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Chapter 108: Iono and Cynthia's New Journey!
🕑 Added 2025-09-09 18:58:55 +0000 UTCFrom the perspective of a League member, this might not necessarily be a good thing.
After all, when trainers become comprehensively stronger, it means the League's difficulty in managing them would increase dramatically.
Because once a small portion of people gain unprecedented power, they might very well start doing things that could harm social order.
But looking at it from her own perspective, Cynthia didn't see it that way.
In the end, these individuals were merely a small minority. The majority of people would use their power responsibly.
The looming threat of the Ultra Wormholes and the Ghost World was far more dangerous than any hidden flaws in human nature.
The strength of each trainer could significantly reduce casualties during a disaster.
If the number of powerful trainers could triple, the threat from the Ghost World might be diminished by a factor too great to predict.
It might even help with the Ultra Wormholes... perhaps.
But after the brief surge of excitement, Cynthia composed herself and recognized a problem.
Based on the current quantity of rewards this game was handing out, there was probably no way it could affect that many people in such a short time.
Unless this game could manage to give every single player who participated rewards like her box of Rare Candy.
But was that even possible?
Cynthia found herself without an answer to this question.
Everything this game had shown so far was beyond her imagination. She had no idea what would happen next, but regardless, one thing was certain:
Her hopeful gaze fell on the notification screen in front of her.
This was no longer just a simple online game!
And her purpose for playing this game had completely changed from the very beginning.
Now, no matter what, she had to at least hold onto first place on the game's progress leaderboard. She needed to get that contact information for the game's creator while using the ranking rewards to try to break through into that legendary realm.
More importantly than that, though, the questions she wanted to ask the game's creator were actually multiplying as the game progressed, rather than being limited to just wanting information about Rayquaza...
But speaking of which, Cynthia suddenly remembered something else and a new question.
Although she and Lance had agreed to keep everything about this game from the League for now, she felt that since every player could get items and rewards in this game to improve their Pokémon's strength, the Elite Four and Champions around her had the right to know, too.
After all, these people were absolutely trustworthy compared to those uncontrollable trainers, or even the forces and personnel in dark organizations.
And if their strength could be improved, when either the Ghost World or Ultra Beast crisis arrived in the future, they'd become the first line of defense for the people, saving countless innocent lives.
But how should she tell them about this?
Sure, if she just told them the whole story directly, given her credibility, everyone would believe her.
But having Cynthia just lay it all out like that still felt kind of weird to her.
How about this then?
With that thought, she opened her phone and connected to her room's surveillance system. She pulled up footage from last night when Spiritomb ate the Rare Candy and completed its breakthrough, when its ability field upgraded, plus the clip of Garchomp getting pressed down to the floor below. She sent it to the Elite Four and Champions' group chat.
At the same time, she added an explanation below the video.
[This candy can directly boost Champion-level Pokémon to top-tier strength with no side effects whatsoever. You get it by playing a game called "Pokémon Emerald" and earning ranking rewards on the progress leaderboard.]
[This is currently a secret, so don't make it public, but I think you all have the right to know. If you have questions, come find me privately. I hope everyone won't miss this opportunity.]
...
What Cynthia didn't know was that the moment she sent that message, over in the Kanto region in Cerulean City, in a villa by a crystal-blue lake, a woman was leaning against her window with a cup of coffee in hand, gazing at the sunlit, gently rippling lake surface. She took a light sip and set it down.
Her demeanor was elegant with that unique, mature charm. The breeze gently stirred her wine-red hair, and fragments of sunlight sparkled through her locks.
The woman slightly narrowed those amber eyes of hers, her dark blue uniform highlighting her graceful figure as she seemed to be seriously contemplating something.
The next moment, though, her phone's notification sound caught her attention.
"Hm? Something interesting happening in the group again?"
She muttered to herself, set down her coffee cup, picked up her phone, and opened the group chat. What greeted her was a video.
As the video played, the woman's eyes first narrowed slightly, then couldn't help but widen dramatically.
"This kind of rapid strength improvement... what on earth is this thing?"
...
Similar scenes were playing out at this very moment in countless corners around the world.
One Elite Four member and Champion after another witnessed Cynthia's video and her accompanying message, falling deep into thought.
Meanwhile, after sending her message, Cynthia took a deep breath, got up from her bed, and walked to her desk, where she pulled out her laptop computer.
She usually did her streaming from her study, but yesterday's "battle" between Spiritomb and Garchomp had blown a huge hole right through the floor. Obviously, she wouldn't be able to stream from that room again until it was completely repaired.
Fortunately, she had a backup laptop with decent performance that should be able to handle streaming Emerald just fine.
From a technical standpoint, this was just a tiny pixel-based game that didn't require high computer specs at all. Even streaming it simultaneously would be no problem.
When Cynthia first encountered "Pokémon Emerald," she'd thought it was pretty ridiculous how such a small game could have such incredibly rich content.
But after experiencing what happened on reward distribution day, she completely understood that you couldn't look at this game through normal eyes anymore.
Right now, as Cynthia started up her computer and opened "Pokémon Emerald" again, tons of viewers flooded into her stream.
[Cynthia's streaming so early again today, awesome!]
[Streamer, did you know that your bond with Sceptile is so strong it actually changed the game's original plot? That gym battle with Norman was supposed to make the player lose, haha]
...
