In Cynthia's livestream.
After wrapping up the Rayquaza storyline, she didn't rush to push the main quest forward.
She sat in front of her computer, staring at the Pokémon on her team screen, lost in thought.
Her current roster was strong enough to steamroll most opponents, but the story ahead would surely throw harder challenges her way. Grinding for more levels was still the safest play.
While mulling it over, she used Fly, and the screen cut to her character arriving in Mauville City.
She wanted to check on the ruins out in the desert.
She had a vague memory of passing through earlier and leaving some puzzle involving the three legendary pillars unsolved. With a stronger team now, maybe she'd find something new.
Her character hopped on the bike, crossed the desert on the western side of Mauville City, and rattled along until the ancient ruins came into view.
Just as she was about to head inside and explore, her phone rang.
The caller ID read: Gladion.
Cynthia picked up.
"Strawberry Ice Cream, things have changed." Gladion's voice was as cold as ever, but his words came faster than usual, a sign that something was off.
"The Ultra Wormhole readings just spiked dramatically. We're detecting signals of multiple portals opening simultaneously, and the numbers are way beyond anything normal."
Cynthia frowned slightly.
"A large-scale appearance?"
She instinctively moved her character deeper into the ruins, and at that moment, a strange flash of light swept across the screen. She glanced down and noticed the Ultra Crystal in her character's bag glowing faintly.
At the same time, the desert wall nearby began reacting in an unusual way: rings of purple markings were spreading across the surface, as though something on the other side was trying to break through.
Cynthia immediately understood what was happening.
"These Ultra Wormholes are resonating with the ruins wall?"
She tried walking her character into the wall.
But the next instant, the character was thrown back, and a message flashed on screen.
[The Ultra Wormhole fluctuations are too intense. Entry is not possible.]
Cynthia clicked her tongue.
Nothing was ever that simple.
Just as she was turning to explore a different direction, her phone rang again.
This time it was Nanu.
She answered, and his low, gravelly voice came through.
"Champion, I'm sure you've noticed something's wrong with the Ultra Wormholes. The fluctuations are too violent for any conventional method of entry. Trying to force your way in would only tear you apart in the spatial turbulence."
Cynthia gave a brief acknowledgment.
"So what do we do?"
Nanu paused for a second, then said, "Come to Steven's mansion first. Gladion and I are both here. We'll explain how to break through the Ultra Wormhole."
She hung up and used Fly again, sending her character to the city where the mansion was located.
The screen transitioned to a grand, towering building.
Inside the mansion, Cynthia found a sizable crowd already gathered in the main hall.
Steven stood at the head of the room, flanked by Nanu and Gladion, along with several people who appeared to be senior League officials. They were clustered around a massive holographic table displaying a map of the Hoenn region, dotted with over a dozen pulsing purple points marking the locations of the violently active Ultra Wormholes.
Cynthia moved her character over to join them.
After a brief discussion covering the current situation and their next steps, the group divided responsibilities. Steven would coordinate the League's defenses, Nanu would monitor the fluctuation readings, and Gladion volunteered to personally handle the most dangerous portal.
Once the meeting broke up and the others filtered out, Gladion walked over to Cynthia's character.
Gladion pulled something from his pocket.
"Remember that Ultra Crystal I gave you earlier? Take it out."
Cynthia found the crystal in her bag as instructed.
Gladion took it and fitted it into a specially designed wristband. The face of the wristband flickered a few times, then released a soft glow before settling back to calm.
Gladion held the wristband out to Cynthia.
"Wear this. With it, you'll be able to sense the location and condition of nearby Ultra Wormholes far more easily, and more importantly, it will allow you to enter an active, fluctuating wormhole."
Cynthia equipped the wristband.
"But be careful," Gladion added, his tone turning serious. "The inside of a fluctuating Ultra Wormhole is extremely unstable. Anything could happen in there. Contact me the moment something goes wrong."
Cynthia nodded and turned to leave the mansion.
She used Fly to return to the desert ruins in Mauville City, moving her character back to the wall where the purple markings had appeared. This time, the indicator light on the wristband came to life, pulsing a steady red.
Cynthia took a quiet breath and walked her character toward the wall.
The instant the character made contact, a burst of red light exploded from the wristband and wrapped around the entire body. The force that had thrown her back before dissolved instantly beneath that red glow.
Her character's silhouette passed through the wall, broke through the barrier, and stepped into the Ultra Wormhole.
The chat erupted instantly.
[She's in she's in!!!]
[That red effect looks so cool. Gladion's gear really delivers.]
[What's going to be inside the Ultra Wormhole? Please don't be more of those Ultra Beasts.]
[Cynthia be careful, this place already looks wrong.]
Cynthia studied the warping space and shifting colors filling the screen, her expression sharpening with focus.
The moment her character passed through the veil of light, the scene changed completely.
Gone was the dark stone wall of the desert ruins. In its place stretched an impossibly vast expanse.
Cynthia instinctively stopped, holding her character still, her eyes scanning every detail on screen.
So this was the inside of an Ultra Wormhole.
Nothing like what she had imagined. There was no cramped, suffocating cavern atmosphere here. Instead, the space was so open it felt almost unreal.
The entire area looked like a colossal rift torn through existence, with no visible edges above, below, or to either side.
Countless points of light drifted slowly in the distance, like floating stardust or some kind of luminous particles. The ground beneath her character had a semi-transparent quality, and deeper layers of radiant energy seemed to churn just beneath the surface.
The whole space carried a strange atmosphere. It wasn't exactly frightening, but it was far from peaceful, more like a place that belonged to no world, where every familiar rule had been thrown out.
The chat went quiet for a moment, as though everyone had been struck silent by the scene.
A few seconds passed before anyone spoke.
[The map design is incredible. Emerald can actually do this??]
[It's so empty. There's nothing here.]
[Don't say that. The emptier it is, the more dangerous it gets. Something's definitely in there.]
Cynthia had the same feeling that something was off.
She quickly turned on the recording feature in her streaming software and started capturing the footage.
What she was seeing inside the Ultra Wormhole might end up being a useful reference for the real-world portals later on. Documenting it couldn't hurt.
At the same time, she shifted her team to battle readiness, keeping her fingers hovering over the skill keys, ready for anything.
Her character moved slowly forward, each footstep resonating with unusual clarity through the vast emptiness.
About ten seconds in, Cynthia suddenly spotted something on the ground ahead.
A small, white figure, curled up in the middle of the floor, completely motionless.
She moved her character cautiously closer, and when she got a clear look at it, she stopped.
It was a Pokémon she had never seen before.
It was tiny, not much bigger than an Eevee, and its body was a translucent white. Floating around it were tiny specks of light like stardust, and faintly visible inside was a pale blue ring slowly turning.
It was curled up there like it had fallen asleep.
The chat exploded.
[What is that?? It's so cute!!]
[Never seen this one before. Is it in the Pokédex?]
[Translucent? Ghost-type? Or Psychic?]
[Look it up in the Pokédex!!]
Cynthia opened the in-game Pokédex and got a single line in response.
[Unknown Pokémon. No data available.]
Not even in the Pokédex?
She stared at the little thing, feeling puzzled but mostly just curious.
It showed absolutely no signs of aggression. It just sat there, quiet and still. In a strange way, it almost looked a little pitiful. Alone in this vast, empty Ultra Space, it was hard not to feel like the tiny creature was in a precarious spot.
Cynthia hesitated for a moment, then moved her character over to it anyway.
She pressed the interact key. Her character crouched down and reached out to touch the small Pokémon.
To her surprise, it didn't pull away. Instead, it nudged toward her character and let out a soft, gentle cry.
A small smile crossed Cynthia's face. This little one was surprisingly easy to approach.
She had her character scoop it up.
The tiny Pokémon didn't struggle at all. It settled snugly into the character's arms, its ring flickering a few times before going still, looking completely at ease.
