The Day Before the Game Boy Launch
A few days later, when the chubby boy, who had already earned four badges, excitedly ran home, he finally qualified to lead Snorlax out!
When he set his level 45 Snorlax as the leader of his team, the whole park echoed with the envious screams of his friends!
"Why is your Snorlax level 45? My Lapras is only level 38!"
My Gengar is only level 40!
The chubby boy proudly puffed out his chest; he was a model owner who remembered to feed and interact with his Electronic Pet every day!
It turns out that all the love shown during the era of Electronic Pet has been rewarded at this moment!
Just as the chubby boy was enjoying the admiring gazes of everyone and felt that he had reached the pinnacle of Pokémon Master, a leisurely voice came from the side.
"Do your Pokémon always follow you around?"
They looked up at the sound and saw an older boy in a high school uniform watching them with great interest.
The chubby boy instinctively replied, "Yeah, isn't being first in line the same as being behind?"
"Really?" The high school student smiled and handed over his game console.
On the screen, a game protagonist is walking through a town.
But his Pokémon didn't follow behind him.
Instead, a small, yellow Pikachu was affectionately perched on his head!
"!!!"
All the elementary school students' eyes widened instantly!
How did they do that?! They've caught Pikachu before, but they always just followed it around!
"And," the high school student added, as if the excitement wasn't enough, clicking on his opponent's Pokédex entry, "My opponent's starter Pokémon is Eevee."
Not Starter Pokémon!
The entire beginning of the story was completely different from what they were playing!
"Bro! Big brother! How did you do that?!" The chubby boy could no longer care about his Snorlax. He led a group of his underlings and surrounded the high school student with starry eyes.
The high school student slowly revealed the answer, "When you turn on the computer, first communicate with different versions of the game, then after being woken up by the alarm clock, don't get up, choose to continue sleeping--."
"When your mom finally wakes you up, you'll find at the research institute that Starter Pokémon have already been picked, leaving you with only a Pikachu that refuses to go into its Poké Ball."
"In the story, you'll also encounter Team Rocket's Jessie, James, and that talking Meowth!"
"Even when challenging Giovanni's Viridian Gym, he'll release an Mewtwo —one wearing armor!"
Boom!
Every piece of information was like a bomb, exploding in the young minds of the children!
It turns out that what they experienced was just the Yamaichi!
It turns out that Sega has hidden such a profound and perfectly animated hidden world within this seemingly cute game!
This is the real Pokémon!
In an instant, countless children, looking at the games in their hands, felt a strong urge to delete their saves and start over!
This "Sega- style" surprise caused the charm of Pokémon to explode exponentially.
On its fifth day of release, Famitsu magazine gave it a score of only 34.
But a week later, as players frantically unearthed a massive amount of hidden elements, they unprecedentedly overturned their own ratings.
It was re-scored to a high 37 points, and the author issued a public apology in the magazine, calling it "a masterpiece with a profound soul, worthy of repeated exploration."
The secret about "Pikachu on the head" swept through schools all over Japan like a storm.
At first, it was just the chubby boy and his friends showing off everywhere.
Soon, the secret spread faster than anyone had imagined.
Countless children flock to game stores and shopping malls after school, not to buy new games, but to find any "alternative" player who can trigger hidden storylines.
Do you have Red Version? Can I borrow your communicator?
"Does anyone have the Green Version? I'll trade my Snorlax for a chance to boot up the computer!"
The communication function, originally used for battling and trading Pokémon, has now become the only key to unlocking a new world.
For a time, GamePocket's online connection became the trendiest social bond among children.
Famitsu's unprecedented apology letter reignited the market frenzy.
Players who had previously hesitated due to the 34-point rating finally made up their minds and joined the rush to buy GamePocket and Pokémon after seeing the magazine's praise as a "masterpiece with a profound soul."
As a result, outside the electronics stores in Akihabara, parents were tugged at by their children, forming long lines. Shelves were emptied at a visible speed; as soon as a salesperson brought out a case of GamePockets, it was instantly engulfed by the excited crowd. "Sold out" signs were hung up and down, and the phone kept ringing for restocks.
Amidst this craze, there are also some casual players who aren't interested in hidden storylines or Pikachu on their heads; they just want to play a couple of easy Tetris with friends on their commute or during lunch breaks.
Thus, the hardcore gamers' desire to explore, the children's competitive spirit, and the casual gamers' entertainment needs together constitute a terrifying purchasing power.
Driven by this wave of positive word-of-mouth and continuous promotion, GamePocket's first-week sales in Japan ultimately settled on a figure that left the entire industry speechless—over 400,000 units. Meanwhile, across the ocean, thanks to a more mature distribution network than the Tetris Drive's launch, and the inclusion of Tetris as a bundled game with every console, North America sales miraculously approached 400,000 units. Even Europe, a slightly slower market, contributed over 50,000 units. In the conference room at Sega Headquarters, executives stared at the almost vertically rising sales curve on the report, their expressions probably exactly the same as those of children seeing Pikachu perched on their heads for the first time.
Sega's sales command center was in a state of constant excitement. The first thing the executives did every day when they arrived at work was to go to the command center and check the latest sales report.
The sales curve, instead of flattening out after a week, naturally maintained a steady upward trend.
"President, this is the latest data up to last night." The Sales Department handed the report to Nakayama Atsuo.
The command room was completely silent, except for the sound of papers turning over.
Several senior executives looked at the report in their hands and read it aloud softly.
"In Japan, total GAMEPOCKET sales reached 980,000 units. Combined sales of the Pokémon Red and Red/Green versions reached 1.4 million copies."
" In North America, the strategy of bundling Tetris was a huge success, with sales reaching 430,000 units."
Total sales in Europe and other regions: 110,000 units.
An executive put down his coffee cup, which clinked softly against the saucer.
He adjusted his glasses, looked at the numbers on the report, and repeatedly checked that he hadn't misread the decimal point.
"That means the total sales of GamePocket have exceeded 1.5 million units? And the sales of game cartridges have exceeded 3 million copies?"
No one answered him, because everyone was caught up in the same emotion. The number had exceeded even their wildest estimates.
Their original goal was to capture 1 million units of the market before the release of Nintendo's Game Boy, which would have been a huge victory.
After all, many players are fans of Nintendo games and will wait and see how the Game Boy and the games mentioned above perform before making a choice.
Now, there's only one day left until the official release of the Game Boy.
"What's going on with Nintendo?" President Nakayama Atsuo finally asked.
Masao Suzuki from the Marketing Department cleared his throat. "They're quiet. Nintendo has only released one statement, reiterating that the Game Boy will be released as scheduled."
"Quiet?" Director Yoshikawa couldn't help but laugh. "I bet President Yamauchi's office is anything but quiet right now. He probably wants to tear our posters to shreds."
This joke eased the tense atmosphere in the meeting room.