He didn't actually send Iron Hands to search for anything. Instead, he took out that black stone etched with strange blue markings once more. He closed his eyes and channeled his thoughts into it.
A beam of light fell directly onto Iron Hands.
He waited for a long moment.
Then his eyes snapped open.
This time, his face wasn't just confused. It was etched with shock and bewilderment.
"This... how is this possible?!"
He stared at the images the stone fed back to him and couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
The feed showed several of the future Paradox Pokémon he had previously powered up, launching an assault on the entrance to some underground city.
By his calculations, those enhanced specimens should have torn through the locals' defenses with ease and delivered a devastating blow. Yet what the feed showed was the exact opposite.
Those future Paradox Pokémon had been obliterated.
Completely obliterated.
In the images, a group of human trainers in matching uniforms, working alongside several powerful ancient Paradox Pokémon, had beaten his enhanced future Paradox Pokémon into utter helplessness.
Their strength was incomparably greater than anything he had observed during his last reconnaissance.
And their coordination was flawless, as though they had drilled together countless times.
What made his scalp prickle most of all was the sight of those ancient Paradox Pokémon working in seamless tandem with the humans, showing none of the wildness or aggression that they were supposed to possess.
"How did the locals of this world suddenly become so strong?"
The green-haired man felt his understanding of the situation crumbling beneath him.
Was this still the same fragile world that was supposed to be theirs for the taking?
What on earth had happened in such a short span of time?
Had the attacks... drawn out some hidden potential in these locals?
No. Impossible.
Potential wasn't something that could be awakened overnight.
This kind of rapid power growth looked more like the result of some external force lending its aid.
The green-haired man fell silent for a moment, his gaze darkening.
He stared at the stone in his hand, jaw tight.
"No. This has to be reported immediately."
"At this rate, forget corroding this world. We might not even be able to maintain the existing Ultra Wormhole channels."
"There's no way we can complete the corrosion mis..."
He took a slow, steadying breath and stopped hesitating.
With a wave of his hand, the Ultra Wormhole that had yet to close reappeared before him. The swirling purple-black vortex rotated slowly, radiating an enticing pulse of spatial energy.
He left Iron Hands behind, turned, and stepped into the Ultra Wormhole without a second thought.
The vortex contracted and rippled behind him, then vanished completely, leaving the valley as still and quiet as ever, as though nothing had happened at all.
The scene shifted.
Out in the deep, boundless expanse of space.
No stars shone here. There was only endless darkness and the faint, distant glow of nebulae.
In this dead silence, an enormous starship fortress hung suspended in the void, a structure of almost unimaginable scale.
It dwarfed the vessel that had appeared above Yancy's city. The hull stretched for dozens of kilometers, its surface clad in heavy silver-gray armor plating, bristling with countless cannon muzzles and energy emitters that radiated an overpowering sense of annihilation.
Had Cynthia or Lance been present, they would have recognized it in an instant: this was the very starship from the games, the Rainbow Rocket mobile fortress.
At the very apex of the hull, a massive emblem glowed with a steady blue light — the letter "P" — standing out against the void with cold, imperious authority.
Inside the starship.
The green-haired man materialized in an opulent chamber.
He straightened his slightly disheveled collar. The shock and turmoil that had overtaken him on the surface were gone entirely from his expression, replaced by his usual composure and cool detachment, as though none of it had ever happened.
He left the room and walked through corridor after corridor of sleek, high-tech metal passageways, passing busy staff hurrying in both directions and alert lights blinking red on the walls. Before long, he arrived at a vast command hall.
The atmosphere inside was solemn and tense.
Enormous display screens hung suspended throughout the space, streaming complex data feeds and live footage.
Each screen corresponded to a different world.
Uniformed personnel moved constantly between them, checking conditions and reporting into their comms.
"Report: World 345, corrosion at eighty percent. Local civilization's defensive line has collapsed. Ready to activate Ultra Wormhole for troop deployment."
"Report: World 112, corrosion progressing slowly but within normal parameters. Estimated eighteen days until completion. Recommend continued deployment of Paradox Pokémon for harassment."
