Pokemon: The Gameboy Effect

When John arrived at the breeding hall, the place was already packed with people. It wasn't just the forty students he had seen in the classroom the night before, but over two hundred in total.

There were five classes in the Breeding Department, each with about forty students. The groups were lined up, all waiting for the doors to open at 8 a.m. to enter and pick up their Pokemon eggs.

"Hey, we're here," someone suddenly patted John on the shoulder.

The next second, a tall, burly guy—easily over six and a half feet—came into view.

It was his classmate, the guy who had backed him up as class representative during the meeting last night… Well, at least John now remembered his name: Chad.

"Yeah, that's me," John replied with a smile, remembering the guy's name. It was a cool name, even if it seemed a little too casual at times.

"Alright, let's go!" John followed him as they entered the breeding hut together.

It was still fifteen minutes before the doors officially opened.

"By the way," Chad asked curiously, turning to John, "How did things go yesterday? Did you join Professor Scarlet's research team yet?"

"Yeah," John nodded, "But as a collaborator, not a student."

"Wow, that's awesome!" Chad beamed, his voice booming across the space. "I heard your entrance exam scores were top in the Breeding Department. How did you manage that?"

"Wait, how did you know?" John asked, surprised. He hadn't told anyone about his exam results.

"It's all over campus! After you left last night, there was a post on the campus forum about you joining Professor Scarlet's team before military training even started. It also listed your exam scores. Man, you've become a campus celebrity!"

"I just don't know when I'll be able to become the 'face' of the school," Chad sighed dramatically, staring off into the distance with longing.

"Ugh," John grimaced. No wonder he'd been feeling like everyone was staring at him since he got here.

John couldn't help but shake his head. Fame was inevitable. Once he brought his Pokemon into the spotlight—like his Shiny Kirlia or Shiny Makuhita—everyone would remember him. No need to rush it.

As they chatted, Chad continued asking questions about everything from the entrance exam to world politics, his curiosity seeming endless. If the doors hadn't opened yet, John suspected they might have gotten into an hour-long debate about aliens.

John wasn't sure if aliens existed, but he was pretty sure there were alien-like Pokemon.

"Alright, everyone," Daisy's voice cut through the noise. "Please follow your squad leader in an orderly manner and enter the breeding hut. Each class will enter one at a time."

There were five teams in total, two teams entered at once, and soon it was John's class.

Following Ricardo, everyone passed through a disinfection checkpoint before being allowed into the main room where the Pokemon eggs were stored.

Inside, hundreds of eggs filled the large room. Each egg was a different color, and even those of the same color had unique patterns, much like no two leaves on a tree are identical. The eggs varied greatly in size—some were as small as a hand, while others were large enough to resemble oversized basketballs.

No matter the size, each egg was carefully placed in a glass container with its own temperature regulation system. Maintaining the right temperature was crucial for ensuring the eggs hatched successfully and the Pokemon inside were healthy.

"Wow, these eggs are adorable!"

"There are so many! How do we choose? Can anyone tell me which Pokemon these eggs belong to?"

"I'm going for the red one! It has to be a Fire-type!"

It didn't take long for the noise level to rise to a point where John felt like he was at a busy market.

"Alright, everyone! Quiet down, please!" Daisy's voice rang out, commanding attention. "Pick your eggs quickly, but remember—do not touch them during the observation phase. If you want one, just pick it up and bring it to me for registration."

Her authoritative tone immediately silenced the chatter, and the girls, at least, lowered their voices to whisper among themselves.

Chad turned to John. "What Pokemon do you want? I'll help you pick the best one!"

"No need," John replied, picking up the nearest egg.

He wasn't interested in picking a free egg. Whatever the school was offering would likely be low-tier Pokemon, maybe not even rare. Plus, without any special ability to identify what kind of Pokemon was inside each egg, choosing one carefully didn't seem worth the effort.

He simply grabbed one and walked straight to Daisy to register it.

"That's it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "No more choosing?"

"Yeah, I'm good," John nodded.

Daisy raised her voice again to address the group. "The first stage of training is to hatch your Pokemon eggs. The first person to hatch successfully will receive a reward, which will be a special item related to their Pokemon's type. Afterward, the second stage will be unlocked. So make sure you let me know as soon as your egg hatches."

After completing the registration, John left the breeding hut holding his glass container with the egg inside.

Walking down the path, he finally had a chance to look more closely at the egg. The egg had a white background with circular spots in various colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. It looked like a mini rainbow.

Hold on… Was this connected to a Pokemon with a rainbow theme?

Ho-Oh, perhaps?

For a second, John thought he might be losing his mind. Could this ordinary Pokemon egg really hatch into a legendary like Ho-Oh?

The thought triggered a memory from the game. In the Pokemon world, eggs didn't just hatch over time. In some games, the egg would hatch once a certain number of steps were taken by the player.

If that was the case, maybe he could use his Gameboy to count his steps and hatch the egg that way!

And if he hatched it first, he'd get a special reward. It was a good incentive.

Without wasting any more time, John turned and headed back to his dorm, ready to hatch his new egg through a bit of clever walking.