—Ultra Space?
Faced with these two words suddenly posed by the person who appeared before her, Cynthia couldn't help but be slightly stunned. This was a term she had never heard before.
Seeing that Cynthia was dazed and didn't respond, the young man across from her continued speaking on his own:
"Well, it seems you don't know about this strange phenomenon. What a shame, I thought I might be able to get some clues from you."
"But you should be a Pokémon trainer, right? Since we've met, how about a battle?"
With his words, the game didn't immediately enter battle mode as usual.
A prompt appeared before Cynthia's eyes.
[Aether Foundation's son: Gladion has come to challenge you!]
[Accept the battle?]
Cynthia thought about it and ultimately chose to accept.
The young man immediately smiled.
"Very good, then let's have a proper match! Let me show you my most prideful partner!"
The next moment, intense battle music began playing, Poké Ball icons swept across the screen, and the game switched to the battle interface!
Faced with this sudden change, the livestream audience's reaction was naturally much stronger than Cynthia's.
[In a game where everyone's super masculine and wants to fight anyone they see, there's actually someone polite enough to ask if you want to battle before starting. How refreshingly courteous!]
[The son of the Aether Foundation? Sounds like he's got some serious backing, but what kind of organization is that? Don't tell me it's another villainous organization?]
[I think it sounds like it might be, but this guy can't be as twisted as that Paul guy from earlier, right?]
[Probably not. Look, his team only has two Pokémon. He's probably just a random character.]
[+1]
As the battle began, many viewers noticed that in the battle interface at the top, the Poké Balls representing Gladion's Pokémon count showed only two, so they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Based on their experience, NPCs carrying fewer Pokémon usually meant lower battle difficulty.
However, the next moment, when Gladion threw his Poké Ball and sent out his Pokémon, everyone was suddenly stunned!
—A deep black body, fluffy fur, handsome, dashing, and mysteriously charming appearance...
[Gladion sent out Zoroark!]
[The opponent chose not to trigger the "Illusion" ability, so Zoroark appeared in its true form!]
This was Zoroark, an extremely rare Pokémon!
But unlike other rare Pokémon, Zoroark seemed to mostly exist independently, rather than living in groups like other rare Pokémon.
Therefore, its rarity was quite astounding, with traces of this Pokémon only appearing in extremely remote areas of select regions.
If any trainer in the real world captured a Zoroark, it would immediately cause a sensation, even if the person who captured it was an Elite Four member or Champion!
Yet now, such a Pokémon appeared in the possession of this person called Gladion!
At the same time, the moment Cynthia saw this Pokémon, she immediately realized something was wrong and became serious.
All the opponents she had faced before used ordinary Pokémon, yet still put tremendous pressure on her.
So this guy would probably be even more challenging!
She immediately gave her command:
"Ludicolo, Teeter Dance!"
As it turned out, this battle went about as Cynthia had expected.
Even with Ludicolo inflicting confusion status on it, Zoroark managed to use "Dark Pulse" twice in a row, taking out Ludicolo in just two hits, including the first turn.
And its damage was severely excessive! Ludicolo nearly ended up owing health!
Next, when Bewear entered the field, Zoroark triggered confusion twice, which barely allowed Bewear to take it down.
It looked like a one-for-one trade, but in reality, many viewers in the livestream were already sweating.
[That damage is way too broken, holy cow...]
[If she hadn't inflicted confusion at the start, Cynthia would probably be restarting right now.]
[So this is Zoroark... I wish I could have one.]
[Hey, you above, just play Emerald! If this NPC can catch Zoroark, then players naturally can too, hehe.]
While the chat was discussing intensely, Cynthia also breathed a slight sigh of relief. This Zoroark's speed and special attack power were quite outrageous. If she couldn't resolve it quickly, she would probably have been wiped out.
Fortunately, confusion triggered twice in a row...
Just as she was thinking, she saw Gladion, who had recalled Zoroark, reappear on the field, his voice filled with surprise.
"I didn't expect to find someone here who could defeat my Zoroark. How interesting. In that case, I should get a bit more serious too."
"Go, Silvally!"
As he threw his Poké Ball, a Pokémon with a leopard-like appearance and a massive crown-like crest on its head appeared before him!
"Silvally, the opponent fears Flying-type! Change!"
Gladion said, waving his hand and throwing a white disc toward Silvally.
The next moment, snow-white light began surging over Silvally's body. Its form rapidly changed, growing snow-white wings on both sides of its body!
Seeing this scene, the chat naturally exploded:
[What kind of Pokémon is this??]
[It can change forms and switch types on the spot??]
[Who just said this guy was an NPC? Please step forward, thanks.]
At the same time, Cynthia was also somewhat confused.
Switching its own type during battle... some Pokémon could indeed do this.
But that all required using moves and spending time.
This Pokémon called Silvally just switched directly?
Didn't this mean that in one battle, it could flexibly change its type according to the opponent's attributes, always maintaining resistance to the opponent's type while countering theirs?
In Pokémon battles, when strength was similar, type advantage was quite important.
She understood very clearly what having such an ability meant.
Cynthia pressed the screenshot button she had used countless times, saving this Pokémon's appearance, took a deep breath, and refocused her attention on the game.
Regardless, the opponent only had one Pokémon.
Although it countered her entire team with Flying-type, if she tried hard enough, there was still a chance to win!
However, one minute later.
Looking at the opposing Silvally still at full health and her completely wiped out team, Cynthia's expression became somewhat complex.
She had thought Zoroark's output ability and speed were already quite outrageous, but she hadn't expected there to be something even more powerful. With her current team configuration, this Silvally was completely impossible to deal with.
The opponent had extremely high speed, guaranteed first strike every turn, and would use a move called "Multi-Attack" each round. This move had extremely high power and seemed to change its type according to Silvally's current type.
Moreover, what was even more broken was that during battle, Silvally could freely switch types at the start of each turn!
For example, when facing Grovyle, a Grass-type, when she commanded Grovyle to use "Pursuit"—the only move that wouldn't be resisted—the opponent actually changed to Dark-type beforehand, thus resisting that move!
Although Grovyle didn't even get to attack before being one-shotted by the opponent's "Ice Fang"...
But the moment she failed, Cynthia didn't feel disappointed. Instead, she took a deep breath and rapidly thought of strategies to counter this Pokémon.
But what she didn't expect was that after the battle ended, she wasn't forced back to the Pokémon Center, nor did the screen go dark with the message [Strawberry Ice Cream's eyes went dark].
That young man called Gladion actually walked up and pulled out several light blue, glowing potions from his coat, using them on Cynthia's Pokémon. They instantly opened their eyes and woke up, becoming full of energy with completely restored HP and status.
Seeing this, Gladion spoke again.
"Sorry, since it was a Pokémon battle, I didn't hold back."
"It seems your Pokémon aren't quite my opponents yet, but that's okay. I have a feeling that in the future, you'll definitely become a stronger trainer and even defeat me."
At this point, he scratched the back of his head, seeming somewhat embarrassed as he continued:
"Um, I have a favor to ask. Could you help me gather information about Ultra Space?"
Hearing this, Cynthia couldn't help but press the interaction button and speak up.
"What is this Ultra Space you're talking about?"
Hearing this, Gladion smacked his forehead, as if suddenly realizing something.
"Sorry, I forgot you might not have heard of it. In that case, let me explain."
"Ultra Space is a special dimension that exists independently from reality, seemingly connected to another incredible world."
"In that world exist numerous Pokémon that are all special and dangerous. We call them Ultra Beasts."
"Recently, Ultra Space has become increasingly restless, with many Ultra Beasts appearing in reality. So I'm investigating Ultra Wormholes in the Hoenn region on behalf of the Aether Foundation."
As he spoke, Gladion pulled out a photograph showing a deep purple vortex with an eerie glow.
"This is what Ultra Wormholes look like in the real world. If you see one, make sure to stay far away from it, then contact me immediately and tell me its location. I'll have someone come deal with it right away."
As Gladion said this, the chat was naturally buzzing with discussion.
[Ultra Wormholes sound pretty interesting. This author really has quite an imagination to come up with such a concept.]
[Indeed, Ultra Beasts sound so cool.]
[So this guy is actually the son of a major good organization? No wonder his Pokémon are so outrageous, starting with ultra-rare Pokémon.]
[Does he look like a villain to you? He asked if you wanted to battle before fighting, and after winning, he helped heal your Pokémon without charging money. What a good guy.]
While the audience was discussing, Cynthia's pupils suddenly contracted as she stared intently at that photograph.
In that instant, she felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck her from above!
Ultra Wormholes!
So that's what they were called!!
Five years ago, in the Kanto region, a massive deep purple vortex appeared in the outskirts of Saffron City. After being spotted, it was immediately reported to the League, and out of caution, the League immediately dispatched numerous elite trainers to observe and blockade it.
That very night, numerous strangely-shaped Pokémon suddenly emerged from the vortex. Not only were they incredibly powerful, but they also showed extreme aggression toward humans. In less than ten minutes, over half the elite trainers were casualties.
It was only when Lance, responding to the distress signal, arrived to intervene that they barely managed to deal with the Pokémon that had emerged from the hole.
After the battle ended, the vortex simply disappeared.
The League thought the incident was over, but they didn't realize it was just the beginning of a nightmare. As time passed, identical vortexes began appearing in various regions, and each time they appeared, the vortexes were larger than before!
The bizarre Pokémon emerging from them were also stronger and more numerous.
Under these circumstances, the League was forced to deploy more personnel to constantly combat these vortexes.
Champions like Cynthia also had to occasionally deal with vortexes near the Sinnoh region.
Even Emma, whom she had contacted earlier, was currently a member of the special task force dealing with these vortexes.
Even so, due to the danger of those bizarre Pokémon, every confrontation with the vortexes resulted in numerous trainers and Pokémon being severely injured or even killed!
These vortexes were called "Black Holes" by the League. The only fortunate thing was that they never appeared in urban areas—without exception, they all appeared in the outskirts, so they hadn't caused large-scale civilian casualties.
But as time passed, these Black Holes were appearing more frequently, growing larger in scale, and appearing closer and closer to cities!
Some civilians had even witnessed battles between League trainers and those Ultra Beasts. The League had to work hard to suppress this information to avoid panic.
But this ultimately wasn't a fundamental solution. This matter was like a huge boulder pressing down on the League's head, like a ticking time bomb—no one knew when it would completely explode and sweep away this peaceful world!
The League had also tried to study the causes and mysteries behind these vortexes, but aside from the Ultra Beasts being terrifyingly powerful and normally impossible to approach the Black Holes...
Not to mention, trainers and Pokémon who accidentally got too close to Ultra Wormholes would disappear on the spot, never to return!
Under such circumstances, how could the League let defenseless researchers take such risks?
Cynthia had actually been secretly worrying about this for some time.
She understood that given the strength of those bizarre Pokémon from the Black Holes, if any single Black Hole appeared in a city, it would result in at least thousands of civilian casualties!
And she wasn't confident that if things continued this way... with these Black Holes growing larger and appearing more frequently, would the League still have the strength to stop them?
In the worst case scenario, if one day the Black Holes stopped disappearing, or even appeared all at once in one location...
Even as a Champion, when Cynthia thought of such a scene, she felt deep and overwhelming despair.
Fortunately, none of this had happened yet.
She could only constantly monitor the Black Hole situation in the Sinnoh region, rushing to the scene immediately upon discovery to help, while hoping that the League's researchers could successfully explore the mysteries of these "Black Holes."
But now, when she saw in the game that photograph identical to the real-world "Black Holes"...
Cynthia felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen!!
Everything in this game was real.
So could she obtain intelligence about Ultra Wormholes from it next?!
No, not just that. Since the game developer could write this content, it proved he had an even deeper understanding of Ultra Wormholes!
If she could contact him, she might be able to find a way to solve the Ultra Wormhole problem!!
Even if not, she could at least gather more intelligence and make better preparations to minimize casualties as much as possible!
With this thought, Cynthia immediately sat up as if she had become a different person, her eyes flashing with excitement. Without hesitation, she turned off her livestream's microphone and camera and got up to dial a number.
A few seconds later, an elderly female voice came through the phone.
"Oh, it's you, little Cynthia? How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long."
"...Is there something you need my help with?"
Cynthia took a deep breath and immediately said:
"Grandma Carolina, I need to access someone's files."
Previously, when she wanted to find the game developer to ask about legendary Pokémon clues, it was purely for her own needs.
So after learning that the person's information was in the classified database, Cynthia hadn't asked Emma to continue investigating.
On one hand, it wasn't necessary—if it was just for some information about legendary Pokémon, the classified database really shouldn't be accessed.
On the other hand, it was also out of respect for that game developer.
But now, the matter involved Ultra Wormholes, such a crisis...
What she was doing was for the sake of this world!
As a Champion, she had to be responsible for every citizen's safety.
Getting information about Ultra Wormholes one second earlier could help avoid one more second of potential future catastrophe!
At that moment, the person on the other end sounded somewhat puzzled.
"Silly child, with your clearance level, you can look at anyone's files..."
She seemed to realize something.
"Wait..."
"You mean you want to access the classified database?"
Cynthia nodded.
"Yes, my clearance isn't sufficient, so I need your help."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.
"Child, it's possible... but I need a reasonable explanation from you. You know that the classified database contains the foundation of our League's existence—truly top-secret information that can't be accessed casually."
Cynthia took a deep breath and said directly:
"Grandma, he has detailed information about the Black Holes. Regarding Black Holes, he probably knows more than all of us combined."
This time, the voice on the other end, which had always been calm as still water, suddenly became excited.
"Black Holes?! Are you telling the truth?!"
"No... you've never lied since you were little..."
"Child, quickly! Quickly tell me! Who are you looking for?!"