"Report: World 66, high-energy signature detected. Suspected legendary Pokémon presence. Executor dispatched for retrieval."
The green-haired man walked through it all without a flicker of reaction on his face.
These were routine operations. Most worlds were progressing according to plan.
But what he had to report today was an exception.
He walked directly to a screen in the corner of the hall and pressed a sequence of buttons on the console before it.
The display flickered and brought up a red progress bar. Unlike the others, this one wasn't advancing. It was slowly sliding backward, with a prominent warning indicator beside it.
"World 7. Corrosion progress showing anomalous regression. Rate of local power growth is abnormal. Uncontrollable factors have emerged."
He spoke into his comm unit, his voice steady and measured.
"Requesting Executor-level forced intervention."
His words echoed through the hall, drawing the attention of several senior officers.
One of the figures seated on the elevated platform turned to face him: a man wearing a mask that concealed his features entirely, though the eyes visible above it gleamed with a bone-chilling intensity.
"Executor-level forced intervention?"
The masked man's voice was low and rough, carrying a note of scrutiny.
"Clouded Leopard. Are you certain it's necessary to call in that level of force?"
The green-haired man, addressed by the codename Clouded Leopard, gave a slight bow and replied respectfully, "Yes, sir. The rate at which the locals in that world are growing stronger is far beyond what is normal. Standard Paradox Pokémon are no longer sufficient to suppress them. If we don't intervene promptly, all our previous efforts will have been wasted."
"Furthermore..."
He paused briefly before continuing. "While I was in that world, I sensed an unusual disturbance, as though some kind of force we have yet to account for is influencing its development."
The masked man was quiet for a moment, fingers tapping lightly against the armrest.
"An unusual force..."
"Very well. Request approved."
"However, remember: once an Executor is deployed, the operation will be highly visible. Do not draw the attention of other factions."
"Especially those..." He let out a quiet, dismissive sound.
"Understood," Clouded Leopard replied.
With the masked man's approval given, the display shifted again.
The scene jumped to a corner of the fortress, a vast chamber encased entirely in thick layers of energy shielding.
At the center of the room stood an enormous black apparatus, altar-like in its construction.
Above it, suspended in the air, floated a pitch-black orb.
The surface of the Poké Ball crackled ceaselessly with purple-black lightning, filling the air with a constant electric hiss. A terrifying, malevolent presence radiated steadily from within, warping the air around it.
Then, without warning.
A pair of crimson eyes snapped open in the shadows behind the orb.
Those eyes held no pupils, only boundless savagery and an insatiable hunger for destruction, like two flames burning with spectral fury.
Boom!
A black shockwave detonated outward from the figure at its center, slamming into the surrounding energy shielding and sending violent ripples cascading across its surface.
The figure emerged fully into view.
The Guardian of the Sea: Lugia.
But its condition was clearly very wrong, its appearance most of all.
Its body was no longer the sacred silver-white it was known for. It had become a deep, consuming blackness. Its feathers, once smooth, had turned sharp and jagged, every last one of them forged, it seemed, from dark steel, gleaming with a cold light.
Ten blade-like spines jutted from its abdomen, like inverted daggers, radiating a presence that sent a chill straight to the bones.
It looked like a living weapon: something transformed, something saturated with fury and the desire to destroy.
It slowly spread its wings. The vast span of them blotted out the light and plunged the entire room into shadow.
Before it, the great black apparatus began to roar to life, its countless complex runes blazing alight.
A massive portal, pulsing with violent violet light, began to coalesce and take shape in front of the dark Lugia.
Clouded Leopard stood behind an observation window above, watching it all unfold with something like surprise crossing his face.
"They actually deployed this one. That's generous."
"Then again, that world does have quite a lot of resources."
"With this, it should all be settled, shouldn't it?"
As the portal locked fully into form, Lugia fixed its crimson eyes on the world waiting beyond the gate.
It surged forward, wings crashing down — a streak of black lightning carrying the force of absolute annihilation — and plunged headlong through the portal.
At that same moment, in the Second World.
The lights came up in a streaming studio.
Dan the Demon King reclined in his chair as always, facing the camera with barely contained excitement.
"Good evening everyone, welcome back. I won't waste time on small talk today. Let's get straight into it: Pokémon, episode four!"
He pressed play. The barrage of gift animations and scrolling comments that had been flooding the stream instantly calmed, and every viewer's attention locked onto the large screen before him.
[It's here! Finally! I've been waiting for this!]
[I get restless the moment I miss a minute of this. I'm climbing the walls. Anyone else??]
[Props to the streamer. We just watched episode three yesterday and he's already got episode four ready to go.]
[Same, same. This show is addictive. I literally cannot stop watching.]
[Hurry up! Play it!]
The screen flickered, and the darkness gave way to a sudden burst of light.
This time, however, Ash's face didn't appear right away.
Instead, a rousing, high-energy piece of music exploded into the room.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The driving drumbeat hit like a fist against the chest of every viewer.
Then, a vibrant male voice rang out:
"My goal is to be a Pokémon Master!"
"I've caught a Pokémon!"
To those iconic lyrics, the footage cut rapidly through a flurry of images.
Colorful gym badges flashed by. Then came Pokémon no one had ever seen before.
A massive black-and-yellow bee, the three venomous stingers at its tail glinting coldly as its wings beat at a high frequency with a deep drone, weaving at blinding speed through jungle undergrowth.
A large, pink-black-and-white cow Pokémon grazing contentedly in a field.
A brown, tree-shaped Pokémon with several coconut-like eggs growing from its head, thick leaves rustling in the breeze as it stood basking in the sunlight.
The footage flew past in a whirlwind, every frame charged with energy.
[Oh wow! What is this incredible BGM?!]
[I'm fired up! The second that intro hit, I felt the blood rushing through me!]
[What are these new Pokémon?!]
[Is this the show's opening theme? This hits way harder than anything in the charts right now!]
[That tree-headed one looks really... delicious. Wait no, I mean really loveable. Forget I said that.]
[Hey! That's a Pokémon, not a meal! Keep it together!]
Dan the Demon King watched the comments pour in and found himself nodding his head along with the beat without even realizing it.
What more could you say? Even the opening was this good.
Genuinely impressive. Wherever quality breeds, it shows in everything.
As the final note of the music faded, the screen held on a still frame.
A title slowly materialized:
Episode Four: Showdown in Viridian Forest! The Challenge of the Samurai!
The scene shifted, and the familiar Viridian Forest reappeared.
Sunlight filtered through the canopy.
The camera dropped low. Three figures were struggling through the undergrowth.
Ash led the way at the front, map in hand, turning this way and that, his forehead slick with sweat.
Misty followed behind him, weighed down by a heavy backpack, her expression hollow and her steps dragging.
And Pikachu sat slumped across Ash's shoulder, ears flat, tail drooping, clearly worn out to its limit.
"Seriously..."
Misty finally reached her breaking point. She stopped dead, dropped herself onto a tree stump, and dumped her pack on the ground.
"We've been walking forever and we're still not out of Viridian Forest! Are we just going around in circles?"
Ash looked back and wiped the sweat from his face.
"We should be almost out, right? According to the map, one left turn and we're there."
"You've already turned left three times!" Misty shot back, gesturing in exasperation at the identical trees surrounding them.
"Uh..."
Ash scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Pika..."
Pikachu let out a faint, weary cry.
He pressed a hand to his stomach, which was growling loudly. He looked as though he was about to collapse from hunger.
[Ha! The main trio, hopelessly lost as usual.]
[Even Pikachu has checked out at this point lmao]
[Ash's sense of direction is truly one of a kind. Pure chaos energy.]
[Misty's commentary is spot on. Without a GPS, these two would just get lost forever in this forest.]
[Last episode they just caught a Caterpie and now we're back to wandering through the forest. How big IS Viridian Forest?]
Just then, the bushes nearby rustled.
"Rustle, rustle..."
Ash snapped to attention immediately. "Something's coming out!"
۞۞۞۞
https://p-atreon.com/lost_magus
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)