What Kind of Apocryphal History Have You Been Reading?? (4k)

Inside the internet café, Cynthia was staring at Archie's dialogue box on the screen when Lance hurried back.

With the experience from before, she immediately muted her microphone, stepped away from the camera, and turned to Lance.

"How did it go?"

Lance nodded.

"...There really is such a person. He's from Hoenn. The records say his identity was canceled five years ago after a shipwreck, but the photo looks exactly like him. I don't think it's a coincidence."

"I've already had the Pokémon League put him on the highest-priority wanted list. Over in Hoenn, people have also been stationed near the shipyard and the Oceanic Museum. If they really make a move, they'll be intercepted immediately."

Cynthia fell into thought.

"Alright. Contact me if there's any news."

Lance acknowledged her and returned to his seat.

Cynthia put her headphones back on, unmuted her microphone, and continued the game.

In the game, Archie's storyline was still progressing. After delivering a whole bunch of threats, he invited the protagonist to join Team Aqua, and the protagonist naturally rejected him automatically.

So, after leaving behind the words, "We'll meet again," he departed the museum with his subordinates.

The screen shifted, and the researcher whose data had nearly been stolen by Team Aqua thanked Cynthia. The museum storyline came to a temporary end.

After leaving the museum, the Team Aqua member who had blocked the upper entrance earlier had disappeared.

However, Cynthia was in no rush to continue. After several battles, Shroomish was still basically at full health, but Combusken had taken a little damage, and both Pokémon had used up quite a bit of their move PP.

She should resupply first before continuing onward.

She went to Slateport City's PC Center and restored her team's condition.

Following the usual conventions of the game so far, she spoke to every NPC in the building. The chat had taught her that talking to certain NPCs could get her some useful items.

For example, the Wailmer Pail in Rustboro City and the Soft Sand on the beach earlier had both been obtained that way.

Now, whenever Cynthia saw an NPC, she could hardly stop herself from going over to talk to them.

Unfortunately, none of the NPCs in this PC Center were anything special, and none of them gave her anything.

Just as she was about to leave, the corner of her eye suddenly caught sight of an old man standing in the corner of the center.

This old man looked completely different from everyone else. He wore a tall brown hat and stood there motionlessly, facing the wall.

That immediately caught Cynthia's attention. After hesitating for a second, she still walked over and pressed the interaction button.

But in the next moment, a completely different dialogue box appeared.

Red text began to emerge one line after another.

[Old Man: You've come... I've been waiting for you for a long time.]

[Old Man: Do you see that thing behind me?]

At the same time, the livestream chat began to flood with messages.

[Holy shit, red text?]

[Huh? There was an old man here?]

[Is this some special storyline added in this version?]

As Cynthia stared in surprise, a close-up suddenly appeared on the screen.

It was a black urn, its surface covered in intricate golden patterns. A talisman covered in dense runes was sealed over its mouth.

Cynthia's brows furrowed slightly. Even though it was only pixel art, she could feel an eerie aura rushing toward her.

What was this thing?

Why... did it feel strangely familiar?

At the same time, the chat seemed to have realized something too.

[Huh? Hoopa?]

[Isn't that the Sealed Urn? Why is it here?]

But soon, other viewers began warning them.

[No spoilers, no spoilers! Don't spoil things for the streamer!]

[Yeah, could you please protect a newcomer's gaming experience?]

Hoopa?

Cynthia silently opened her notebook and wrote down the name, her gaze still fixed on the close-up of the urn.

In the game, the old man continued speaking, and the text returned to its usual black color.

[Old Man: A very terrifying power is sealed within this urn. I have guarded it for many years.]

[Old Man: If you are willing, you may take it with you... Find the Sealing Rings scattered across the world, and you will be able to break the seal.]

[Old Man: Before that, you must make sufficient preparations. If the seal is broken too early... the consequences will be unimaginable.]

When the dialogue ended, the old man vanished instantly.

A notification also appeared on the screen.

[Obtained special item: Sealed Urn!]

Cynthia opened her bag and looked at the item description.

[A strange urn made of an unusual material. It seems to seal some powerful being. Do not open it lightly...]

Did that mean she needed to reach a certain level of strength before breaking the seal?

But where was she supposed to find those Sealing Rings?

After thinking for a moment, she put the item away in her bag.

Since this thing had already appeared, more clues would definitely emerge as the game progressed.

More than that, though, what bothered her was why seeing it gave her such a familiar feeling. Had she seen this urn somewhere in reality before?

When she got home today, she would think about it carefully.

Cynthia shook her head slightly. She first sketched the urn's shape in her notebook, then controlled her character out of the PC Center and continued north.

What she did not know was that Luo Chen, watching from behind the counter, narrowed his eyes slightly.

A Hoopa storyline?

So this was how Cynthia's module manifested itself. Would the game feature lots of new storylines related to Legendary Pokémon?

If that was the case, then it actually sounded pretty awesome...

This had directly turned Ultimate Emerald into Pokémon Dark Rising. You could casually crawl through a cave and run into Mewtwo...

That said, he wondered how this module would manifest on Lance and Iono.

Luo Chen stroked his chin.

Well, he would probably find out soon enough.

At the same time, a flash of white light appeared at the entrance of the internet café, and a figure materialized out of thin air.

Iono shook her head to adjust, then looked over the familiar little courtyard in front of her.

She had really come back again...

Remembering everything that had happened yesterday, she felt as if it had all been a dream.

With the advice and hints from the chat, the popularity of her stream had kept rising yesterday. In just one night, she had gained more than two hundred followers, while her concurrent viewership had directly surpassed four hundred.

She had streamed for so long, yet even combined, her numbers had never been this high...

If it had not been for the chat's guidance, there was no way she could have improved her stream so much in such a short time...

But that said, there was still one major problem.

Using that sensing ability, she had noticed during the stream that whenever she wanted to introduce the Levincia Gym, the viewers' reactions seemed rather poor...

They seemed to only like chatting with her. They had no interest in the Levincia Gym at all.

But that would not do!

She had started streaming to make the Gym more popular. If the stream took off but nobody still came to the Gym, was she supposed to change careers and become a streamer?

That was why Iono had rushed over again so eagerly early this morning.

Today, she needed to properly ask the chat whether they had any solutions for this...

If it was them, they would definitely be able to give her some great advice.

Still, now that she thought about it, that game was actually pretty interesting too.

She had only played for an hour yesterday, yet she had already seen so many Pokémon she had never encountered before.

And speaking of which, ever since she was little, the Pokémon around her had all been Electric-types. She did not know all that much about Pokémon of other types.

But in the game, she seemed able to freely raise any Pokémon she wanted... She did not need any resources, nor did she need to put in much effort, yet she could experience what that felt like.

It was like having a brand-new Trainer career in another world.

A trace of anticipation flashed through her eyes as she reached out and pushed open the internet café door.

"Morning, boss—"

However, before she could finish greeting him, she froze.

Because the internet café seemed rather lively today.

That white Gengar was floating in midair, holding a phone and watching some video with an absorbed expression...

And aside from the owner, it was the only one here she recognized...

At a computer not far away sat a beautiful blonde woman. On her screen was the same game Iono had played yesterday.

Not only that, beside her sat a fierce-looking red-haired man holding a can of white beverage as he stared at the screen.

Meanwhile, the owner was standing behind the counter, but two Pokémon were squeezed beside him—an orange Dragonite and a Garchomp...

Each of those Pokémon radiated a terrifying presence, far beyond any Pokémon she had ever seen.

And they were glaring at each other with hostile eyes, as though they might start fighting at any second...

Th-these were all customers at the internet café?

Iono felt completely stunned.

What was going on?

She had only been gone for one night. When had the internet café gotten so many people?

"Morning, boss...?"

Only after several seconds did she edge over to the counter and ask tentatively.

Luo Chen looked up. When he saw Iono, he smiled.

"Morning. You're here. There are more customers today, so find yourself a place to sit first. You can watch them play if you want."

"We'll have new computers at the internet café tomorrow, so it won't be this cramped then."

Iono obediently moved a stool over and sat in a corner a little farther away.

Lance's attention had been fixed on Cynthia's screen the whole time, but when he heard the commotion, he turned around and happened to meet Iono's eyes.

He could not help but pause slightly. Aside from himself and Cynthia, there was actually another customer at this internet café?

And this girl... looked rather young. Her clothes and style were fashionable, and she even wore a Magnemite hat.

...He did not know her at all.

How had a young girl like this discovered an internet café on Mount Coronet? Had Cynthia introduced her too?

"Hello, you are?"

Lance decided to ask.

Iono immediately sat up straight.

"Hello, I'm Iono! I'm the Gym Leader of the Levincia Gym!"

Lance blinked.

A Gym Leader?

This girl did not look very old, yet she was already a Gym Leader?

But she could not possibly be from Kanto. He knew every one of Kanto region's dozens of Gym Leaders, so she could only be from another region.

"Which region? Hoenn or Unova?"

Iono tilted her head.

"Neither. I'm from the Paldea region... the Levincia Gym."

Lance:?

The Paldea region?

What kind of place was that??

Were there not only four regions in total?

Before Lance could figure it out, Iono stared at his face for a while. Then, as though she had suddenly realized something, surprise flashed in her eyes.

"Wait... are you Lance of the Dragon Clan, Kanto region's strongest Elite Four member?"

Hearing that, the corners of Lance's lips rose slightly. He nodded calmly, though inwardly he was already quite pleased.

Although he did not know where she had heard of him, it seemed his reputation had indeed spread beyond Kanto.

Exactly. That was the normal reaction. Not everyone could be like the owner and remain completely indifferent to his identity...

What he did not notice, however, was that the moment he confirmed it, Iono's face turned deathly pale.

It really was him??

The reason she had asked just now was because... the Pokémon League textbooks mentioned someone named Lance.

—The Dragon-type Elite Four member of the Kanto League two hundred years ago. He was immensely powerful and renowned far and wide.

But for some reason, he had suddenly betrayed the Pokémon League and joined Team Rocket. After that, he committed all kinds of crimes!

He had even destroyed more than half of the Kanto region during one operation, nearly bringing the entire Kanto League to ruin!

In the end, Champions from several regions had joined forces to defeat him and Team Rocket together...

At that moment, Iono felt like her mind was a complete mess.

According to history, should he not have been gone long ago?

Had she traveled into the past?

No, no, the important thing was... there was actually someone this dangerous sitting right in front of her??

Instinctively, Iono shifted herself and her chair farther to the side.

Lance noticed her movement and simply moved his chair beside Iono before sitting down again.

"Are you okay? You don't look too well."

Iono smiled.

"N-No... I'm fine. I'm just a little cold..."

Lance turned to glance at the bright, brilliant sunlight outside Mount Coronet's window, then reached up to wipe the fresh sweat from his forehead.

"...?"

He took a deep breath and tried to make his tone sound as friendly as possible before speaking again:

"Little miss, there's no need to be nervous. I may be an Elite Four member, but I'm easy to talk to."

"Tell me, where did you get to know me?"

Iono looked at the red-haired man before her and swallowed.

"Um... well... do I really have to say it?"

Lance immediately became unhappy at that and slapped his thigh.

"Say it. What's there to be afraid of?"

One minute later.

After hearing what Iono had just said, Lance's mouth twitched, and his expression became rather spectacular.

What?

What did she mean by... two hundred years ago, he had defected from the Pokémon League and joined Team Rocket?

Then he had nearly destroyed Kanto?

And in the end, several Champions had joined forces to take him down???

Just where had she heard such wild historical nonsense????