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"Of course it's Mewtwo," Chris muttered to himself.
Chris chose to enter the dungeon, and the moment he released his Pokémon, he spotted a silver-white figure appearing in the sky near the castle at the far end of the island.
Then, exactly like what had happened with Shadow Mewtwo, he got beaten badly.
Although he had just cleared a dungeon with a recommended level of 95, the gap between that and the Level 100 dungeon he now faced wasn't what it appeared to be on the surface.
The Level 95 dungeon where Deoxys was located had that rating because the dungeon's actual difficulty peaked at Level 95. However, "Darkness Comes," which featured Shadow Mewtwo, and "Mewtwo Strikes Back," which clearly existed here with the regular Mewtwo—both of these dungeons were rated at Level 100. That was because 100 was the maximum level cap for any dungeon.
However, just from the experience of fighting them, Chris could tell that both Mewtwo were roughly equal in strength. The main difference between them lay in their fighting styles.
Shadow Mewtwo's attacks were devastating. Its moves infused with dark power dealt double damage to any Pokémon. As for the regular Mewtwo, while its moves didn't carry the power of darkness, its battle tactics were far more varied and unpredictable.
The way it utilized various Psychic-type moves made it as slippery as an eel. In Chris's opinion, the regular Mewtwo was actually harder to defeat than Shadow Mewtwo.
After this battle, Chris made a firm decision. He wouldn't challenge either Mewtwo rashly—at least not until all of his team members had reached maximum level.
He had his character Surf again, continuing south toward the Orange Islands proper. After more than ten minutes of travel, Chris finally spotted another massive island in the distance.
More importantly, this island had cities on it!
Chris quickly guided his character to dock and land on the island. The scenery shifted before his eyes, and suddenly Chris found himself transported from the external view into the game itself, standing in a bustling harbor city.
"Just as I thought. Like Alto Mare, the city of water, any city or region that doesn't exist in the actual games but only appears in the anime will automatically trigger full immersion," Chris theorized.
Looking around, a thriving city sprawled out before him, filled with busy streets and flowing traffic.
"Gardevoir," Chris called, tossing a Poké Ball.
Gardevoir emerged gracefully.
"Let's head to the nearest Pokémon Center."
"Nai~" Gardevoir clasped her hands together in front of her chest. Invisible waves of psychic power immediately rippled outward, spreading rapidly in all directions.
She quickly locked onto the Pokémon Center's location. In the next instant, Chris and Gardevoir appeared out of thin air at the Pokémon Center's entrance.
People nearby immediately turned to look with curious expressions, mainly because they noticed that Gardevoir's coloring seemed a bit unusual.
"A Shiny Pokémon!" some exclaimed.
A few people even widened their eyes and started walking over to get a closer look.
With a snap of his fingers, Zoroark's form slowly materialized behind Chris. The power of illusion spread outward while Gardevoir used Hypnosis with a gentle motion.
The surrounding crowd suddenly went back to their own business as if they hadn't seen anything at all.
"Having Zoroark makes such a difference," Chris remarked with satisfaction. With Zoroark by his side, he could walk through the streets like any ordinary person.
He handed his Poké Balls to Nurse Joy for treatment and struck up a conversation while waiting.
"Do you have a map of the area?"
"Yes, of course," Nurse Joy said cheerfully, quickly retrieving a map for him.
Chris examined the map carefully. Most of the area depicted was filled with blue, representing the ocean. Scattered across this vast expanse of water were countless islands of various sizes.
Clearly, this matched what Chris had expected. This was indeed the Orange Islands.
His current location was at the southernmost tip of the Orange Islands, on a small island called Hamlin Island.
"What's the procedure for registering for the Orange League?" Chris asked Nurse Joy.
"You just need to register your Pokédex."
Chris handed over his Pokédex. Since he was already here, he might as well challenge the Orange League while he had the chance.
However, the Orange League was different from all the other regional leagues Chris had played through before. The Orange Islands contained many individual islands, but the League only had four gyms. After defeating those four gyms, challengers could go directly to face the Head Leader.
It made sense in a way—there were no regular Gym Leaders here. Instead, it was like going straight to facing the Elite-level trainers.
Moreover, the rules at these four gyms differed from those at ordinary gyms. The Orange Islands were primarily a vacation destination, and their gyms reflected that atmosphere. They focused more on Pokémon sports competitions rather than traditional Pokémon battles.
Chris figured it would probably be easier this way.
"Registration complete. Your Pokémon have also been fully healed. I wish you a pleasant journey," Nurse Joy said with a smile.
Taking his Pokédex and Poké Balls back from Nurse Joy, Chris turned and left the Pokémon Center.
He opened the map again and studied it more thoroughly. The four Orange League gyms were scattered across the four corners of the Orange Islands. If he wanted to visit all the gyms, he'd need to travel around the entire archipelago.
The nearest gym was located at the northern corner of the Orange Islands, on a small island called Kumquat Island. As long as he continued heading north from Hamlin Island, he would eventually reach it.
"No need to rush. Since I've arrived in a new place, I should explore it properly," Chris said, pulling the treasure detector from his backpack.
The treasure detector's pointer quickly deflected, pointing southward toward the southern shore exit of Hamlin Island. However, the magnitude of the deflection wasn't particularly strong.
"It seems it's not a legendary Pokémon item. At most, it's probably a decent secret treasure," Chris guessed, feeling somewhat disappointed.
He'd found legendary Pokémon items several times before, which had raised his expectations considerably.
"But a secret treasure is still a secret treasure. I can't be too picky. If legendary Pokémon items were everywhere, they wouldn't be nearly as valuable," Chris reasoned, handing the treasure detector to Gardevoir.
Chris and Gardevoir began teleporting rapidly in the direction where the treasure was buried.
Meanwhile, on an island hundreds of nautical miles away from Hamlin Island, something stirred.
Calling it an island was generous—it was more like a collection of jagged reefs jutting out of the sea. There were no flowers or trees here, only rocks that had been pierced and shattered by incredibly penetrating attacks. Strange rock formations stood at odd angles, and the waters near the sea cliffs were littered with the wrecks of ships.
This place felt like a forbidden zone for all living things.
Suddenly, a pair of scarlet eyes opened deep within the island's interior.
The sky above the entire island was immediately shrouded by thick, pitch-black thunderclouds. Dark red lightning crackled and rolled through the clouds, roaring like a powerful beast.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In an instant, countless bolts of dark red lightning fell from the sky, bombarding the earth chaotically and mercilessly.
"ZAAAP!" A sharp, angry cry echoed from the depths of the island, filled with fury.
A fierce figure shot up from the island's depths, plunging headlong into the dark clouds filled with crimson lightning. The creature swept northward, carrying the ominous storm clouds with it!