"So... in our world, there could be several of these Regi Titans that might awaken at any moment?" Lance's question hung in the air.
Both ends of the phone line fell silent for a moment.
Cynthia spoke first, breaking the silence.
"That possibility definitely exists. It seems we have even more reason to keep playing.
Not just to investigate these anomalies, but also to gain access to that legendary power.
We need to become stronger, whether in the game or in reality, to handle potential problems that might occur in the real world."
"Agreed." Lance sounded enthusiastic about the idea.
"Information and strength. Neither can be compromised. I need to find a way to improve myself quickly.
I'm still stuck on the gym, and I absolutely have to get my hands on that Type: Null!"
"Right, I can't fall too far behind either," Cynthia said.
"I've run into some new developments on my end that I need to handle. Let's stay in touch and communicate any new discoveries immediately."
After hanging up, Cynthia refocused her attention on the game screen.
Her character had just received a text message in-game from "Renn," alerting her that Team Aqua had been frequently active in an abandoned maritime industrial zone north of Lilycove City.
They seemed to have established a new temporary base and were possibly plotting something.
Without hesitation, Cynthia immediately commanded her character to use Fly to reach Lilycove, then used Surf heading north from the city.
Sure enough, deep within what appeared to be a desolate sea industrial district, she discovered a concealed entrance with a faint Team Aqua emblem nearby.
She infiltrated inside.
The interior consisted of winding metal corridors, damp with moisture and stained with oil residue.
Unlike the previous island, this place hadn't been abandoned.
Team Aqua members occasionally patrolled, forcing Cynthia to battle her way through.
These team members' Pokémon were noticeably higher level than the wild ones outside, but they weren't much trouble compared to her main team.
The base was larger and more complex than expected, with numerous sections that required solving simple puzzles to progress.
Operating mechanical arms to move crates, using Strength to push stone mechanisms, and finding key cards to open electronic doors.
Along the way, she noticed warehouses stacked with strange components and metal sheets.
In a massive drydock-like area, she even spotted a huge, incomplete submarine mechanical skeleton that looked like a prototype.
Clearly, Team Aqua was secretly constructing something massive. Or perhaps... had already completed it.
Cynthia carefully observed her surroundings as she continued deeper, eventually reaching the entrance to what looked like a command room or executive lounge.
She faintly heard voices inside. Pushing the door open, the view refreshed.
Inside the room, several Team Aqua members stood respectfully to the side.
Seated in the main position with his back to the door was not the Team Aqua leader she'd expected, but a man in a brown suit with a stocky frame and slicked-back hair.
The man appeared to be conversing with a Team Aqua executive, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable authority.
The dialogue box began to appear.
"...So your progress is still too slow. This efficiency cannot meet both our expectations," the man in the suit said.
The Team Aqua executive seemed nervous. "I-I'm terribly sorry! But the materials and technology side of things..."
At that moment, Cynthia's character moved slightly and accidentally knocked over an empty bucket by the door, creating a loud metallic clang.
"Who?!" Everyone in the room immediately became alert, their gazes snapping toward the entrance.
This situation was clearly unavoidable, so Cynthia simply had her character walk in casually.
The people in the room immediately entered a state of vigilance. The man in the suit slowly turned around.
Though it was pixel art, Cynthia could still see a face weathered by time yet full of authority and menace, his eyes gleaming sharply.
Even though he was simply gazing calmly at Cynthia's character, she felt an invisible pressure extending from the screen into her own space.
Moreover, he wasn't wearing a Team Aqua uniform. Just a suit.
"Oh? Seems we have an uninvited guest."
The man's voice was deep and magnetic. He didn't sound alarmed—if anything, he seemed entertained.
He glanced at the tense Team Aqua executives beside him and spoke with cool indifference.
"So, Team Aqua… is this how you treat guests? Letting someone like this stroll right in?"
Cynthia frowned.
Who was he? His presence was far too striking for an ordinary NPC, yet he clearly wasn't part of Team Aqua either.
But for a character to be a guest in a Team Aqua base... he definitely wasn't a good person!
She had her character step forward, a Poké Ball in hand, appearing ready for battle.
The man in the suit seemed to see through her intentions. He slowly stood up, adjusted his tie, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"What, you want to fight? Young people are always so reckless."
Before his words even finished, he didn't even consult with the Team Aqua executives. He simply threw out a Poké Ball.
"In that case, let me show you what real power looks like."
As dramatic battle music played, the game instantly transitioned to the battle screen!
Across the field, light flashed, and an abnormally massive Beedrill with fierce eyes appeared.
Its level was a shocking 15 levels higher than Cynthia's highest-level Pokémon.
[Mysterious Man: ??? has come to challenge you!]
[Lv75, Beedrill!]
Cynthia's heart sank. Such a high level, and Bug-type to boot...
There was only one choice!
She immediately sent out her current team's strongest Pokémon, the mythical Pokémon she'd happened to catch before.
Victini!
However, the battle barely started before it was almost over.
The man didn't use any fancy techniques.
A trainer silhouette appeared behind Beedrill as he simply spoke coolly. "Mega Evolution."
The Mega Stone on his wrist resonated with the Mega Stone Beedrill was carrying.
Brilliant rainbow light instantly engulfed Beedrill!
Its form underwent a dramatic transformation in the glow.
The poison stingers on its arms became more massive and ferocious, like two deadly war blades, while its entire body became more streamlined and brimming with explosive power!
Mega Beedrill!
The next second, just as Cynthia finished selecting the move "Flamethrower," Mega Beedrill's form vanished like a ghost, instantly reappearing in front of Victini!
[Mega Beedrill used "X-Scissor"!]
[Critical Hit!]
In a single strike! Victini didn't even have time to react. Its health bar emptied instantly, and it let out a cry before collapsing!
Cynthia's pupils shrank.
Staring at the message on screen, "Victini has been defeated!" she found herself momentarily disbelieving.
Victini was... one-shot just like that?!
Even accounting for the level gap, Victini's base stats were already comparable to a legendary Pokémon!
Was this Mega Beedrill's damage output really that absurd?!
The rest of the battle was predictably one-sided.
Cynthia's other Pokémon went down like paper before Mega Beedrill's assault. The screen dimmed, flashing the defeat message.
Even so, the man in the suit didn't use the chance to have Team Aqua seize her or do anything else.
He just shot her a cold look, the kind that treated her as nothing more than dust.
He withdrew Mega Beedrill and walked toward another exit, leaving her with a single sentence thick with contempt.
His tone resembled that of the Rocket trio she'd met earlier, but carried far heavier weight.
"Hmph, a kid like you thinks you can stop this? Don't make me laugh."
With that, he disappeared down the corridor with two people who seemed to be his subordinates.
The Team Aqua executives exchanged baffled looks before rushing after him, paying Cynthia no mind at all.
Cynthia stared at the screen, her character standing alone in the empty room, yet she felt almost no frustration over the loss.
But the instant the defeat screen disappeared, she shot upright in her chair, her deep black eyes sparkling with excitement.
"That person…"
She muttered under her breath as her fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up her computer's recording tools.
She grabbed several close-up and full-body shots of the mysterious man and saved them all.
"That presence, that power, and Mega Beedrill… He has to be the leader of some organization. And probably one far more secretive and dangerous than Team Aqua or Team Magma."
The League had long been tracking the heads of various criminal groups, yet information on their top figures was always scarce.
Photos were even rarer. And now someone this important had shown up in the game right in front of her.
This was critical intel dropping straight into her hands.
She immediately picked up another communicator, connected to the League's emergency channel, and sent over the screenshots along with a brief report.
[Discovered suspicious evidence suggesting the identity of an important dark organization leader.
Male, features as follows... Please immediately initiate the highest priority investigation!]
After handling this, she let out a long breath and turned her attention back to the game screen.
The story continued.
The Team Aqua members seemed to have temporarily abandoned this base due to the mysterious man's departure and the possible incoming League investigation.
Cynthia guided her character away from the Team Aqua base.
Recalling the earlier clues, she decided to head to her next destination.
Mossdeep City.
However, when she successfully arrived at Mossdeep City, she discovered that the main path into the city was blocked by a group of people in brown uniforms resembling construction workers and various roadblocks.
A sign read: "Construction Ahead, No Entry."
A young male NPC standing by the road spotted her character and proactively approached to chat.
"Hey, were you trying to get to Mossdeep City? Too bad, heard the road up ahead got damaged in the earthquake earlier.
They're doing emergency repairs right now. But a lot of people have been heading toward Shoal Cave instead.
Sounds like something even bigger happened over there. Want to check it out?"
Shoal Cave?
Cynthia paused for a moment.
Lance had just finished telling her in detail about his experiences there.
Encountering the frozen Regice and Wallace. So something was happening there again now? And it sounded like a different situation?
Could it be because... the game progression was different?
Because she'd chosen a different starter Pokémon, or triggered different prerequisite conditions, causing the story to branch off differently?
"Is this… two different timelines?" Cynthia wondered aloud. The idea seemed plausible, and it made the game's design feel even more intricate.
Even though she wasn't sure yet, she decided to investigate. She guided her character to turn around and make her way toward Shoal Cave.
The moment she entered, she could tell the place didn't match Lance's description at all.
There was no malevolent cold. Instead, the air was thick with chaotic energy residue and a lingering icy chill.
More precisely, it felt like the aftermath of some far more violent force.
NPCs were gathered throughout the cave, watching the scene unfold and chattering excitedly among themselves.
Cynthia slipped through the crowd and ventured deeper inside.
The farther she went, the more obvious the battle scars became. Huge patches of the cave walls were scorched or rimed with frost.
Soon, she heard furious roars mixed with panicked human shouting.
Inside a wide ice cavern, she stumbled upon a shocking scene.
A group of people in strange black and white uniforms were desperately trying to operate what looked like a massive energy cannon, its target a blue-gray, draconic Pokémon standing upright.
One of its wings was made of ice, the other a demonic-looking claw. Its towering frame radiated a kingly presence, and waves of deep blue energy kept surging off its body.
There was no doubt that the overwhelming pressure filling the cavern came from this Pokémon.
Was this the frozen Pokémon Lance had mentioned?
But right now, it looked agonized and enraged.
It thrashed wildly, unleashing bursts of unstable ice-flame energy that froze and shattered the surrounding rock walls.
"Hurry and hold it down! The energy output's overloading!" a minor boss-like NPC yelled frantically.
"I can't! The control signal's jammed! It's breaking loose!" another member screamed.
A heartbeat later, the Pokémon let out a piercing roar and snapped every restraint.
Its crimson eyes locked onto the people trying to subdue it, and it began gathering a terrifying amount of ice-type energy in its mouth.
"We're done for!" The Plasma members went pale.
Cynthia held her breath, pulling her character back a couple of steps, readying herself in case the attack reached her.
At that moment, the minor boss NPC, looking both pained and desperate, suddenly pulled something from inside his robe.
It was a cube radiating strange multicolored light, like a twisted Rubik's cube, and he flung it with all his strength toward the dragon Pokémon.
"Damn it, no choice! We have to use this!"
The cube drew close to the dragon and burst into brilliant light, tearing open space itself.
A massive dark-purple wormhole appeared above the dragon's head, eerie starlight flickering inside.
And the moment she saw it, Cynthia's whole body jolted.
This was…
An Ultra Wormhole?!
۞۞۞۞
~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones