Chapter 068: Natsume-sensei's True Intentions

Crash!

At that moment, the sound of shattering glass echoed through the room.

Natsume's eyebrow twitched as he quickly saved the project plan and cautiously stepped out of the room, his heart pounding.

Eevee was chasing its Substitute, darting up and down the couch, knocking over all the glass cups on the coffee table.

"Even playing with itself... it can get this excited?" Natsume swallowed hard.

Finally, Eevee managed to pounce on the Substitute, which then dissolved into a faint white light and disappeared.

Eevee proudly lifted its head, only to see Natsume's complicated expression. It quickly glanced around the room.

Broken glass scattered across the floor, the torn couch, the fallen banner...

"Eevee!"

Eevee raised its paw, scratching its head sheepishly.

Cleaning up the room wouldn't be too much trouble, especially once Haunter returned.

However, when it came time to move out, damages to furniture like the couch and coffee table would have to be compensated to the landlord.

Natsume sighed, almost hearing the sound of his wallet shrinking.

He needed to speed up his money-making plans!

Although the income from live streaming was decent, having only started two months ago, Natsume had earned less than 100,000 Pokémon Coins.

As for Nico Dou, since Natsume didn't do sponsored content or sign any contracts, the bonuses were quite limited.

But once "Plants vs. Zombies" was released, supporting himself and the two little ones wouldn't be a problem.

Natsume picked up Eevee, who was trying to sneak away from the pile of glass shards.

"Are you hurt?"

"Eevee..." The little one blinked its dark eyes.

"As long as you're not hurt." Natsume breathed a sigh of relief, gently rubbing Eevee's small head.

"You know, people worry about you, right?"

Eevee had already curled up, preparing for a scolding, but Natsume simply patted its head and said nothing more, leaving Eevee to open its eyes in surprise.

"Eevee?"

"Ah, we'll wait for Haunter to clean up. That guy won't get hurt by the glass anyway."

Natsume nodded, convinced by his own logic.

The little one was slightly stunned, wagging its tail, a small smile spreading across its face, revealing tiny fangs.

"Eevee!"

Natsume sent the project plan to Kazuya, along with a quick phone call to explain the general idea.

Kazuya's voice was filled with shock. "What? You're asking me to make a game?!"

"Do you think I have too much hair or something?"

Natsume laughed. "We're a team, aren't we? And it's not like I'm not paying you. 20,000 Pokémon Coins for a summer vacation—pretty good deal, right?"

"Where do I start tomorrow?"

Even as a student at Tokyo Metropolitan University, Kazuya's internship salary was barely over 3,000 Pokémon Coins.

Working with Brother Natsume would mean earning 10,000 Pokémon Coins a month—definitely a good deal!

"Remote work is fine. I'll send you the basic framework. It's a tower defense game."

A tower defense game?

Kazuya was baffled.

Could something like that really be popular?

In fact, using commercial game editors available on forums, even a beginner who had only been programming for three months could make a tower defense game.

Was Brother Natsume just feeling impulsive, ready to burn some money for fun?

Although skeptical of Natsume's programming skills, Kazuya opened the project file.

The dense lines of code immediately made his scalp tingle.

"Holy crap, did Brother Natsume really write this himself?"

"His skills... are almost as good as mine!"

The further he read, the colder Kazuya's hands and feet became.

So he's handsome, has more hair than me, and now he's even surpassing me in programming?

Kazuya felt like crying. "Brother Natsume, you're really something else!"

"Just average," Natsume replied with a laugh.

"Let's work hard and try to finish this by the end of the summer vacation!"

Kazuya couldn't help but touch his receding hairline with a trembling hand.

But realizing he was already falling behind, with nothing left but his determination...

Kazuya gritted his teeth. "Screw it, I'll just grind through it!"

First, they needed to decide on the game's name.

After a long discussion, they settled on simply using "Plants vs. Zombies."

There were already quite a few games with similar themes on the market, like the FPS game Natsume had played with Cynthia, which was also about zombies.

The name was straightforward and to the point.

Building on the original game, Kazuya also proposed some fresh ideas.

"Even though it's a tower defense game, I think we should include some catching elements," Kazuya said.

"For example, after clearing a level, players could get Poké Balls to catch enemy Pokémon, which could be used as one-time items."

"After earning various medals, players could also unlock Grass-type Pokémon for free, and we could add some catching cutscenes."

Natsume nodded.

"Catching is fine, but let's skip the raising aspect. After all, it's still primarily a tower defense game."

Kazuya chuckled. "But when we turn it into a mobile game later, we can add raising elements, right?"

"Spend 100 coins to evolve Bellsprout, 1,000 coins for permanent Ferrothorn, 10,000 coins... cough cough."

Natsume raised an eyebrow.

Damn, Piplup Inc. is really missing out by not hiring you!

"Are we planning to release it on Steam?"

"Yeah, let's get the PC version out first, with simpler maps... we can add more content in paid DLCs later."

The maps for "Plants vs. Zombies" were actually quite simple.

Garden, night, rooftop, and pool—the first generation only had these four maps.

But when it came to plant selection and combinations, the possibilities were endless.

In this modified version, "Pokémon vs. Zombies," aside from tweaking some stats, each Pokémon would have its own unique move system.

For example, Bellsprout's "Razor Leaf," Carnivine's "Swallow," Oddish's "Sweet Scent"...

In the night map, Morelull's "Moonlight" would be the main source of sunlight.

Amoonguss's "Spore," Budew's "Attract"... could induce sleep or charm effects.

As for enemy types...

Beedrill would fly over the front-line Pokémon but could be blocked by Exeggutor.

Beedrill's attack, "Fury Attack," would randomly hit 2 to 5 times, really testing the player's luck...

In a way, playing this tower defense game could even help players memorize Pokémon moves.

When the second draft of the project plan was completed, Kazuya was slightly stunned, with only one thought in his mind.

Edutainment!

Not only could players remember moves, but they could also master some type matchups.

Through the game, not only would more people experience the fun and charm of Pokémon,

but it might also inspire many to embark on the path of becoming a Trainer.

Could this be Brother Natsume's true intention?

Kazuya couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"As expected... Brother Natsume's vision is truly profound!"

Thinking this, Kazuya felt even more motivated to work on the game.

For the art resources, Kazuya suggested reaching out to Smeargle from the art school, which could save some money.

Natsume was slightly taken aback.

Are Pokémon even starting to take over jobs now?

But then again, many big companies were already using Porygon to replace programmers.

If he ever started his own company, not only could he use Porygon for programming, but having an Electivire could even save on electricity bills...

"Then I'll leave it to you, Kazuya."

"Don't mention it," Kazuya grumbled.

"Don't worry, even if it means risking baldness, I'll work overtime to get this done!"

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