Chapter 1: The Game Development System

Tokiwa City.

Night had fallen deep.

In a dimly lit corner of the city, inside a small rented room, a handsome young man with black hair stared intently at a folder named “Prismatic Eevee Match” on his computer screen.

“This time, it has to work…”

He took a deep breath, dragged the folder into the upload area on a website, and clicked the confirm button.

But the next moment, a large red cross appeared along with a prompt box, and the folder on the desktop instantly vanished.

“Damn! Again?!”

The young man cursed angrily and slammed the table, standing up abruptly.

His name was Ling Feng. He had arrived in this world just a week ago.

The good news: This was a world he loved and knew well—a world of Pokémon.

The bad news: His identity here was a poor, orphaned boy with no status, renting a temporary room on the outskirts of Tokiwa City, barely scraping by with odd jobs.

Upon arriving, Ling Feng had no grand ambitions to become a Pokémon Trainer. As long as he could partner with one or two Pokémon and live with them for a lifetime, he would be content.

But reality was far crueler than he imagined. He was so broke that he couldn’t even support himself. If he tried to catch another Pokémon, both of them would likely end up begging on the streets—

He’d hold out a bowl while he cried; the Pokémon would be the one calling out for alms.

To change his situation, Ling Feng—an elite game developer in his previous life—had spent the first day after crossing over researching this world’s entertainment scene through the internet.

What he found was unexpected: Though everyone had phones and computers, and the internet was well-developed, the entertainment industry was still in its infancy.

Movies, TV dramas, novels, games—all were at a primitive and low level.

For example, the top game on the official league’s popular chart was called “Angry Stone,” priced at 99 yuan.

It was essentially a racing game where you played a Geodude rolling along the street—and it was single-player, without even any multiplayer function.

If you were lucky enough to reach later levels, the Geodude would evolve into a Graveler… transforming into a risky, heavy-duty semi-trailer truck on the road, giving the pedestrians a harsh lesson in “living with force.”

This reality gave Ling Feng a spark of hope.

With his skills, in such a barren gaming culture, even casually porting a few masterpieces from his previous life could guarantee he wouldn’t have to worry about food or shelter.

But problems soon arose.

After spending two days creating a crude little game called “Eat Beans Starter Trio” and attempting to upload it, the upload failed, and the folder disappeared.

At first, he thought it was a computer malfunction, so he remade the game and took a USB stick down to the internet café to try again—but the exact same thing happened!

Unwilling to give up, he created another game, “Lucario Gold Miner,” only to encounter the same fate.

Including this last time, this was the fifth game he had made, only to have the upload fail and the folder vanish.

Ling Feng’s head began to ache.

What could he do?

Rent was due next week.

But he’d been making games nonstop lately, and the money he scraped together wasn’t even enough to buy a bottle of fresh milk at the supermarket downstairs.

Just then, as he wrestled with his thoughts, a golden panel suddenly appeared before his eyes!

Accompanying it was an electronic voice:

“The seven-day grace period has ended! Blocking function is now active!”

“Ding! Congratulations, host, the ‘Ultimate Pokémon Game Development System’ has been activated!”

“This system can provide you with efficient game-making technology, helping you become the strongest Pokémon game developer!”

“Newbie reward technology modules have been activated! Please check the panel!”

Ling Feng quickly scanned the information before his gaze settled on the first line of text.

So the games I made this past week failed because of this system?

The electronic voice sounded again, with a hint of pride:

“Ding! Please note, since the host is a time traveler, to prevent temporal disorder and potential erasure, you may only create games with core content related to Pokémon. Other games will be automatically blocked by the system. No thanks necessary.”

“…Thanks a lot, really.”

Ling Feng silently recited every curse word he knew, then took a deep breath and tried to organize the situation.

In short, this system could help him quickly create games?

And they had to be Pokémon-centered?

His eyes moved to the panel, where two glowing blue cubes flickered.

“Pixel Game Module (Basic) — allows rapid creation of pixel-style content.”

“Basic Programming Module (Basic) — allows quick production of small-scale, simple programs.”

“To unlock other modules or upgrade existing ones, emotional points are required. These are earned when others feel anger, shock, emotion, admiration, etc., toward your games or yourself.”

“Current Balance: 0”

Quick content creation?

Ling Feng pondered for a moment, then opened his game development software and mentally sketched a pixel design.

The next moment, a “Pikachu” composed of yellow pixels instantly appeared on his screen!

“Not bad…”

His eyes lit up.

Even as a top-tier game developer, creating a game solo took enormous time and energy.

That was why he had been focusing on small-scale games all week.

Large projects were simply impossible to handle alone.

Besides, his specialty was game design, not programming—there was a difference.

Usually, he would handle the concepts and ideas, while others on the team coded.

But with this system, that problem was solved.

Moreover, as long as his games stirred emotions in others, he could unlock more modules and create even more advanced Pokémon games!

With this in mind, Ling Feng thought quickly.

Only Pokémon-centric games, basic programming, pixel limits…

A game idea crystallized in his mind.

“Pokémon: Red/Blue/Emerald Series.”

A true heavyweight—countless fans’ childhood introduction to Pokémon, the most classic handheld game series.

Given the system’s current conditions, creating this game seemed just right!

But then, a new thought suddenly struck Ling Feng.

To unlock more modules and make higher-level games, he needed to earn more emotional points.

So… a faithful Emerald remake was a bit too straightforward.

He sat at his desk, a meaningful smile spreading across his face.

If there’s one emotion game players express most, it’s definitely frustration and breaking defenses.

And even Emerald could produce that effect!

Ling Feng clicked the mouse, typed on the keyboard, and a brand-new folder appeared on the desktop—

“Pokémon: Ultimate Emerald (Madman Mode Exclusive Edition)!”