To be honest, when Iono first saw this forum, she couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised.
Because, although the internet was already flooded with countless game clip videos that had repeatedly made it to the trending lists...
This game had only been released for less than a week after all, making it a completely new game.
She hadn't expected someone to successfully register and establish a corresponding game forum so quickly.
However, when Iono clicked into the forum and saw the situation inside, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.
Because this forum indeed looked like a newly established forum, and it was really a bit too new.
The entire forum had only three posts total, completely empty, and all three posts were from someone named "Sequence001."
Was there really only one person in this forum right now?
Iono thought for a moment, then glanced at the first post and found it was a welcoming post for various players to come here. She lost interest and was about to exit to continue searching for clues about that yellow Pokémon.
—After all, this forum wasn't going anywhere, so she could come back later when there were more people.
She could think about whether she had any information or intelligence worth sharing after today's stream ended.
However, just as Iono was thinking and her mouse was hovering over the close button in the upper right corner, the title of the second post in the forum instantly caught her attention.
[Sharing Post: Information on All Currently Known Fossil Pokémon, Methods to Obtain Fossil Pokémon.]
Seeing this post title, Iono couldn't help but suddenly widen her eyes!
When it came to fossil Pokémon, her impression was far too deep.
Although they had only appeared once, those two guys could be said to have left her with lifelong trauma.
That's right, it was Roxanne's two Pokémon in the previous Rustboro Gym that had tormented her to death—Archen and Lileep!
Iono later learned through chat comments that those were fossil Pokémon—Pokémon from ancient times that didn't exist in the real world.
Now, there was actually a player who had specifically opened a post to share all information about fossil Pokémon??
No way, although fossil Pokémon seemed to have nothing to do with Electric-types, she absolutely had to click in and take a look.
According to forum rules, to view post content, you had to register an account first.
So Iono simply registered an account named "Electric-types are the Best" and directly entered the post to start reading. This post's content truly didn't disappoint her.
Just in the fossil Pokémon information section alone, besides the detailed information on Archen and Lileep that she had seen before, this post also shared a fossil Pokémon called Dracovish.
Looking at this Pokémon's information panel, Iono couldn't help but widen her eyes and murmur to herself.
"All biting moves boosted by 50%, plus an exclusive move with 85 power that doubles in power when going first... oh my god..."
Most of the livestream audience hadn't seen the moment when Cynthia had just witnessed Dracovish firsthand, so naturally, they had similar reactions to Iono—being deeply shocked by this Pokémon's strength.
However, this was only the beginning. After the information sharing on these three fossil Pokémon ended, an even more explosive line of text appeared below the post.
[Sequence001: Above is my information record on all fossil Pokémon. If new fossil Pokémon are discovered, I will supplement them below at any time. Everyone can also reply with attachments listing information on other fossil Pokémon.]
[Next is the method I discovered in the game for obtaining fossil Pokémon.]
After seeing this line of text, Iono felt her brain explode with a buzzing sound. Could you actually obtain fossil Pokémon in this game?
She immediately looked down eagerly and quickly understood the ins and outs of obtaining fossil Pokémon, widening her eyes with some surprise.
So fossils could be revived into new Pokémon??
This meant that the fossil she had obtained in Granite Cave before was meant to be used this way?
Good thing she hadn't casually sold this thing in the shop at the time, but had kept it in her backpack all along.
After a brief moment of relief, Iono couldn't help but start thinking.
This meant that her fossil might also hatch into that Pokémon called Dracovish?
Honestly, although Iono had planned to build a pure Electric-type team since she started playing this game.
But thinking about it now, if she could add such a powerful Water-type Pokémon to her team, it would undoubtedly make things countless times easier when facing Ground-type opponents!
Her eyes immediately lit up. After checking the information in this post, she immediately replied with a little red flower and a thank you emoji below, then switched out.
When returning to the forum main interface, she suddenly realized the other person had actually posted a third thread.
However, compared to the previous post, this thread wasn't sharing guides but seemed to be asking for help. The post title was:
[Help Wanted: I need to collect all information about Ultra Wormholes, the more the better. Can provide cash rewards for answers.]
