At this moment, seeing the expression on Gengar's face, Kairos suddenly snapped back to reality.
Oh, right—Gengar probably thought it was insane that his Litwick ate a Rare Candy and skyrocketed straight to Elite Four level, didn't it?
Then again, Kairos hadn't expected the Rare Candy's effects to be that intense either...
Could 50 candies really boost Litwick from such a weak state all the way to Elite Four strength?
Wait—so he'd just slept through the night and become an Elite Four-level trainer? Could luck really be that generous?
He figured no one would expect the Kanto region's Big Four to suddenly become the Big Five overnight.
Of course, that was just a joke. In reality, while each region officially had only four Elite Four members, the number of trainers who reached Elite Four-level strength was much higher.
The real "Elite Four" had to be determined through competitions and grueling battles to decide the strongest—those who ultimately became the so-called "Big Four." They were basically near-Champion level in strength.
But that was getting off-topic. Kairos's attention returned to the Gengar in front of him.
Now, everything about this Gengar was clear to him. First, it wasn't actually a bad Pokémon at all.
And second, it was incredibly talented.
Plus… Gengar was a species he'd always liked anyway—so why not take it in now?
After a brief pause, Kairos's gaze settled back on Gengar.
"You just said… you're pretty interested in human things, right?"
Hearing this, Gengar eagerly nodded.
"Kehe kehe!"
—Absolutely! Why else would it go through all this trouble to get to the human world?
Seeing the enthusiastic response, Kairos grinned.
"In that case, have you ever heard of a certain word?"
"—Games?"
Gengar: (◎_◎;)???
---
While Kairos was busy recruiting Gengar to his team, Cynthia was continuing her gameplay.
This time, her new destination was Verdanturf Town, to the right of Mauville City—but rather than using Rusturf Tunnel again, Cynthia chose a different route.
She used Surf along the sea route above and to the right of Pacifidlog Town, arriving below Mauville City, then used Surf again from the southern waters to reach the city.
The reason for this detour was simple: during her journey, Cynthia had noticed many similar waterways around the edges of the map.
Within her line of sight, she'd spotted several land areas separated by water, with reward items and Poké Balls on them.
Previously, she'd wondered how to reach them—but after obtaining Surf, she immediately understood.
—Obviously, Surf was the key.
The detour turned out to be quite rewarding.
Just the black Ultra Balls she'd used to catch Dracovish—she found seven or eight of those.
Other items included: two Rare Candies for boosting Pokémon levels, and a special item called "Old Amber."
Cynthia didn't know what it was for, but after her experience with fossils, she wasn't about to underestimate anything with "Old" in its name.
Who knew? It might turn into an incredibly powerful Pokémon.
Besides those, she also found the usual mix of TMs and items that could be sold for money.
After reaching Mauville City from the southern waters, Cynthia visited a shop and exchanged all her extras for cash.
By now, she'd accumulated a massive total of 50,000 yen.
Remember—when she'd first started this game, going into debt after consecutive losses was routine.
But as her team grew stronger and her gameplay improved, so did her finances.
Of course, this was also thanks to Gym battle losses costing less than regular trainer battles.
Otherwise, Norman and Wattson's Gyms alone would've left her bankrupt.
Now, back in Mauville City, Cynthia didn't immediately head to Verdanturf Town. Instead, she chose to go north—toward the desert.
She hadn't forgotten her plan: to visit Fiery Path and use Strength to move that boulder, just to see if there was any hidden reward behind it.
Her intuition told her that since the boulder was inside a cave full of flames, the reward might be Fire-type related.
Maybe a Fire Stone. Maybe a Fire-type TM. Or maybe some other rare Fire-type item.
But Cynthia felt the most likely possibility was... a special Fire-type Pokémon.
After all, back at the Old Chateau, she'd encountered that special Rotom—and that terrifying, unknown "existence" Rotom had mentioned.
However, just as Cynthia was preparing to use Rock Smash on the familiar path, the screen suddenly paused.
Urgent music began playing, and a familiar figure came running in from off-screen, stopping in front of Cynthia and blocking her path.
Her eyes widened slightly—it was Wattson, the Electric-type Gym Leader from before!
His Electric Terrain and team-wide Thunderbolt strategy had left a lasting impression.
So what was he doing here?
Was he proactively challenging her?
Just as Cynthia began to get interested, she heard Wattson's breathless voice, with subtitles below:
[Huff, huff... kiddo, looks like you've already beaten Norman's Gym, huh? You're improving fast. I'd love to battle you again and see how much you've grown.]
[But before that—I need your help with something important.]
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a silver key.
[About half an hour ago, Mauville City's power system started acting up.]
[I suspect there's a malfunction in the core machinery inside the power plant beneath Mauville City. Could you check it out for me?]
[Of course, I won't make you go for nothing. This key opens the plant. There are many rare Electric-type Pokémon inside—you can catch a few if you want.]
[And after you help me investigate, I'll give you one of my treasured items as a reward.]
[So... will you help me out?]
Cynthia didn't hesitate. She selected "Accept" immediately.
—Obviously, she'd just triggered some kind of story quest. No reason not to.
Based on past experience, this usually led to something important or valuable.
Wattson laughed heartily.
"I knew I wasn't wrong about you! Great! In that case, I'll leave it to you. I need to head back to the Gym to welcome challengers!"
After handing her the key, he ran off without looking back.
Now Cynthia found herself slightly torn.
With this sudden quest, should she go to the power plant first, or Fiery Path?
After a brief moment, she decided—Fiery Path first.
She'd need to pass through Mauville again anyway to reach the next city on the right, so doing Fiery Path now would save backtracking.
With that, she continued toward Fiery Path.
Since she'd already defeated all the NPCs on this route during her previous trip, the journey was smooth.
Within ten minutes, she reached the entrance. Taking a deep breath, she walked in.
She had barely taken a few steps when she encountered a wild Pokémon she knew well—Torkoal.
The moment Torkoal appeared, a brilliant beam of sunlight shone down, and a game notification popped up:
[Torkoal's Drought ability activated! The weather changed to harsh sunlight!]
Cynthia raised an eyebrow.
This was the first time she'd seen a wild Pokémon with a weather ability. The earlier Torkoal hadn't had it.
So these weather-ability Pokémon were rarer?
Unfortunately, her next team build focused on rain, so catching a Torkoal would be out of place.
Otherwise, she might've considered it.
But then she remembered something.
If she recalled correctly... during a past conversation about weather team compositions, someone had left a strong impression on her.
Everyone had been talking about rain teams—but that person had proposed a strategy built around harsh sunlight.
She remembered he was a rising star, newly recognized as an Elite Four-level trainer.
What was his name?
Hmm… Leon, she thought. That sounded right.
He'd been added to the group chat by someone else. Cynthia didn't even know which region he was from—only that it wasn't one of the four major ones, but some far-off place.
She'd been interested in him at the time—Elite Four-level trainers that young were rare.
But things had come up, and she'd set the matter aside.
Now that she'd found a wild Torkoal with Drought, just like Pelipper had Drizzle…
Maybe she should share this with him and convince him to try the game?
Over the course of playing, her opinion of the game had changed completely.
—She'd started just to get the creator's contact info, but now she realized the game offered huge benefits for improving battle strategy and understanding Pokémon.
Even for a Champion like her, the experience had been invaluable.
With that thought, she silently made up her mind.
She'd find that group chat again, add him, and bring this up.
Little did she know—this small decision was about to help Kairos recruit an incredible new player.
While Cynthia was thinking, she smoothly sent out Pelipper to use Surf. A surge of blue waves swept across the screen, and Torkoal's HP bar vanished under the super-effective damage. She was back in Fiery Path.
Following the familiar route, she soon saw the boulder that had blocked the way last time.
But now, Bewear easily used Strength to push it aside, opening the path deeper into Fiery Path.
As she proceeded, white mist began to gradually build on-screen, rising steadily.
Clearly, this was caused by the rising heat in the area.
In front of the screen, Cynthia even felt a wave of heat hit her face.
She blinked slightly.
And then—she felt that familiar sensation rise in her chest again.
Was something incredible about to appear?
Just as she wondered, her screen suddenly went black.
The viewers in the stream noticed too. Based on past experience, they immediately filled the chat:
[Black screen—cutscene incoming! Legendary Pokémon time!]
[Knew it! There had to be something behind that boulder!]
Their memories of Regirock and the unseen legendaries battling in Fallarbor Town's volcanic ash house were still fresh.
Everyone held their breath, eyes glued to the screen.
—What was it going to be?
The next moment, the cutscene began.
Scorching steam surged, and deep red light glowed within the mist, radiating waves of heat!
The surroundings warped and twisted from the intense temperature—it looked like a space forged from molten lava, blazing and terrifying.
Within the white mist, a powerful silhouette slowly emerged.
But just as the atmosphere reached a peak...
A tiny, adorable creature no bigger than a Rattata poked out of the mist and tilted its head.
—"Victini?"