Iono's gaze fell on the Thunder Stone before her, crackling with golden electrical currents, then she turned to look at the Bellibolt by her side. For a moment, she actually found herself hesitating.
But in the end, she made her decision.
Since she'd received a reward as the second-place player on the leaderboard, naturally, Cynthia, who was in first place, should've gotten the same reward too, right?
Maybe she should ask Cynthia about her situation first?
Given the circumstances, this seemed like the smartest move.
With this thought, Iono picked up her phone, ready to contact Cynthia.
But just then, she suddenly remembered something.
Even though she had Cynthia as a friend in the game, she didn't actually have her contact info!
How was she supposed to get in touch with her?
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the Hoenn region, on an island sitting at the center of an oceanic whirlpool.
Outside a massive steel door, two men in Team Aqua uniforms were whispering to each other.
"Hey, you know what? The boss has been holed up in his room all day without coming out. From 8 PM until now, he's been in there the whole time."
The shorter of the two pointed toward the steel door, speaking in a low voice.
The other man seemed surprised and replied:
"Huh? Really? Usually, the boss would've gone to bed by now, right? Maybe there's something important he's dealing with?"
"I'm guessing that's it. I can hear him muttering to himself from time to time. Looks like he's run into a tricky problem. Probably making serious plans for our organization. Man, that's our boss for you."
As soon as the short man said this, the other's voice filled with admiration.
"Yeah, it's already past midnight and the boss is still working so hard... Too bad there's nothing we can do to help him out. Since that's the case, we'd better do our jobs well and not let him down!"
"Yeah, I agree."
However, what those two guards at the door didn't know was that at this very moment, their boss, Archie, was sitting on his couch with the dim glow of his screen casting shadows across his face.
He had indeed run into some problems.
But these problems weren't related to organizational matters like those two thought. Instead, they came from a game called Emerald.
In front of him, a game window was floating in the air.
He was commanding a Mudkip to use skill attacks against a Treecko on the opposite side.
[Mudkip used Water Gun! It's not very effective!]
[Treecko used Absorb! It's super effective!]
[Mudkip fainted!]
[The Ocean Will Swallow Everything is out of usable Pokémon!]
[The Ocean Will Swallow Everything blacked out!]
As the screen went dark and his character respawned at the Pokémon Center in town, Archie couldn't help but frown and let out a frustrated "tsk," clearly annoyed.
What was wrong with this game? Who designed this thing? Was this kind of level design really meant for people to play?
Who puts a completely type-advantaged opponent right at the start, blocking your path forward?
Archie was getting more and more irritated just thinking about it. After first getting acquainted with the game's basic mechanics, he'd actually developed some interest in it.
However, the very first NPC in this game, that girl with the red ribbon called "Rival," had him completely stuck and unable to leave the starter town. She'd been keeping him trapped here for a solid ten minutes now.
After all, he was a Champion-level trainer! When had he ever experienced such humiliation?
With this thought, Archie took a deep breath and seriously considered how to deal with this NPC called "Rival," but couldn't come up with any good ideas for the moment.
Just earlier, he'd discovered that the NPCs in this game would actually level up along with his own level progression.
Wasn't this basically designed to prevent people from progressing?
The more Archie thought about it, the more annoyed he became.
What kind of terrible idea had Maxie come up with? Making him play this ridiculous game together!
Just as he was lost in thought, the communicator on his desk suddenly rang.
The only person who could call this communicator was Maxie.
At this thought, Archie immediately grabbed his communicator in frustration.
Maxie's voice came through from the other end.
"It's been an hour now. How's it going? What do you think of this game called Emerald?"
This question caught Archie off guard. He could hear that Maxie's tone also carried some displeasure and dissatisfaction. Though well-hidden, after years of knowing his opponent, he could easily pick up on the hidden emotions in his voice.
So Maxie's progress wasn't going smoothly either?
At this realization, Archie suddenly felt all his earlier frustration evaporate, because seeing his nemesis struggle was quite a delightful thing. At least, this kind of situation didn't happen very often in the past.
But he didn't show this on his face, instead letting out a cold snort before speaking.
"What opinion could I have? It's just a bit more difficult than usual. A game like this, trying to stop top-tier experts like us? At most, it'll just waste a bit of our time."
Maxie's voice came through with a knowing tone.
After all, Archie wasn't the only one who understood his opponent.
"Oh."
"So you're saying you got past that 'Rival' character?"
