"Incredible! Who could have predicted that the Trailblazer from the Astral Express would snatch the ultimate victory at the very end?!"
Owlbert's eyes were wide with genuine shock. Even with an omniscient view of the battlefield, the sudden reversal had caught him completely off guard.
"Though the champion has been crowned, I am sure the audience shares my endless questions. If my memory serves me right, Stelle was clearly taken off the board in an earlier trade!"
"Please stay tuned, everyone. Our broadcast team is pulling the replay logs this very second."
"Miss Robin, what are your thoughts on this astonishing turn of events?"
Stepping in to fill the airtime, Owlbert turned to his co-host.
"While the fine details remain a mystery, the broadcast alert confirming Stelle's elimination could not have been fabricated," Robin analyzed thoughtfully. "That means the figure who fell in battle was not Stelle herself."
"Only a partner capable of flawless mimicry could create such a convincing double."
"The answer should be waiting right in the crew's roster sheet!"
As Robin spoke, a lightbulb went off for Owlbert, and the chat followed suit.
"Right! Now that you mention it, the Astral Express fielded six players, yet only five active partner species have been accounted for in the open water!"
"Let us see who was hiding behind the curtain all along!"
Watching the broadcast from the competitor lounge, Jing Yuan shook his head with a quiet, rueful smile. He pieced together the puzzle in an instant, inwardly chiding himself for treating the event too casually and neglecting basic recon.
Had he paid closer attention, he would have realized the plush toy nestled in Himeko's arms was no decorative doll at all, but an active member of their tactical lineup.
That single oversight had completely thrown off his head count.
"Still, indulging in a lively game without the weight of duty felt remarkably refreshing," Jing Yuan murmured, stretching his arms with an easy yawn. Losing the match didn't bother him in the slightest; on the contrary, he felt thoroughly relaxed. "Perhaps I ought to let Diviner Fu hold the reins a little more often in the future."
On screen, the crew's team manifest flashed into view. The partner assigned to Pom-Pom was none other than Ditto.
The director cut to the recovered replay footage. Deep in the kelp beds, Ditto had transformed into an identical copy of Stelle, using an earpiece to issue commands to Blastoise from afar.
Once Blastoise's stamina began to flag, the double intentionally showed an opening, baiting Yanqing into an ambush.
Himeko had positioned her own body to obscure Pom-Pom during the fray, and amid the chaotic crossfire, not a single observer noticed that the small conductor was no longer carrying a passenger.
Meanwhile, the real Stelle, constrained by standard diving air limits, had swum straight to the altar's stone base. Using the structure's blind spots to slip past patrolling eyes, she clung to the underside of the stone platform, resting quietly while the battle raged overhead.
When the dust finally settled, her rested, fully energized Blastoise burst from the water, ambushing Yanqing's exhausted Swampert to lock down the prize.
Her seaweed-draped climb up the ledge had lacked even an ounce of stage grace, leaving many viewers twitching their lips in amused disbelief.
"Honestly, seeing her throw all personal dignity out the window like that, I can't even be mad that she took first place."
"The Express crew definitely designed this scheme around Stelle's exact personality. Anyone who cared about their public image would have refused to do it."
"This Trailblazer is hilarious! I love seeing people play games with this kind of unhinged creativity."
"I still remember her bringing a Muk to the Contest stage! The system gave her a high 90s score, but the judges docked her heavily. I felt bad for her back then, but now I get it."
"Taking notes! I've learned a whole new way to play!"
"Learning it is useless if the mode goes away! We need to petition the devs to keep this mode forever!"
"Seconded! Make extraction treasure hunting permanent! It's ten times more addictive than standard searches!"
"Count me in! Make it a permanent mode!"
The player base held zero grudges over Stelle's shameless win; they found the whole sequence delightfully entertaining. Any stray complaints were instantly swallowed by waves of community laughter.
"Thank goodness the chat found it funny," March 7th sighed, burying her red face in her palms. "If the rest of the galaxy started making fun of the Nameless over this, I'd never be able to look people in the eye again..."
Stelle's bizarre antics were par for the course among friends, but having them broadcast to millions across the star systems made March's cheeks burn, even if she hadn't been the one covered in kelp.
Originally, the crew had planned to use Ditto as a diversion during an extraction point run. But once the rules flipped into a shrinking ring, Welt had drafted the body double audible on the fly.
Stelle had volunteered without a second thought. They had wondered how she intended to stay hidden, never imagining she would spend the endgame hugging an underwater rock.
"Hehe, didn't you see how happy everyone is?" Himeko laughed softly, patting March's shoulder. "It is just a holiday game, Little March. Having fun is all that matters."
"Himeko is right," Welt added with a warm chuckle. "You worry too much about outside perception. Look at Stelle, and look at the forums. The outcome is far better than your fears."
March peeked between her fingers, catching Stelle's proud, goofy grin before glancing at the sea of positive comments, finally letting out a relieved breath.
With the mystery unpacked, Cai Xing stepped forward on the main stage to award the championship trophy and prize purse, bringing the Ocean Treasure Hunt to a formal, festive close.
Regarding the massive public outcry to preserve the mode, Cai Xing consulted Julian and posted an immediate announcement to the community board:
The Ocean Treasure Hunt extraction mode will be integrated as a permanent gameplay fixture.
Due to regional network latency across different galactic sectors, server clusters will roll out gradually by star system.
Full cross-system network coverage is estimated to conclude within three to fifteen business days.
The notice sparked another round of celebrations. Players who had been knocked out early or missed the initial window were eager to dive back into the waters.
Meanwhile, back in the Seclusion Zone of the space station, the materials Ruan Mei requested finally cleared quarantine, allowing physical synthesis to begin in earnest.
Relying on her seasoned mastery of life sciences, Ruan Mei successfully stabilized five viable biological eggs on her very first run: Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and a Dratini.
Given the generous supply of divine catalysts provided, she also attempted to synthesize two apex specimens: the second-generation Ho-Oh and the sixth-generation Xerneas.
The attempt to cultivate Ho-Oh's egg failed during cellular fusion, whereas the sequence for Xerneas took hold, yielding a stable, faintly glowing egg.
All that remained was to wait for them to hatch, providing concrete proof that these creatures could thrive in the physical world.
Though Julian held immense faith in her expertise, a trace of nervous anticipation lingered in his chest until he could see the living creatures breathing before him.
According to Ruan Mei, standard species required at least half a month to incubate, while apex beings took far longer, ranging from several weeks to three full months.
Leaving those instructions behind, she immediately pulled Herta aside, diving into a spirited analysis of why the Ho-Oh sequence had broken down during synthesis.
Knowing a long incubation period lay ahead, Julian decided against booking a flight back to the Luofu, choosing instead to set up a remote office right on the station.
Living, breathing Pokémon were on the verge of stepping into reality. If he wasn't here to welcome them into the world with his own eyes, his thoughts would constantly drift back to this lab, making it impossible to focus on anything else.
30+ chapters are available now and daily updates!
@patreon.com/AgentTwilight