The movie wasn't quite over yet.
The camera cut back to Cameran Palace.
Fireworks bloomed across the sky once more. Queen Rin stood on the castle balcony, addressing Ash and his companions, and the crowd of citizens below, her voice gentle and warm. "The bond of Aura will never disappear."
And far away, on a mountain path, atop a Mareep singed black from head to hoof, the Team Rocket trio sat with their hair a disheveled mess, shaking their fists defiantly at the sky.
"Curse you!" Jessie snarled through gritted teeth. "We failed again!"
"Next time we'll definitely catch Pikachu!" James wailed, wiping his nose.
"What a rotten feeling-nyah!" Meowth howled.
All three spoke in perfect unison.
"We'll be back!"
The bullet comments hadn't quite recovered yet, but people were finally starting to type out their laughs.
"Hahaha Team Rocket has never actually succeeded at a single thing, not in the games, not in the movie, not once from start to finish."
"These three ended up being the comic relief all the way to the very end."
"I was just crying my eyes out and now you three made me laugh again."
"Kairos really knows where to draw the line. Giving us a moment to breathe at the end."
The film's final image froze on the sea of fireworks blooming above Cameran Palace.
The credits rolled slowly.
"Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew"
The moment the screen faded to black, Cynthia let out one long, long exhale.
She rubbed her swollen, reddened eyes and stayed silent in front of the microphone for a long time.
The livestream went quiet too.
Then she spoke softly.
"I thought... this was just a movie."
"But now that it's over, I realize it isn't."
"It's telling us something."
"The bond between us and our Pokemon is the most precious thing in this world."
"It can even bridge a thousand years of misunderstanding."
The bullet comments began to roll again.
"I've made up my mind."
"Same."
"Tomorrow I'm going to rewatch every episode of the Pokemon anime from the beginning."
"I'm going to start treating my Psyduck better. I've been so mean to it."
"Kairos, you win. I surrender."
"Aura never fades."
"Lucario will live in my heart forever."
Cynthia smiled softly. She looked up, glancing at the Garchomp beside her desk.
Garchomp sensed her gaze and slowly raised its head, meeting her eyes with its calm, steady stare.
She reached out and gently stroked the top of its head.
"...Thank you. For always being by my side."
Garchomp let out a quiet, low sound.
And right at that moment, a pale golden system notification window suddenly appeared at the center of the screen, breaking the stillness.
[System Announcement: Thank you for participating in this viewing event. All viewers and streamers who have watched the film "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew" in full, by any means, are eligible for one random prize draw.]
Those words hit like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples in every direction.
"Holy crap! A prize draw?"
"They're giving stuff away?"
"I cried way too hard just now. Please give me something to comfort my wounded soul!"
The bullet comments exploded. The heavy atmosphere from moments before vanished completely.
Cynthia snapped back to attention, staring at the enormous golden spinning wheel that had appeared before her, momentarily stunned.
There's a reward for this too?
"Well, if it's an official giveaway, let's see how lucky I am."
She took a deep breath and clicked [Start Draw].
The wheel spun furiously, its golden light dazzling to the eye. Across the livestream, countless identical wheels were spinning at the same time.
"I got 1,000 Poke Dollars! Not a lot, but hey, money is money!"
"Non-EU players weeping. They're sending me off with a single ordinary Oran Berry?"
"Whoa! It's a small Rare Candy! Only one, but I heard that's actually a pretty good item!"
"The luck is real! I pulled a full case of Full Restores!! Anyone want to buy?"
Excitement and disappointment filled the comment feed in equal measure as everyone showed off their prizes and chimed in. Cynthia's own wheel gradually slowed, the needle bouncing between a few different slots before finally landing on an unassuming gray section.
[Prize Obtained: Poke Dollars, 500]
"Tch. Same luck as always." Cynthia clicked her tongue, mildly disappointed but not entirely surprised.
Then, all of a sudden, someone in the bullet comments realized something.