Iono was stunned for a moment. Wasn't Ultra Wormhole exactly the source of that Pokémon she was looking for?
She still remembered the scene at the entrance to Petalburg City when that mysterious Pokémon emerged from the deep purple vortex.
After brief consideration, Iono directly clicked into this post.
The other person's answer had just helped her, and Iono had always been someone who repaid kindness. Now that the other person wanted all information about Ultra Wormholes, the yellow Pokémon she had discovered should count too, right?
Moreover, the other person was so interested in Ultra Wormholes—maybe they would also have some understanding of that mysterious Pokémon.
After some deliberation, she typed out a general description of first accidentally seeing the Ultra Wormhole, then that yellow Pokémon emerging from it, and also sent the other person the screenshot she had taken of that Pokémon's appearance.
What Iono didn't expect was that just after her message was sent, the bell in the upper right corner flashed with a red dot—that user named Sequence001 had directly replied to her!
[Sequence001: This Pokémon? I indeed haven't seen it either. If possible, please share with me any future encounters with it or any further understanding you might have. I would be very interested.]
Seeing that the other person seemed very interested, Iono thought for a moment and also told them about her discovery that this Pokémon seemed to be severely injured.
Soon, she received another reply from the other person.
[Sequence001: Do you want to heal it? If so, according to what Giratina said, ordinary healing methods probably wouldn't help much. But when I was in Mauville City, I found the seed of a flower.]
[That flower is called Gracidea Flower, which can heal any Pokémon's injuries, but the planting conditions are quite harsh. I'm currently looking for ways to plant it.]
Mauville City?
Gracidea Flower?
Iono looked at the information before her and was stunned for a moment, then tried hard to recall and discovered a problem.
When she was in Mauville City, she should have obtained all the items that could be found in the vicinity. She had even explored all the roadside grass with the interact button, but she hadn't discovered the seeds of this flower called Gracidea that the other person mentioned.
At this moment, she suddenly realized something and quickly typed another question:
[By the way, I want to ask you, there seems to be a sword in the volcanic ash cabin on the left side of Petalburg City. Have you seen it?]
This was information she had heard about in the livestream chat, but when Iono was at the volcanic ash cabin's reward exchange list, she hadn't seen that sword.
The other person's message was still replied to quickly.
[Sequence001: Of course, and I've already gotten that sword, but to unleash its power, it seems it must be repaired first.]
[Sequence001: But I didn't discover any Ultra Wormhole at that time. My guess is that in this game, besides those fixed plots and procedures, some plots and content can only be encountered by one group of players, while another group of players will encounter completely different situations.]
The judgment the other person made was exactly what Iono wanted to hear—what she had just wanted to ask about was actually this very thing.
It seemed it was indeed as the other person said.
In Petalburg City, she had encountered that mysterious yellow Pokémon, while the other person had encountered that mysterious sword...
Although it was the same place, they encountered different things.
This being the case, might other places in this game also have similar mechanisms?
And... would there still be possibilities of encountering those things that hadn't been met by players?
After brief contemplation, Iono shook her head and replied to the other person first.
[I think what you said makes sense, friend. If there's news about that Pokémon, I'll come tell you again.]
[Sequence001: Okay, I'll also pay more attention to the Pokémon you mentioned. If I can successfully cultivate that flower someday, I'll message you. Pleasant cooperation.]
Looking at the other person's text, Iono couldn't help but show a slight smile on her face.
Although there was only this one person in the forum now, she had to say the other person was quite nice.
If she had intelligence worth sharing later, she'd come find this person to share it...
Oh right.
She looked at the extremely blank forum interface before her, looked up at the camera toward the audience in the livestream, and suddenly spoke.
"Everyone saw it, too, right? The establishment of this forum is quite meaningful."
"So... I hope that viewers who have already purchased and are playing this game will also come, please everyone!"
Faced with Iono's invitation, the audience in the livestream naturally responded enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, a certain Sinnoh Champion still didn't know she had been issued a good person card by a certain Electric-type Gym Leader.
After replying to messages on the forum, Cynthia was now sitting in front of her computer screen, appearing thoughtful as she recalled the new information she had just obtained.
A powerful golden cat-like Pokémon as fast as lightning.
Could this be what's called an Ultra Beast from within the Ultra Wormhole?
But according to that person's description, weren't Ultra Beasts supposed to be very dangerous, aggressive existences?
But according to that person's description just now, why didn't this guy choose to attack, but instead directly leave?
Could there be other normal Pokémon existing within that Ultra Wormhole?
Cynthia couldn't help but frown slightly, but soon relaxed again.
Regardless, it was obvious that establishing the forum was an extremely correct decision—she had obtained new information about Ultra Wormholes so quickly.
Even if the information wasn't much and she couldn't judge anything now, it was still better than being completely clueless and knowing nothing.
Next, she'd wait for more people to join the forum.
She took a deep breath, switched back to the game interface, and continued playing.
Maxie's mood hadn't been very good recently.
Ever since discussing with Archie how to deal with the developer of "Pokémon: Emerald," he had been waiting for good news and victory reports from Archie's side.
But now nearly a full day had passed, and there was still not a peep from Archie's end.
He couldn't help but anxiously stand up and pace back and forth in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
Looking at the lava pool rolling with heat waves ahead, he felt his emotions calm down slightly.
Just then, the communicator on the desk suddenly rang, and Maxie immediately rushed over without hesitation and picked up the communicator.
Sure enough, the one contacting him was the Archie he had been desperately waiting for.
"How is it? Have you found that person's location? I've already prepared people to take action."
Maxie frowned slightly, a flash of impatient ferocity in his eyes. However, Archie's somewhat helpless voice came through the phone.
"Old Max, I have bad news for you. We got into the League's hidden database and also searched the regular database—we didn't find that person."
Maxie's excited voice, along with his facial expression, suddenly froze.
"I knew you could... wait, what did you say? What's going on?"
Archie sighed.
"Before this, I suspected his information had already been separately protected by the League, but now it seems the League doesn't have his information either."
This was the truth. In the League's hidden classified database, even information on current and dozens of former League leaders, as well as family information of Elite Four members and Champions, could be found—it was the League's top-tier information repository.
It could almost be said that as long as you weren't a wild person, you could definitely find some information belonging to you in the database.
But this game developer called "Wind" hadn't left even a trace!
Upon hearing this, both Archie and Maxie immediately fell silent. This situation was simply unheard of, as if a person had suddenly vanished into thin air without warning.
Maxie's emotions, which had just calmed down, immediately became irritated again. He suddenly stood up from his chair and began pacing back and forth again, letting out dissatisfied roars uncharacteristically.
"—So what do we do now? Just watch as he reveals all our plans?"
You could see he was truly getting anxious.
"I knew you couldn't do it—damn it, I need to quickly think of a solution."
But the next moment, Archie's voice came from the other side again, though he didn't sound as anxious.
"But I still gained something from searching for information about that Kairos guy. I learned that when this guy announced the game, he stated that whoever could be the first to complete this game would get his contact information."
"And now, do you know who the first and second place people are on the game progress leaderboard?"
"Who?"
Maxie asked subconsciously.
Archie spoke up:
"It's Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh region, and Lance, the Champion of the Kanto region! Further down is Iono, the Electric-type Gym Leader from the Paldea region."
"I learned about Cynthia and Iono through livestreams, and as for Lance's identity... You don't need to check to know—anyone can tell from his 'Dragon-types are the Best' ID."
Maxie frowned.
"What's your point in saying all this? What does this have to do with our business?? Don't tell me you're actually planning to play games with these guys to compete for that developer's contact information? That's too foolish!"
But the next moment, Archie's words made him slightly stunned.
"Yes, you're right. But think about it—why would two League Champions lower themselves to play such a small game?"
"Two possibilities. First, they discovered that this game's developer seems to know something about our plans and wants to use him to deal with us, while protecting this person's contact information from being exposed."
"But I think the second possibility is more likely—even the League doesn't know this game creator's real identity. This also explains why there's no trace of this person in any identity database, as if he just vanished into thin air."
Maxie now understood, but quickly shook his head in denial.
"No, how could someone possibly bypass League control, publish a game on the League's platform, and still hide their identity?"
Archie's voice immediately became somber.
"Could our top-secret plans being suddenly discovered by that guy and made into a game be something that should happen?"
"Old Max, I think this game creator is probably not as simple as we thought. You can't look at him from an ordinary person's perspective."
Maxie fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Fine, even if it's as you say, what do we do now? Really play this game together with those Champions?"
He suddenly got excited again:
"Even if we get that person's contact information this way, what's the point? By the time the game is completed, our plans will have already been exposed completely in the game!"
He couldn't help but question:
"What's wrong with you today? Facing such a big matter, you seem so calm. You weren't like this before..."
Speaking of this, Maxie actually felt something was a bit off.
Having spent so many years together, he knew Archie's personality—even more rash and impulsive than his own. So why did he seem so calm now?
Could it be that... he already had some solution?
Sure enough, the next moment Archie's voice came through the communicator again.
"You always say I act rashly and impulsively, but look—when things happen, you can't stay calm either."
"Alright, I'll stop teasing you. It's like this—when I investigated that game, I found the situation seemed quite different from what we thought."
Maxie was stunned: "What do you mean? Be specific."
"I watched game recordings online. Indeed, both of our plans have been revealed clearly by the game."
"But unlike what we imagined—what we're doing in the game is completely different from what we're actually doing now."
"For example, in the game, you're leading a group of people using some meteorite to do something at a volcano. If I remember correctly, you never considered anything like that before, right?"
Maxie was also stunned, then nodded.
"That's right. To expand the continent, having volcanic lava spread isn't a wise choice. After all, the area volcanoes can cover is too small. Unless there's power to make all the world's volcanoes erupt simultaneously, it would be impossible to achieve my expectations and wishes."
This kind of deep thinking from his plans was something that, logically, he shouldn't tell Archie, as his competitor.
But the situation was special now, and Maxie couldn't worry about that.
Then Archie continued: "I also learned that in that game, I'm leading a group from Team Aqua to steal blueprints for a top-tier submarine from a museum."
"Even I can't understand why I'd need such a good submarine to go so deep into the ocean. This has no connection to my plan for ocean expansion!"
Hearing this, Maxie suddenly understood. "You mean?"
Archie immediately confirmed.
"That's right. Although our overall plans have been exposed, the versions of us in the game seem to have different methods of realizing our plans that we can't understand."
"And their methods and schemes... have nothing to do with our reality!"
"So I think this incident might not be a crisis for us, but could actually be an opportunity."
Maxie had just been rushed into panic, but in fact, he was much smarter than Archie. Hearing this, he understood his meaning.
"...So you're saying we can first see what our game selves are going to do and borrow from their actions?"
Archie gave another affirmative response.
"Exactly. You know that with the requirements of our plans, ordinary methods simply can't achieve them. For so many years, we've been desperately searching for ways to scheme our plans. But such goals are ultimately distant. Now this game might bring us new inspiration. If so, why would we miss such a reason?"
This time, after hearing what Archie said, Maxie was silent for a moment before nodding deeply.
Indeed, what he said wasn't wrong, but now there was a new problem...
He frowned and asked, "Why are you telling me this? You could have gone to explore ways to implement plans in that game yourself and gotten ahead of me."
You know, they were in opposition to each other—their plans had always been in conflict...
Archie's ideal was to have the ocean cover the entire world, creating new civilizations and nations, while Maxie wanted land to swallow all oceans and mountains, recreating a world of only land in a lava-constructed world.
The two concepts could be said to be incompatible, like fire and water.
But Archie, on the other end of the phone, laughed. "You're usually so smart, but now you don't understand such a simple principle."
"Although our ideologies don't match, our opponent is the same—the League."
"If we can both get better ways to realize our plans from this game, then let's first solve the League together. As for who can ultimately achieve their goals, we'll each rely on our own abilities."
Hearing this, Maxie also smiled slightly. "Alright, that thinking suits me perfectly."
"But speaking of which... where can this game be played?"
...
Meanwhile, in the Kanto region.
On a stretch of ocean to the southwest, at this moment, the weather was fine with clear skies and calm seas.
The azure waves were like a beautiful painting, yet under such good weather and scenery, not a single fishing boat could be seen.
The reason was simple: this was an area that fishermen's boats never approached, known as the "Death Vortex" zone.
On the seemingly calm surface, a massive bottomless whirlpool could appear at any time, dragging all passing ships to the ocean floor.
And the sky full of bright sunshine could change at will, potentially producing violent storms at any moment.
So almost no one would come to such a dangerous place—all cruise ships and vessels would go around it...
But on this stretch of ocean, there was an inconspicuous small island.
Deep in the island's jungle, in a room of a certain building, a man sat on a leather sofa, looking down at a document on the table, seemingly pondering something.
He emanated an aura unique to the strong, with an invisible sense of oppression, his features square and cold.
If Kairos were here, he could immediately recognize this person's identity—
He was the founder of Team Rocket, the most charismatic of all villains—Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni!
At this moment, someone suddenly knocked on Giovanni's door. He put the document in his hand into a drawer and lightly tapped on the table with his finger.
"Come in."
The door was then pushed open, and a tall, handsome man in a Team Rocket uniform walked in.
This person was one of Team Rocket's Four Executives, "Apollo," who held top-level authority and power within all of Team Rocket.
However, seeing Giovanni at this moment, his attitude was quite respectful and fearful. He quickly came to Giovanni's desk and knelt on one knee, burying his head low.
"Lord Giovanni, I have an important matter to report."
Giovanni didn't look up, reaching out to gesture to the side. A Persian immediately leaped onto the table, bringing its head close to his hand for him to stroke its fur.
This Persian's fur was golden and smooth, obviously well-bred and fed.
Giovanni's deep voice also resonated in the room.
"You want to talk about the secret base in the Kanto region being discovered and destroyed by the League, right?"
Upon hearing this, Apollo immediately buried his head even lower, as if he didn't even have the courage to look Giovanni in the eye.
"I'm sorry, Lord. It's because we subordinates failed in our duties. Please punish us as you see fit."
But Giovanni ignored Apollo's words, stopped stroking Persian's fur, and looked up at him.
"I need you to give me a reason and cause for why the secret base was discovered."
Hearing this, Apollo immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Lord, according to my investigation, the secret base's information shouldn't have been leaked. Routine maintenance and surveillance found no signs that the League had any intention of sudden attack—it was as if the League acted on a whim..."
"But I think this shouldn't be possible, because Lance was among the first to strike at that time!"
"Otherwise, with our base's military strength at the time, we should have been able to hold out longer and successfully transfer the experimental data and equipment from the base."
"So I believe the most likely possibility is that we have a traitor among us."
Speaking of this, Apollo lowered his head again and said nothing, waiting for Giovanni's response.
Giovanni stood up from his seat and walked step by step to the nearby window.
"How's the situation with our undercover agents planted in the League?"
Hearing this, Apollo couldn't help but shudder and quickly answered: "Lord, they're all in normal condition, but before the secret base was attacked, none of them sent back corresponding information. According to them, this operation... the League seemed to launch it suddenly without any warning."
"They hadn't even conducted any investigation of that game center beforehand. That's why I suspect someone leaked information."
Hearing this, Giovanni didn't speak immediately but remained silent in oppression for a long time before speaking again, his voice ice-cold.
"I'm giving you one week to find the piece hidden among us. You can use whatever methods you want—the people below will cooperate with you."
"I don't want to hear about similar situations happening again."
Apollo nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.
"Yes, Lord. I will fulfill my mission and complete the task you've given me."
"By the way, Lord, what about our other bases in the Kanto region? Should we transfer them?"
Giovanni shook his head upon hearing this. "No need. Shut them all down and destroy the traces."
"The purpose of establishing those bases was only for that ultimate goal. And now... that goal is about to be achieved."
"Everything must make way for this matter..."
"You mean... that plan?"
Apollo paused first, then suddenly realized and showed a wild joy on his face.
However, Giovanni didn't answer directly but stared at the window in front of him.
Through that one-way glass, he could clearly see a huge cultivation tank situated in a nearby laboratory, with countless researchers in white coats surrounding it.
Looking at the white figure in that cultivation tank, he spoke softly and murmured:
"That day... won't be far away."
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