The chat instantly exploded with messages like [???], [This house is habitable???], [Holy crap, your house is... pretty unique!], [Door: don't @ me, I'm dead], mixed with sympathetic comments like [Squirtle's really struggling here] and [These living conditions are rough].
Squirtle stood at the entrance to his "home," his entire face flushed a deep purple-red, steam visibly rising from the top of his head again.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, stammering, "Uh... this... the door... it was fine yesterday... maybe the sea wind was too strong... I'll... I'll fix it right now! Won't take long!"
With that, he rushed forward, trying to prop up the sagging wooden door.
Watching the dilapidated shack and the practically steaming Squirtle on screen, Yancy felt a pang of sympathy.
This guy's so strong, but his living conditions are terrible...
No way. Since I'm already here, I've got to help him live better!
She pressed the interaction button and spoke into the microphone, her voice gentle: "It's okay, Squirtle. The house might be old, but it's the place where you've been working hard to survive.
Plus, look, we're official rescue team members now! We're going to get tons of missions and make lots of money! Then we can get a bigger house, or at least fix this place up, right?"
She controlled Larvesta to move forward, gently touching Squirtle's shell with her antennae.
Squirtle was struggling with the stubborn door panel when he heard Yancy's words. He froze.
He slowly turned around, seemingly encouraged by her words, and nodded vigorously. "Yeah! You're right, Yancy! Things... things will definitely get better!"
In that moment, he seemed genuinely energized.
He resumed fixing the broken door, his movements still clumsy but much steadier than before. He found some suitable rocks to prop underneath, then used a pile of seaweed from nearby (probably something he'd gathered himself) to carefully reinforce the door.
After quite a bit of work, he managed to barely "install" the door back in place. Though it was still slightly crooked, at least it could close now and seemed much more stable.
"Phew... done!" Squirtle wiped away non-existent sweat, his face breaking into a smile. "At least it'll block the wind now! Yancy, come on in..." As he spoke, he reached out to push open the freshly repaired door, inviting Yancy inside.
The instant his fingers touched the door panel...
BOOM!!
A massive explosion!
The door, along with the frame Squirtle had just reinforced, exploded inward like it had been hit by a truck! Splintered wood, rocks, and moss scattered everywhere!
Squirtle: "??????"
Through the swirling dust, a slender blue figure shot through like a cannonball, carrying fragments of the door with it. It crashed heavily onto the ground right in front of Squirtle.
As the dust slowly settled, Yancy and the livestream viewers finally got a clear look at the figure. It was larger and longer than a Dratini, covered in beautiful sapphire-blue scales.
But its current condition was clearly terrible. Its scales were damaged all over, covered in dirt and bloodstains, as if it had just been through an extremely brutal chase or battle.
Right now, the Pokémon's eyes were tightly shut, its breathing shallow. It had obviously lost consciousness completely.
After a brief moment of dead silence, the chat exploded:
[Holy crap! The door's gone again!]
[Squirtle: I just fixed that door! Give it back!]
[What the hell just flew in here?!]
[Wait... holy shit, is that a Dragonair?!]
[Holy crap, it really is a Dragonair! A pseudo-legendary!]
[How did a pseudo-legendary get hurt this badly?]
"A... Dragonair?!" Yancy was surprised too, completely unprepared to encounter such a rare Pokémon here, and in such a brutal manner at that.
Well, mainly it was pretty brutal for Squirtle.
It took Squirtle a moment to recover from the shock of his door being destroyed again, but he didn't waste time mourning it. He immediately rushed to Dragonair's side, frantically checking its injuries:
"Oh no! It's badly hurt! Where did it come from? How did it get this injured?"
The chat refreshed again.
[He's really... I'm crying.]
[This kid's too kind-hearted. Well, I guess turtle-hearted.]
Meanwhile, Squirtle carefully cradled Dragonair's head.
"This is bad, we need to save it! Yancy, help me out! Let's get it inside first!"
Working together (mostly Squirtle doing the lifting), they carefully carried the unconscious Dragonair into the house and gently laid it on the only grass bed available.
Watching the unconscious Dragonair on screen, Yancy was also puzzled. "Where did this thing come from... Squirtle, do you know it? Why would it show up at your house?"
"I've never seen it before!" Squirtle shook his head while frantically rummaging through the house for anything useful.
"I've never seen a Pokémon like this around here. It looks like this kind of Pokémon should live somewhere far away! Why would it come to a place like this? And injured so badly..."
As he spoke, he carefully pulled out a red bottle and fed its contents to Dragonair.
"This is some healing medicine I saved up. It's the lowest grade, but it should help... I hope it'll be okay."
The livestream chat continued its heated discussion about this suddenly appearing Pokémon and the bizarre incident.
[This plot development is so sudden.]
[Yeah, the game just started, right? That's a lot of information dump lol]
[Those injuries... looks like something was chasing it?]
[Could it have been hurt by those purple mist Pokémon?]
[Hard to say, but why would it show up here? This place is so far from that dungeon, and it's already a Dragonair. It should be way stronger than those low-level dungeon Pokémon, right?]
Yancy glanced at the chat while pondering these questions herself.
By now, the sky had completely darkened. Only faint light and the sound of waves came through the window.
Time passed slowly, then a notification suddenly appeared:
[Today's time has ended. Time to rest.]
"So there's actually a daily time limit?"
Yancy was a bit surprised. She controlled Larvesta to lie down on another grass bed nearby. The screen went black. Yancy assumed it would transition directly to the next morning.
But just then, a scene suddenly began to play.
In the dead of night, both Squirtle and Larvesta were sleeping soundly.
However, in the next moment...
The perspective slowly zoomed in, focusing on the unconscious Dragonair on the grass bed.
Moonlight scattered across its scales, creating a silvery-white sheen.
Suddenly!
The unconscious Dragonair's body twitched ever so slightly!
Then, an extremely thin black-purple mist quietly emanated from its deepest wound!
The mist was very faint, barely visible in the dim light. It flickered briefly, then completely disappeared as if it had never existed! But clearly, both the viewers and Yancy had seen it.
"..."
Yancy froze. What was that?!
That color... though different from the purple mist on the dungeon Pokémon, it was eerily similar.
After a brief split-second delay, the chat began refreshing:
[Holy crap!! Black mist???]
[I saw it! It disappeared in a flash!]
[It's infected too?! Like the dungeon Pokémon?]
[This plot is so intense, hehe, can't wait.]
[What the heck did Squirtle bring home lololol]
Yancy snapped back to her senses. She stared at the screen, deep in thought.
"This black mist... and the purple mist in the dungeon... they must be related."
But from what just happened, this Dragonair seemed completely different from those other Pokémon, right?
At least its condition was totally different...
What... what's really going on here?
---
Meanwhile, in the Paldea region.
"Ha! Easy win!"
Iono looked smugly at the screen showing Gym Leader Norman's last Pokémon falling, in a great mood. Back in Emerald, this guy had absolutely demolished her several times. She'd nearly developed trauma from that Mega Kangaskhan.
In this Dark Phantom version, Norman's strength was significantly weaker by comparison. Though he wasn't weak, with Iono's current team setup, it was pretty straightforward. She cleared it in one try.
Humming a tune, she was about to continue exploring the next part of the story when the most unwanted notification popped up on screen:
[Notification: Congratulations on successfully challenging Petalburg Gym! Your current main storyline progress has reached the latest version content. Subsequent updates are in development, stay tuned!]
"Huh?! It's over again?!" The smile on Iono's face instantly vanished.
"That's the latest content? I've barely been playing! I already caught up!" She pouted at the camera.
"Everything about Dark Phantom is great, except the updates are too slow! I've already caught up!"
The chat expressed sympathy:
[Feel bad for the streamer]
[Wind Studio doesn't have enough production capacity]
[The game's fun, just not enough content]
[Of course, they're making three games at once with all three being high quality. Could you do it?]
