At this very moment, all the viewers in Iono's livestream had their eyes glued to the screen as her character rushed through the gym doors she had hesitated to enter for ages. Everyone was completely dumbfounded.
[What's going on? Did the streamer lose her mind?]
[No clue, feels like something suddenly triggered her.]
[Didn't you all say the streamer was too scared to go in? Now she's proving us wrong!]
[Whatever! Go Iono! Show that old-timer what it means when the new generation surpasses the old!]
[I just came back from another stream, and knowing what's about to happen makes me want to laugh LOL]
Meanwhile, Cynthia had no idea that after seeing her message, Iono had thrown all caution aside and charged into Norman's gym, determined to challenge him so she could reach Mauville City's power plant tonight and trigger the Zeraora storyline as quickly as possible.
She continued typing in the chat window.
"You need to be careful though, that storyline is extremely difficult. Under normal circumstances, it would be nearly impossible to clear. I only managed to break through thanks to an unexpected encounter with a mythical Pokémon called Victini.
If you want to see Zeraora, you'd better find a way to get this Pokémon on your team. To catch it, first you need to go to the tunnel on the left side of Mauville City to get the Strength HM, then..."
Cynthia gave Iono a detailed rundown of how she had encountered and captured Victini.
After a moment of thought, she also reminded Iono that if she hadn't started challenging Norman's gym yet, she should definitely prepare well, because Norman's gym was incredibly tough.
But after sending this string of messages, the forum showed them as unread. Apparently, Iono had already left.
Seeing this, Cynthia paused, then immediately realized what had happened. This girl probably heard about Zeraora and couldn't wait to challenge the gym.
If that was the case, then all she could do was wish her luck. Hopefully, after getting crushed twice, she would come back and read the warning messages.
After messaging Iono, Cynthia didn't immediately close her computer. While sharing Zeraora's information with her, Cynthia also thought of another person. Lance.
When they had originally exchanged intelligence, they both assumed that the Pokémon emerging from Ultra Wormholes would all be dangerous Ultra Beasts like Gladion had described.
Now it seemed that Ultra Wormholes might contain other Pokémon as well. Whether it was today's Mega Evolution or Ultra Beasts as a special branch of Pokémon, Cynthia felt this was valuable new intelligence worth sharing.
So she picked up her phone, opened the messaging app, and sent Lance both the Mega Evolution battle footage she'd recorded today and the CG scene featuring Zeraora and Regieleki. She then began typing, describing in detail everything she had witnessed.
"Today I met a girl on the forum who told me this Pokémon emerged from an Ultra Wormhole..."
After Cynthia finished her lengthy description and sent it, she shut down the computer and went to wash up.
Ten minutes later, when Cynthia returned to sit on her bed and picked up her phone after finishing her routine, she saw Lance's reply.
But unlike before, this time Lance's attitude seemed quite serious.
[I've looked at everything you sent, but honestly, Cynthia, I'm becoming increasingly suspicious about the reliability of the information this game provides.]
[Remember what originally made us believe that this author knew everything about the real world and had access to intelligence we didn't have?]
[It was because the game showed us things that actually exist and can be verified in the real world, like those precise submarine blueprints or that Pokémon you mentioned called Lileep.]
[But what is he showing us now? Whether it's these so-called Ultra Beasts, Mega Evolution, or these incredible mythical Pokémon you're talking about...]
[While I really want to get information about Ultra Wormholes from this game, these things are making me question whether they actually exist.]
[At the end of the day, maybe this is just wishful thinking on our part. After all, it's just a game.]
Lance sent many messages, and Cynthia quickly scanned through them, understanding his concerns.
Actually, during today's gameplay, similar doubts had crossed her mind too.
She had simply chosen to follow her instincts and think deeper about these things.
But now Lance's words pulled her back to reality.
Right, when it comes down to it, this is just a game.
Maybe the game's author did have access to certain unknown information and made surprising discoveries in certain fields, perhaps even surpassing Professor Oak's research team.
But in the end, you couldn't believe everything.
Seeing Lance's words, Cynthia didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Then another message from Lance popped up in the chat window.
[Although this might be our only chance to explore clues about Ultra Wormholes...]
[But what if none of this is real, and it's all just made up by that game author called "Kairos"?]
[Cynthia, sorry, I think I need to cool down first. You know this matter can't be taken lightly for me.]
After saying this, Lance's profile picture went dark. He had gone offline.
Seeing this, Cynthia put down her phone and sighed softly. For Lance, the Ultra Wormhole matter was like a massive boulder weighing down on his heart, ready to collapse at any moment.
Wasn't it the same for her?
As a Champion, she understood clearly that with great power came great responsibility.
Facing such a crisis, only strong people like herself could step forward and shield everyone else.
Recalling what Lance had just said, Cynthia couldn't help but think again.
Right, maybe everything about this game was just wishful thinking on her part.
Her original intention in playing had simply been to gather information and clues about legendary Pokémon.
Setting such high expectations might indeed not be a good thing.
Cynthia suddenly smiled bitterly.
How could she make such a mistake at her age?
What she didn't know was that at the same time, thousands of miles away, in a luxurious villa in Cerulean City...