"Wait! Isn't the streamer not done yet? I think Cynthia has an extra special draw?"
"Good catch! As the host of the stream, shouldn't there be some kind of bonus?"
"Go go go, Cynthia, spin again! Let's see if you can land something big!"
Cynthia blinked and looked down. Sure enough, right beside the regular prize wheel, a button glowing with soft golden light was waiting for her, labeled [Streamer Exclusive Draw].
"There's a hidden bonus too?"
She didn't hesitate. She clicked the button.
This time, what appeared was an animation of treasure chests opening.
Three ancient-looking chests materialized on screen: one wooden, one stone, and one... gold.
"Do we even need to choose? Obviously the golden one!"
Cynthia didn't think twice. She clicked the golden chest.
The instant her cursor landed on it, the chest burst open with a blinding flash of gold. A pillar of radiant light surged upward, flooding the entire stream with brilliance, painting even Cynthia's face in warm, shimmering gold.
"Holy-- Gold light! She's getting something good!"
"Those effects are incredible! That has to be a top-tier reward!"
"I'm so jealous I could die. How is her luck this good?!"
Amid the collective anticipation, the golden light slowly coalesced and solidified into a card shimmering with a faint luminescence, settling into Cynthia's hand. A display of information appeared before her eyes.
[Item Name: Wind Studio Supreme Experience Voucher (Special)]
[Description: A mysterious ticket set with three glittering stars.]
[Effect: Tear off one star to unlock early access to the next film, game, or other work that "Wind Studio" has officially announced. This effect ignores the scheduled release date and activates immediately. Note: May be used a total of three times.]
"This..."
Cynthia stared at the description on the screen, completely frozen.
The bullet comments went briefly silent too, then erupted even more wildly than before.
"Oh my god! What kind of godlike reward is this?"
"Early access? So if they release a new game and everyone else has to wait three days, the streamer can just play it right now?"
"This isn't a ticket, this is a time privilege!"
"And it works three times! This is absolutely insane!"
"Cynthia, if you ever put this up for sale, it could go for an astronomical price someday!"
Cynthia looked at the card and felt herself struggling to process what she was holding.
This thing... really is something else.
While everyone was still frantically debating the voucher's value, new text suddenly appeared on the black screen where the movie had ended.
This time, the words were in a vibrant, energetic shade of orange-red.
[Pokemon Animation: Origins, premiering in three days. Please look forward to it.]
One brief line of text, but it landed like a bombshell, pushing the stream's energy to an entirely new peak.
"An animation? They're releasing an animation too?"
"'Origins'? That name sounds like a classic retelling!"
"Three days? So if we want to watch it, we have to wait three days?"
"No! Cynthia, you have the voucher!"
"Right! Quick, tear off a star! Let us see what this animation is about!"
"I want to watch it too! That movie left me wanting so much more. I'm dying of curiosity about this animation!"
"Please use the voucher! Take us with you!"
The comment feed was wall-to-wall with demands. Cynthia felt the energy sweep her up. She stared at the three stars on the card, and a small internal battle played out.
"This is a precious thing. Every use is one less..."
She murmured under her breath, but her hand had already moved honestly toward the card.
"Still... everyone wants to see it this badly, and honestly I'm really curious too..."
She breathed in deep and clicked [Use].
"Then let's tear off one star!"
With her input, one star on the card shattered instantly, dissolving into scattered points of light that merged into the computer screen.
The next second, the screen flashed white. The pitch-black image blazed to life all at once.
Then, a burst of bold, energetic music exploded from the speakers.
Carried along by the song, the image shifted: a Pikachu poked its head out from the tall grass, eyes wide with curiosity and life. And then, a boy with a red-and-white cap appeared, his back to the camera. He turned around, wearing a confident grin, and pointed a thumbs-up at the lens.
"I caught a Pokemon!"
Two days later.
Kanto Region. Cerulean Cape.
Afternoon sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows and pooled on the study floor. The air carried a faint scent of fruit juice.
Kairos rose from his desk, stretched out his arms, and listened to his joints crack and pop all the way down his spine.
After two solid days of grinding, he had finally finished both the complete final storyline for "Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team" and every piece of the second-playthrough content for "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness."
"Phew... that's done."
He rubbed his slightly aching brow. His body was tired, but his spirits were in excellent shape.
Just then, the study door was gently nudged open a crack.
A massive blue head peered through the gap. It was Dragonite.
Spotting Kairos on his feet, it let out a cheerful cry and wriggled its entire body into the room, its large eyes full of eager, affectionate pleading. The begging phase had begun.
Right behind it came Omastar, slow but present, waving its antennae and emitting a deep, rumbling hum to announce itself.
Kairos looked at these two endearing Pokemon and felt every last bit of tension leave him. He walked over, patted Dragonite's round, plump head, and scratched along Omastar's hard shell.
"Alright, alright. You two worked hard these past couple of days."
As for Gengar, it had already been sent to the Ghost World to train under Will, studying shadow-based abilities. Gengar seemed scatterbrained on the surface, but in Kairos's experience, when it came to actual learning, it was surprisingly diligent. Things would be fine there.
And Chandelure... that little one had wandered off somewhere again, nobody knew where.
While Kairos was enjoying this rare moment of quiet, the shadow at his feet suddenly rippled.
A figure of dark violet drifted up from the darkness. Marshadow stared at Kairos with an expression full of resentment, its voice unsteady and drifting.
"Hey. I wanted to ask... have you been working nonstop these past two days because of Ho-oh's faith gathering?"
Kairos paused mid-motion and looked at this phantom Pokemon with all Ho-oh on the brain, a helpless look crossing his face.
"Marshadow, you sound like a broken record. Your head is nothing but Ho-oh and faith..."
He sighed, then smiled and reassured it.
"But don't worry. The groundwork is almost laid. The movie performed extremely well. The faith collection can begin now, and after this, we'll make a movie dedicated to Ho-oh."
Hearing that, Marshadow finally relaxed slightly.
"Hmph. You'd better mean it. Don't you dare forget what you promised me!"
Kairos shook his head watching it. Marshadow could be single-minded to a fault, but that loyalty was genuinely hard to come by.
Just then, a translucent pale-blue light panel suddenly flickered into existence before his eyes.
[Task Evaluation in Progress...]
[Detected: Host has completed the relevant prerequisite storyline. Film "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew" has been released and received exceptional response.]
[Task: Produce a Film. Completed.]
[Task Objective: Move people. Generate an intense resonance and emotional response in the audience. Achievement Level: Perfect (S+)]
[Task Reward: Final reward will be determined based on the actual post-release reception and heat generated by the film.]
[Time Limit: Seven days. Time Remaining: 0]
[Reward Rating: S+]
Looking at the gleaming "S+" rating on the screen, Kairos wasn't the least bit surprised. He had carefully selected "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew," a film that stood as one of the most tearjerking masterpieces in all of Pokemon movie history.
Combined with Wind Studio's current level of technical capability, it was only natural the result would land at this level.
"The real question is, what kind of reward does an S+ actually give me?"
Kairos rubbed his hands together.
He selected [Claim Reward], and two bursts of golden light erupted from the screen.
"Huh? Only two?"
Kairos blinked in mild surprise. For an S+-tier task reward, the number seemed a little lean. Previous tasks had shown several orbs of light appearing all at once. Why had this one produced fewer?
But when he examined those two orbs more carefully, he quickly noticed something off.
No, wait. The quality of these orbs isn't even in the same league as before.
One orb was a pure, clean gold, radiating something almost sacred.
The other orb, though, was different: deep within its golden core burned a strange, unsettling crimson-violet light, and within that light seemed to churn some kind of violent, turbulent energy unlike anything he had seen in any orb before.
Which meant the rewards this time around were, in all likelihood, something entirely unprecedented.