Internet Magic in Fairy Tail

Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Pokémon Done! Test Version Go!

"Charmander?"

Natsu's expression was blank, still half-asleep.

Nate decided to explain the new game he was developing, [Celestial Pokémon], in detail.

After hearing the explanation, Natsu was instantly wide awake. Nate could practically see the spark of excitement in his eyes, like a little kid who had just discovered superheroes were real.

"Anyway, if you help me with this, I'll give you the first Charmander."

"Really? Let's fire it up!" Natsu's fatigue vanished, replaced by actual flames.

Happy curiously asked, "Will Charmander hatch from an egg? Like I did?" He paused, then muttered, "But it kind of overlaps with my role!"

Respect level -1!

"Happy, this is a game even regular people can play," Nate assured him. "You could raise one too."

Happy's tail shot straight up at this news, and he clung to Nate's leg, suddenly dead serious. "I want a girl cat. A white one! Please, Nate! It's my life's one request!"

'Why not just ask for Carla?' Nate thought, sighing. "Calm down, Happy. A real man has to face reality head-on."

"Right!" Natsu nodded. "Happy, a tiger or a lion would be way cooler than a cat, right?"

Nate could only sigh again. Leave it to the main character of a shounen manga to come up with ideas that made no sense.

"Let's get started on creating Charmander," Nate said.

With the experience of making Pikachu, building Charmander was much faster.

First, Nate created a Charmander celestial doll. Then—thanks to Natsu's help—he coded "Fire Dragon Slayer Magic" into the [Magic App]. This part took the most time, and they didn't finish until noon.

As the magic was uploaded, Charmander immediately gained the magical power of "Fire Dragon Slayer." Knowing it would evolve in two more stages, Nate scaled back the magic's power for this initial stage. As Charmander levels up and evolves, the sealed parts of its power would be unlocked.

"Now to activate it," Nate said, handing Natsu the [Celestial Pokémon] app. "This is your Pokémon—activate it yourself. It'll naturally bond with its first owner."

Natsu, practically bouncing with excitement, opened the app and activated his Pokémon.

The moment he pressed the button, a tiny bit of his soul was channeled through the silver ring on his finger and, via the Magic Net, flowed into the Charmander in front of him.

"Roooar~"

Charmander's eyes lit up with life as it let out a delighted sound. Then, with a tiny 'whoosh', a small flame ignited at the end of its tail.

It was alive!

"It moved! It moved! Nate, it really moved! Ahahaha!" Natsu lifted Charmander into the air, elated like a proud new dad.

"Happy, what did Charmander say?"

Happy, still fixated on his dream of a cat Pokémon, translated, "It said, 'Master.'"

"Name's Natsu! Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu grinned at Charmander. "Let's give you a name... Ignia?"

Wait, 'Ignia'?

Nate's eyes widened. Ignia was Igneel's actual son, one of the Five Dragon Gods of the Northern Continent.

"Uh, maybe that's not the best name—how about another one?" Nate suggested, thinking it might be a bit ominous.

"Fine, how about... Igneera!"

"Rooar! Rooar!" Charmander chirped happily.

Happy continued as translator, "It's saying, 'Thank you, Master!'"

"Nice to meet you, Igneera!" Natsu beamed, then sprinted outside, his new Charmander in tow.

"Let's start training right away! First, Fire Dragon's Iron Fist! I'll teach you every single Dragon Slayer technique Igneel taught me!"

"Hey, you know this is basically cheating, right?" Nate thought helplessly as he watched Natsu, who was set on personally training his Charmander.

"Hold on a second, Natsu."

"Huh? What's up?" Natsu stopped, looking back eagerly. "Need more help with something?"

"I haven't shown you how to check Charmander's status yet."

Nate shook his head and began explaining the game's basics, starting with the level system. Standing beside Natsu, he walked him through the app's interface step by step.

"You can tap on the Pokémon icon in the app to see all the Pokémon you have. Right now, you only have Charmander."

"Tap on Charmander's icon to view its details."

Following Nate's instructions, Natsu opened the status panel, where he saw the following:

[Charmander]

Level: lv5

Experience: 0%

Type: Fire

Affinity: ?

Nate had simplified things by leaving out attributes like base stats and individual values, since he couldn't recall Charmander's exact stats. With more types of Pokémon planned in the future, he figured it would be too complex to manage. Instead, he kept only level, experience, and added an 'Affinity' stat.

The closer a player becomes with their Pokémon, the more powerful the Pokémon's abilities become. However, as Nate explained, the "Affinity" feature wasn't just a gimmick—'Ushi no Koku Mairi' magic within the [Magic App] would actually enhance a Pokémon's power based on this bond.

"To level up, you'll need to battle other Pokémon," Nate explained. "And when Charmander reaches a certain level, it'll evolve. So, keep training hard, Natsu—make it the strongest Pokémon you can!"

"Yeah!" Natsu was fired up. "So, if I train with it, that'll help too, right?"

"It will..." Nate responded, somewhat resigned. Wasn't this breaking the rules a bit? It seemed like cheating compared to how other players would experience the game. But then again, there was no way he could tell Natsu not to train his own Charmander. Others could train their Pokémon, too—it just wouldn't be as effective as Natsu's Dragon Slayer training.

"Charmander's in your hands, then. I've got more work to do," Nate said, leaving Natsu to continue his adventure.

Next, Nate found Juvia and, with her help, created Squirtle using her Water magic. However, he ran into a bit of a hurdle with Bulbasaur. Its Grass-type signature move, 'Razor Leaf', was proving tricky to replicate.

One guild member used "Wood-Make" magic, but that only reshaped wood instantaneously. While not completely off-brand, it didn't quite capture the essence of a Grass-type. Ultimately, Nate decided to reach out to Azuma, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory.

Being the top-ranked player in [Magic Arena, Azuma was easy to find; his Magic Net nickname was "World of the Strong." Azuma quickly accepted Nate's friend request, and after hearing Nate's request, he readily agreed to meet up in [Magic Arena]. With Azuma's help, Nate was able to incorporate his 'Lost Magic: Great Tree Arc' into the [Magic App], enabling the creation of Bulbasaur with moves like 'Razor Leaf', 'Vine Whip', and 'Seed Bomb'.

In gratitude, Nate gifted Azuma the first Bulbasaur.

With Pikachu and the starter trio of Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur completed, he was ready to roll out the first test.

...

Two days later, Nate sent a message to the guild's group chat along with the app download link.

Sigma Male: "@everyone, new game available for testing. Please check it out!"

Mirajane: "It's done already? ??"

Sigma Male: "This is just the first round of testing; there's still a lot more to do."

Sigma Male: [Celestial Pokémon: Test Version]

Evergreen: "The game you mentioned before already has a test version?"

Gray: "What's this game? [Celestial Pokémon]?"

Lucy: "It's a pet-raising game where you make your pets battle each other. It's super fun!!!"

Sigma Male: "Actually... it's a card game."

Sigma Male: "You'll see once you download it. ??"