In a bright room, Alex plugged in a Bluetooth headset and quietly enjoyed this familiar melody.
After quietly listening to the song, Alex looked up at the ceiling. His eyes, as dark as black gemstones, revealed a trace of nostalgia:
"It's been 25 years, Ash… you finally won the championship, the peak battle at Madison Square Garden, it ignited the whole world!"
Last night, as the 132nd episode of the latest Pokémon animation "Pokémon Journeys" was broadcast, a topic called [Pokémon Ash wins two consecutive championships] became a hot search on social media and was widely circulated. By evening, it had more than 74 million views.
Twenty-five years ago, to promote the game, Ren Smith and Sakura Productions produced the animation "Pokémon Unprinted." This was the first time that a generation of fans saw Pokémon, marking the origin of Pokémon memories.
The protagonist Ash in the animation shouted out loud the night before embarking on his journey -
"I want to announce to Pokémon all over the world that the strongest Pokémon Trainer, no, it should be Pokémon Master, yes, that's me."
Thus, the male protagonist, who was called "stupid" by the audience and players, embarked on his journey to pursue his dream, and this pursuit lasted for 25 years.
Animation and games are not the same thing. In the Pokémon series, as long as we can play to the end, we can challenge again and again by constantly loading save files and finally win the championship.
But Ash in the animation was much more unfortunate. He had no second chances. As long as he lost a game in the League, he would be eliminated and start over in the next League.
Moreover, as an animated character, his fate could never be in his own hands. His god was a malicious anime screenwriter.
For more than a decade, under the arrangement of the screenwriter, Ash's best result was only reaching the top four. If he were a real person, he would have been discouraged long ago.
But Ash is the anime protagonist, the game is still being released, and in order for the game to sell well, the animation must not stop.
Even if Ash felt aggrieved, he still had to go to the next region with Pikachu as before.
In 2016, "Pokémon XYZ" arrived. This animation was the best in history in terms of picture quality, character design, and the strength of the main Pokémon. It was also the one where Ash had the best chance of winning.
But because Ash's journey had to continue, the production team gave the champion title to Alain, who was helping the villain organization collect Mega Energy.
This caused a public outcry.
It seems that the production team felt the pressure from the audience, and in the following animation of Pokémon Sun and Moon, Ash finally won his first League championship.
However, this trophy after 22 years did not win the audience's complete forgiveness, because many felt that this championship lacked significance.
This time's league wasn't like the previous ones where contestants needed to collect 8 gym badges to participate; it was more like a "friendly game," even Team Rocket participated.
Even the championship finals were a 3V3 competition system, not the previous 6V6 Full Battle, and the lineup was not complete. It seemed more like the screenwriter was "winning for the sake of winning." Although "Pokémon Sun and Moon" ended in controversy, the animation production couldn't stop.
So the latest "Pokémon Journeys" came, and this time, the screenwriter even started feeding the audience a poor storyline in the early stages of the animation.
As soon as Ash's second male lead, Goh, appeared on the stage, he "turned the tables." He could often capture Pokémon without fighting by throwing the ball and was called "One Ball Superman" by the audience.
He could even forcibly capture Pokémon caught by others under the arrangement of the screenwriter, and even the legendary beasts that were originally formidable would voluntarily enter his Poké Ball.
The character of Goh became one of the few characters in the Pokémon animation that was hated by a large number of viewers, and even "Pokémon Journeys" was criticized, becoming the recognized worst animation in the series.
Just when everyone thought the screenwriter had completely forgotten about Ash, they made a big move: the Battle of the Eight Masters in the Pokémon World Championship.
As the name suggests, the eight players participating in the competition were all people who had won their respective Regional League championships, so even Ash's previous championship seemed reasonable.
What surprised the audience even more was that the budget for the Battle of the Eight Masters was also very sufficient, and the animation quality was much higher than before.
Ash made it to the finals after winning all the levels, and his rival was Leon.
Leon was set to have never lost a single game in an official competition and was known as the invincible king of Galar, with the title of "the strongest Pokémon champion in history."
In the previous battles, Leon almost crushed other players, proving his "strongest" title.
The most valuable game, the strongest rival, such a setting made countless once disheartened audiences burn with excitement again.
Finally, with the efforts of all his partners, Ash won the final championship.
After 25 years of hard work, Ash finally won the championship.
Almost all Pokémon fans from all countries were enthusiastically celebrating Ash, who had fulfilled his dream!
As a result, many Pokémon-related short videos suddenly emerged on major online platforms, constantly recording the bond and passionate stories between Ash, Pikachu, and Pokémon.
As a content creator, Alex also stayed up all night and made many videos about Ash.
With an excited smile, Alex began to watch videos and admire the results of his sleepless night.
But at this moment...
A string of words suddenly appeared on the computer screen:
[Video through Pokémon World, every time you watch a video, the audience can get a cash reward for the feedback value they receive.]
"Watch the video... and you can get a cash reward??"
Alex was stunned for a moment but soon figured out what was going on. The corners of his mouth slightly raised as he opened the video he had made overnight.
This explosive content video would definitely be popular on the entire Internet.
Oh no... It will be popular all over the Pokémon world!
At the same time...
In the Pokémon World, based on Madison Square Garden, screens appeared all over the country...
Kanto Region
Johto Region.
Hoenn Region.
Sinnoh Region.
Unova Region.
Huge green screens appeared in open spaces one after another!