Since the Pokédex had nothing on it, she'd just wait until she left the Ultra Wormhole and then get in touch with Gladion. He knew more about Ultra Wormholes than anyone. He might recognize it.
That was roughly what Cynthia was thinking.
Then, the moment she picked up the Pokémon, everything changed.
The ground lurched violently beneath her character.
Cynthia's eyes went sharp. She immediately pulled the camera back.
The space around her began twisting and distorting violently. The light particles that had been drifting peacefully were yanked in multiple directions by some unseen force, converging at a frantic pace.
Then something burst out from the warped space.
One. Two. Five. Ten — and then too many to count, blanketing everything in sight.
White figures poured in from every direction, an overwhelming flood of them.
Cynthia didn't recognize these Pokémon, but the aura they gave off came through the screen loud and clear: aggressive, unmasked, hostile.
The white figures kept spilling out of the rifts in space, thrashing their tentacle-like appendages through the air and letting out a piercing, grating screech. Their intent was unmistakable. Every last one of them was converging on Cynthia's character.
The chat went absolutely wild.
[WHAT THE]
[WHAT IS THAT. THE SHEER NUMBER OF THEM.]
[RUN. YOU CAN'T FIGHT THIS MANY.]
[Is this a raid dungeon?? This is basically a death trap!!]
Cynthia had no time to hesitate.
Behind her, the shrieking of countless Nihilego was getting closer.
She quickly estimated the numbers. The screen was packed wall to wall with white shapes. Fighting was out of the question. A conservative count put them at hundreds.
She dropped any thought of fighting entirely.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, spinning her character around, clutching the small Pokémon, and bolting for the exit.
The terrain inside was a nightmare. Semi-transparent floating rocks jutted out everywhere at odd angles.
Cynthia could only use them as platforms to jump and dodge her way through.
The shrieking behind her was getting closer.
One Nihilego lunged forward and lashed out with a tentacle like a cracking whip.
She barely made it. The tentacle grazed past her character and slammed down hard onto the rock below.
A sharp crack rang out, and the rock shattered.
Her character lost its footing and went into freefall, tumbling toward the endless void below.
The visceral sensation of weightlessness came through the screen.
The chat detonated.
[RUN RUN RUN!!]
[What are those things?? White jellyfish?? They're horrifying!!]
[Cynthia GO. This is giving me chills. My trypophobia is kicking in!!]
[I thought she was actually going to fall.]
[Since when did this game turn into a parkour run??]
Cynthia had no attention to spare for the chat. She kept her eyes locked on the screen, scanning desperately for the next foothold.
Then a massive Nihilego appeared directly ahead, blocking the one large rock that would have broken her fall.
There was nowhere left to go.
At that exact moment, the Pokémon cradled in her character's arms let out a sharp, piercing cry.
The pale blue ring surrounding its body began spinning rapidly. Then it exploded into a blinding surge of blue light.
The entire game screen went white.
When her vision returned, the camera had snapped to a completely different angle.
Cynthia found herself no longer in that terrifying space.
In front of her was the familiar exit of the desert ruins in Mauville City.
Behind her, on the wall, the purple rift leading into the Ultra Wormhole was slowly sealing itself, until at last it closed completely and the wall returned to how it had always looked.
She had made it out.
The chat went still for a single breath, then erupted.
[??? Teleportation??? Psychic-type???]
[That tracks. So what even IS this thing??]
[That scared the life out of me. I thought she was going to die in there.]
Cynthia let out a long breath. That whole chase sequence had made her palms sweat.
She checked the team screen.
The Pokémon was still safe and sound in her character's bag, though its icon looked like it was trembling.
And now, its name was visible.
[Cosmog.]
"I've never heard of it either. Must be another new Pokémon."
She made a quick mental note and pulled up its interface. Whatever this little thing was, it had just saved her life — and she had a feeling this wasn't the last she'd be seeing of it.
۞۞۞۞
~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones