The stone was roughly the size of a palm. Its surface wasn't smooth at all, but covered in countless tiny edges and facets, like a finely cut crystal. One half was a deep, consuming black, as though it could swallow light whole.
The other half was a brilliant white, radiating a gentle glow that was soft without being harsh.
Black and white met in the middle of the stone, forming a strange sense of balance, as though light and shadow were endlessly cycling across its surface.
"Yin and yang...?"
The shape felt oddly familiar.
A moment later, the system notification popped up.
[Special Item: Stone of Shifting Light and Shadow (SS-Rank)]
[Item Description: A mysterious treasure imbued with the laws of space, light, and shadow.]
[Effect: The holder may freely alter their appearance and aura, and can even conceal their presence entirely. Even Legendary-class Pokémon will be unable to detect them.
[Additionally, the stone contains an inexhaustible reserve of light energy. In critical moments, it can instantly deploy a barrier that unconditionally blocks one attack. Cooldown: one day.]
Reading through the description, Kairos's eyes lit up.
Another great find.
In the past, whenever he needed to hide his identity or go somewhere he couldn't be seen openly, he'd had to tread carefully or lean on Marshadow for help.
Marshadow was reliable, but had previously only been able to assist him inside the Ghost World. After everything that had happened recently, Kairos had even started thinking about having Marshadow travel with him full-time.
Now that he had the Stone of Shifting Light and Shadow, none of that was necessary anymore.
He could change his appearance whenever he wanted, vanish at will, and even if he walked right past Cynthia or someone equally sharp, they'd never pick up on him as long as he kept his distance.
This would make everything a whole lot easier going forward, whether he was exploring ruins or quietly stirring up a little trouble. And on top of that, the thing could straight-up save his life.
A barrier that unconditionally blocked one attack was basically a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Combined with the Ho-Oh Feather he'd picked up earlier, which could summon a spectral projection of Ho-Oh for an offensive strike, he now had one layer of offense and one of defense, a dual safety net. Even if he ran into something truly overwhelming, he had a way out.
As for the "inexhaustible light energy" part...
Kairos held up the stone and gave it a little shake, watching the soft white glow pulse gently, and couldn't help thinking: is this thing just meant to double as an eternal light bulb?
If he put it in the living room, he probably wouldn't need to replace a bulb for hundreds of years. Not the most dignified use of an SS-rank treasure, but he filed the idea away anyway.
That said, since it was light energy, there might be some interesting applications worth exploring down the line. It could potentially be used to charge up certain Pokémon types in specific situations.
Either way, this was a flat-out excellent item. No drawbacks, nothing but upside.
Satisfied, Kairos tucked the stone into his system inventory and opened the third orb of light.
This time, what appeared was a strangely shaped device. It looked like a helmet fitted with several complex wires, and carried a faint air of advanced technology.
[Special Item: Exp. Share Device]
[Item Description: When a Pokémon is equipped with this device, it will receive an amount of experience equal to that earned by every other Pokémon in the party. Note: this is not a split of the experience, but an identical copy of it. Once bound to a Pokémon, it cannot be unbound for 7 days.]
Kairos stared at that effect for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.
Now that was something special.
In Pokémon battles and training, distributing experience had always been a headache. If the main fighters were constantly on the field, the rest of the team fell behind in levels. But if he rotated everyone in and out, training took twice as long and got half the results.
This device solved that problem entirely.
And the key detail was that it didn't split the experience. It generated a separate, identical copy out of thin air.
What did that actually mean in practice?
It meant that as long as he brought his main team out for battles, every other Pokémon he had could level up in the background without his lifting a finger. That was more than double the output right there. He didn't go out of his way to grind, of course; most of his growth came naturally, but passive gains were still gains.
The 7-day binding restriction was no issue at all. Kairos glanced over at Chandelure, who was hovering nearby.
The little one was still absorbing energy from the Ghost-type slates, and its strength was growing at a solid, steady pace.
And as one of his main powerhouses, Chandelure was going to be by his side at all times going forward anyway.
With a thought, Kairos bound the device directly to Chandelure.
A faint flash of light passed through the air. The device vanished, dissolving into an invisible mark that briefly appeared above Chandelure's head before fading away entirely.
Chandelure seemed to sense something. The flame on its head flickered, and it let out a cheerful cry in Kairos's direction, as though it could feel itself getting stronger all over again.
With the third reward handled, Kairos took a slow breath and turned his attention to the last orb.
This one was noticeably larger than the previous three, its light denser and more concentrated. Whatever was inside clearly carried some weight.
As the orb shattered, a metallic-looking cube materialized in his hand.
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an Advanced Module: Competition Module.]
Kairos opened the detailed description immediately.
[Competition Module: The Host may use this module to host game competitions spanning multiple worlds.]
[Function 1: Cross-World Expansion. The Host may gather players from different worlds together for cross-server matches.]
[Function 2: Rule Creation. The Host may establish any ruleset for a competition, and the system will automatically generate the corresponding code and adjustments, requiring no manual work from the Host. This greatly simplifies the process of organizing events.]
[Function 3: Absolute Oversight. The system will automatically monitor all participating players across every dimension. Should any player be found cheating, the Host may choose to subject that individual to any form of consequence.]
[Function 4: Emotion Amplification. Emotion Points generated through competitions will be multiplied by ten.]
Kairos went quiet after reading through the functions.
This module... if it were sold on its own, it'd probably run tens of thousands of points, wouldn't it?
The first function — cross-world competitions — would be something nobody had ever seen before, the kind of spectacle that could send the entire player base into a frenzy.
The second function handled rule generation automatically, which saved a ton of hassle. The third guaranteed anti-cheat, always the most critical concern in any game.
But what really snagged Kairos's attention were those two words: "any consequence."
He frowned slightly and directed a quiet question inward. "System, what exactly does 'any consequence' mean? Like banning their account?"
The system's voice responded in his mind almost instantly.
[Responding to Host: It refers to any form of consequence applied to the player themselves. This includes, but is not limited to: account suspension, revocation of game access, modification of real-world memories, and ceasing to exist.]
When Kairos heard ceasing to exist, he actually went blank for a second. He'd handed out ban warnings and account suspensions before. That was a long way from here.
So what that meant was: the moment someone entered one of his competitions, they were essentially putting their life in his hands.
If they cheated, forget getting banned. He could make them cease to exist entirely.
That was more than a little unsettling.
Kairos rubbed the back of his neck.
But thinking about it another way, if someone simply chose not to enter his competitions, or entered and played fair, then none of this made any difference to them whatsoever.
Besides, what kind of person cheats in a game?
As for the last function, the ten-times emotion multiplier on Points, he was already pretty used to those kinds of bonuses by now.
Though competitions, when he thought about it, were one of the best possible triggers for raw emotion. The rush of winning, the sting of losing, the tension and excitement from the crowd watching it all play out. All of that converging in one place, multiplied by ten...
Kairos let his imagination run with it for a moment. If the number of participants reached tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, a single tournament could leave him absolutely swimming in Emotion Points.
This module might not pay off immediately at his current stage, but as a long-term investment with serious returns, it was hard to beat.
"Looks like I'll need to put together a competition at some point when the timing is right."
Kairos tapped his chin, already turning over in his mind how he might... encourage players to sign up with enthusiasm.
That wrapped up the full rundown of his rewards.
He shook his head and cleared away the miscellaneous thoughts, then started sorting through his next priorities.
Things on the Ghost World side had reached a natural stopping point. The crisis was resolved, relationships had warmed up, and there was nothing pressing to worry about there in the short term.
Next up was the situation in the second world.
Based on the intel he'd gathered earlier, the strange circumstances in that world appeared to be connected to Paradox Pokémon. But the exact reason they'd shown up, as well as the current state of that world, still hadn't been pinned down.
Now that the Ghost World business was wrapped up, it was time to head over there and see what was actually going on.
On the gaming side of things, everything was running smoothly.
Both Dark Phantom and Emerald were progressing steadily, player enthusiasm remained high, and the daily Emotion Points were coming in at a reliable clip.
As for animation production, Kairos had long since gotten the hang of it.
Putting together a full episode these days took him less than half an hour.
That kind of output would have made the jaw of any animator back on Earth hit the floor.
Kairos glanced at the Emotion Points remaining on his system panel.
A little over ninety-three thousand.
Add the fifty thousand from the mission rewards just now, and his total was approaching one hundred thousand.
That was already a serious amount. He could easily buy several advanced modules from the shop without a second thought, and it had actually surpassed the total he'd accumulated across all worlds since he first arrived.
But of course, it still wasn't enough.
For now... time to spend.
Kairos opened the system shop and let his gaze move across the sprawling list of items.
It didn't take long before his eyes landed on one he'd had his eye on for a while.
[Virtual Reality Module.]
Listed price: fifty thousand Emotion Points.
For most people, that would be an astronomical sum. But for Kairos at this point, dropping fifty thousand felt like nothing.
Because this was the ultimate form of gaming: virtual reality.
In this Pokémon world, while simulation battle devices of a similar nature existed, the gap between those and true virtual reality was enormous. Otherwise nobody would have ever bothered going somewhere like the Battle Road in the first place.
The module's effects were extraordinary.
For one, it would allow Kairos to create genuine virtual reality games. Players wouldn't stare at a screen anymore. They'd put on a special device, close their eyes, and have their consciousness step directly into the game world.
In that world, everything would feel real.
The sensation of wind, the temperature of water, the softness of a Pokémon's fur, even the physical impact of a move being unleashed, all of it replicated with perfect fidelity.
That level of immersion was something no conventional game could ever come close to.
On top of that, the Emotion Points generated through virtual reality games would be multiplied by five.
Kairos didn't hesitate for even a second. He hit purchase.
As fifty thousand Emotion Points were deducted, a module radiating a soft blue glow materialized on his panel.
With this, his career as a game developer was about to take a serious leap forward.
So, what kind of virtual reality game should he actually make?
Kairos fell into thought.
Dark Phantom? Emerald? Rescue Team of Time?
All classics, but simply remaking them in VR felt somewhat underwhelming.
Just as he was turning it over in his mind, the system chimed.
[New Mission Triggered!]
[Mission Description: The Host has obtained the Virtual Reality Module. Please create a virtual reality game centered on the theme of "villain" and release it in the first new world.]
[Mission Reward: To be determined based on the game's popularity among players.]
[Time Limit: 7 days.]
[Note: The Host's Travel Ticket will complete its cooldown tomorrow, at which point travel to the next world will be available immediately.]
Kairos blinked at the notification, then gave a slow nod.
Well, if the system had already made the call, there was no point debating what to make.
A villain theme... actually, that was a pretty interesting angle.
In traditional Pokémon games, players always took the role of a righteous trainer, out to take down some shady criminal organization—Team Rocket, Team Plasma, Team Magma, and the rest.
But what if the roles were flipped? What if the player took on the role of an executive, or even the boss, of one of those organizations?
Building up their own faction, catching powerful Pokémon, going head-to-head with the so-called "good guys." That would be a fresh and genuinely exciting experience.
And with the full immersion of virtual reality, when a player was actually experiencing the world through the eyes of a villain, running those schemes firsthand, the psychological impact and emotional intensity would hit way harder than anything a conventional game could deliver.
For pulling in Emotion Points, it would be remarkably effective.
He couldn't leave for the new world until tomorrow, which gave him seven days to build the game.
Kairos ran a quick mental calculation.
Seven days. More than enough.
But before any of that, he still had some time left today.
He glanced out the window.
For now, he'd make a trip to the second world and see how things were going over there.
With that settled, Kairos got to his feet.
But before heading out, he needed to make one more stop in the Ghost World first.
There were a few things he still needed to pass along to the Pokémon over there.
He also wanted to check in on Marshadow, specifically how the collection of faith energy was coming along.
"Chandelure, you're with me. Gengar, hold down the fort."
Kairos recalled Chandelure to its ball, gave Dragonite a wave, then turned and walked out of the villa.
۞۞۞۞
~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones