At this very moment, Iono stared at the screen, watching Zeraora standing there with effortless grace, its body crackling with electric blue light. Her heart was racing.
So cool! Unbelievably cool!
This was practically a Pokémon made just for her!
The livestream chat exploded with amazement.
[Holy crap! Zeraora?!]
[Isn't that the one the streamer was gushing over before?! Streamer is totally Wind's favorite confirmed!]
[I'm jealous, I just finished my pull and got a Rattata...]
[Streamer's luck is insane! Stealing all that good fortune!]
[This starting lineup! Absolutely broken!]
[...That's ridiculously cool!]
Iono flipped her twin tails with a smug grin and leaned into the microphone. "Fam! See that? This is pure skill! This is our bond!!"
She laughed, setting off another wave of [I'm dead] and [wife] spam in the chat.
Before jumping into the game, Iono checked the chat like she always did to gather some intel.
"So guys, what's the actual gameplay like?"
"Looking at Yancy's partner, that Squirtle seems pretty dopey?"
As she spoke, she adjusted her microphone, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.
She loved messing with introverted, shy types. Just imagining getting them to open up and be as sunny as her felt incredibly satisfying!
The chat immediately lit up with explanations:
[Yeah yeah! A socially anxious Squirtle!]
[Super shy! The kind that hides in its shell when talking to girls!]
[Streamer get ready to tease (crossed out) reform him!]
[Yancy's got Squirtle, he's adorable!]
[Can't wait to see Iono's social butterfly powers in action!]
[Go get him, Iono! Bring the sunshine!]
Iono's eyes sparkled. An easily flustered Squirtle partner?
She could already picture herself greeting him enthusiastically while he blushed and retreated into his shell.
Buzzing with excitement, she guided Zeraora forward and jumped into the game.
The soft glow faded, and Iono's Zeraora materialized on a pixel-art beach.
She spun the camera around, eagerly searching for that "shy" partner.
But what came into view wasn't a blue turtle shell—it was a bright, dazzling yellow.
A Pikachu.
A Pikachu that looked... somehow off.
It wasn't bouncing around like the Pikachu she remembered, and it definitely wasn't flashing that signature cute smile.
It just stood there in the distance, back to the ocean, its small frame radiating an incredibly cold presence.
The electric sacs on its cheeks flickered with tiny sparks every so often.
This Pikachu seemed unusually quiet, even... distant.
Iono froze.
What's going on?
Wasn't it supposed to be a Squirtle?
After a moment's pause, she walked forward and hit the interaction button.
"Hey! Hello?"
The Pikachu, hearing her voice, only slowly turned its head. Its crimson eyes swept over Iono with complete indifference.
It didn't return Iono's enthusiasm, just gave the slightest nod before turning back to stare at the ocean, as if the rolling waves were far more interesting than the living Pokémon standing right there.
The smile on Iono's face instantly froze.
What happened to the shyness? The cuteness? What's with this ice-cold vibe?!
The chat went wild:
[Why does the streamer have a Pikachu?]
[Where's the Squirtle??]
[Holy crap! This Pikachu is so cold!]
[That death glare!! Kind of hot though]
[Hahahaha the streamer's smile just died!]
[This isn't the script we agreed on!]
[So partners are randomized?!]
[Now I'm curious what I'll get. Bulbasaur or Charmander?]
Iono stared at the Pikachu on screen, radiating pure "don't talk to me" energy, feeling completely thrown off.
No way, this is nothing like what the chat described or what she expected from a shy little cutie, right?
She tried moving a bit closer. "Um... so what should we do next?"
This time, the Pikachu didn't even turn its head. It just flicked its tail casually toward a certain direction, as if pointing the way.
"Help a bug."
Then it started walking on its stubby legs in that direction, with zero intention of waiting for Iono.
Iono was completely speechless. She could only control Zeraora to hurry and catch up.
Is this really going to be my partner from now on?
Entering the seaside cave where Caterpie had been mugged, a damp chill immediately came through the screen. Soon, they ran into their targets: a Koffing and Zubat showing off a stolen stone.
"Stop! Hand it over!" Iono was about to send Zeraora forward when the Pikachu beside her moved first.
It didn't even wait for the opponents to react. The golden figure instantly became a streak of yellow lightning!
CRACKLE!
The sharp roar of electricity exploded through the cave!
A powerful Thunderbolt struck without warning, nailing Koffing dead-on! Immediately after, Pikachu didn't slow down.
Its tail gleamed with metallic shine as a swift Iron Tail swept across, smashing the attacking Zubat straight into the rock wall!
BOOM! BOOM!
Two impacts rang out almost at once.
Koffing lay on the ground, smoking and seeing stars. Zubat simply knocked out cold, its body sliding to the floor.
The battle... was over?
From the moment Pikachu attacked to taking down both enemies, the whole thing took less than three seconds.
Iono hadn't even had time to press any buttons. Her Zeraora was still frozen mid-charge, standing there awkwardly.
The chat absolutely lost it:
[?? One-shot?]
[Holy crap!]
[That damage! That speed! Insane!]
[Iono: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?]
[Partner too strong, streamer just got carried!]
[This Pikachu is ridiculously powerful!]
[Feels like it doesn't even need a partner... no wonder it acts like that...]
Pikachu didn't even glance at the defeated enemies.
It walked straight to the dropped glowing stone and used the tip of its tail to push it toward Iono's feet, not bothering to pick it up itself.
The entire fight was smooth as glass, like it had just casually swatted away two flies.
Iono looked at the stone by her feet, then at the Pikachu on screen with its back to her, looking exceptionally alone and proud. She had so many things to say but didn't know where to start.
This partner was strong, sure, but this attitude was just...
With no other choice, she picked up the stone.
A system notification popped up: [Obtained Unidentified Item: ???].
Before she could take a closer look, the Pikachu's cold voice cut through. "Alright, we got the item. Mission complete. You can find that bug and turn it in yourself."
It paused, then added:
"I don't need a partner."
With that, without waiting for Iono's response, it turned and headed toward the cave exit without looking back.
Iono was completely stunned.
What... what is this?
She got rejected? Just straight-up dropped from the partnership?
Well, technically speaking, they weren't really partners anyway.
The chat erupted:
[Streamer got rejected lol]
[Pika-god: Woman, you'll only slow me down!]
[Damn, that attitude, independent as hell!]
[This Pikachu definitely has a story!]
[Chase after it, streamer! It's so strong, you can't let it go!]
"Hey! Wait!" Iono controlled Zeraora to rush after it, feeling both frustrated and curious. "Why? Aren't we partners? Plus you're really strong, if we work together we can totally..."
Her words cut off suddenly.
Because the Pikachu walking ahead swayed without warning, then stopped dead in its tracks.
Ptui!
A mouthful of bright red blood spilled from Pikachu's mouth.
Right after, its body seemed to lose all strength, falling backward limply.
Those crimson eyes lost their focus, slowly closing.
"What??" Iono yelped in alarm, controlling Zeraora to lunge forward in one leap, using the interaction button to catch Pikachu before it hit the ground.
Looking at the unconscious Pikachu in Zeraora's arms on screen, blood still at the corner of its mouth, Iono was completely shocked.
Dude, what do you mean just collapsing like that?
Weren't you dominating everything a second ago?
The chat exploded:
[?]
[Coughing blood?!]
[Holy crap! What's happening!]
[Just destroyed everything, now suddenly collapsed?]
[Was it hurt in the fight just now? Or is this an old injury?]
[Streamer save it! Look for an Escape Orb!]
Iono snapped out of it, frantically searching through the item menu.
Luckily, there really was an Escape Orb in Pikachu's inventory.
She quickly selected and used it.
A gentle white light appeared, wrapping around Zeraora and the unconscious Pikachu in its arms.
The light flashed, and they instantly returned to the beach entrance from before.
Caterpie was still waiting anxiously.
Seeing them appear, especially seeing Iono hand over the glowing stone, it immediately rushed forward excitedly. "Thank you so much! You guys are amazing!"
But when it saw the unconscious, blood-stained Pikachu in Zeraora's arms, the expression box in the lower right went pale with fright, its voice changing completely. "Huh?! ...What happened to Pikachu?!"
"I'm not really sure either..." Iono looked at the Pikachu in her arms, still confused. "It just suddenly..."
Caterpie lifted its head, looking toward the depths of the forest ahead.
"Quick! I'll take you to the Wigglytuff Guild... there should be someone there who can help!"
---
Let's rewind three hours.
The faint blue glow at the tip of the detector suddenly flared bright the moment Cynthia pressed the button.
It no longer drifted randomly through the air but seemed pulled by an invisible force.
The halo's core contracted sharply, finally transforming into an extremely thin yet solid blue beam!
This beam, like a precise needle, projected straight onto the detector's miniature radar-like circular screen.
The screen lit up, and complex map-like patterns spun rapidly before locking into place.
Cynthia held her breath, her gaze fixed on the screen before her.
In this moment, her heartbeat sounded exceptionally clear in the silent study, pounding steadily against her chest.
Rayquaza... the Sky God... its location...
The spinning patterns on the screen suddenly stopped!
An incredibly clear coordinate point glowing blue-gold locked firmly in the center of the screen.
Below the coordinates, a line of small text appeared:
[Location Coordinates: Hoenn Region, Offshore Airspace]
There...
After seeing these coordinates clearly, Cynthia's heart dropped like a stone, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head.
The excitement she'd felt from successfully tracking it down vanished by more than half in an instant.
Off the coast of Hoenn... that area marked in deep red, listed by all League maps and nautical charts as an absolute no-go zone, that terrifying stretch of ocean!
Signals couldn't penetrate it, storms powerful enough to tear apart Champion-level Pokémon raged constantly, magnetic fields went haywire, any equipment would malfunction, violent air currents and bizarre ocean currents—all these things combined made this sea area what it was.
Once, hundreds of years ago, a Champion in League history famous for both strength and his love of exploration tried to ride his Charizard through the outer edges of this region to investigate what lay inside.
The result... he and all his Pokémon vanished completely into that storm, never to be seen or heard from again.
The League couldn't find even a single clue.
Since then, this area had been permanently classified as forbidden by the League's highest council, with exploration banned in any form, even for Champions.
But now... Rayquaza... was actually at the heart of that death zone?!
Cynthia's grip on the detector tightened.
The cold metal casing transmitted a chill, but it couldn't drive away the deep sense of helplessness welling up inside her.
Good news: she'd found her lifelong goal, and the location was crystal clear.
Bad news: she couldn't get there at all right now.
With her current strength... no, even if all the other Champions joined forces, they probably couldn't reach the core of that region.
Strength... it all came down to not being strong enough!
She needed more power to reach Rayquaza!!
Burn... her gaze drifted involuntarily toward the Poké Ball sitting quietly on the desk.
Right...
The shock of discovering Rayquaza's existence, the intensity of the Champion battles, it had all consumed her so completely that she'd nearly forgotten everything else.
Not until this moment, when only the detector screen's faint blue glow and moonlight from the window lit the study, did she suddenly remember that after beating the game and collecting her rewards, there was another extremely important matter she'd overlooked.
She immediately turned back to the computer screen, to the freshly completed game interface for "Pokémon: Emerald."
Sure enough, beside the victory celebration and the Hall of Fame display, an easy-to-miss system notification box floated quietly.
[Congratulations on clearing the game! Based on your in-game performance and final ranking, your rewards are as follows:]
[League Champion Prize Money: 200,000 cash has been transferred to your League account.]
[In-Game Achievement Reward: Special item "Champion's Mark" has been sent to your bag.]
But Cynthia's gaze locked onto the last line.
[Special Notice]
[This game is lovingly produced by "Wind Studio."]
[As you are the first player to clear the game, an additional reward is now issued.]
[Developer Contact Code: PM-WORLD-001-LEGEND]