Iron Boulder!
When Jason saw the Pokémon, he froze.
Inside, waves surged far more violently than the tremors underfoot from the nearby battle.
Why?
Why would a Paradox Pokémon be here?
In a flash, his thoughts flew to the distant Great Crater of Paldea. Deep within that forbidden Zone Zero there was a time machine—constantly sending these powerful Paradox Pokémon into the present era. To stop such out-of-time creatures from spilling out and wrecking Paldea's ecological balance, the League had erected a powerful energy barrier above the crater. That barrier could precisely detect and block any Paradox Pokémon from leaving Zone Zero.
So… how did this Iron Boulder get out?
Instinctively, he thought of himself. He'd left Zone Zero too—and hadn't been stopped. The reason was simple: he was a Ditto, not classified as a "Paradox Pokémon," so the barrier didn't affect him.
But Iron Boulder was different—a bona fide Paradox.
He didn't dwell on it long. Exceptions exist. An Iron Treads had already broken through the barrier before. That proved there might be loopholes allowing some Paradox Pokémon to slip out. And there were those two "vehicles," Koraidon and Miraidon—themselves Paradox Pokémon, yet able to pass freely through the barrier.
Thinking of it that way, one Iron Boulder outside… wasn't unimaginable. Either way, that headache belonged to Paldea's League Chair, Geeta. Let the tall ones hold up the sky. He was just a Ditto; problems of regional security should be left to the professionals.
"Jason, something seems off about these Pokémon," Cynthia said, her voice edged with gravity, tugging him back from his thoughts.
He hummed without fully refocusing. Cynthia tilted her head, noticed him staring blankly into a corner, and curiosity flickered in her eyes. She leaned closer, golden hair swaying.
"Hmm? Jason, what are you looking at?" she teased, poking the daydreaming Ditto.
Her nearness snapped him awake. He reflexively glanced at her flawless face—up close and still flawless—then flinched his gaze back to where Iron Boulder had stood.
"Over there—" He stopped. "Huh? It's gone."
In the one or two seconds he'd turned to answer Cynthia, the Iron Boulder standing in the shadows had vanished. That corner was empty now—just jagged rocks, nothing else.
"Over there?" Iono followed his gaze, flicked on her Rotom Phone's spotlight, and washed the spot with light. "I don't see anything! Jason, what did you see?"
Cynthia narrowed her long, foxlike eyes and studied the corner. What had Jason just seen? After a moment, she shook her head—nothing, on her end.
"You didn't see the Pokémon?" Jason blurted. "Metal body—glowing horns on its head!"
Cynthia shook her head again. She'd been locked on the Armarouge vs. Ceruledge melee, not crowd-watching the corners. Iono shook hers too—she'd been running the stream, lens glued to the hottest action, not the nooks and crannies.
Jason tried his last resort. "Gast? Did you see anything?"
"A… ah?" came the quavering reply behind him. "Jason… wh-what did you say? I… I'm scared…"
He turned—Gast had compressed into a tiny puff, plastered to him and shaking. No luck there either.
He sighed. Then Garchomp spoke.
"I sensed a powerful force, there and gone. Strange—unlike any Pokémon here. It flashed once, then vanished without a trace. No sign left. Might be what you saw."
Jason brightened. A Champion's ace—sharp as a razor.
"Most likely the same one," he nodded. With that corroboration, he knew he hadn't imagined it.
Garchomp stared at the spot a moment longer. "Seems an interesting opponent has appeared."
At that battle-hungry murmur, a keen light flashed in Cynthia's eyes. "You saw it, Garchomp?"
It shook its head, and Jason relayed Garchomp's words. Cynthia pivoted back to him. "Jason, the thing you saw—could it be the Pokémon that Orthworm said is pulling strings?"
He nodded emphatically, then laid out everything he knew about this Paradox Pokémon—Iron Boulder.
"Iron Boulder?" Iono frowned in thought, then shook her head, twin hairclips wobbling. "Never heard of it! I don't think it's in the League's Paradox Pokédex either."
She swung her camera to herself and slipped right back into streamer mode. "Family! Did you hear? Jason's found a brand-new Pokémon that's not even in the Dex! Any knowledgeable Paldean Trainers recognize one called 'Iron Boulder'?"
Comments flew—but the answers disappointed her. Tens of thousands in chat, including many badge-verified local veterans, all said they'd never seen it.
[Iron Boulder? New species? No idea.]
[Metal body, glowing horns—sounds cool, but nope.]
[I'm a Paldean ecology researcher—responsibly: there's no such name among known species.]
Just as Iono was about to announce "Exclusive discovery! Jason found a new species!" a gleaming, officially verified champion tag slid across the top of chat:
[Geeta]: In our current League intel on Zone Zero, we indeed haven't encountered the Paradox Pokémon Jason described.
Chat exploded. But Jason's focus was elsewhere.
"So much for 'busy,' huh?" he muttered aside. "How's Chairwoman Geeta got time to lurk in a stream?"
At League HQ, Geeta froze mid-watch. She'd heard the Ditto's jab. Awkwardness crept over the always-composed chair's face. The stream heard it too—and chat pivoted instantly.
[Pfft—brave one! First Pokémon to roast the Chair live!]
[Hahaha—social death! Chairwoman got caught slacking!]
[Geeta: I wasn't, I didn't—stop slander!]
Under ten thousand eyes, Geeta's golden ID stayed silent five long seconds. Then a final line:
[Geeta]: Ahem. Just finished my current work, starting the next. I'll get back to it—stay safe, and call me if you need support.
And poof—the golden badge went dark. Chat drowned again in "HAHAHA."
Another line drifted by:
[What support? With Miss Cynthia there, what else do you need? Even if it's a legendary, she'll beat it!]
Unanimous agreement.
Then another gold-badged official tag appeared—this one:
[Iris]: Huh? The Pokémon you're describing… sounds a lot like our Unova legend, Terrakion?
The stream reached a new fever pitch.
[Another Champion?!]
[Unova's Iris! The adorable Dragon Master!]
[What the heck—did I stumble into a Champion summit?]
[This is it—our Iono-sama has made it. The elites are all here.]
Iono blinked at the flood, a little lost. "Terrakion? What Pokémon is that?" She'd never been to Unova.
Before chat could educate, Jason answered first. "That's right. Champion Iris is on point. Iron Boulder is the future Paradox form of the legendary Terrakion. That's why the appearances overlap so much."
His words carried clearly across the stream. Far away in Unova, Iris seemed pleased.
[Iris]: Oooh, I see! Interesting—so interesting! Makes me want to fly to Paldea right now! Oh, Ditto—Jason, right? You sound like you really know your stuff! If I come to Paldea next time, could you be my guide and travel buddy?
How could he refuse a Champion girl's invite?
"Of course!" he wobbled with excitement. "Champion Iris, if you come, I'll be your guide—meals and lodging on me! Full service—make you feel right at home!"
Iono's face went odd, especially at "meals and lodging." Her mind flashed back to a certain incident in a hotel room with Jason diving down her collar. Coming from a (apparently) pervy Ditto, "meals and lodging" sounded… sus.
She eyed him up and down and deadpanned, "Jason, you got money to comp a Champion's room and board?"
Before he could answer, Iris popped up to back him:
[Iris]: Heehee, it's fine—I'm rich! Jason, don't forget our promise—pinky swear!
Jason was about to make a cyber pinky swear when a cool, slightly helpless voice cut the drift:
"Ahem."
Cynthia.
She coughed lightly; the smile in her gray eyes thinned as she looked from Iono, chattering with chat, to Jason, nose pressed to the lens.
"You two—maybe don't only focus on the stream?"
She pointed, with one slender finger, at the battlefield still tearing itself apart.
"Shouldn't we also deal with the Pokémon right in front of us?"