Chapter 18: Official launch of Happy Farm!!
"Farm game, quite ingenious design."
Michael praised, "The specific situation can only be judged after we have played it."
"However, your judgment is correct. Launching the game when the League and the Pokémon Center start recruiting people will attract a large number of players."
"Hee hee, just ride the wave of popularity."
After chatting for a while, everyone went off to do their own things.
Actually, apart from John, who doesn't have a job, even Lily is busy catching Pokémon and training, while the others are even busier.
A week passed peacefully, and John watched his points rocket from hundreds of thousands to millions, finally breaking through the one million mark.
What is the concept of one million?
The population of the whole Seaside City in the real world is only a few million. Excluding those who did not provide John with points, the more than one million points include players from other cities, and there are a lot of them.
Now, all the Second World players with Pokémon have surpassed the 10 million mark, and the jungle around Seaside City has transformed from an inaccessible wilderness to a bustling wild park, attracting many players to tame wild Pokémon.
On the street, two people passing by might start a Pokémon battle after a disagreement, and such expected situations happened frequently.
Even many people from other cities took Pokémon back to their own cities after acquiring them, further expanding Pokémon's influence.
The future development potential of Pokémon is evident, and the number of players alone is enough to form an industry. Michael always had a faint smile these days.
On this day, the official Pokémon League of "Second World," which had been brewing for a long time, finally made an official announcement.
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[Official Announcement]
In view of the extreme popularity of Pokémon, to standardize order, we have decided to establish a series of regulatory agencies such as the Pokémon League and the Badge Gym, as follows:
Seaside Gym: Current Gym Leader is Lily. All trainers can challenge, and those who succeed will receive the Seaside Gym Badge.
Pokémon Center in Seaside City: Recruiting nurses. Interested individuals can apply.
Seaside City Pokémon Battle League: Recruiting staff. Interested individuals can apply.
Registration for the first Seaside City League Tournament has begun:
Registration Requirements: Own six Pokémon, no bad records...
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An eloquent announcement. Michael held back for so long, releasing all the key points at once, pushing Pokémon's popularity to its peak.
The players in Seaside City were stunned by the announcement, unable to recover for a long time.
"The pet store is hiring!"
"What the heck? I'm going to apply! Forget the salary; can I get a Lucky Egg?"
"Seaside Gym? Lily is in charge? My God, who can beat her!" - from a trainer who was once defeated by Lily.
"wait, they are making a battle league? This is about creating an entire industry from Pokémon!"
"Sure! Pokémon is so popular. Besides, I'd rather eat less to raise my Onix. I'm almost eating dirt with my Onix!"
"Brothers! It's time to prove our strength! I want to sign up for the league competition!"
"Squirtle, let's do this!"
"Come on! Watch my mankey slap you!"
"Hey, you snotty-nosed brother, don't you know about type advantages? My pidgeotto can easily defeat your little monkey and leave some bio-fertilizer on its head as a gift."
"Oh, that's all right."
"..."
Under this announcement, the popularity of Pokémon exploded again as expected, igniting countless discussions on the internet.
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"It's time!"
At home, John released Happy Farm on the game platform in advance. Even before he promoted it on WebNet, many people had already downloaded it.
When the official announcement was made, John followed up with a WebNet post.
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[The latest work from the Pokémon designer, Happy Farm, is now online!]
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Under the operation of Michael and Adam, the official account retweeted immediately, maximizing the hype. The first time was unfamiliar, but the second time was smooth, without delay.
"In response to feedback from many trainers on the cultivation of Pokémon, @NewbieDesigner John has designed special food for Pokémon that can be accessed from his new virtual world called Happy Farm."
"Hmm... so who is operating this?" John was speechless.
The official style was a bit strange, but it was effective.
Yes, this was the big feature John prepared for Happy Farm.
Although Pokémon are just creatures in the virtual world, the resources needed to cultivate them are not small. In the virtual world, Pokémon are no different from real creatures.
They have their own feelings, their combat power is affected by their bond with the trainer, they have their own preferences, and they can learn new moves from someone's words, and so on.
Training Pokémon is also very interesting. Of course, it is a burden for some people who are not in a good financial situation.
To change this situation (and to continue riding the official hype), John added berry seeds from Pokémon into Happy Farm. Players can use the berries they grow to feed their Pokémon!
Only John's identity as the Pokémon designer allowed him to pull this off without the officials batting an eye. This was a way of pulling the official strings.
Fortunately, he didn't do it for money. Happy Farm is a free game, and John didn't add any extra payment channels. The official side probably regarded Happy Farm as compensation for John.
Because although Pokémon was designed by John, it is considered part of "Second World," which doesn't affect John's evaluation as a virtual game designer.
But Happy Farm is different. It is a game that only belongs to John. With the connection of berries, many Pokémon players will be attracted. It is a win-win situation for John and the Dragon Kingdom.
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[Ding~ You have a new notification from WebNet!]
All players following John received the notification immediately.
These days, John would post some of his suggestions on Pokémon cultivation on WebNet daily, so many Pokémon lovers had him on special alert.
"New game Happy Farm?"
"WOW! You can grow berries!"
"My God, am I finally going to live without tightening my belt?"
"Conscientious designer!"
"Big Brother is awesome! (Excited voice)"