[Actually it's because the game's so fun players binge it all day, it's not really slow updates lol]
Iono slumped dejectedly, chin in hand.
...The content ran out so fast, so boring... maybe...
She thought for a moment.
Go back and play Emerald?
Sure, it's brutal, but they've updated tons of content there, right? Haven't checked in ages.
Thinking about Emerald's terrifying difficulty and endless "surprises," she hesitated again.
Should I really go back?
While deliberating, she opened Emerald's login screen and casually clicked on the built-in "Game Progress Rankings." She'd always been in the top five before, never dropped out.
Though she hadn't played for a few days, she should at least still be in the top 20, right?
When the rankings refreshed, Iono's jaw dropped.
Looking at her ranking, her voice shot up an octave. "I only took two days! Just two days off from Emerald! How did my ranking drop to 128th?! Are these people monsters? Don't they sleep?!"
Looking at the familiar yet foreign IDs at the top of the rankings and their absurdly high progress point values, Iono felt utterly defeated.
Forget it, forget it... can't keep up, can't keep up... I'll just stay in Dark Phantom and take it easy...
She instantly dismissed the idea of going back to get demolished, collapsing completely into her chair.
By now, tons of Champions and Elite Four members were probably playing Emerald, but she really hadn't expected their progress to be this insane.
Just as she was listlessly browsing the Dark Phantom forums, the chat army kicked into gear:
[Streamer, I know you're stressed, but don't panic!]
[Wind Studio released a new game!]
[Go play "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time"!]
[Yeah yeah! New release! Free! You're bored anyway, might as well check it out.]
[That streamer Yancy is playing it live right now! Super interesting!]
[Go draw your Pokémon! See what you get!]
"Hm?" Iono immediately sat up straight, eyes lighting up. "Wind Studio released a new game? And it's free? ...Mystery Dungeon?"
She immediately searched on the streaming platform and sure enough, found a female streamer named Yancy broadcasting the game.
"Hmm, this art style, looks like pixel art again? Action-based?"
She quickly scanned Yancy's stream and the game description.
Iono's spirits lifted instantly.
"Alright! Since you all recommended it! I've got to try it! Perfect timing since I'm out of Dark Phantom content anyway! Let me see what new tricks Kairos has cooked up this time!"
She immediately closed the rankings and excitedly started downloading the new game.
The download was fast, and the game launched.
Just like Yancy's experience, Iono was first greeted not with character selection, but with a series of philosophical multiple-choice questions.
[Welcome to this mysterious world, lost traveler. Before embarking on your journey, let us understand the essence of your heart...]
[1. Which do you prefer...?]
[A. Running under clear blue skies.]
[B. Contemplating in the silence of a rainy night.]
"Running!" Iono barely hesitated, instantly picking A. "Running around is what makes me happy!"
[2. When a friend encounters difficulty, you will...?]
[A. Immediately lend a hand without hesitation!]
[B. Calmly analyze first, find the best solution.]
"Do you even need to ask? A! Just rush in and help!" Iono answered decisively.
After a series of questions, Iono quickly made her choice on the final one.
"Light the way for others! Protecting stuff is too boring! Pick A!"
The chat chimed in:
[Hot-blooded airhead streamer confirmed lol!]
[All A's! Total berserker playstyle hahaha.]
[I feel like Iono's gonna become a Charmander!]
[But streamer's an Electric-type Gym Leader, shouldn't she turn into Pikachu?]
Finally finishing all the questions, the screen went dark.
Iono leaned back in her chair with anticipation and curiosity. "Let's see which Pokémon it thinks I should be... Charmander? Or maybe Pikachu? Give me something cool!"
A few seconds later, light appeared.
The Pokémon silhouette emerging at the center of the screen made the anticipation on Iono's face instantly freeze!
Those sleek, explosive body lines, that signature lightning-bolt-like standing fur, that wild and untamed posture... even as just a silhouette, it was enough to make Iono's heart stop.
Wait??
This is...
This is??