Red's exclamation caught Rei Akagi's attention.
He turned his bike around and rode over beside Red.
His gaze swept across the freckled girl—and the white-coated figure standing behind her, who seemed to be fiddling with something while facing away from them.
After a moment of silence, he said:
"…Red. Listen to me. Let's not buy anything. Let's just leave."
"Red, buy it!"
Before Rei Akagi could finish his warning, Blue cut him off excitedly.
"I know this girl! She's a limited-time battle item merchant who spawns randomly across the map!"
Though beneath the excitement, there was clearly a hint of schadenfreude in her voice.
Rei Akagi opened his mouth as if to say something—
Then stopped.
In the end, he could only sigh helplessly.
Hearing Blue's explanation, Red's eyes lit up instantly.
He immediately interacted with the NPC.
Mysterious Girl:
"Congratulations, young trainer! As our 1001st customer, you qualify for our Clearance Grand Bundle!"
"For only 99,999,999, you can take everything home!!!"
The light in Red's eyes immediately dimmed.
At that moment, Blue decisively stepped in to handle the dialogue and began haggling.
After an intense argument…
Red ultimately traded his entire savings for all the items on the ground.
Deal completed.
The person behind the girl turned around.
It was the handsome researcher they had met before.
Researcher Rei:
"Oh—it's you three… Wait. Did you buy the battle items we made? Quick, return them—"
Mysterious Girl:
"Once sold, no refunds!"
"Exactly! A deal's a deal!"
Red reacted even more strongly than the mysterious girl!
Afraid the seller might change her mind, he shoved the items into his bag and immediately kicked off on his bicycle.
In the blink of an eye, he turned into a blur and disappeared down the road.
When Rei Akagi and Blue leisurely caught up with him—
Red had already stopped at an open patch beside the road, excitedly tinkering with his pile of "precious" new items like a kid with new toys.
Dragon Fang, Mystic Water…
Various impressive-sounding trinkets were scattered everywhere.
He seemed to be having the time of his life.
Rei Akagi couldn't bear to watch anymore.
"Red… have you noticed that none of these items triggered a system description?"
"Huh? Description?"
Red froze mid-action.
"Now that you mention it… the items we got before all had descriptions…"
His voice gradually grew quieter.
Even he realized something was very wrong.
"Counterfeits! They sold me fake goods!"
Red's character jumped to his feet in fury.
He was about to hop back onto his bicycle to confront them—
But Rei Akagi stopped him.
"Don't bother. When we came chasing after you, those two were already long gone."
Rei Akagi said calmly, while silently complaining to himself.
Back when they traveled together before, Red had already fallen into Blue's traps countless times.
Yet somehow he still fell for the exact same trick in the game.
He really never learned.
"Hahahahaha!"
Blue burst into loud laughter.
Without mercy, she mocked him:
"You actually fell for that! If something was truly valuable, who would lay it out on the ground like vegetables at a market? You deserved it!"
"What?! Those items were fake?! I thought I'd struck gold! I bought everything too! My money!!!"
"Salted Fish Teacher warned him once. The Researcher Rei warned him again. And Legendary Red still stepped right into the trap."
"Who exactly is that mysterious girl? Why is she with the Researcher Rei?"
"Could it actually be Blue? Remember the hidden event at Professor Oak's Laboratory in Pallet Town? The researcher caught Blue trying to steal something."
"If that's true, this is hilarious—Red got scammed by both the in-game Blue and the real Blue at the same time!"
Rei Akagi glanced at the scrolling chat.
Then he glanced at Red's character, who was staring up at the sky as if life had lost all meaning.
From the voice channel came Red's faint, broken muttering:
"…My money… it's gone…"
"Don't be too upset."
Rei Akagi spoke gently to comfort him.
"This actually isn't a bad thing. Trading with that girl is the first step to triggering a hidden storyline."
"Besides, with Blue around, are you really worried about running out of money? When the time comes, she can help you figure out how to earn more."
"Hey! Why should I help him make money?!"
Blue immediately exploded.
"Objection denied."
Rei Akagi shut her down with a single sentence.
"You were part of the scam against Red too, weren't you?"
Red gradually snapped out of his despair.
When he heard that this could unlock a hidden storyline, a spark of light returned to his eyes.
"Hidden storyline?"
"Yeah. Among the items you bought, there should be a special USB drive."
As he spoke, Rei Akagi controlled Rei and searched through the messy pile of items.
Soon he picked up a small square disk-like object.
He inserted it into the Pokédex device Rei carried.
Immediately, a damaged information file appeared on the game screen.
Cracks and digital noise covered the display.
At the top was a title:
Codename: Mewtwo
Recorder: ——
Experiment 01:
Extracted genetic sequence from Mew's eyelash.
The sequence shows extremely strong stability and can integrate with most Pokémon DNA. Attempting replication and expansion…
Result: Failure.
Experiment 02:
Breakthrough achieved in genetic replication, but stability dropped drastically. Attempting modification of key gene fragments…
Result: Violent explosion. Laboratory unit destroyed.
Experiment —
Experiment 78:
Embryo cultivation initially successful…
However, natural growth is impossible. Attempting to inject additional foreign genetic fragments…
Vital signs rapidly declining…
Result: Failure.
Experiment —
Experiment 00:
Cultivated specimen survived. Labeled Subject 01.
Researcher —— attempted injection of human genetic fragments…
Subject 01 awakened consciousness and went berserk.
Laboratory sealed under emergency protocol.
Massive explosion occurred.
Subject 01 missing.
Experiment —
Experiment 90:
Technology approaching maturity…
Subject 02 remains stable.
However, the complete genetic map of Mew is still missing.
Experiment progress forced to halt.
The experiment data was extremely long.
But most of the document was covered with red corruption warnings and unreadable code.
Only fragments remained legible.
"…So this is about Mewtwo."
Even Red—normally enthusiastic about hidden storylines—grew serious after reading the broken report.
His usually carefree expression disappeared.
There was even a trace of concern in his voice.
"Putting something like this into the game… is that really okay?"
"Mewtwo is still a Pokémon."
Rei Akagi's tone was calm but resolute.
"If it's a Pokémon, then it deserves to appear in the world of Pokémon just like any other Pokémon."
"Mewtwo…"
Blue seemed to fall into thought as well.
Her expression grew complicated.
But that complexity quickly turned into renewed resentment toward Red.
"I want to form a bond with it too! Damn you, Red! Why do you get the chance?!"
As the three reacted differently to the revelation—
The livestream chat completely exploded.
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