As soon as she stepped into the cave, she discovered strange energy filling the air, shifting between three colors: red, blue, and green.
Not far into the cave, in an open area, an unusual Pokémon appeared before her—it looked like a blue pony with a sharp light blue horn on its head and a flowing mane.
It seemed startled by Cynthia and quickly shifted into a battle stance.
[Huh? What Pokémon is this?]
[Never seen it before!]
[Looks so cool! Is it a Water-type?]
[Standing alone here—it seems unusual!]
[A Legendary? No way. If Legendary Pokémon were this easy to encounter, wouldn't it just be a rare Pokémon?]
The chat buzzed with discussion as Cynthia carefully observed this unfamiliar Pokémon.
The energy it gave off was different from ordinary Pokémon—pure yet sharp. But it seemed it hadn't quite reached that heart-pounding, overwhelming presence of a Legendary Pokémon.
Her curiosity grew, and she decided to test it herself.
Cynthia stepped forward and pressed the interaction button. The battle was about to begin.
[A wild Keldeo appeared!]
After several exchanges, the blue pony called Keldeo displayed gorgeous, dazzling moves with high power. But it was only level 60 and was quickly brought to low HP by Cynthia.
Seeing the opportunity, Cynthia's eyes narrowed as she threw an Ultra Ball with precision. She captured it successfully.
[Caught it!]
[So is this a Legendary or not?]
[Doesn't seem like a Legendary. Since when are Legendaries this easy to catch?]
[Maybe a Mythical? A rare species?]
Since her party was full, the newly captured Pokémon would have to stay with Ludicolo in the PC. Cynthia couldn't check this Pokémon's information yet.
Carrying new questions and discoveries, she continued deeper into the cave.
She passed through dark winding passages and shallow streams. The path ahead finally opened up.
The cave exit led to a cliff platform with an excellent view. Atop the platform stood a magnificent villa with a unique style.
The villa was built entirely from massive stone blocks and rare minerals. The precision of the cuts gave it striking beauty.
Various lifelike stone sculptures dotted the area around the villa—some shaped like Pokémon, others in abstract geometric forms.
Huge floor-to-ceiling windows reflected the sunlight. The villa's vast size made it almost like a small stone castle.
[Holy crap! This is Steven's house?!]
[This is way too extravagant! It's all stone!]
[The stone fanatic lives up to his reputation.]
[Streamer, is Steven's house really this exaggerated in real life?]
The chat was shocked by how luxurious this "stone mansion" was.
Looking at the chat's questions, Cynthia recalled the scene when she was once invited to Steven's private estate on the outskirts of Rustboro City. It was also an astonishingly large manor that housed countless rare minerals and art pieces.
She shook her head slightly.
"No, it's not the same."
The chat instantly filled with: [As expected], [The game exaggerated it], [I knew it].
Cynthia added calmly, "What I mean is, his actual villa is even bigger than this."
[???]
[???]
[Even bigger than this?]
[Sis, are you serious???]
[Poverty limits my imagination!]
A screen full of question marks and exclamation points expressed the audience's intense shock. The extravagance of wealthy people always left them speechless.
Cynthia didn't explain further. She guided her character toward the villa's main entrance—a massive door carved from a single piece of black obsidian.
Inside, every surface confirmed Steven's reputation as a "stone fanatic."
The hall was tall and spacious. Walls were embedded with various colored minerals that caught the light and threw off dreamlike colors.
Huge display cases showed off uniquely shaped precious fossils and crystal ores. Even the living room sofas were flanked by two life-sized stone sculptures of Tyranitar and Aggron.
The air itself seemed filled with the essence of stone.
Looker, Steven, and several others wearing International Police uniforms or researcher attire were already waiting there.
After brief greetings with Cynthia, the meeting got straight to the point.
Steven's expression was serious as he pointed to a map of the Hoenn region projected on the wall. Several areas flashed with red lights.
[Strawberry Ice Cream, the situation is worse than we thought.] His voice was grave. [Ultra Wormhole energy activity in the Hoenn region is getting more frequent and intense.
They're no longer just simple spatial rifts—their energy overflow is causing irreversible damage to Hoenn's ecosystem!]
He pointed to a location near Mt. Chimney.
[Volcanic activity here has intensified abnormally. We've detected unknown energy in the lava composition—energy that doesn't belong to this world. Meanwhile, in the waters near Slateport City, numerous marine creatures have become violent due to energy contamination.]
Steven looked at Cynthia.
[Regional Leagues and the International Police have joined forces. We need your power, Champion. Will you investigate and help us stop this disaster?]
Cynthia didn't hesitate at the invitation. She nodded immediately.
[I'm in.]
At the same time, she began to think.
Ultra Wormholes had barely appeared in her own world yet. So when they did appear frequently, would they bring similar negative impacts to her world?
Looker nodded with satisfaction. He stood up and walked to the projection, the casualness on his face giving way to seriousness and professionalism.
[Good, then let me explain the core intelligence about 'Ultra Wormholes' for everyone. First, regarding its fundamental nature...]
Hearing this, Cynthia became more attentive.
Looker brought up a simulation animation on screen—distorted light rays and strange geometric structures swirling together.
[Based on the data we have and descriptions from travelers, Ultra Wormholes are not simple tunnels through space.
We believe they are abnormal passages that can connect different 'parallel spacetimes.' They may even possess the ability to penetrate temporal barriers and spatial dimensions, traveling between countless parallel worlds.]
This first statement struck like a thunderclap in Cynthia's mind.
Parallel spacetimes?
Time and space?
Her pupils contracted sharply. Her fingers trembled on the mouse.
Though she had long known of Ultra Wormholes' existence and personally experienced the threats they brought, their nature had always been debated within the League. There had never been a conclusion.
Now, the game was directly giving her an explanation.
Those suddenly appearing Ultra Beasts with vastly different behavioral patterns and unfamiliar power systems, those inexplicable energy fluctuations and distortions in space—they came from other parallel spacetimes?
She had considered various possibilities about Ultra Wormholes before. But no matter what, she couldn't have imagined this.
[Parallel worlds?! Holy crap, this setting is amazing.]
[Can traverse both time and space? These wormholes are that OP?]
[This game's writers have such wild imaginations.]
[Going with these grand settings again...]
The chat filled with amazement, mostly appreciating the game's novel setting.
But only Cynthia knew that these were situations about to appear in their world in reality—not just some setting.
Looker's explanation continued:
[According to fragmented information sent back by our investigators, the Ultra Wormholes connect to an initial source point beyond other possible parallel worlds.
There, it seems to be the origin of all Ultra Wormholes and the homeland of those monsters called Ultra Beasts.]
A female police officer standing beside Looker stepped forward to add:
[Those Ultra Beasts are generally extremely ferocious. Destructive desire is their primary trait. However...]
She paused.
[According to very few reports of safe contact, there seem to be rare individuals among them capable of limited communication. Some even display a certain intelligence.]
At this moment, a silver-haired girl standing farther away—looking rather young with a somewhat aloof manner—walked to Cynthia's side. Her voice sounded distant and otherworldly.
[Hello, Hoenn's Champion. I'm Anabel. I... come from what Mr. Looker calls 'another parallel world.']
Her words captured Cynthia's attention again.
Anabel's eyes seemed distant, falling into recollection:
[In our world, Ultra Wormholes also invaded. To investigate the source, I... once ventured into a massive Ultra Wormhole...]
Her voice trembled slightly.
[At the end of that bizarre passage filled with chaotic energy, I... I saw an immensely huge black silhouette. It was like something formed from pure darkness and angles. It gave off a suffocating sense of pressure, as if it were a legendary existence. Just sensing its presence, I...]
Anabel's body shook again, almost invisibly.
[I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was already in this world.]
She looked at Cynthia. Her eyes held both helplessness and determination.
[So I joined them, hoping to find a way home. I also want to understand what that black thing really is.]
A huge black silhouette? A legendary existence?
Cynthia furrowed her brow, rapidly searching through known Legendary Pokémon information in her mind. None could completely match Anabel's description.
This was clearly another previously unseen Ultra Beast with an extremely high power level.
This made her reassess the danger level of Ultra Wormholes once again.
Looker took over, his expression even more grim.
[Miss Anabel's experience is not an isolated case. Moreover, we must be vigilant about an even more terrifying fact: not long ago in the Alola region, a black giant beast matching Anabel's description closely made a brief descent!]
He brought up several blurry but shocking images. They vaguely showed a sky-obscuring black shadow clashing intensely with four figures radiating powerful light.
[The four Island Guardians of the Alola region—Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini—joined forces with the local Island Kahunas and paid a tremendous price to repel it.]
[But according to reports, that seemed to be just a phantom, not even a physical form. Yet after the battle, the four Guardians disappeared along with the phantom and remain missing to this day!]
Looker's voice carried unprecedented gravity.
[We must accelerate our investigation and find a way to stop it before it truly descends!]
The atmosphere in the conference room became oppressively heavy.
Just then, Steven's communicator rang urgently.
After answering, his expression became even grimmer.
[What did you say?]
He hung up.
[Sorry, I must leave immediately. There's a problem in Mossdeep City.]
With that, he hurried out of the villa.
The meeting was temporarily suspended due to Steven's emergency departure.
Looker said he needed to gather new intelligence. He told Cynthia to move freely while staying in contact.
Cynthia also controlled her character to leave the oppressive conference room.
Just as she arrived at the villa's main hall, before she could digest everything she had just heard, a young man with long white hair leaning against a massive crystal pillar approached her.
[We meet again. I truly didn't expect you to have already become Champion. Impressive.]
This person was none other than Gladion, whom she had met before—the very person who first explained the concept of Ultra Wormholes to her.
[Since we've met again, let me reintroduce myself in detail. I'm from the Aether Foundation—an organization that was once dedicated to researching Ultra Wormholes and studying the Ultra Beasts scattered across various worlds because of them. We wanted to prevent them from having too great an impact on other worlds.]
Gladion's eyes held a trace of barely noticeable anxiety.
[Our Foundation has always cooperated with the International Police. But recently, I've been completely unable to contact Foundation headquarters.]
[I hope nothing has happened there.]
[We'll meet again. I'm glad to see you've joined.]
With that, seeming unwilling to say more, he turned and left.
This brief conversation set Cynthia thinking again.
The Aether Foundation losing contact was probably not coincidental. It should be related to Ultra Wormholes, right?
At this moment, as Cynthia prepared to leave the villa, the chat suddenly reminded her:
[Sis! Look around the villa! Steven's house definitely has good stuff!]
[Right, right! Since it's him, there must be a pile of rare minerals in the house, right?]
[That Regi altar needs a lot of stones to trigger, doesn't it? Ask Steven for some—he has so many anyway, he probably won't mind, right?]
Seeing the chat's reminder, Cynthia suddenly remembered this matter. She decided to explore the rooms to see if there were any good items.
When she walked into a display room, her gaze was drawn to a glass cabinet in the corner.
Walking closer for a look, surprise crossed her face.
Displayed inside the cabinet were Evolution Stones of various colors.
[Fire Stone], [Water Stone], [Thunder Stone], [Leaf Stone], [Moon Stone], [Sun Stone]—quite a complete variety.