix Glasses to broadcast her journey playing "Pokémon World."
This shift in style made many hardcore fans uncomfortable. Often, bullet comments appeared calling for her to go back to streaming VR games.
"Ah Xue is getting more and more into it, huh? Now she's cosplaying as a wilderness survivalist??"
"Don't say that. The script adaptation is seamless. I just want to know, can you eat Dratini after removing its head? Is its protein content six times that of beef?"
"Ah Xue is practically turning into an outdoor streamer now. How long has it been since she streamed VR games at home?"
"To be precise, since 'Pokémon World' launched, she's been running around outside every day..."
"What caused Ah Xue, this homebody, to change like this? Is it a distortion of human nature or a collapse of morality..."
"This is terrifying. Ah Xue's pet combat power should be in the top 1% of the national server, right? At least I haven't seen any higher combat power on streaming sites or forums..."
"Heh, when a player in 'Pokémon World' combines grinding, spending, and luck, they become unbeatable..."
"Geez, so Ah Xue can already challenge the gym? That's suffocating!"
"Look at her collection of rare pets: Ghost Tiger, Blue Dragon Baby, Growlithe... They're both beautiful and powerful, making me drool..."
"Damn it, lucky player, die by spear..."
Lin Xue indeed had many rare Pokémon. While their combat power might not be the strongest, their rarity was the key!
Especially during Pokémon battles, regardless of the outcome, just sending out pets like Ghost Tiger and Blue Dragon Baby at the start could deal psychological damage to the opponent, making them feel incredibly frustrated even if they won.
"I won, but... why does she have so many rare pets! Why, after running my legs off and grinding my liver to dust, do I still have no rare pets! Why!"
It was roughly this kind of psychological attack, stabbing straight into the hearts of unlucky players, then sprinkling high-quality deep-sea iodized salt on the wound...
...
Lin Xue wandered around the park for a while, caught a few Pokémon, greeted and took photos with many fans who came to gank her, and finally arrived at the gym.
The gym was similar to a PokéStop, located in a large open area with a massive virtual building. Additionally, there was a virtual battle arena, making Pokémon battles more thrilling, with flashier special effects and animations than the random pet battles players could have anywhere.
"Alright! Defeat the gym leader! I'm going to be the first player in the country to become a gym leader!" Lin Xue silently resolved.
Although the game had been online for over a week, players' strength hadn't yet grown to the point where they could challenge the gym.
All gyms worldwide initially had NPCs as leaders by default. Gym levels varied, and the leaders' strength was uneven. However, even the lowest-level leader hadn't been defeated by anyone yet.
Lin Xue came to the park this time because she heard the leader here was relatively weak, so she wanted to try her luck.