"So? Did you understand? Is there anything else you need me to explain again?"
Kairos pointed at the jumping pixels and running programs on the screen, then turned to look at the Gengar behind him.
Gengar immediately showed a completely confused expression. While he had indeed learned many things about the human world during his time in the Ghost World, and had heard about things called games...
Now this human was telling him to help make games right away. Wasn't this difficulty a bit too high?
The lengthy explanation Kairos had just rattled off was like listening to scripture. He couldn't understand any of it.
This was purely making things difficult for a ghost.
Gengar was about to shake his head to express his confusion, but before he could move, he felt a terrifying killing intent lock onto him from behind, making his whole body go cold.
He stiffly turned his head. Sure enough, that quietly burning deep blue flame was staring straight at him with a pair of eyes.
Gengar suddenly felt like his soul was about to leave his body, and quickly turned back, nodding frantically at Kairos.
"Gen-gar! Gen-gar!!"
I understand, I understand!
Big brother, who would dare say otherwise?!
Kairos wasn't stupid. He saw what was happening at a glance. He turned and smiled at the Chandelure in the distance.
"Alright, don't pressure him. This is indeed a bit difficult for him.
Come on, Gengar, let me explain it to you again. Listen carefully this time."
Hearing this, Gengar's whole body stiffened, and his face showed a tragic expression.
Having to listen to those incomprehensible technical terms again... he would rather have Chandelure finish him off.
But just then, Gengar noticed the human suddenly pause. His mouth, which was about to open, closed instead.
The human stood still for quite a while before focusing his gaze back on him.
"How about this. It's getting late, and I have some other things to handle. Gengar, you can rest today. I'll continue teaching you tomorrow."
Hearing this, Gengar immediately felt relieved, showing a moved-to-tears expression as if he had escaped disaster.
He turned and floated toward the Poké Ball, ready to return to it, but was called back by Kairos halfway there.
"Didn't I say you could rest? What are you doing?"
Now Gengar looked completely confused again. He glanced at the Poké Ball, then at Kairos, puzzled.
"Gen-gar?"
According to what he knew of the human world, after Pokémon were captured by trainers, they had to stay in those tiny balls. Only when humans allowed it could Pokémon come out to move around.
This was what he had heard from predecessors who had visited the human world, and it was the main reason most Ghost-type Pokémon considered being captured by humans terrifying.
Because once captured by a human trainer, it was almost no different from losing freedom.
But Kairos shook his head.
"My Poké Balls aren't top quality. They might not be spacious or comfortable inside. Just sleep around the house like Chandelure does, whether on the sofa or the bed. Sleep wherever you like."
Gengar was stunned. He hadn't expected this human to say such things.
He had even tried to drain this person's soul earlier. Even though it was only a little, if he had succeeded, it would have made the human uncomfortable.
Why didn't this person seem worried at all?
And wasn't he afraid Gengar might sneak away in the middle of the night?
Honestly, after hearing the human's description of those so-called games and the tasks he wanted him to do, Gengar had been planning to escape tonight.
But now it seemed this human wasn't worried about that at all.
Just as Gengar was feeling conflicted, he saw the human suddenly turn, open a cabinet, and place a large container in front of him.
"From what you said today, you've been wandering around without eating. You must be really hungry. Here, try this."
Gengar looked at the container. It seemed to be filled with brown-colored pellets.
What was this stuff? It didn't look edible...
Besides, even if Ghost-type Pokémon were starving, they generally wouldn't eat ordinary things like this. Eating them let them taste food, but provided almost no energy. Only the power of souls could make their bodies feel satisfied.
But just as he was about to refuse, he caught a familiar scent from the container.
Wait, what was that smell?
Gengar instinctively grabbed the container, opened it, took out a piece, and chewed.
The next moment, his eyes lit up.
These brown pellets not only contained the soul power he needed, but tasted better than anything he had ever eaten.
"Gen-gar!!"
At this moment, the starving Gengar hugged the container and devoured the contents.
Watching him eat, Kairos smiled slightly. This was quite similar to how Litwick had acted back then.
"Eat slowly, eat as much as you want. After following me, you'll never go hungry again."
Hearing this, Gengar's eating froze.
A strange feeling rose in his heart.
He had thought that being captured by this human was the worst thing since leaving the Ghost World. He had lost freedom and was being made to work every day.
But now, maybe it wasn't so bad after all.
Then Gengar became alert again.
No, this had to be a trick meant to make him let his guard down.
No way, he couldn't fall for it.
When he got the chance, he would definitely escape.
But before that...
He would stay a couple more days and eat his fill first.
On Kairos's end, he had no idea what Gengar was thinking.
His attention was already focused on the line of text that had appeared before him.
[Ding! Today is Monday!]
[Please note, Host: This week has ended, and the game progress rankings will now distribute rewards!]
[Current real-world rewards available for distribution: "Rare Candy Gift Box" (Intermediate) x5]
[Since this is the Host's first time distributing limited-time rewards, the system provides an additional special reward "Thunder Stone—Premium Quality" x1]
[Please immediately distribute rewards to players according to the progress rankings!]
۞۞۞۞
~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones