A Special Guest..?

That blue radiance carried a world-destroying force as it shot straight toward Luo Chen like a giant dragon!

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Lance's heart nearly stopped.

He could no longer stop the attack. He knew the strength of his Dragonite far too well. In its berserk state, even a Champion's Pokémon would not dare take the attack head-on!

He had assumed the owner had a stronger Pokémon protecting him from the shadows, but there was no sign of any Pokémon stepping in. Even the Gengar nearby seemed to have been merely startled, showing no reaction at all...

In that flash of lightning, Lance's heart sank. His foot had already moved forward, but he knew he was probably too late.

Boom!!

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With a violent explosion, the blue radiance struck Luo Chen directly. The shockwave sent the decorations on the counter scattering across the floor, and the entire internet cafe shook violently.

Yet in the next second, he saw an unexpected sight.

Luo Chen was still standing where he was, without moving an inch.

The dark blue energy had actually been completely blocked in midair just before reaching him, unable to come any closer.

The violent energy released by Dragonite quickly vanished into the air like that, as if something had swallowed it whole.

Lance froze for a moment before quickly reacting.

Sure enough, he had worried for nothing.

The owner had a way to deal with Dragonite's attack.

He must have had a Psychic-type Pokémon hidden nearby, secretly blocking the attack for him.

What had just happened did resemble the defensive methods of Psychic-type Pokémon...

But then again, this had been Dragonite's full-power attack in its berserk state...

And it had been stopped so easily?

Though still shocked, Lance finally felt the tension in his chest ease somewhat.

At the same time, a prompt appeared before Luo Chen.

[Internet Cafe Warning: A unit inside the establishment has launched an attack against the host. The attack has been automatically intercepted.]

[If the other party attacks again, that Pokémon and its Trainer may be forcibly expelled from the internet cafe, blacklisted, and permanently barred from entry. Does the host wish to expel them?]

Luo Chen glanced at it and silently chose no.

At the same time, he was thinking.

Sure enough, the system had been right. Even if Lance attacked with all his strength, Luo Chen would be absolutely safe as long as he was inside the internet cafe.

Of course, he had not deliberately intended to test that function. The situation just now had happened far too suddenly...

That said, what exactly was going on with Lance's Dragonite...?

Why had it suddenly attacked him?

Luo Chen looked up at Dragonite.

Dragonite still seemed not to have emerged from its berserk state. Having failed to land the attack, the red glow in its eyes grew even more intense.

It roared, puffing out its chest as it prepared to gather another attack.

Seeing that, Lance hurriedly raised his hand and began channeling the Dragon-Taming Power he had newly acquired, trying to suppress Dragonite.

Golden radiance surged from his hand and flew toward Dragonite.

But this time, the agitation within Dragonite seemed to have reached its peak. Even the enhanced Dragon-Taming Power could not calm it down!

Just as Lance was at a loss, Luo Chen suddenly stepped closer and looked into Dragonite's eyes.

The Voice of All Things quietly activated.

In the next instant, a chaotic sound flooded Luo Chen's mind.

It was naturally Dragonite's inner voice. But unlike before, he did not hear clear words like he had from Gengar. Instead, it was more like Dragonite's feelings.

Anger, agitation, unease... and a hint of fear.

It was as though Dragonite could not control itself.

More than that, Luo Chen caught hold of a clear sensation.

Its entire body felt as though it were on fire. A scorching heat was spreading outward from a certain point, and all the blood in its body was boiling.

And it was precisely this strange state that had plunged it into uncontrollable rage...

Luo Chen sensed more carefully and finally found the source of it all. It seemed to be some scale deep within Dragonite's back...?

Wait? A scale?

He looked again at those scarlet eyes, and a conclusion had already formed in his mind.

Doesn't this look exactly like the side effect of Outrage??

But judging by Lance's expression, that guess did not seem right either.

Unless... Lance did not know what Outrage was?

With that thought, Luo Chen immediately turned and tried to speak.

"Lance, has your Dragonite used some particularly powerful move recently?"

At the same time, blue radiance burst from Dragonite's mouth again and crashed into Luo Chen's body, only to be blocked and absorbed just as before.

Lance watched Luo Chen practically bathing in Dragon Rage, froze for a moment, then nodded.

"It has..."

"Then I know what to do. Wait a moment."

After saying that, Luo Chen turned and hurried toward the counter, beginning to rummage through it.

"Roar!"

After two attacks had failed to produce any effect, Dragonite seemed to grow even angrier and charged straight toward Luo Chen behind the counter.

But just as it opened its massive jaws, something orange was shoved directly into its mouth.

Its teeth closed instinctively, and it swallowed the thing.

The next moment.

The red radiance shrouding Dragonite's body stalled, then immediately began to weaken!

Not only that, but the scarlet glow in its eyes faded as well, quickly returning to clarity.

Dragonite's body swayed slightly as it raised its head and looked around in confusion.

What... had just happened?

Had it... lost control again?

At the same time, Lance was completely dumbfounded.

If he had not seen wrong, Luo Chen had rummaged through the counter, found a yellow Berry, and stuffed it directly into Dragonite's mouth.

Then... Dragonite had recovered just like that.

The key was that the Berry did not look rare at all. Lance remembered seeing them often in the wild.

Just one of those could suppress Dragonite's backlash state??

What was going on?

Meanwhile, watching Dragonite return to normal, Luo Chen had also reached a conclusion.

Sure enough, it was Outrage.

A Lum Berry could cure a Pokémon's confusion, and Outrage's side effect was confusion.

Naturally, one Lum Berry had restored Dragonite.

So the problem now was... Lance, a Dragon-type Elite Four member, did not even know about the move Outrage?

He looked as though he only knew how to use the move, yet had absolutely no way to deal with its side effects...

Besides, the confusion caused by Outrage should have been immediate, right?

How could it leave Dragonite liable to become confused at any time even after the move had ended...?

Luo Chen frowned. The best way to figure all this out was to ask Lance directly.

With that thought, Luo Chen turned and spoke.

"You don't know about Outrage?"

Lance shook his head.

"Then... where did your Dragonite learn that powerful move it can use?"

Two minutes later, after questioning Lance, Luo Chen had roughly learned what was going on with Dragonite.

So Lance's Dragonite had a special bloodline... and had inherited the move Outrage.

And its Outrage was stronger than normal, with even stronger side effects.

Finally, in this world... Dragon-type Pokémon almost never knew the move Outrage, so Dragon-type Trainers did not know that the move even existed.

Mm... why does this feel like some third-rate webnovel setting?

Luo Chen briefly mocked it in his mind before turning to explain to Lance.

"The move your Dragonite used just now is called Outrage. It's a special move that only Dragon-type Pokémon can learn."

"But it has some side effects. After using it, it falls into that confused state from earlier, loses its reason, and starts attacking everything in front of it. This isn't the first time you've seen it like that, right?"

Lance listened thoughtfully.

So that was it...

Dragonite had occasionally lost control without warning all this time. Lance had never been able to find any pattern, and sometimes it happened even when it had not been battling...

So it was not a bloodline problem. It was the side effect of a move?

And that move... he had not even known its name before this.

Lance took a deep breath and looked at Luo Chen with a complicated expression.

"Then that Berry just now was..."

"So, you just need something that can cure confusion. A Lum Berry will do."

As he spoke, Luo Chen took several Lum Berries from beneath the counter.

He had picked them while gathering Berries before. He had not expected them to come in handy in a situation like this...

He handed the Berries over, then added another sentence.

"Wild Berries from Mount Coronet should be better quality. If you're going to keep using Outrage, I'll pick more for you to keep in reserve."

Lance immediately put the Berries away carefully and nodded.

"Thank you, Boss. Really... thank you so much!"

"If you ever need help from Dragonite or me in the future, just tell me."

—This problem had troubled him for so long, yet he had unexpectedly found the answer here today.

"There's no need for that. If you really want to thank me, just come use the internet cafe more often."

Luo Chen smiled.

At the same time, Dragonite also came back to its senses.

It turned to look at Luo Chen. Its gaze was completely different from before, carrying a complexity that was difficult to describe.

It looked at Luo Chen for several seconds, then lowered its head and made a low sound.

"Ao..."

Luo Chen waved at it.

Even without the Voice of All Things, he could understand that Dragonite was apologizing.

"It's fine. Don't take it to heart."

"You're welcome to come play again tomorrow. I can make you a drink using this Berry for you to try..."

He paused at that point.

"Mm... Outrage is actually a pretty powerful move. I hope you can master it soon. If you come again next time, I can explain it to you in detail."

Dragonite froze, then let out a low roar and nodded. Finally, it turned into a beam of red light and returned to its Poké Ball.

"Boss, I'll come again tomorrow. Thank you for your hospitality."

Lance also began saying goodbye.

"You're welcome. If you come tomorrow, just find a door, silently recite 'Origin Internet Cafe,' and walk through it. You won't have to travel such a long way again."

Lance thought about it after hearing that. This must have been the thing Cynthia mentioned—the ability to instantly cross thousands of kilometers...

This internet cafe truly was...

He did not say anything else and pushed the door open to leave.

Once outside, Lance released Dragonite again, leaped onto its back, and took off into the sky. In the blink of an eye, they flew into the clouds.

The fierce wind howled past his ears as he repeatedly recalled everything he had experienced at the internet cafe today.

He had originally come only to obtain information about Team Rocket... yet his eventual gains had far exceeded his expectations.

The completion of his Dragon-Taming Power, the Dragon Scale, that Dragon Mark, and even the matter of Dragonite's Outrage...

These were all things he had never dared imagine before, especially the last one.

He and Dragonite had been partners for so many years, yet he had never understood what exactly was happening to it. Whenever it went berserk, he could only barely suppress it with Dragon-Taming Power.

But the owner of that internet cafe seemed to have known the cause with just one look, and had even solved Dragonite's problem with nothing more than a single Berry.

Just who... was he?

As he thought, Lance's gaze gradually became complicated.

"...What do you think of that place?"

After a moment, he spoke.

Dragonite's flying rhythm noticeably faltered.

"Roar."

"You're saying we should go again first thing tomorrow morning?"

Lance could not help smiling.

"Heh, I was thinking the same thing..."

One man and one dragon flew through the clouds, gradually disappearing into the sky.

Meanwhile, inside the internet cafe.

Luo Chen sat back down behind the counter. Before him appeared the system's session settlement screen, which had popped up after Lance left.

But he had no mind to look at that now. Something else filled his thoughts.

Gengar for one hour, Cynthia for three hours, Lance for one hour—exactly five hours in total.

The newbie task should have been completed by now!

He waved a hand and opened the task panel. Sure enough, a golden notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[ Ding, congratulations, Host, for completing the task "First Step to Growing Bigger and Stronger" (C) ]

[ Task Objective: Total customer internet time reaches 5 hours, total number of customers reaches 2 ]

[ Current Progress: Total computer time 5/5, total customers 3/2 ]

[ Task rewards have been distributed! ]

[ Congratulations, Host, you have unlocked the "Internet Cafe Shop" function! ]

With the system's notification, a new section suddenly appeared on the panel.

This section listed a large number of redeemable items—facilities, games, and items, divided into three separate categories.

But before Luo Chen could inspect it closely, another notification flashed before his eyes.

[ You have obtained the special facility—Interdimensional Communicator! ]

A flash of light passed by, and a rather large machine appeared out of thin air in the corner across from him.

The machine looked like an antenna, with a metal base and a constantly spinning sphere at its top.

What was this thing?

As Luo Chen's gaze fell upon the machine, detailed information appeared as well.

[ Special Facility: "Interdimensional Communicator" ]

[ Effect: At fixed intervals, it can randomly summon a special customer with needs from a place outside the current world to come online. If the Host receives the special customer and resolves their needs, additional rewards can be obtained. Points may be used to accelerate the communicator's charging speed. ]

Luo Chen froze for a moment as he read the notifications.

A place outside the current world...

Where would that be?

Wasn't this description far too vague?

Just as he was about to take a closer look, the machine before him suddenly let out a beep.

