Chapter 415 - 410: Pika Pika~

Chapter 415: Chapter 410: Pika Pika~

Time together was fleeting. The three-day Labor Day holiday had just ended, and Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan had no choice but to rush back to the Imperial Capital.

After all, they couldn’t fall behind on their studies. Besides, the company also needed the two of them back to take charge.

Especially since the two new projects, Pokemon and Four-wheel Brothers, had just launched, he had to maintain strict control over the content. Both IPs had extremely high commercial value, and there could be no room for error.

However, compared to Slam Dunk and Four-wheel Brothers, the early art style of the Pokemon Original Series was much simpler. After all, the main characters were only ten years old, and the Pokemon they encountered along the way were all adorable, making it easy to win over the audience.

Plus, with the hooks of Pokemon battles, captures, and evolutions, audience anticipation was pushed to the max.

Jiang Xia still remembered the first time he saw this anime on a DVD. His eyes had filled with wide-eyed wonder, and his mind had conjured countless dreams of catching Pokemon, wanting to travel the world with them and become friends.

Therefore, when Jiang Xia first proposed the concept of Pokemon in a meeting, everyone showed immense interest.

In the following days, Jiang Xia led the production of the first episode of Pokemon, and the story was more or less the same as in his previous life—

A boy named Ash, who had just turned ten, lived in Pallet Town with his mother. In this world, anyone who turned ten could become a Pokemon Trainer and receive a Pokemon from a Pokemon Scholar. To become a top-tier Pokemon Master, Ash had to embark on a training journey and face many trials.

Unfortunately, on the day of his departure, Ash overslept and was late, falling a step behind the others. He managed to get an unwanted Pikachu from the Professor, only to find that Pikachu was difficult to care for and incredibly stubborn. But during a subsequent battle with a Spearow, Ash and Pikachu finally forged a precious friendship. At a critical moment, Pikachu unleashed a Thunderbolt to drive off the Spearow, but was severely injured in the process...

Watching the pilot episode, which had taken twenty days to produce, Jiang Xia was quite satisfied. The characters, the plot, and even their personalities were all quite faithful to the original.

Especially at the moment Pikachu popped out of its Poke Ball. Thinking back to his past life, how after 25 years, Pikachu finally helped Ash win the World Championship, Jiang Xia’s heart filled with emotion.

’It’s been a long time, Pikachu.’

He sighed softly, suddenly eager to see the day Pikachu appeared on television. What a sight it would be when the entire world had its heart captured by that adorable yellow mouse.

However, there was one small flaw. This was just a pilot episode without any voice acting yet. Jiang Xia wasn’t too concerned about the other characters’ voices—as long as the vocal timbre was suitable, it would be fine. But for Pikachu’s voice, even if it wasn’t a perfect match to the original, it at least had to have the right ’feel,’ right?

With this requirement in mind, Jiang Xia turned his sights to his wife.

He knew Lin Yanwan had seen the original anime and was a die-hard Pokemon fan. Their home used to be filled with Pikachu figurines, making her the perfect person for the role.

If Jiang Xia remembered correctly, in the classic Mandarin dub, Ash’s original voice actress was also a woman, and there had been more than one.

"Babe, why don’t... you give it a try?" Jiang Xia asked, winking.

"Me?" Lin Yanwan hesitated. "Aren’t I already voicing Haruko? Plus, I’m still responsible for Cat and Mouse. Are you sure?"

She was just worried that if she took on too much, she wouldn’t be able to do a good job on any of the shows, and the result wouldn’t be worth the effort.

"The musical score for Cat and Mouse is already quite developed; we can hand that off to someone else for now. We haven’t found the right person for Ash’s young boy voice or Pikachu’s vocal sounds yet. Why don’t you give it a try?" Jiang Xia said.

"Mmm... All right, then."

Lin Yanwan nodded. Both were characters she loved, and now she finally had the chance to voice them. She couldn’t have been happier.

She stepped into the recording booth and let out a couple of soft vocalizations, trying to find the right feel for a young boy’s voice. For a professional voice actress, this wasn’t difficult.

"Go, Pikachu!"

"Honey, your tone could be a little crisper," Jiang Xia said, frowning as he listened through his headphones.

It wasn’t that he needed it to be exactly like the one from his memory; the main thing was that it needed to match the tone and pitch of a ten-year-old boy.

Lin Yanwan coughed twice, slightly adjusted her enunciation, and looked at the script in her hand before saying, "Bulbasaur, I’ve decided! You’re my Pokemon!"

Jiang Xia’s eyes lit up.

This time, her delivery was much better than before. Her voice was clean and crisp, sounding just like a boy of about ten.

"That’s the voice. It’s perfect!" Jiang Xia decided instantly.

"What about Pikachu’s vocal sounds?"

Lin Yanwan recalled how Pikachu sounded in her memory and tentatively made several sounds to convey different emotions.

First, a cute "Pika-chu!"

Then, a sad "Pika..."

Followed by an angry "Pika-pika!"

And a questioning "Pikapika?"

Lin Yanwan looked at Jiang Xia through the glass window, a slight smile playing on her lips. She thought her impression was pretty spot-on.

This was all thanks to how she used to mimic Pikachu’s speech when she watched Pokemon back in the day. She couldn’t help it; who could possibly dislike that adorable little yellow mouse?

"Babe, don’t even try to refuse. The voice of Pikachu has to be you, right?" Jiang Xia said with a smile.

Putting everything else aside, the essence of those few vocal sounds with different tones was spot-on. He had guessed before that Lin Yanwan’s vocal timbre would be a perfect fit for Pikachu’s voice actor, and sure enough, he was right.

"Pika!"

"Is that a yes?"

"Pika-pi!"

Lin Yanwan blinked, continuing her cute act with the vocalizations. She suddenly realized how fun it was.

"Then I’ll take that as a yes."

Next, Jiang Xia had many other voice actors audition and preliminarily cast the voice actors for several of Pokemon’s regular characters. He paid special attention to Team Rocket’s classic opening motto, which was unforgettable for anyone who had seen Pokemon.

After work, Jiang Xia walked out of the Tsinghua Science and Technology Park Building, holding his wife’s hand.

"What do you want to eat tonight?"

"Pikachu~"

"Hot pot?"

"Pi," she said, turning her head away slightly.

"No hot pot, huh? Then how about we find a restaurant and get some Sichuan stir-fry?"

"Pika-pi!"

"Speak properly. Are you getting addicted to talking like Pikachu?" Jiang Xia said in exasperation, giving her a light smack on the butt.

Lin Yanwan’s face flushed slightly, and she giggled as she nodded.

"So, when we’re making a baby tonight, are you going to be ’pika-pi-ing’ too? Please don’t. I’d feel guilty. I much prefer hearing your ragged breaths," Jiang Xia said with a wicked grin.

"???"

"You’re impossible," she said, both embarrassed and annoyed.