Gengar thought for a moment, shrank its neck, and silently swallowed the rest of its complaints.
"Besides, I've been helping you work every day, and you're still not satisfied."
Are you kidding? That thing was already Elite Four–level. If it said that out loud, wouldn't it just get blasted by a fireball?
So it didn't dare make a sound.
Staring at the ball of ghostly red flames radiating terrifying heat, Gengar decided it would be safer to quietly roll off to the side and play with shadows.
Kairos didn't notice any of this. He was deep in thought.
A boost in strength was always a good thing.
With Chandelure now at Elite Four level, his confidence in dealing with that other world had shot up immediately.
He steadied himself and turned his attention to the emotion points balance on the system panel.
The number was impressive: a full twenty thousand points.
This was the income from the three games, Emerald, Dark Phantom, and Rescue Team of Time, over the past week. Of course, it also had a lot to do with the various bonuses he currently had.
Kairos did a quick calculation in his head. If these three games could be properly rolled out in the other world, given its population size, the weekly emotion point income would definitely increase by a huge margin.
Unfortunately, the situation there wasn't suitable for that yet.
Even though the newest special coding module allowed him to generate games directly in the other world for each player, completely bypassing Pokémon League oversight, the prerequisite was still the same: first clean up the mess in that world.
Only after stabilizing a world on the brink of collapse could he safely and steadily harvest emotion points from its people.
As for Rayquaza, Kairos shook his head.
No matter how he thought about it, getting an ancient legendary Pokémon to obediently sit down and play games was absurdly difficult.
Still, he remembered the ability he had obtained from Cynthia.
As his thoughts shifted, a line of colorful text appeared on the system panel.
[Mythical Resonance] (S+)
[Born from the echo of a soul's relentless pursuit of mythological origins, this ability grants the user a unique talent for communicating with Mythical Pokémon (Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon).]
[Effect:
1. When communicating with Mythical Pokémon, you gain a natural affinity bonus, transcend language barriers, and directly perceive their emotional changes and inner thoughts.
2. Emotion point income obtained from Mythical Pokémon is increased by 1000 percent.
3. You can view the Bond Scale with specific mythical life forms. Reaching certain Bond Scale thresholds grants additional rewards.]
Last time in the other world, he and Rayquaza hadn't even exchanged a glance before it vanished.
If he encountered it again, he absolutely had to test this ability.
A thousand percent emotion point bonus. If he could actually get Rayquaza to play, just thinking about it was exciting.
From experience, legendary Pokémon already provided massive base emotion points, something Mewtwo had proven clearly.
Kairos glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the screen and raised an eyebrow.
There was less than half an hour left until the deadline for distributing the ranking rewards for the three games.
After his previous lottery, the leftover odds and ends in his system inventory were obviously not enough to handle this round.
According to his promise, the number of winners in each reward distribution would keep increasing, and this time was no exception.
With no other choice, he had to rely on the lottery again.
Looking at the twenty thousand emotion points, Kairos gritted his teeth and invested fifteen thousand of them in one go.
The lottery wheel spun wildly. Light flashed as countless item icons swept past his consciousness like a torrent.
This draw took much longer than before, but it also helped him grasp the general pattern.
The item lights were roughly divided into four colors: white, blue, purple, and the rarest of all, gold.
Gold had the lowest probability. Even after spending fifteen thousand points, it only appeared twice.
But both golden results were genuinely top tier.
The first time, as the golden light dispersed, two mysterious stones floated in the system space. They radiated strange fluctuations, with what looked like DNA helices flowing inside.
[Lucarioite] and [Ampharosite]
Last time, he had obtained Garchompite from a mission and later gave it to Cynthia.
He hadn't expected Mega Stones to appear in the lottery at all, let alone two at once.
He wondered if he would ever get his hands on a Gengarite.
Kairos glanced at Gengar squatting in the corner, deliberately isolating itself, then looked at Chandelure.
Oh right. By the time he crossed over, Pokémon Z-A should already have been released, right?
A Mega Stone for Chandelure didn't sound bad either.
As for the two stones he just got, he would find an opportunity to give them to players. Lucario and Ampharos were Pokémon he basically had no chance of encountering for now. Both were extremely rare in Kanto.
The item brought by the second golden light surprised Kairos even more.
Because it was a candy.
More precisely, it was a crystal-like candy about the size of a fist.
Compared to this, the Rare Candies he had obtained before were practically toy-sized.
As Kairos stared at it, a series of prompts appeared.
[Rare Candy (S-rank)]
[Effect: After consumption by a Pokémon, its strength will increase directly by one major tier. Effective only for Elite Four–level Pokémon and below.]
[Warning: Energy density is extremely high. Consumption must be done with caution. It is strongly recommended to use this in an absolutely safe environment.]
S-rank.
Directly increase by one major tier.
Kairos's gaze immediately locked onto Chandelure floating quietly nearby.
Elite Four level, then one major tier higher. What did that even mean?
Champion.
Since it could only be used on Elite Four–level Pokémon, the most cost-effective use was obvious.
Without any hesitation, Kairos took out the fist-sized Rare Candy.
The moment it appeared in the real world, the air in the room seemed to freeze. Invisible pressure spread outward.
Gengar yelped internally and dove straight into the shadow in the corner of the wall, leaving only two wide eyes peeking out.
What the hell did he just pull out? Why does it feel so terrifying?
