Cynthia opened her mouth but said nothing.
Meanwhile, Lance controlled his Charizard through the high-level zones deep within Victory Road, pushing through battle after battle—necessary but tedious grinding.
Charizard wiped out a flock of Skarmory with a single Flamethrower. The experience points trickled in slowly.
Lance's frustration wouldn't fade. He couldn't shake the image of that white demon or those words: "testing qualification."
Since becoming Kanto's Champion, this was the first time he'd felt this way. The worst part? He had to admit he couldn't beat his opponent—and it wasn't even a trainer. It was a Pokémon. A Pokémon that challenged him directly, then dismissed him as weak. The whole situation felt ridiculous.
A message notification from Cynthia appeared.
He opened it. The content was brief:
"First battle at the Battle Frontier. Got swept by some kid using Entei paired with a Pokémon called Volcanion in doubles. They stole my weather right at the start, then one-shot me. Second playthrough waters run deep. Solidarity."
The corner of Lance's mouth twitched.
He wasn't the only one getting schooled by powerful enemies.
He'd thought Cynthia could at least avoid facing that white demon for now. Apparently, her situation wasn't much better.
Misery loves company.
Suddenly, his own struggle seemed less unbearable.
A strange sense of connection eased the frustration weighing on his heart.
He stopped grinding, returned to a safe area, and started his livestream.
The chat was still discussing how he'd been one-shot earlier. Lance cleared his throat.
"Breaking news. Champion Cynthia also ran into a problem in her first Battle Frontier match."
He kept his tone neutral.
"She got one-shot by some harmless-looking kid using Entei and another suspected Legendary Pokémon. The weather was stolen right at the start. Then she got swept in the doubles match."
He described what had happened.
The chat exploded:
[There's a Battle Frontier?]
[Damn, if I'd known there was entertainment like this, I wouldn't be watching stream grinding. Feel like I missed out big time.]
[Feel bad for Cynthia for one second]
[Is Lance feeling better now?]
[Second playthrough really is full of monsters!]
Lance glanced at the chat and nodded. "Looks like everyone's catching on. The difficulty of the second playthrough is way more intense than the first."
His tone shifted. His gaze sharpened.
"But more importantly, there's the intel Cynthia provided, plus my own encounter. About that humanoid Pokémon—I've got some new theories."
He pulled up a key screenshot from his previous battle replay. The image showed a blurry but overwhelming white figure.
"It's active in the Hoenn region. Its behavior doesn't seem fixed.
When Cynthia encountered it, the creature just observed for a bit, then left. But with me, it challenged me directly and dismissed me as weak."
Mentioning this made Lance's mouth twitch again.
He analyzed the differences between the two encounters.
"I still don't know why it chose to challenge me instead of Cynthia. Maybe when Cynthia met it, she hadn't become Champion in the game yet? Maybe it only wants to challenge the strong?"
Lance closed the screenshot. His brow furrowed as he continued thinking aloud.
"One thing's certain—fighting it head-on won't work. Its power level is all question marks. I need another method."
He faced the camera, organizing his thoughts.
"The main goal is to find a way to resist or avoid its Psychic and Ghost-type attacks. Dark-types are immune to Psychic attacks. Ghost-types are immune to Normal and Fighting attacks. Steel-types have good resistance to both."
"I need to expand my team for the second playthrough anyway. These types might be good directions to explore."
He paused.
"Or find a way to be faster? End the battle or control it before it can attack?"
"But battles with it seem to happen in real time, not the normal turn-based system in the game. That means being faster will be even harder."
He shook his head, dismissing the idea.
"Anyone have Pokémon recommendations?"
The chat discussed heatedly:
[Dark-type! Get a Tyranitar!]
[Steel-type's also good. Aggron!]
[Speed? Is there any Pokémon faster than it?]
[Feel like defensive tanks are more reliable...]
[Items seem questionable. These skills seem beyond the rules...]
Lance looked at the suggestions without making an immediate decision.
These were all preliminary ideas.
Right now, the most important thing was raising his basic strength. Level, moves, items—all essential.
His fighting spirit returned.
The grinding couldn't stop. He still needed to explore places that might hide powerful items or clues.
As for that white creature, he hoped it wouldn't come testing again before he was ready. He really couldn't handle it yet.
With this thought, he controlled Charizard and charged toward the more dangerous areas deep in Victory Road.
---
Inside the Battle Factory, Cynthia stared at the "Battle Failed" message on screen. She looked at her own empty field, then at the little boy bouncing away across from her. She remained silent for several seconds.
The livestream was full of comforting messages:
[Don't cry]
[Get them back next time!]
She let out a gentle breath and showed the camera a bitter smile—helpless and self-mocking.
Taking opponents lightly was a critical mistake.
In the second playthrough, no opponent could be underestimated.
The Battle Frontier was indeed a challenging place.
She acknowledged her mistake. A Champion's pride meant she wouldn't make excuses, but this lesson reminded her exactly what kind of game she was playing.
Ahida's phrase "forgot to mention" also made her realize something.
The rules of the Battle Frontier weren't as simple as the introduction suggested.
She walked to the Battle Factory's rest area. Instead of starting the next match immediately, she carefully studied the facility rules posted on the wall. She went through the Battle Factory's doubles rules point by point, not missing any detail that might affect the outcome.
She also approached the NPC staff and other trainers waiting to challenge. She pressed the interaction button:
"Excuse me, in this Battle Factory, besides that child just now, are there any other particularly special opponents? What are the features of their Pokémon or tactics?"
She got some answers from these NPCs and learned a few things about the Battle Frontier.
Special NPC characters like that one didn't appear every time—they refreshed randomly with a probability rate. Once Cynthia could defeat them, the rewards would be much richer. Risk and opportunity went hand in hand.
The core of this defeat was that her weather had been stolen instantly.
She began thinking about the problems with her rain team tactics in a doubles environment.
Even if the opponent wasn't a Legendary, what if they also had ways to change weather? Like a Hippowdon with sandstorm or an Abomasnow with snow? Wouldn't her core tactics have the same problems?
She needed a more stable defensive system. Perhaps adding a Pokémon that could provide Light Screen or Reflect, like Starmie? If weather was stolen, it could still set up barriers at the start, buying time for later moves.
Or prepare a counter-weather backup—like bringing another weather-setting Pokémon herself, or carrying moves that could eliminate weather.
Her mind raced.
Though she'd suffered a crushing defeat, Cynthia still had confidence in her main team.
Ludicolo, Swampert—these were all partners she'd carefully trained throughout her journey. They weren't inferior to those two Pokémon.
The problem was her tactical choices and careless attitude, not her partners being weak.
She decided to continue using this team but had to completely change her attitude of not caring just because opponents looked weak.
After regrouping, Cynthia stepped into the Battle Factory's battle entrance again.
This time, her matched opponent was a middle-aged man in mountaineering gear who looked calm.
The chat also got serious:
[This should be normal, right?]
[You got this!]
[Steady and methodical!]
Cynthia's gaze was focused. This time, there wasn't the slightest trace of carelessness.
Her starting lineup was no longer the rain team seeking extreme offense. Instead, she chose Swampert with excellent durability and wide coverage, plus Victini who could provide defensive support.
The battle began. Cynthia's commands were clear and steady.
"Victini, Light Screen! Swampert, Protect!"
Establish defenses first.
Light flowed around Victini as a transparent energy wall rose in their half of the field. This greatly reduced the damage from the opponent's two Pokémon's special attack moves in the first round.
Swampert successfully blocked the opponent's attack with Protect.
Next, Cynthia fully utilized the Light Screen's duration and Swampert's durability advantage.
"Swampert, Earthquake!"
"Victini, Flamethrower!"
This time, she no longer rushed for quick results. She proceeded steadily, using Light Screen to wear down the opponent's HP and moves. She seized opportunities from their mistakes to expand her advantage.
Before Light Screen faded, Swampert's powerful Ice Punch finished off the opponent's last Pokémon.
Victory arrived. Though not particularly fast, the pace had been firmly in her control throughout.
The chat erupted in cheers:
[Beautiful!]
[This is the strength of our Champion!]
[Check the rewards!]
---
In Cerulean City, Kairos looked at the dark red system notification slowly fading before him.
SS-rank mission. This grade didn't sound simple.
Ghost World Turmoil.
Gengar and Chandelure's homeland was about to have major problems. He should check it out.
He turned to look at Gengar huddled in the corner. Those crimson eyes still carried unease, occasionally glancing at the dark overcast sky outside the window.
This weather change and Gengar's strange behavior were clearly warnings brought by this Ghost World incident.
"Gengar." He walked to Gengar's side and crouched down to pat its head. "Want to go back to your homeland with me?"
Gengar's head shot up. Its crimson eyes were full of disbelief.
It extended a claw, pointing at itself, then at Kairos, finally toward the gloomy sky outside representing the Ghost World's direction. A confused sound came from its throat.
Boss, for real?
That place obviously has something wrong with it right now, and you still want to go there?
"What's there to fear? Wasn't that other place more dangerous than the Ghost World before?"
Kairos shrugged.
"Let's go see what's wrong with your home. And while we're at it, see if there's a way to solve this problem."
He didn't mention the mission. Gengar probably wouldn't understand anyway.
At these words, Gengar seemed conflicted. Its expression became complex. It had indeed been away from the Ghost World for quite a long time. To say it didn't want to go back and look would be a lie. After all, it had grown up in that place.
But right now, that uneasy feeling in its heart was warning it not to return.
It glanced at Kairos's expression and finally let out a deep sigh and nodded.
Whatever. Going back it is.
It couldn't keep feeling this awful anyway.
Kairos smiled, then looked toward the living room. "We're heading out, Chandelure."
Almost instantly, in the shadows of the living room corner, ghostly blue flames silently lit up. Chandelure's body—composed of black candlesticks and ghostly blue flames—quietly materialized.
"We're going to the Ghost World. Coming with us?"
Kairos asked directly.
Chandelure's candlelight immediately flickered more intensely, as if expressing excitement.
Its cold flame eyes turned toward Gengar, then toward Kairos. Several clusters of flame bobbed up and down.
Its attitude couldn't be clearer. Compared to Gengar, it seemed to have no major reaction to this Ghost World incident. Now hearing about returning to its homeland, it actually seemed happy.
"All right, then it's settled." Kairos made the decision.
Bringing these two Ghost World natives along would at least save a lot of trouble with navigation and communication.
But a new problem appeared—where was the Ghost World?
His knowledge of the Ghost World was limited to Gengar and Chandelure's origins, plus some scattered information he'd seen online.
He immediately returned to his study, turned on the computer, and started searching.
Keywords: Ghost World entrance, how to enter the Ghost World. All sorts of information popped up.
Filtering out the obviously unreliable content, Kairos finally found some relatively credible official or semi-official information.
Putting it all together, he understood several key points:
First, the Ghost World didn't have just one entrance. Passages existed all over the world.
Second, entering the Ghost World required a permit.
This permit immediately caught Kairos's attention.
He clicked the related link and discovered this was a type of access permit issued by a Special Space Management Bureau under the Pokémon League.
The application conditions were extremely harsh, requiring detailed background checks, strength certification, special guarantees, and often a clear and legitimate reason for entry.
The approval process was even longer—reportedly taking at least a year and a half.
This made things somewhat troublesome.