Watching the flood of comments flying by, Cynthia was a bit confused about what was going on.
Meanwhile, Iono, following Norman's advice, successfully obtained the HM for Surf from next door and left Petalburg Gym to set out on the road again.
Thinking back to the strength Norman's Kangaskhan had just displayed when she encountered Team Magma, Iono couldn't help but rub her face in front of the computer screen, her expression looking somewhat strange.
"I never expected the main character's gym leader father in this game would be so incredibly strong, too."
For Iono, getting stronger had always been something that required time and effort. She and her main Pokémon never stopped their daily training, but their strength improvement wasn't exactly fast.
After all, Iono devoted a huge portion of her energy to running her gym. Even though the gym brought in a decent income every day, even if she converted all that income into resources for raising Pokémon, breaking through from gym leader level to Elite Four level was still pretty challenging.
Over time, Iono had even started thinking about giving up on breaking through to the Elite Four level. Maybe spending her whole life as a small gym leader, interacting with viewers in her stream every day, and being a streamer wouldn't be such a bad thing.
But now, seeing even a gym leader character in a game display such incredible battle power naturally motivated Iono a bit, reminding her of the goal she'd set when she was young.
That goal was to become the world's strongest Electric-type trainer.
Who says gym leaders can't become Elite Four members?
Maybe someday, she could become that strong, too!
Speaking of which, though, Iono's gaze suddenly fell on the box of Rare Candy on her desk, as well as the Thunder Stone next to it that she'd placed in a metal cabinet but was still overflowing with electrical energy.
She had no choice. This Thunder Stone contained such incredibly powerful electricity that Iono only dared store it this way. Otherwise, the current it naturally discharged could even char everything around it.
If this Thunder Stone's performance was already this dramatic, wouldn't that mean those Rare Candies could have the same powerful effects as in the game?
Iono couldn't help but swallow hard.
"So these things from the game can really be used directly to make Pokémon stronger?"
"Doesn't that mean I've found a shortcut to the top?"
After realizing this, Iono snapped back to attention. She wasn't slow on the uptake.
If this game distributed rewards based on rankings that could improve real Pokémon's battle power, then as more and more people learned about this, the competition for spots on the leaderboard would get more and more intense.
When that time came, keeping her position probably wouldn't be as simple as it was now.
So while not many people knew this secret yet, she had to hurry up and create a gap between herself and all the other players!
With that thought, Iono got ready to set out again, but before that, she didn't forget one crucial thing.
She controlled her character to go to the Pokémon Center, restored her team's condition, then released every one of her Pokémon.
Ampharos, Magneton, Galvantula, Pikachu, and Manectric all appeared, looking up at Iono and waiting for her instructions.
They had no idea what happened after Mega Kangaskhan defeated them. They still thought Iono hadn't passed the Petalburg Gym battle yet and that she was about to arrange their battle lineup right now.
However, the next moment, Iono's voice rang out with an apologetic tone.
"Everyone, you've all worked so hard during this time."
"Before this, I was so fixated on quickly getting badges that I ignored how you all felt. Now I want to say that you're all really amazing Pokémon who've stayed by my side and fought hard. Thank you."
At these words, all the Pokémon's eyes lit up.
Although their trainer's condition had seemed a bit off lately, after hearing these words, whatever had happened before didn't matter to them anymore.
Iono's voice continued:
"Not being able to beat that Pokémon just now really wasn't your fault. That Kangaskhan had some external power helping it, something called... oh right, Mega Evolution. Let me explain it to you."
Next, Iono gave her Pokémon a detailed explanation of everything she'd learned about Mega Evolution.
At the same time, she pressed the interact button in her bag and pulled out the Ampharosite, waving it in front of Ampharos.
"As long as I can get an item called a Key Stone next, Ampharos, you can complete Mega Evolution just like it did."
"Come to think of it, I still don't know what kind of special abilities you'd get when you evolve."
At these words, Ampharos's eyes immediately burst with brilliant light filled with anticipation.
It had experienced firsthand just how powerful that Pokémon had been.
Could it really complete that kind of evolution, too, and gain even stronger power?
When the other Pokémon heard what Iono said, they all turned their gazes toward her. Noticing this, she quickly spoke up.
"Of course, everyone else, even though I don't know if you can have this kind of evolutionary form like Ampharos, I promise I'll do everything I can to find the corresponding Mega Stones for each of you. I'll try to make sure every one of you gets this evolution opportunity!"
"I won't shortchange any of you!"
As soon as Iono made this promise, all the Pokémon broke into happy smiles and started spinning around her joyfully.
Magneton even pressed all its magnets against Iono's face.
And watching those Pokémon surrounding her game character, Iono's face in front of the screen showed a genuine smile she hadn't worn in a long time.
This familiar feeling... getting along well with Pokémon...
It felt really good.
She took a deep breath.
"Alright then, let's head out!"
Now that she'd passed Norman's gym, the next step was to find that Pokémon called Zeraora.
According to what that person on the forum had told her, that HM called Strength was pretty important.
On one hand, you could only use Strength to open the passage in Fiery Path to get that Pokémon that could help Zeraora.
And on the other hand... this Pokémon itself sounded pretty impressive, so there was no reason to pass it up.
It was just too bad this little guy apparently wasn't an Electric-type...
