The appeal of this kind of thing was undeniable.
Just complete quests and grow stronger. Just complete quests and get rich.
The reason most of these people were willing to venture into the Ghost World came down to one thing: profit.
And the reason their performance had been so lackluster was simply that the rewards they'd actually received hadn't lived up to their original expectations.
But now, once the rewards were substantial enough, and available immediately, everything changed.
After all, this kind of simple, direct incentive system held a fatal attraction for trainers who spent their lives walking the line between life and death.
---
Meanwhile, in the real world, at League Headquarters.
Inside a spacious, well-lit office, the official responsible for dispatching Ghost World support personnel sat behind his desk with a deeply puzzled expression. He held a freshly printed application roster in his hands, his brow furrowed, completely at a loss.
"Something's not right here..."
He muttered, fingers tapping lightly on the desk.
"Why are there so many applications to enter the Ghost World today?"
This was the Ghost World, after all. The place trainers called a death trap.
Normally, the moment anyone mentioned being sent there, trainers scattered like startled rabbits, every last one of them scrambling for excuses or faking illness. Every time he needed to fill a roster, he'd work himself half-bald, and in the end he'd have to assign people by force, with predictably poor results. Those who got conscripted went in dragging their feet, counting the days until their rotation ended.
But today...
Had the sun risen in the west?
Since morning, his office phone hadn't stopped ringing, call after call from various branches to submit applications.
Even veterans who'd already done a rotation were coming around and asking if they could go back and fill a slot.
This was completely absurd.
Had all the wild Pokemon in the Ghost World suddenly gone extinct? Or had the League quietly increased the Ghost World hazard pay tenfold?
He flipped through the roster, growing more incredulous with every page.
"Dayne, are these numbers some kind of mistake?"
He looked up toward the young secretary standing by the door.
Dayne walked over quickly, glanced at the roster, and shook her head with a smile.
"No mistake, sir. These are all genuine applications submitted just now, and the number is still climbing."
"What on earth is going on?" The official tossed the roster onto his desk, thoroughly baffled. "We used to beg people to go, and nobody would budge. Now they're all rushing in to throw their lives away?"
A colleague nearby, overhearing this, walked over with a coffee cup, wearing the expression of someone watching another person reveal how out of touch they were.
"Renn, you just haven't heard yet."
The colleague pointed at a computer screen nearby.
"Everyone's so eager, and it has nothing to do with supporting the Ghost World mission. It's about a game."
"A game?"
The official blinked, struggling to follow.
"What game? You can play games inside the Ghost World?"
"It's not that you can play games inside the Ghost World. The game is inside the Ghost World!"
The colleague turned the monitor around and pointed to a dense wall of discussion threads.
"Look, this has spread all over the internet. Someone developed a game specifically set in the Ghost World, called Ghost World Hunter Go. Apparently, just by going in and playing, you can get all kinds of crazy rewards: high-grade potions, rare berries, even premium resources that you can't find anywhere on the market."
The official's eyes went wide.
"Evolution Stones? They're just giving those away?"
"You'd better believe it! People online are going absolutely crazy, saying this game is basically a welfare distribution center run by the League. Everyone's now talking about how to get into the Ghost World, how to grab first kills, how to grind points."
The colleague continued scrolling the mouse, displaying thread after thread of staggering activity.
"Look at this post: 'Half an hour in the Ghost World, came back with a top-tier Water Stone.' The replies are practically exploding. And this one: 'Opened the new player gift pack, got a top-tier Fighting-type resource. Absolute steal.'"
The official stared at those outrageous headlines and comments on the screen, his mind going completely blank.
What was even happening anymore?
Since when had that hellhole of a Ghost World turned into a game dungeon?
And people were getting this kind of loot from it?
He didn't know much about what the younger generation played, but he could read the replies just fine.
Every single one was "jealous," "I want in," "take me with you."
The fervor in those posts was wilder than New Year's.
"Is... is this legitimate?" The official swallowed hard, feeling his entire worldview beginning to crack. "This isn't some new kind of scam, is it?"
"Whether it's a scam or not, people believe it right now."
The colleague shrugged and took a sip of coffee.
"Besides, wasn't there that game called Emerald a while back? And those rescue team games? They all sent out limited-time rewards too. I thought it was strange at first, but honestly, I've gotten used to it."
"Either way, we're going to have our hands full."
"The HR department is already in a frenzy. They said if they don't get the numbers under control soon, there'll be a mob of trainers at the League's front door by tomorrow. Everyone's shouting about wanting to go to the Ghost World."
The official stared out the window at the bright sunshine outside, feeling his thoughts swirl into a muddled mess.
He'd been agonizing over where to find the next batch of support personnel; he had already braced himself to go around begging people again.
But now, that problem seemed to have solved itself entirely.
He took a deep breath, picked up the application roster again, and his expression became complicated.
"Well, since everyone's so enthusiastic..."
As long as people were willing to do the work, that was a good thing.
As for what that game actually was...
As long as it didn't interfere with the mission, he'd let them do as they pleased.
Maybe, just maybe, this inexplicable game would actually end up solving the Ghost World problem after all.
---
At the same time, at the villa atop Mt. Coronet's mountain, the wind howled outside, but the warmth indoors sealed every trace of the cold beyond the windows.
Cynthia had just opened her computer and was preparing to start today's livestream.
Over the past few weeks she'd been working through her second playthrough of Emerald, and the progress had been quite solid, with her team's strength improving considerably. But just as her fingers were about to reach for the microphone switch, a familiar figure appeared without warning in the corner of the room.
Cynthia's fingers paused for a brief moment. She showed no great surprise, only let out a quiet, resigned sigh, then turned and walked toward the table nearby.
"You could have said something before showing up like this."
Caitlin didn't answer right away. Instead, she walked gracefully to the sofa and sat down, those red eyes carrying a particular weight as her gaze lingered for a moment on the computer screen that Cynthia had just opened.
"I came to see whether you've really been neglecting your duties as Champion for the sake of a game, just as people are saying."
Cynthia gave a light laugh and worked the coffee machine with practiced ease.
Before long, a rich aroma had filled the entire room. She carried two steaming cups over and set one on the coffee table in front of Caitlin.
"Give it a try. These are the new beans I just got in."
Caitlin lifted the cup and took a small sip; a bittersweet flavor with a lingering, pleasant finish spread across her tongue.
She gave a slight nod, then set the cup down, leaning forward slightly, those red eyes fixed directly on Cynthia.
"Let's get to the point. That game called Emerald, I played it a bit over the past couple of days."
Cynthia raised an eyebrow.
That was only natural. Setting aside the rewards, the game itself was genuinely fascinating.
"Oh? What did you think?"
"How should I put it, the visuals and controls are simple, but the content really is quite something."
Caitlin's tone lost its usual teasing edge, replaced by something more earnest.
"Inside it, I encountered things I've never seen before. I want to know: those special items — like those 'EV' items that raise a Pokemon's stats across the board — how does one get a large supply of them?"
"And those legendary Pokemon, what does it actually take to encounter one?"
"Also, are there any Psychic-type Pokemon in there that even you haven't seen before?"
Cynthia answered each of Caitlin's questions patiently, from the conditions for obtaining various items to the triggers for hidden content, holding nothing back.
She noticed that Caitlin's questions were remarkably detailed, and some of the nuances she raised were things Cynthia herself hadn't paid close attention to.
"As for Psychic-type Pokemon you haven't encountered before..." Cynthia thought it over.
"There's one called Bruxish. Its use of psychic power is quite unique, and its ability seems to synergize with Psychic-type teams. It can set up Psychic Terrain to boost Psychic-type moves. I believe its early form can be found in Petalburg Woods."
Caitlin nodded thoughtfully, fingers tapping lightly on the armrest of the sofa, as though carefully committing everything Cynthia said to memory.
Watching Caitlin like this, Cynthia felt a quiet swell of something she couldn't quite name.
This level of seriousness from her; she honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd seen it.
After finishing her questions about the game's basics, Caitlin's tone shifted abruptly, and her gaze sharpened.
"By the way, about the leads on Palkia, where does that stand now?"
Cynthia blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change of subject.
She set down her coffee cup, her expression turning serious.
"Through the hints the game rewards gave me, I've got a rough idea of its location."
"Where?"
"An ocean region. A restricted zone."
Cynthia said quietly, "You should know the place is blanketed in perpetual storms, and the magnetic field is extremely unstable; standard communications equipment can't function there at all. Even knowing the location, breaking in by force with my current strength would be quite difficult. So I'm planning to build up my strength a bit more before making a move."
At that, Caitlin's eyebrow lifted slightly, and a faintly amused expression crossed her face.
"Build up your strength? You mean..."
She paused, eyes meeting Cynthia's directly.
"You're going to break through into that legendary realm?"
Cynthia was quiet for a moment, then gave a slow, deliberate nod.
That realm was the dream of every trainer in the world. Only a handful of rare geniuses, after enduring countless brushes with death and rare moments of fortune, could ever hope to touch the threshold of it. Once crossed, the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon would reach an unprecedented height, and their strength would undergo a fundamental transformation.
"Do you remember what I told you before? I used the Mega Stone the game gave me and had Garchomp Mega Evolve." Cynthia's voice was quiet, but it carried a deep sense of wonder.
"In that state, I directly repelled a clone of Regirock. It was only a clone, but the tier of power involved was on a completely different level. In the instant of that battle, I felt it clearly: that realm, its existence."
She drew a slow breath, and a light unlike anything before glimmered in her eyes.
"I used to think that realm was impossibly out of reach, that I might go my whole life without touching it. But now, I feel like I'm just one step away. I believe that if I give it a little more time — enough to fully digest what I learned from Mega Evolution — I really can get there."
Caitlin watched Cynthia, the amusement on her face gradually fading, replaced by something close to profound shock.
That realm was beyond anyone's reach.
It was a truth that the entire Pokemon world accepted without question.
Cynthia, as Champion, stood at the pinnacle of the world's strength, yet even she had said countless times how impossibly difficult it was to break through to that realm.
And yet now she was saying she could do it, with such certainty.
All of this was because of that game.
That mysterious game developer had not only made a game; they had opened a path toward the peak.
"I never expected the catalyst would be something like this..." Caitlin said softly, uncharacteristically reflective.
Just then, Caitlin seemed to remember something, pulled out her phone, and scrolled across the screen a few times.
"Oh, speaking of restricted zones. Do you know about the recent situation with that other restricted zone?"
Cynthia paused, and instinctively asked, "You mean... the Ghost World?"
"Exactly." Caitlin nodded, and held her phone out toward Cynthia.
"Just a moment ago, I received a strange message. Something seems to have come out of the Ghost World, another new game, called Ghost World Hunter Go, or something like that."
Cynthia frowned and reached out to take the phone.
The screen showed a blurry screenshot, displaying a UI interface that looked very similar in style to Pokemon Emerald.
"Ghost World Hunter Go?" Cynthia murmured the name under her breath, and a vague, unsettling feeling rose in her chest.
"Releasing a game in a place like the Ghost World, at a time like this?"
"I find it strange too." Caitlin shrugged. "And I suspect this game is connected to Emerald. There's no solid evidence yet that it's from the same studio, but the style... it really does look alike. Do you think this could be another new scheme cooked up by that same developer?"