Archie: "I did."
"Then tell me, what's the next city called?"
Archie: "..."
"I can see you didn't get past either, and you're lying to me. Heh."
"Heh, my ass. You didn't get past either, did you? If you ask me, this plan of yours is just stupid. This game's difficulty is way too abnormal."
Archie rolled his eyes and started complaining.
This time, Maxie didn't deny his words, but instead agreed.
"This game's difficulty is indeed inappropriate and has no real-world relevance. After all, who would actively challenge such a strong opponent that also has a type advantage over them?"
Hearing this, Archie finally felt a bit better and spoke frankly.
"Exactly. But this is just a game after all, so you don't need to take it too seriously, Brother Maxie."
Maxie also replied:
"True. If worst comes to worst, we can just have some of our subordinates play it for us. This kind of purely time-consuming, laborious work should be left to those underlings anyway."
Archie thought this made perfect sense.
Because, in his understanding, gaining experience for his plans through this game was indeed quite valuable.
But if this game was full of such high-difficulty challenges everywhere... that would just be a waste of time.
After all, at the end of the day, this was just a game. Even if he successfully completed it first, the so-called author's contact information and ₽100,000 prize money couldn't arouse any interest in him.
Moreover, he was starting to doubt whether this game could actually help advance his plans or give him any inspiration.
As the leader of the massive Team Aqua organization, he had plenty of things to keep him busy every day. Where would he find so much time to spend on a game?
Just as he was about to voice his agreement with Maxie's words...
A golden notification box with bright red text suddenly appeared before his eyes without warning!
[Please note, player "The Ocean Will Swallow Everything," you have been selected as a lucky player during this period's game progress leaderboard settlement, thereby receiving a special reward "Rare Candy Gift Box (Intermediate)" x1. Would you like to claim and materialize it immediately?]
[If you choose to materialize it, please step back two steps first. Thank you for your cooperation!]
...
Looking at the text before him, Archie suddenly shot up from his seat like a carp jumping out of water, glancing around in all directions with eyes full of wariness.
"Who?!"
However, no one answered him. Only that golden notification box with red text flickered before his eyes again, as if urging him on.
Another line of new text began to appear.
[Selection time has ended. The game will automatically materialize the reward!]
[Thank you for your support and gameplay of Pokémon Emerald. We wish you a pleasant journey ahead!]
In the next moment, a golden vortex suddenly opened before Archie!
"Hey, Brother Archie, what's wrong with you? Say something!"
Maxie's voice came through with concern after hearing Archie's shout.
Meanwhile, Archie stared at the gradually forming golden vortex before him and the orb of light bursting forth from it. With a dazed expression, he pressed the button to end the call on his communicator.
"Uh, Brother Maxie... I've got something going on here, so I'll hang up first. I'll contact you later..."
At the same time, in the Sinnoh region, inside Cynthia's villa.
Cynthia was still quite shocked and couldn't believe the strength changes that the so-called Rare Candy had brought to her Spiritomb.
She watched the black domain that had solidified around Spiritomb's body from countless layers of ghostly shadows, then nodded toward her Garchomp.
"Garchomp... why don't you give it a try?"
After saying this, she couldn't help but add a word to her Spiritomb.
"Little Flower, tone down your power a bit."
Spiritomb immediately nodded upon hearing this, and the shadow-formed domain around its body became noticeably thinner.
Garchomp took a deep breath and, following Cynthia's instructions, maintained its guard as it entered that domain.
However, the moment its front foot stepped into that domain, an incredibly powerful oppressive force struck down from above its head, as if thousand-pound stones were pressing down on its body!
This tremendous force directly pressed Garchomp's entire body into the ground, making it unable to even resist!
The next moment, there was a loud "boom" as the specially reinforced, incredibly sturdy floor of Cynthia's room broke into a large hole.
This was followed by the sound of a heavy object falling, countless clouds of dust rising up, and the sound of glass shattering from downstairs.
Garchomp had gone straight through the ceiling, falling from the second floor to the first floor.
Cynthia stared at this scene in stunned silence, then turned to look at her Spiritomb.
"Little Flower, you... How much strength did you use? Did you really... hold back?"
Spiritomb's face showed an innocent expression.
(◕‿◕)???
Wait, I only used less than thirty percent of my power??
The next moment, from the large hole in the room's floor, the dusty and disheveled Garchomp flew up from below, looking at the Spiritomb across from it with a somewhat complex expression.
It really couldn't understand why Spiritomb had suddenly become so strong.
In its memory, this kind of domain would at most make it feel a bit uncomfortable when moving around!
At this moment, after getting Spiritomb's response, Cynthia couldn't help but gasp.
Although Garchomp hadn't been seriously injured, it was still a Champion-level high-tier Pokémon!
Spiritomb had actually suppressed it like this while only using thirty percent of its power?
So that box of candy... exactly how strong had it made Spiritomb now??
And most crucially, Spiritomb still hadn't shown any negative reactions until now, and she had already determined that the box of Rare Candy contained no toxins whatsoever.
In other words, what this candy brought to Pokémon was purely a boost in strength, with no side effects at all!
But items like this... shouldn't exist in the real world at all.
Something that could unconditionally and dramatically boost a Pokémon's strength... defied all logic.
All of this was just too incredible.
After confirming that Garchomp hadn't suffered any substantial damage, Cynthia made her decision after a brief moment of thought.
If the top three players on the game leaderboard could all receive rewards like she had, then the person she should contact right now was very clear.
But the moment she picked up her phone, the screen suddenly lit up. Someone was calling her directly!
Seeing the caller's name, Cynthia couldn't help but freeze. It was exactly the person she wanted to find: Lance, third place on the progress leaderboard!
The instant the call connected, Cynthia immediately asked:
"So, you received it too?"
The question was somewhat cryptic, but on the other end of the phone, Lance's intermittent voice immediately gave her a definitive answer.
"Yes... my Dragonite... broke through... to Champion peak level..."
"Cynthia, I think all those doubts I raised earlier... don't count anymore."
"But what is all of this... supposed to be?"
Obviously, Lance had also received the reward from the game's progress leaderboard, just like Cynthia.
However, unlike Cynthia's caution, he had directly let his Dragonite consume that box of candy.
The effects were already quite clear. Even Cynthia's Spiritomb, which only had Champion beginner-level strength, had successfully advanced to Champion peak level thanks to this box of candy, not to mention Lance's ace Dragonite, which had similar strength to Garchomp.
So at this moment, the shock in his heart was no less than Cynthia's.
After Lance's last sentence, both of them remained silent on the phone for a long time. This kind of thing really exceeded their imagination... the impact it brought was just too overwhelming.
After a while, Cynthia was the first to calm down somewhat.
"I think first of all, we can't tell anyone about this. Once someone knows that rewards from the game can affect reality, it'll immediately cause a sensation throughout the world."
"We still don't understand how all this happened. Is there someone behind the scenes manipulating things and distributing this kind of mysterious candy?"
"Lance, I'll be honest, you shouldn't have let your Pokémon eat this kind of candy so early... My Spiritomb has strong toxin resistance, so even if there were problems with the candy, it could handle them itself."
"But your Dragonite..."
Cynthia's words were interrupted by Lance's helpless voice.
"Cynthia, of course, I knew this box of candy might have problems."
"But when that vortex appeared, I was thinking by the window. By the time I came back, Dragonite had already eaten the whole box of candy."
"This candy was way too tempting for it. It probably thought I had bought it and just ate it all at once."
"Since it's already been eaten, that's not important anymore. My thinking is the same as yours - this matter absolutely cannot be spread immediately, at least not until we figure out where these mysterious candies came from..."
"I'm already preparing to report this to the League."
Cynthia couldn't help but raise her eyebrows upon hearing this. That sounded more like Lance's style of doing things.
As for reporting this incredible matter to the League, Cynthia didn't have such intentions. She was well aware that mysteries even she couldn't figure out probably couldn't be solved by the League either.
After a brief silence, she spoke again.
"Besides us, there should be one more person on the leaderboard who received a reward. I'll handle this person - I'll contact them and make sure they don't leak this information."
"As for the League, if they don't believe you, just tell them to send someone to find me. I still have another box of candy."
Lance nodded upon hearing this.
"Alright, no problem."
He suddenly seemed to realize something.
"Wait, did you just say you have two boxes of candy?"
"That's right. Maybe because I'm first on the leaderboard, I received two boxes when they distributed the rewards. You only got one?"
Cynthia also seemed somewhat surprised.
The next moment, she clearly heard Lance gasp on the other end of the phone.
Two boxes?
That kind of candy - just one box alone had advanced his Dragonite from Champion high-tier level to Champion peak level.
So if it ate another box, what kind of changes would occur?
Lance, who was usually calm and composed, found that even he couldn't control such thoughts at this moment...
Hearing Lance's reaction right now, Cynthia seemed to suddenly realize this as well.
Spiritomb's current strength had undoubtedly reached the pinnacle of Champion level.
If it ate another box, wouldn't Spiritomb be able to directly break through into that legendary realm? Wasn't this exactly the goal she had been pursuing all along?
Once this thought appeared, there was no way for Cynthia to ignore it anymore. She reached out and picked up the remaining box of candy, her gaze falling on Garchomp beside her.
The latter nodded directly, as if agreeing with Cynthia's plan.
Although Garchomp also wanted to become stronger and wanted to try reaching that legendary realm, under the current circumstances, since Spiritomb had already eaten the first box of candy, naturally, letting Spiritomb eat the second box would have a greater chance of a breakthrough.
Moreover, Spiritomb was actually also a Pokémon that had traveled alongside him for a long time in Cynthia's team. Even if he gave up the chance to eat this candy and let Spiritomb break through that limit instead, Garchomp could accept it.
"I understand."
Seeing Garchomp's decision, Cynthia's gaze focused, and she immediately picked up the candy and placed it in front of Spiritomb.
However, the next moment, a golden notification box with red text popped up before her eyes.
[Please note, player: The Pokémon you are currently using this item on does not meet the corresponding level requirements and cannot produce any effect.]
[Rare Candy (Intermediate) can only be effective on Pokémon at Champion level and below.]
[If you wish to use items of the same type to improve this Pokémon's level and strength, please actively participate in the game to obtain higher-level corresponding items.]
...
As Cynthia stared at the notification before her, Spiritomb, who understood Cynthia and Garchomp's plan, had already eagerly lunged toward the candy in her hand.
If possible, it would have actually eaten both boxes of candy in one go just moments ago.
It just knew that Cynthia's team didn't only have itself as a Pokémon. If it ate both candies all at once, that would be somewhat selfish.
Spiritomb still understood this principle.
Now that everyone had no objections, it didn't need to hold back anymore!
But just as it lunged toward that box of candy, the box suddenly burst forth with a blue radiance that directly bounced Spiritomb away.
Spiritomb's body was lightly bounced out and landed on the ground.
It was momentarily stunned, then continued to charge at the box of candy in disbelief. Deep black aura erupted and spread across its body, forming a domain. It was mobilizing the new power it had gained in its body, trying to break through the blue radiance that appeared on the box.
But that power, which could easily suppress even Garchomp, seemed to lose its effect before this blue radiance.
Spiritomb was once again rejected by the candy box and sent flying...
This scene naturally fell under Cynthia's gaze, and her deep black pupils suddenly contracted.
As expected...
This box of candy was no longer something she could judge with common sense.
At the same time, from the phone that had been silent for a while, Lance's voice came through again.
"How did it go? Did it work?!"
"No good. This kind of candy seems to have its limit at helping Pokémon break through to the Champion peak level. There's no way to go any further."
Cynthia replied.
"But that notification just told me that higher-level candy exists..."
"Which means, if the next reward is a high-level candy gift box..."
She didn't continue speaking.
But both Lance and she understood - if that were really the case.
Then they might truly touch that legendary realm for the first time.
After a long silence, Lance suddenly laughed on the other end of the phone.
"Honestly... Cynthia, I shouldn't have thoughts like this."
"But now... I suddenly want to compete with you for first place on the progress leaderboard."
Hearing this, Cynthia also showed a smile on her face.
"Is that so?"
"Too bad, I also want to keep this position, not just for what I want, but for some other reasons too."
"Since we both want it, let's see who can achieve it."
"So, you go tell the League, I'll contact Iono, and we'll... see you in the game tomorrow morning."
Kairos's Plan
However, what Cynthia didn't know was that just as her words fell and she got up from the computer desk, taking Garchomp and Spiritomb to leave this streaming room.
That golden notification box with red text suddenly appeared again in front of the computer desk -
[Please note, player "Strawberry Ice Cream": Your leaderboard reward distribution is not yet complete. Now proceeding with supplementary distribution!]
[Congratulations, you have received Mega Evolution Stone Gift Box x1!]
...
Kanto region. As usual, Kairos did a simple wash before bed, but when he returned to his bedroom, a line of notifications was already frantically refreshing and appearing before his eyes.
[Ding! Please note, host: This week's in-game progress leaderboard reward settlement has been completed. All rewards have been distributed. The next progress board will be settled on time after one week. You can freely adjust the number of people receiving leaderboard rewards and the scale and content of rewards during this period.]
[In addition to the current weekly leaderboard, you can also add other leaderboards based on different metrics.]
This was a supplementary explanation for the leaderboard module in the game. Kairos nodded slightly. At the same time, another new notification refreshed before his eyes:
[Ding! Due to your reward distribution behavior impacting the emotional threshold of specified players, congratulations! Key figure "Cynthia" has provided you with emotion points: 1200 points.]
[Congratulations! Players Lance and Iono's emotional thresholds have successfully broken through and upgraded to Lv. 2. You have received rewards: 3000 emotion points, Random Mid-Level Module Draw Chance x2!]
Kairos looked at the string of notifications before him and couldn't help but freeze for a moment, then slightly furrowed his brow.
Honestly, the shock points Cynthia gave this time were indeed quite substantial, and Iono and Lance's emotional threshold breakthroughs were also good news.
But he had already invested heavily, purchasing a Mega Stone gift box, and still couldn't successfully break Cynthia's emotional threshold to the third level?
At this thought, Kairos couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly.
But soon, he suddenly remembered that the system seemed to have mentioned before that key figures' emotional threshold breakthroughs not only required them to experience extreme emotional fluctuations, but also had to match that player's personality, experiences, and preferences.
Back then, Cynthia's emotional threshold had achieved its second breakthrough when she saw that Zacian CG, but Iono, who watched the same CG, didn't experience a threshold breakthrough.
However, the good news was that at least the Mega Evolution gift box should have successfully advanced her emotional threshold progress.
Whatever, whatever. Cynthia had already contributed so many shock points for him.
Not just her own, but the points her stream indirectly contributed to Kairos had definitely exceeded 10,000 already.
He'd consider this gift box a present from him to her.
Anyway, Cynthia breaking through to the third emotional threshold level was bound to happen sooner or later.
While thinking, Kairos also began considering another matter.
Since the existence and appearance of the Mega Evolution gift box couldn't break Cynthia's emotional threshold to level three, then, as the system said, he'd probably need to prescribe the right medicine to achieve this.
And what could shock Cynthia the most was undoubtedly everything related to Legendary Pokémon!
At this thought, Kairos's lips couldn't help but curl up slightly. You can run away from the monk, but not the monastery. Right now, he couldn't solve the level three emotional threshold barrier, but it wouldn't be long before he probably could.
Kairos's confidence wasn't unfounded, because Cynthia's game progress wasn't too far from a key upcoming storyline.
At this moment, he couldn't help but envision red and blue figures, the battle between the gods of sea and land.
Lava explosions, tsunami drift, everything turning pale!
This was the most crucial segment in the main storyline - Kyogre and Groudon erupting in an earth-shaking battle, followed immediately by the legendary dragon Rayquaza intervening to stop them!
Even among all Pokémon series games, this could be called one of the most classic scenes, and it left a deep impression on Kairos during his childhood.
You had to know that the game presenting this storyline back then only had low-level pixel graphics.
But now, although Kairos's game was also a pixel game, it had completely different conditions.
Moreover, Kairos had his own ideas - he wanted to add some spice to this storyline.
He would present this storyline to all players in a more shocking, more amazing, more unforgettable way!
When that time came, combined with his current CG and aura pressure technologies, once he displayed this scene before Cynthia's eyes, wouldn't he be able to break through her emotional threshold?
At this thought, Kairos smiled slightly and prepared to use his two mid-level module draw chances to see if he could get some special modules this time.
But just then, another golden notification suddenly appeared before his eyes!
[Ding! Please note, host: You have received emotion points from key figure "Archie" playing Pokémon Emerald: 234 points.]
Looking at this notification, Kairos couldn't help but freeze.
Archie?
This guy... wasn't he the boss of Team Aqua in the Hoenn region?
How did he end up playing his game too?
This was actually pretty interesting...
The game's villain had actually joined in person?
Just as Kairos was pondering this, another new notification suddenly popped up before his eyes.
[Ding! Please note, host: Key figure "Archie's" emotional threshold has broken through to Lv.2. You have received the corresponding reward!]
Kairos: ???
Big bro, if I remember correctly, didn't you just start playing for the first time today?
How did you break through the threshold so fast??
Dude, what's your situation?
۞۞۞۞
~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones