Ultra Wormhole

Before she could react, her opponent had already made the first move.

Black-purple light flared in Poochyena's mouth and slammed into Torchic!

[Poochyena used Crunch!]

[A critical hit!]

Its HP bar vanished in an instant!

Torchic fell with spiraling eyes, and the screen went gray.

[There are no Pokémon left that can continue battling!]

[Everything went black before your eyes!]

Cynthia's hand still hovered above the mouse, frozen in the motion of clicking a skill.

In contrast to her state, the chat was jubilant.

[Holy shit, one-shot!]

[Welcome to Insane Mode, hahaha.]

[Shorts Kid: I heard you're a Champion?]

[Am I the only one who thinks this crit felt so damn good?]

[Why isn't the streamer moving? Did she mentally collapse?]

Some people seriously tried to persuade her as well:

[Streamer, why not switch back to Normal Mode? Insane Mode isn't made for humans...]

[Yeah, you're a newbie. Don't play the hidden difficulty, okay?]

However, Cynthia merely fell silent for a moment before straightening up.

Again!

The game reloaded, and she entered the battle once more.

This time, the "critical hit" notification did not appear, but Poochyena's Crunch still dealt enormous damage. Torchic lost more than half its health from a single hit.

And when Torchic spat out Ember, Poochyena only lost a third of its HP.

The result was naturally beyond any doubt. A second Crunch from the opponent knocked Torchic out again.

The chat finally began offering some serious explanations.

[You can't beat it. The opponent is three levels higher, and its EVs are maxed out. The stat gap is way too huge...]

[In Insane Mode, you have to grind levels early on, or you won't even make it out of the first town.]

[Streamer, go train in the grass for a few levels first. Don't be so stubborn!]

Cynthia realized it too. After switching difficulties, the gap between her stats and her opponents' had suddenly widened by a great deal.

She opened the party panel to check Torchic's stats and information, frowning as she thought.

So the increased game difficulty was mainly reflected in the difference in stats?

Before, she had believed this game had no practical value. But now, it seemed that by increasing stat values, it encouraged players to build teams around different Pokémon and formulate all kinds of tactical plans...

Then this game held considerable value for improving battle skills. There was no opportunity to experiment like this in reality.

But she was not sure whether that was truly what the game's creators had intended.

If it was merely a pure collision of numbers, then it would be rather boring...

Closing the panel, Cynthia guided her character into the nearby grass and began raising her level through battles.

A Taillow flew out. Ember took it down, and the experience bar rose by a small chunk.

The second encounter was a Wurmple, even frailer than Taillow. It was dealt with just as easily.

Like that, Cynthia continued pacing back and forth through the grass, repeatedly encountering wild Pokémon. Torchic's level slowly climbed until it finally reached level 12.

She stopped grinding and made a trip to the Oldale Town Pokémon Center to recover—this had been taught in the beginner tutorial.

"This should... be enough."

After judging the situation, Cynthia ultimately guided her character back toward the end of the dirt road.

The battle began again.

This time, Torchic struck first with Ember, immediately taking half of the opponent's HP.

Poochyena countered with Crunch, taking half of Torchic's HP as well.

Torchic used Ember again, and Poochyena finally fell.

[You won! Damn it!]

The Shorts Kid's figure flashed past. The battle ended, returning to the game screen.

At that moment, the chat became lively again.

[Where the hell was my friendship HP lock? Why didn't it happen?]

[Who can make up for the part where it "miraculously endured the attack" that I'm missing?]

[Yeah, yeah, play like this. Without a level advantage, it's hard to win.]

[The earlier NPCs are easy. Grind a few levels and you'll get through them, but later on...]

[Shh, no spoilers.]

[Who was it that said the streamer would have to send rockets after choosing Insane difficulty? Where are you now?]

Just as the final comment appeared, a sound effect rang out. A rocket icon suddenly popped up at the top of the screen, soaring through the livestream with a red trail of flame!

[VIP user "Red's Pikachu" gifted Super Rocket x1]

The chat instantly exploded.

[?]

[Holy crap, dude, you actually sent one.]

[Being rich is great. If I were rich, I'd send one too. So, streamer, can you transfer me five hundred thousand first? I'll send you ten right after!]

[A Super Rocket is only two thousand. You take in so much and only send five? Streamer, transfer it to me instead. I only need a hundred thousand!]

Cynthia naturally noticed the rocket effect and was slightly stunned.

Two thousand Pokédollars... and he had just given it to her?

After thinking for a moment, she spoke with complete sincerity.

"Thank you... friend, for the gift. Thank you very much. I will remember your kindness."

"But everyone, you really don't need to send me gifts. I... don't need money that badly."

Cynthia was telling the truth. If anything, she was understating it.

As the Sinnoh Champion, money was genuinely nothing more than a number to her.

But the chat clearly did not see it that way.

[?? What do you mean, you don't need money that badly? Are you even speaking human?]

[For real? Streamer, send me fifty and show us your strength.]

[You don't need to stay in character for this, do you? You don't need to make a living?]

[She doesn't even want rockets. Could the streamer really be a rich lady?]

[It's normal for someone this pretty to be wealthy... Maybe streaming is just a hobby for her.]

[True. Even her temperament is like Sister Cabbage's. You can tell she's rich at a glance.]

Cynthia's expression could not help becoming a little complicated as she looked at those comments.

Honestly, as Champion, she had heard plenty of praise.

But seeing those comments complimenting her now, she felt that something about them was rather strange...

She shook her head and returned her attention to the game.

After defeating the Shorts Kid, Cynthia went back to the Pokémon Center to restock before continuing left.

After only a few steps, her character abruptly stopped.

Because a completely crimson Pokémon appeared on the screen. It stood on two legs, its body swollen with exaggerated muscles, its sharp mouth resembling a nail...

It was clearly just a pixelated sprite, yet Cynthia's instincts sensed a terrifying aura of threat!

She even instinctively reached for Garchomp's Poké Ball at her waist. Only the next moment did she suddenly remember that this was merely an image in a game, and lowered her hand again.

In front of that red figure stood two young men.

One wore a red cap that obscured his face. The other had blond hair and a confident expression.

A game prompt appeared.

[The confident blond-haired youth: "The red four-legged muscle mosquito... target confirmed as UB02: Expansion! The nearby Ultra Wormhole has recently experienced intense fluctuations. Be careful, don't let it escape!"]

[The silent youth: "..."]

The red figure let out a roar, sweeping an arm through the surrounding trees and instantly destroying them, reducing them to debris all over the ground!

It charged fiercely at the blond-haired youth, who barely managed to dodge aside.

Before anyone could react, it rushed into the depths of the forest at high speed, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The blond-haired youth collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

["Little Red, don't worry about me. Go after Expansion first!"]

The youth in the red cap nodded and chased after it alone.

The chat began to scroll:

[Here he comes, here he comes! The man of fewest words in history, Mewtwo's destroyer, the true god atop Mt. Silver, the strongest user of ellipses—Master Red is here!]

[It's Buzzwole. In terms of macho bros, in terms of huge muscles—]

[Exactly, that's my type. I want to wrestle with him.]

[?]

[The person above is seriously insane.]

Cynthia glanced at the chat, originally intending to see whether there was any information about that red figure.

But after reading it, she looked bewildered.

...As expected, she still could not understand what they were saying.

Still, they seemed to have mentioned this Pokémon's name. Was it called... Buzzwole?

Judging from its appearance, the name suited it rather well.

In the game, the blond-haired youth also got up and came before Cynthia.

"That hurt. That Ultra Beast is incredibly strong..."

"Did that strange Pokémon scare you just now? Don't worry, we'll handle these problems."

"That's the latest Pokédex Professor Birch gave you, right? Looks like you're a junior of mine and Red's... I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Blue. That was Red. We're from the Kanto region."

As those rapid-fire words came out, Cynthia began to think.

Red? Blue? The Kanto region... She had never heard of either of those people.

Anyone capable of pursuing a Pokémon at that level should be at least Champion-level Trainers. Naturally, they could not be unknown figures.

So these should be fictional characters created for the game?

While Cynthia was thinking, Blue began explaining again:

"Recently, many strange fluctuations have appeared throughout the Hoenn region. Ultra Wormholes have appeared in some places. Those holes have black centers and light like a galaxy, and they are said to lead to another world."

"And Ultra Beasts are strange creatures from that world. They're extremely dangerous. If you encounter one, be sure to deal with it carefully. That thing from just now was an Ultra Beast."

Cynthia looked at the dialogue box before her and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Ultra Wormholes... Ultra Beasts?

"All right, I have to go. I believe we'll meet again someday."

After saying that, Blue ran off.

Once the scene ended, Cynthia wrote the terms "Ultra Beast" and "Ultra Wormhole" in her notebook, then continued onward.

Soon, a forest appeared in the upper-right corner.

After entering the forest, beneath the swaying green shade of the leaves, her character stopped again.

Because on the left side of the screen stood a... Chansey?

Cynthia subconsciously walked over and pressed the interaction button.

A line of dialogue popped up.

More accurately, the Chansey was talking to itself.

[???: I caught 90 Hatenna and still didn't get Magic Bounce. Mirror, mirror, tell me, who is the unluckiest person in the world?]

[???: Later, I learned that you can't encounter Pokémon with Hidden Abilities in the wild. If you want to encounter Pokémon with Hidden Abilities, it seems you need a special kind of Poké Ball?]

Cynthia froze.

It was common knowledge that Pokémon possessed Abilities.

But Ability research had always been a difficult problem in the scientific community. Some Ability scholars even specialized in this field, yet even so, the Abilities of a great many Pokémon still had not been identified.

When she had opened the panel and seen Torchic's Ability information earlier, she had been wondering whether this game would list every Pokémon's Ability.

This game actually intended to list Abilities for every Pokémon... and even Hidden Abilities?

Cynthia frowned.

That was not very rigorous.

But on second thought, even purely fictional concepts such as "Ultra Wormholes" and "Ultra Beasts" had appeared. This was only a game, so she did not need to hold it to such strict standards.

After ending the conversation, Cynthia continued deeper into the forest.

After the difficulty increase, even the levels of wild Pokémon had risen noticeably.

Along the way, she encountered quite a few Bug-type and Grass-type Pokémon. Their levels were far higher than she had expected, generally around level 14.

But Torchic possessed an absolute type advantage, after all, and every battle was resolved with ease.

Moreover, because the opponent was a higher level, it gave quite a bit more experience. Before long, Torchic had reached level 15.

[Wurmple fainted!]

[Torchic gained 120 EXP!]

With another battle over, the experience bar once again reached its peak. Torchic seemed about to level up again.

But this time, the experience bar stopped at the very end and did not move.

A game prompt appeared:

[Torchic wants to continue leveling up, but there are not enough Badges.]

[To continue leveling up, obtain a new Gym Badge!]

The chat began scrolling as well:

[This version still has level caps? They're deliberately blocking evolution. The streamer's in for it!]

[Streamer, if you want to keep leveling up, go challenge the first Gym in Rustboro City later. Once you beat it, you can keep leveling. It's not hard.]

[Yeah, yeah, yeah, the first Gym is super easy. Just go in and fight anyone you see. No need to prepare specially, you don't even need to bring items.]

[You guys are seriously newborns. I'm speechless.]

[Who said there's no such thing as a perfect crime?]

Cynthia still did not understand what the last two comments meant, but she had grasped one thing.

The game did not allow players to level up freely. It seemed the designers' philosophy was not simply to let stats clash, but to emphasize team composition and tactical application.

As for Gyms and Badges, she naturally knew about them.

In other words, the ultimate goal of this game was probably to collect all the Badges, challenge the Pokémon League, and then become Hoenn's Champion?

As Sinnoh's Champion, doing something like that in a game...

It actually... seemed pretty interesting.

With that thought, she controlled her character and continued onward.

A few minutes later, Cynthia finally reached the deepest part of the forest.

She had thought she could proceed to the next area, but she discovered that this seemed to be a dead end.

Not only that, the sight before her made her pause again.

It was as though this space had been torn open by something. A massive opening floated in midair out of nowhere, its edges radiating distorted blue-white light. Everything around it seemed to be collapsing toward the opening!

Inside was bottomless darkness, yet within that darkness, faint points of light like a nebula slowly drifted.

She immediately recalled Blue's description.

So this was... that Ultra Wormhole?

Cynthia instinctively took out her notebook, opened to a fresh page, and began sketching the outline of the Ultra Wormhole before her.

Her pen raced across the paper, recording the shape of the opening, notes on the color of the light along its edges, and that strange sense of warped space.

Chat messages flickered across the livestream.

[Oh my god, the streamer's doing it again.]

[Stop drawing, boss. Go check it out.]

[Just got here. What's this streamer doing?]

[The streamer seems to be drawing the Ultra Wormhole... Holy crap, it actually looks pretty accurate.]

Cynthia did not look at the chat. Her attention was completely absorbed by the sight before her.

However, at the instant she lowered her head to continue drawing, a sudden change occurred!

Bzzz!!

The entire screen shook violently, and the surrounding trees swayed incessantly under the blast of air.

The next instant, a shadow shot out of that twisted darkness like lightning and charged straight at Cynthia!