[ Energy accumulation complete! ]

[ First contact has automatically begun! ]

The little sphere abruptly began spinning faster, erupting with dazzling white light that shot into the sky before quickly vanishing.

Luo Chen was left standing alone before the machine, which had fallen silent once more, lost in thought.

Based on his guess, this machine would most likely summon other characters from the Pokémon world.

But where exactly they would come from... that would depend on who arrived this time.

Well, he just hoped they would not be too troublesome.

Meanwhile, in another world.

The Paldea region, Levincia.

A camera was running, and a girl sat before its lens.

She wore a yellow-and-white jacket and a uniquely designed Magnemite hat. Her short hair, streaked pink and blue, was quite beautiful.

The girl had delicate features and a smile on her lips. Brimming with energy, she spoke to the camera.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Iono, the Gym Leader of Levincia Gym! Please continue supporting Levincia Gym today too! We have lots of fun Electric-type Pokémon for you to watch!"

Before she could finish speaking, the viewer count in the upper-right corner of the stream twitched, and people slowly began entering the livestream.

But when Iono noticed it, she suddenly paused, her voice turning a little nervous.

"Wel-welcome... everyone..."

The moment she finished speaking, only one person remained in the livestream.

Iono's expression stiffened for a moment, but she quickly recovered and continued speaking to the camera.

"Um... this viewer... is there... any Electric-type Pokémon you're interested in?"

The next moment, a comment popped up in the livestream.

[ Keep it up, streamer. I'm going to watch other streams first. ]

After sending that comment, the last person left as well.

Watching the viewer count drop to zero, Iono finally sighed. She leaned back in her chair, a troubled look appearing on her face.

"How did this happen..."

She turned to look behind her—this was the main hall of Levincia Gym, yet it was completely empty. There was not a single challenger.

Today was supposed to be the Pokémon League's designated Gym Challenge Day...

This situation had already continued for a long time...

No one came to challenge the Gym, no one watched her streams, and it seemed like no one was interested in this place.

Compared to every other Gym in Paldea, Levincia Gym ranked at the very bottom.

If things were still like this by the end of the month... the Pokémon League would revoke her Gym's operating rights.

Iono shut off her stream and casually switched over to the livestreams of other Gyms.

Rika, the Gym Leader of Medali Gym, was teaching her viewers how to choose clothes for their Pokémon. Her stream had over eight thousand viewers, with comments constantly pouring in.

Grusha, the Gym Leader of Glaseado Gym, was livestreaming himself skiing. His stream had more than ten thousand viewers...

As for that recently established Flying-type Gym, Iono did not even know its Gym Leader. Yet the moment she greeted the camera, comments like "The streamer is so cute!" and "Good morning, Huihui-chan!" began flooding the screen.

Iono looked at all of it, her eyes filled with envy.

"How do they do it...?"

She had clearly worked hard on her streams too. Every day, she came up with new content and tried different styles, yet no one came to watch.

More importantly, she always planned everything out well in advance, but the moment she actually faced viewers, she could not help growing nervous, just like earlier.

If this continued, Levincia Gym would really be finished.

"Bellibolt..."

She looked toward her side and spoke dejectedly.

"Don't you think it would be nice if someone could teach me how to stream... Even if they only taught me a little."

Bellibolt tilted his head. Though he did not quite understand what his Trainer was saying, he could sense Iono's low spirits. He swayed his body and let out an encouraging cry.

"Belly!"

Iono looked at him and could not help smiling. She rubbed Bellibolt's head.

"Aww, thank you."

She took a deep breath, pulled herself together, and reached for the mouse, preparing to start the stream again.

No matter what, she had to find a way to save Levincia Gym.

She absolutely could not let it fall here!

Just as she was about to press the start-streaming button, a light suddenly lit up before her eyes.

Two lines of golden text abruptly appeared before her!

[ Need target detected. ]

[ Contact established! ]

"Need target... contact?"

"What... is this??"

Iono instinctively tried to step back, but before she could move, the white light directly swallowed her whole, and she vanished from where she stood!

Meanwhile, Bellibolt noticed that the hand atop his head had disappeared. Only then did he react and raise his head.

He saw nothing but an empty chair.

"Belly?"

Where was my Trainer???