Porygon had drifted off to sleep.
It was the star player for tomorrow afternoon's match, so ensuring its energy reserves were at 100% was non-negotiable.
Kashiwagi, however, was a different story. After the midnight "heart-to-heart" and his impromptu lecture, sleep eluded him. He stared at the 5-Heart Trust Level on his interface with a touch of melancholy.
He'd harbored a faint, perhaps naive, hope that a heartfelt apology might trigger an immediate level-up of the trust bar.
The result? Still five hearts. No change.
I guess real bonds aren't forged in a single night, Kashiwagi thought. Hopefully, tomorrow's Gym challenge will provide the breakthrough we need.
He re-watched the video Porygon had recorded several times. Watching a glitchy, phantom version of your own Pokémon staring back at you from the digital void felt like watching a low-budget horror movie at 2:00 AM.
Where did this phantom even come from?
He didn't keep the mystery to himself; he forwarded the clip to Dr. Akihabara and his research assistant.
If anyone knew what was going on inside Porygon's code, it was the men who wrote it. Maybe they'd have an answer by morning.
He was about to lock his phone and try to sleep when the screen flashed bright again. A reply from the Doctor?
Isn't he supposed to be swamped with work? Why is he pulling an all-nighter to check his emails?
Curious, Kashiwagi tapped the notification. He was greeted by a literal wall of exclamation marks, a few scattered words, and a heavily pixelated attachment.
....
Dr. Akihabara: "IT'S ZERO! IT HAS TO BE ZERO!"
The attached image was a blurry mess of colored blocks that vaguely resembled a Porygon-Z.
Heaven only knew which frame the Doctor had screenshotted to get that result.
Kashiwagi squinted at it for five minutes and still couldn't see the resemblance. I guess that's the creator's intuition for you, he mused.
Kashiwagi: "Porygon Zero? No way. Didn't that thing go missing? Why would it be lurking in the Mauville City network?"
Dr. Akihabara: "I don't know, but my gut says it's Zero! Stay put—I'm hopping on a plane immediately. I have to catch it this time! We can't let it just wander around causing digital chaos!"
Since the mess at Dewford Town had been cleared up, the Doctor had returned to Kanto. A flight from Kanto to Hoenn usually took less than two hours.
That is... assuming there are flights.
Flights to Hoenn were notoriously sparse. Rayquaza tended to treat the entire sky as its personal backyard. While it didn't usually swat planes out of the sky on purpose, it enjoyed chasing them, and the resulting high-altitude turbulence was enough to turn any passenger's hair white in terror.
Kashiwagi thought for a moment before typing back: "Didn't it basically trash your lab? Has it done anything else 'evil' lately?"
Dr. Akihabara: "Not that I've heard. To be honest, I still have no idea what it actually wants. I just want to sit down and have a proper chat with it... face-to-face."
.....
According to the Doctor's notes, Porygon Zero's transformation into Porygon-Z was partially due to its own independent efforts. That suggested the "glitch" was actively seeking a way to reach a higher stage of existence.
Another evolution? Kashiwagi doubted it. Pokémon usually topped out at three stages. The only fourth stage was Mega Evolution, and that was temporary.
Wait! What if Zero came to Hoenn specifically to find a way to Mega Evolve?
It was a wild theory, but he couldn't shake it. Of course, it was still unconfirmed if the "Phantom Porygon" and the Doctor's red-and-blue blur were even the same entity.
Maybe I should ask Wattson? As a master engineer who brought Rotom to the city, he might know if the network has a 'ghost' in the machine.
Regardless, Dr. Akihabara seemed dead-set on coming to Mauville.
If it was Zero, and the Doctor started a digital manhunt, would the city's network survive? There was a very real chance the entire Hoenn internet would just... explode.
Then, a darker thought crossed Kashiwagi's mind.
Zero appearing before his Porygon likely wasn't a coincidence or a bored prank. It was probably interested. It might even be trying to "recruit" (or kidnap) his partner.
Not on my watch!
He looked at his phone with newfound suspicion. Did Porygon actually shake that thing off? Is Zero monitoring my phone right now?
Feeling a sudden surge of paranoia, Kashiwagi powered down his phone and cut off every network connection in the room. He even remembered Mawile's phone, racing over to shut that down too.
"That should do it... I think."
He lay back on the bed, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. He closed his eyes, but he didn't sleep.
He spent the rest of the night in a light doze, ready to jump if a digital bird-thing tried to phase through the wall.
....
Morning arrived without any digital kidnappings. Kashiwagi opened his eyes, feeling the slight weight of the all-nighter, but thankful his team was safe.
Luckily, his young body could handle a missed night of sleep without much fuss.
"Maw-ile!"
Mawile was the first to wake up. She immediately reached for her phone—the device was still in its "honeymoon phase" of novelty for her.
But when she tried to tap the screen, nothing happened.
Broken?
No way. I didn't even drop it!
Mawile cast a guilty, sideways glance at Kashiwagi as he got out of bed, then scurried over to Porygon.
In this house, Porygon was the only one who actually understood "tech". Everyone else was just a bunch of muscle-brained fighters—even Blissey struggled with human gadgets.
"Maw-ile~?"
Clutching her "dead" phone, Mawile gave the sleeping Porygon on the sofa a gentle nudge.
"Pory... gon..."
Porygon opened its eyes, staring blankly for several seconds like a computer booting up from a hard crash. Finally, its gaze focused on the Mawile holding the phone.
"Pory-gon?"
"Maw-wile!"
Mawile shot another nervous glance toward the bathroom, then quickly chirped at Porygon, asking about the state of her precious device.
Porygon looked down at the hardware. After a few seconds of internal scanning, it gestured for Mawile to hold steady.
It pressed its blocky beak against the side power button, holding it down until the screen flared to life with a familiar glow. Satisfied, Porygon dove right back into the circuits.
Mawile let out a long, dramatic sigh of relief. "Maw-wile~"
If such an expensive toy had broken on the second day, she really wouldn't have known how to explain it to Kashiwagi.
Kashiwagi finished washing up and stepped out just in time to see Mawile happily glued to her screen again. He walked over to give her a quick heads-up, addressing Porygon inside the phone at the same time.
As the realization sank in, both Pokémon looked a bit shell-shocked.
Zero? Kidnapping Porygon?
Aggron lumbered over to listen in, wearing a thoughtful expression. He'd wondered why Porygon had materialized so haphazardly the night before.
It all made sense now.
"In short, everyone stay sharp," Kashiwagi said, his voice grave.
"Especially you, Porygon. If that really is Zero, it's probably got its eyes on you. You have to resist its temptations! Protect the home network at all costs! Don't let yourself be swayed by the enemy's digital sugar-coated bullets!"
He spoke with the earnestness of a concerned parent. Mawile nodded along vigorously—she couldn't use her phone properly without Porygon's help, after all.
"Pory-gon~" came the muffled reply through the phone's speakers.
Kashiwagi went around to the rest of the team, briefing each of them. Even if their levels of understanding varied, he made sure every single one of his Pokémon was on high alert.
....
Mauville Food Court: The Treasure Eatery
Kashiwagi headed out specifically to hunt down a nostalgic breakfast.
He'd hoped for something like soup dumplings, soy milk, or deep-fried dough sticks, but the shopkeeper regretfully informed him they only served Gyoza—specifically, pan-fried potstickers.
No white porridge. No pickled mustard tubers. Nothing.
"Fine, I guess that'll do," he sighed, politely declining the offer of fried rice.
Who eats fried rice first thing in the morning?!
Perhaps it was because it had been so long since he'd tasted a decent potsticker, but he found them surprisingly good.
The dipping sauce, however, was a tragedy—the vinegar tasted like water and the chili oil had zero kick.
Definite one-star review for the sauce.
On the bright side, the marinated Toedscool with Cucumber was an unexpected delight. The translucent slices had a crunch similar to jellyfish—snappy, chewy, and deeply satisfying.
He'd looked up Toedscool the night before and discovered they were classified as the "Wood Ear Pokémon." They walked on their tentacles, and when they really got moving, they looked hilariously bizarre.
The designers of the Paldea era were truly mad geniuses, he thought.
Regardless, if it tasted good, he wasn't complaining.
Kashiwagi and Porygon ate happily, occasionally passing a few dumplings and wood-ear slices to Mawile across the table.
She was so engrossed in her cartoons that she didn't even notice the grease on her chin.
Kashiwagi was starting to feel like he hadn't bought Mawile a phone so much as a dedicated portable cinema.
.....
Around 10:00 AM, Dr. Akihabara successfully arrived at the Mauville Station.
Kashiwagi went to meet him and found the old man panting heavily, lugging a massive, reinforced metal case.
"What's this?"
Kashiwagi took the case, nearly dropping it from the sheer weight.
"This is a custom-built computer I designed specifically to capture Zero!" Dr. Akihabara chuckled, wiping sweat from his brow. He looked around expectantly.
"Where's your car?"
"I'm a minor, Doctor. Where would I get a car?"
Kashiwagi shook his head and hailed a taxi. He noticed Dr. Akihabara staring at him in utter shock.
"Uh, what?"
"You're a minor?! I thought you were a full-grown adult this whole time!" The Doctor's voice was full of disbelief.
Kashiwagi just shrugged.
They hopped into the cab.
Kashiwagi had intended to take the Doctor back to his place at Mauville Hills, but Akihabara insisted he had acquaintances in the city.
Apparently, standard residential power wouldn't be enough to satisfy the hunger of his "anti-Zero" rig.
This peaked Kashiwagi's interest in the heavy machine even more.
Before long, they arrived at a research institute on the outskirts of Mauville City. A young man in a white lab coat was already waiting at the entrance and rushed forward to greet them.
"Dr. Akihabara!"
The young man introduced himself.
"I'm Inamura, Dr. Nasu's assistant. I've been assigned to assist you—and this is...?"
Dr. Akihabara didn't even wait for Kashiwagi to open his mouth.
"This is my assistant, Kashiwagi! No time for small talk, Inamura—lead us to a secure location, quickly!"
The Doctor was practically vibrating with excitement. He wanted Zero back, and he wanted it now.
Seeing the urgency, Inamura scrapped the guided tour and led them straight into a sterile, white laboratory.
In the center of the room sat a massive, hollow black cube that immediately caught Kashiwagi's eye.
"Ooh! This is it! The Miniature Electromagnetic Shielding Device!"
Dr. Akihabara's eyes lit up. He rushed forward, stroking the metallic surface of the cube.
"With this, Zero won't be able to slip away! Magnificent!"
This thing... Kashiwagi squinted at the box. Why does it look exactly like the machine Faba used to trap Nebby?
Aside from being a bit larger, the resemblance was uncanny—if his memory served him right.
The Doctor threw open his heavy luggage.
Inside was a desktop rig that looked like a PC case on steroids.
Under Akihabara's frantic directions, Kashiwagi helped connect the beast to the lab's existing hardware. When the power button was pressed, a symphony of indicator lights flashed to life, bathing the room in a futuristic, neon glow.
Kashiwagi turned around just in time to see the Doctor reaching into his coat and pulling out Poké Balls like a magician—six of them, to be exact.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
White light flooded the room.
Five sleek, rounded Porygon2 materialized. Compared to the sharp, blocky angles of the original Porygon, these looked like they had been smoothed out by a river tide—nothing but soft curves.
But Kashiwagi's gaze was glued to the final one. Its body was inverted, its head floated disconnected from its torso, and its yellow eyes twitched with a bizarre, erratic energy. A Porygon-Z.
"Is that... Unit 01?"
"Correct!"
Dr. Akihabara nodded with supreme confidence.
"I've patched Unit 01's internal programming for the Nth time! And this time, I've added the Hunter Protocol!"
"...Hunter Protocol?"
"A program specifically designed to hunt down Zero! Back when Zero was stolen and misused by Team Rocket, I wrote the first version for Unit 01 to help a group of kids track it down. I'm certain it will be just as successful today!"
The Doctor sounded incredibly sure of himself. But the more he talked, the more Kashiwagi felt a sense of impending doom.
This was the man, after all, who specialized in "inspired accidents."
Akihabara was the one who invented the device that digitizes humans into Cyberspace—a recipe for disaster if there ever was one.
He was also the one who "tacitly permitted" Zero to write its own suspicious patches to force its final evolution.
In short: the man was a digital daredevil.
Kashiwagi watched the Porygon2 squad standing in a neat, military line while Unit 01 inspected them like a glitchy drill sergeant. He felt his stomach do a slow somersault.
The operation began.
Dr. Akihabara explained that he'd cleared the mission with Mauville's Cybersecurity Department, which eased one of Kashiwagi's worries.
The "Zero Capture Army" surged into the Mauville network.
To ensure Unit 01 didn't decide to make a break for it too, the Doctor used his custom rig to set up a digital "Identification Net".
The moment Zero—or any unauthorized data—passed through a specific port, the alarm would trip.
"Is this... actually legal?"
Kashiwagi asked tentatively as the Doctor bragged about his setup.
It sounded an awful lot like installing a back door into a city's private infrastructure.
The Doctor's non-stop chatter stopped abruptly. Then, he simply pivoted back to his technical explanation, completely "ignoring" the question.
Holy Miltank!
Kashiwagi thought.
This Doctor is one bad day away from a prison sentence!
He looked over at Inamura, wondering if the young assistant was going to blow the whistle.
Instead, he found the lad staring at Akihabara with a look of pure, unadulterated admiration.
Wow. Both of them are off their rockers.
"It's quite alright. I've already helped Akihabara-kun secure official authorization from Officer Jenny."
A voice drifted from behind them. Kashiwagi turned to see an elderly man with a well-groomed white beard.
"Dr. Nasu!" Akihabara's exclamation confirmed the man's identity.
Dr. Yoshiyuki Nasu. The owner of this institute. While he didn't appear in the original anime, he was a known colleague of Professor Oak from Celadon University.
His primary field of study? The three Super-Ancient Pokémon of Hoenn.
Wait... Kashiwagi recalled some internet rumors.
Doesn't this guy have some 'shady' connections to both Team Magma and Team Aqua?