"System, purchase 20 Poké Balls."
Su Feng spoke with a radiant smile. The System, sensing his ominous aura, complied without protest. Twenty Poké Balls and two Premier Balls materialized neatly on the table. As Su Feng stored them away, his mind churned with plans for revenge.
The System was bound to him—a creation of Arceus, likely a data-based AI akin to Porygon or Rotom. But unlike those Pokémon, it lacked a physical form. To punish it, Su Feng needed to trap it in a tangible body. A challenge, but not impossible.
The next morning, Su Feng packaged the giveaway prizes. Among the winners was an ID named "Breeze Over Moonlight"—Xiao Da, his old acquaintance. The lottery had been fair, proof of Xiao Da's uncanny luck.
The farm run by Da's father was thriving. Mareep wool and Miltank milk, though affordable, were in explosive demand. Profits—already over 10 million yuan—flowed into Su Feng's account. A modest start, but the future promised exponential growth.
Scrolling through a pink-hued app, Su Feng noticed something odd: Pokémon content outside China was scarce. Searches yielded only a handful of foreign videos.
"System. Explain."
[The app is geo-blocked. Domestic use only, requiring real-name verification. Foreign IPs are barred. Its global reach is suppressed.]
The System's tone was uncharacteristically meek—still shaken from Su Feng's eerie laughter the night before.
"Remove the restrictions. Make it accessible worldwide."
[Easy.]
Instantly, the app appeared in every country's app store—its Chinese name unchanged. An update added real-time translation for livestreams and removed registration barriers.
Su Feng wasn't surprised. For an Arceus-made entity, this was trivial. The blockade had clearly been orchestrated by those fearing foreign competition. But China's head start in Pokémon knowledge was insurmountable. Let the world catch up if they could.
With that handled, Su Feng pulled out Gengar's Mega Stone.
"Gengar."
The ghost Pokémon yawned, emerging from her shadow-dimension bedroom. "Gengar? (What?)"
"How do you want this stone styled? Necklace? Bracelet? Ring?"
Gengar glanced at the gem, licked it up, and swallowed.
"Gengar. (Too much work. Goodnight.)"
SLAM.
Su Feng stared at her closed door. Can Mega Stones even be eaten? Then again, Gengar's stomach was a pocket dimension. Probably fine.
He cracked open a chilled soda and flipped on the TV:
"Troubled by large Pokémon? Poké Balls—portable shrinking devices—launch in 3 days!"
"S City Youth Palace now hosts Pokémon battles! All welcome!"
"N City volcano erupts—no casualties. Locals report sightings of a legendary phoenix-like bird: HO-OH!"
"Ho-Oh?"
Su Feng sat upright, soda forgotten.