While administering the Full Restores and peeling the charred bark of the Rawst Berries to soothen their Lapras and Feraligatr, Guinaifen and Sushang kept their eyes glued to the sleek, high-tech airship of the Cihuai Pharmaceutical Corporation.
The heavy transport plane hummed in a low, predatory idle over a cleared section of the orchard. A squad of operators clad in immaculate, polymer combat suits stood watch at the open cargo bay. With a hull that size, it could easily drop a small garrison of thirty heavy infantrymen onto any grid in Johto.
A middle-aged man stepped onto the landing ramp. He wore a tailored charcoal suit that contrasted sharply with the tactical armor around him, his posture oozing corporate authority. Leaving his guard detail at the perimeter, he approached a local trainer whose wounded Pokémon was still shivering from Entei's pressure. After a brief, soft-spoken exchange, the executive slipped something into the trainer's hand.
Moments later, his polished leather shoes crunched across the scorched grass toward Guinaifen and Sushang.
"Greetings, ladies. I am Yao Feng, Chairman of the Cihuai Pharmaceutical Corporation," the man said, bowing with practiced diplomacy. "Our tracking arrays have been logging the erratic movements of the Three Legendary Beasts and Ho-Oh. We are currently funding an expedition to harvest localized biological data—purely for medical and evolutionary research, you understand."
He reached into his breast pocket and produced two metallic plates that felt as heavy and cold as high-tier banking cards.
"If your travels bring you across their paths again, please utilize the frequency on these cards to notify our vanguard. We protect our investments. If the coordinates yield a successful harvest, our corporation guarantees a finder's fee of one hundred million credits. Alternatively, if currency does not interest you, we can arrange for the immediate delivery of a pristine Dragonite or a Larvitar egg from our private reserves."
Yao Feng offered the cards with both hands, his smile never reaching his eyes. Without waiting for a response, he offered a curt nod and glided toward the next cluster of trainers.
Simultaneously, a massive notification flashed scarlet across the girls' user interfaces:
🔴 SPECIAL FACTION MISSION TRIGGERED
Objective: Assist Cihuai Pharmaceutical Corporation in locating and securing the data streams of Raikou, Entei, Suicune, and Ho-Oh.
[Mission Rewards]:
Master Ball ×1Generation 3: Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Closed-Beta Access Pass ×1Enigmatic Legendary Database Clue ×1Rare Candy ×5
"Holy—Chang Chang, look at the reward manifest!" Guinaifen gasped, her streamer persona slipping for a split second. "A Master Ball? And a guaranteed ticket into the Hoenn Beta?!"
To a casual observer, the hundred million credits or the pseudo-legendary eggs were massive hooks, but to the galaxy's elite players, those were just a matter of grinding. The Beta pass, however, was an priceless golden ticket. No player in the universe could look at that interface without their heart skipping a beat.
"Don't click it, Xiao Gui," Sushang said, her voice dropping into a low, steady register. She didn't look at the flashing golden icons. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the silver corporate logo glistening on the departing transport ship. "Look past the shinies. Think about the name of that firm."
As a recruit of the Cloud Knights, Sushang's training regarding the structural safety of the Alliance was absolute. The modern citizens of the Immortal Ships carried an instinctual, hereditary caution toward any entity that promised miraculous longevity or unchecked physical evolution. They weren't easily blinded by an extravagant payout.
Guinaifen blinked, the cold logic of her friend pulling her back from the edge of the hype.
The stream chat, meanwhile, had broken into a fierce ideological war:
"Wait, what's wrong with the name? A Master Ball on launch week is a server-first asset! Why are they hesitating?!""The out-worlders in the chat don't get it. Look at the translation: 'Cihuai' translates directly to 'Compassionate.' In Xianzhou records, the Abundance is worshipped by the heretics as the 'Compassionate Medicine King.'""Exactly. And 'Pharmaceuticals' specializing in harvesting biological data from immortal, legendary beasts? This is a textbook Disciples of Sanctus Medicus front modeled into the Johto lore!""Boss Julian is savage for this. He put a literal cult recruitment script inside the Legendary Mode to test the players' morals.""Don't take the corporate blood money, girls! Stand with the Hunt!"
Guinaifen didn't need to read the chat further. She and Sushang had made their decision. They weren't going to sell out the soul of Johto for a few Rare Candies.
"If these corporate suits are the villain faction," Guinaifen whispered, looking around the crowded orchard, "then where is the narrative counter-weight? Where is the protagonist's line?"
"Excuse me..." a soft, hesitant voice murmured from the shadow of a nearby apple tree. "If you two are truly seeking to protect the sky-beasts from those iron machines... I might be able to guide you to the true sanctuary."
The girls spun around. A petite girl with a long cascade of chestnut hair was standing in the high grass. Slinking around her ankles was an Espeon, its twin tails flicking with a faint, lavender psychic aura. The girl looked no older than nineteen, her traditional linen robes a sharp contrast to the high-tech combat suits of the corporate agents.
"You know where they—Mmph!" Sushang's loud exclamation was instantly smothered as Guinaifen clamped a haptic glove over her mouth. A few passing trainers glanced their way before returning to their injured teams.
"Let's find a quiet clearing before we unpack the maps," Guinaifen whispered, offering a sharp, reassuring nod to the stranger.
As they walked toward a secluded ridge deeper within the northern valley, Guinaifen casually dropped Yao Feng's metallic business card into a patch of mud, letting her boot press it deep into the soil. Sushang watched the gesture, her hand instinctively tightening around the straps of her pack where the Heracross egg was safely insulated.
Once they were shielded by the ancient canopy, Guinaifen turned. "Let's start fresh. My ID is Guinaifen, and this is my partner, Sushang. We cleared the Kanto League before crossing the silver mountains."
"My name is Qing Lan," the girl said, her fingers gently brushing the velvet fur of her Espeon. "I am a daughter of the ancient lineages of Ecruteak City. My ancestors were the keepers of the Bell Tower, the ones chosen to maintain the altars and offer the sacred prayers to the Rainbow Phoenix."
She looked up, her dark eyes reflecting a deep, historical sorrow. "I watched your battle with Entei from the upper ridge. Your water-types fought with a fierce devotion, not for conquest, but to match his spirit. That is why I am asking for your strength. We must return Ho-Oh to the high altar before the iron ships trap his flame forever."
Guinaifen crossed her arms, her analytical mind working through the dialogue trees. "Why does Ho-Oh need to return to the tower? According to the standard texts we unlocked during the historical archives, didn't the phoenix abandon humanity because people feared his power after the great fire?"
Qing Lan lowered her head, a bittersweet smile touching her lips. "That is the version the histories recorded to save our pride. It is a beautiful lie, artificially softened over generations."
"Wait, it's a lie?" Sushang leaned forward, her ears perking up. This was the deep lore she had been grinding for.
"According to the private scrolls kept within my family's vaults," Qing Lan explained, her voice dropping into a rhythmic, solemn cadence, "when the lightning strike shattered the Brass Tower centuries ago, the blaze was unnatural. No amount of water from the local standard types could stall the consumption. In the end, it was the Lord of the Sea, Lugia, who summoned the great storm to cleanse the city."
She paused, her Espeon letting out a low, mournful trill.
"When the smoke cleared, Ho-Oh descended upon the ruins. Out of pure mercy, his light reknitted the ashes of the three nameless Pokémon who had perished in the cellars, raising them as the sovereigns of Thunder, Volcano, and Aurora—Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. The common folk did not fear them; they fell to their knees in worship. The power of resurrection didn't breed terror in the hearts of the masses."
"Then why did he leave?" Sushang asked, completely captivated by the narrative weave.
"Because mercy always breeds a darker shadow," Qing Lan said, her eyes flashing with an ancient resentment. "Seeing a power that could deny death itself, a faction within the old priesthood began to covet the phoenix's essence. Ho-Oh had left a shard of his immortal soul—the Sacred Roost Flame—at the pinnacle of the Bell Tower to bless our harvests with eternal vitality."
She looked back toward the corporate airship hovering over the distant treeline.
"Those greedy scholars corrupted a branch of my own ancestors, opening the high seals at midnight to steal the eternal fire for their own life-extension experiments. But they underestimated the loyalty of the beasts. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune returned to the tower that very night to guard their creator's spark. The resulting battle tore the holy site apart, reducing the ancient timber to ash."
Qing Lan took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly. "When Ho-Oh descended a final time, it wasn't in anger, but in profound, silent disappointment. He extinguished the stolen embers, gathered his sovereigns, and took to the sky, leaving Johto to its own mortal devices. And now... those same greedy eyes have returned, carrying the name of a pharmacy, looking to finish the theft they started centuries ago."
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