Even Omanyte, which had only just revived and was still adjusting, pulled its entire body back into its shell, leaving only trembling tentacles exposed.
"Chandelure," Kairos called.
Chandelure sensed the immense energy contained within the candy and seemed to understand his intent.
The flames on its body surged upward, burning brighter with excitement.
No words were needed. Kairos handed over the candy.
Chandelure used psychic power to carefully lift the oversized candy.
Then, without hesitation, the ghostly red flames wrapped around it and swallowed it whole.
That was how it ate candy now.
Boom!
It was as if a miniature sun exploded inside the room. A torrent of violent energy erupted outward, accompanied by scorching heat waves.
Loose papers and small objects were blasted away instantly. The walls groaned under the strain.
Kairos was forced backward by the heat, nearly slamming into the wall.
He barely managed to shield his face with his arm, his eyes stinging from the blinding light.
Chandelure was completely enveloped in a dazzling, nearly pure white cocoon of energy. The aura within it kept climbing.
The process lasted a little over ten seconds, each one feeling painfully long.
When the piercing white light and the violent heat finally collapsed inward and vanished, the room fell into an eerie silence.
Kairos lowered his arm and looked over eagerly.
Chandelure floated where it had been before, its shape seemingly unchanged.
But the ghostly red flames on its body were now deeper, richer in color, radiating an indescribable sense of authority.
The flames no longer simply flickered. Each movement subtly distorted the surrounding light.
An invisible, overwhelming presence slowly spread outward, centered on it.
This wasn't deliberate pressure, but the natural aura released after a leap in life level.
Champion tier.
A real Champion-tier Pokémon.
Kairos smiled.
Correction. He was now a Champion-tier Trainer.
Making games and becoming a Champion at the same time.
He couldn't help wondering what expression those official Champions would make if they heard that.
Sure, this Champion-tier strength came from candy, but so what? The system provided it. That wasn't cheating.
This was called efficient resource use.
Gengar, having witnessed the entire scene, was completely stunned.
Its already large mouth hung open wide enough to fit two Poké Balls, eyes bulging.
Before, it had thought Chandelure was abnormal.
Now it realized the truly abnormal one was Kairos himself.
So this was the real cheater all along.
Gengar felt its worldview crack for the third time. It silently pulled its head back into the shadows, making up its mind.
In this household, it was best to keep its head down and be a well-behaved ghost.
Kairos didn't notice Gengar's internal crisis.
Chandelure's successful promotion to Champion tier was undeniably more good news.
For the upcoming trip to the other world, safety was basically guaranteed unless they ran into a divine beast like Rayquaza.
After checking on Chandelure's condition, Kairos turned to the rest of the lottery results.
Aside from the S-rank Rare Candy and the Mega Stones, more than a dozen purple draws produced several excellent items: [Life Orb (A-rank)], [Choice Scarf (A-rank)], [Flame Orb (B-rank)], and others.
These held items were on a completely different level from the ones native to this world. The effects were incomparable, making them perfect as high-end player rewards.
Most of the blue draws produced practical berries, various evolution stone fragments, and TMs such as [Psychic], [Thunderbolt], and [Flamethrower].
The white draws yielded piles of common potions, status heals, Poké Balls, and similar basics.
Kairos quickly finalized the ranking rewards for Emerald and Dark Phantom.
Top-ranked players received high-grade held items like Life Orb and Choice Scarf. Those ranked slightly lower got Flame Orbs, high-quality evolution stone fragments, or specific TMs. Players with strong participation earned berries and basic medicines.
Since no one in Dark Phantom had completed the first main storyline yet, the current rewards focused mainly on TMs, special Poké Balls, and berries.
The reward distribution for Rescue Team of Time was the simplest.
Kairos directly pulled the data and prepared the promised cash or equivalent physical rewards through the system, ready to transfer them to the top-ranked players once distribution time arrived.
At the same time, to keep enthusiasm high, he also handed out rare in-game currency and small items like Revive and Tiny Mushroom to all active participants, making sure most players got something.
Finally, his eyes landed on the pile of lower-tier items and candies still left in his inventory, then shifted to Gengar sulking in the corner.
Lazy as it was, Gengar's psychic talent was undeniable, and helping process data every day counted as real contribution.
Now that Chandelure was Champion tier, he couldn't exactly shortchange Gengar.
Kairos took out two Intermediate Rare Candies, one Basic Rare Candy, and a Spell Tag radiating cold ghostly light, then tossed them over.
"Here. This week's pay."
Gengar stared at the floating items, stunned for a moment before delight exploded across its face.
Complaints aside, when rewards were right in front of it, it would never say no.
Only a fool would turn this down.
It grabbed the candies and gulped them down, then carefully stored the Spell Tag.
As the candies took effect, the unstable shadow energy around Gengar solidified noticeably. Its psychic fluctuations strengthened as well, bringing it close to pseudo–Elite Four level.
It let out a satisfied burp and grinned at Kairos.
It suddenly felt lucky.
Following this human really was the best decision of its entire ghostly existence.
Even if, at the beginning, it hadn't really had a choice.
With the rewards settled, Kairos leaned back in his chair and exhaled.
Outside the window, the sky was already starting to lighten.
Now all that was left was to wait for the surge of excitement from this third round of rewards.
He wondered how many emotion points this wave would bring back.
۞۞۞۞
~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones