At this moment, Iono had completely forgotten about the chat.
All her attention was drawn to Rei Akagi's gameplay. Her eyes sparkled with pure curiosity.
Amid the flood of chat messages screaming:
"IONO DON'T DO IT!"
"Your image! Your image!"
"Oh no, the kid's learning bad habits!"
—the delicate little Iono avatar on the screen suddenly dropped to the ground…
…and crawled into the hole as well.
The chat exploded.
"Iono's been corrupted by Teacher Salted Fish!"
"'The Fall of a Top Streamer: From Idol to Tunnel-Crawling Gremlin'"
"Salted Fish is fully responsible! He ruined our Iono!"
"Breaking news! Levincia Gym's superstar streamer sneaks into a museum through a hole—click to see why!"
"Screen recording this! Iono's black history +1!"
Behind the small hole wasn't the museum hall they expected.
Instead, a metal corridor stretched forward into darkness.
A flash of light appeared beside Bai.
Gastly floated into view.
Several faint blue will-o'-wisps ignited in midair, hovering steadily ahead of Rei and Mini-Iono—becoming the only light source in the cramped passage.
"There are lots of branching paths here. Stay close."
Rei Akagi's voice came through the voice chat, echoing clearly in the silent tunnel.
"If you get lost, it'll turn into Iono's Great Adventure."
"Mhm! Mhm! Mhm!"
Iono nodded vigorously like a pecking chick, her face filled with determination as her fingers gripped the controls tightly.
On-screen, Mini-Iono followed so closely that she was practically glued to the round backside of Bai's Gengar mascot suit.
After turning through several junctions, a faint light finally appeared ahead.
"This is the place."
Rei Akagi crawled to the light source and shifted slightly aside.
"This spot lets you peek into the museum hall through a vent."
"And if we're lucky… we might overhear some exclusive information."
Hearing this, Iono hurried to move her camera toward the vent.
The view suddenly opened up.
They had climbed into the ceiling crawlspace above the museum exhibition hall.
Through the metal grid below, the entire grand hall was visible.
Tall glass display cases.
Precious fossil specimens.
And—
Before Iono could even study the exhibits, several deliberately hushed voices drifted upward.
The voices came from directly below the vent.
Iono instantly held her breath.
Her heart began pounding.
She slowly lowered her camera angle.
Two figures wearing special uniforms were whispering together in a corner.
The uniforms weren't obvious in the dim lighting.
But under the faint glow from the display cases—
Iono's sharp eyes caught a small embroidered symbol on their collars.
A single letter.
R.
The chat erupted.
"R?! HOLY—TEAM ROCKET!"
"Team Rocket! Salted Fish is insane for putting them into the game!"
"Didn't the Legend of Red destroy Team Rocket already?"
"Destroyed? Don't underestimate them! They nearly conquered Kanto! A centipede may die but never stiffens!"
But that was only the appetizer.
When the two agents' fragmented conversation was picked up by Iono's high-quality microphone and broadcast clearly to the entire stream—
"…target confirmed… Mt. Moon… core area…"
"…this time… we cannot fail again… Mew must be captured…"
"…last time… more than sixty people… stopped by a single trainer… useless…"
The livestream chat completely exploded.
"Mew?! They're talking about capturing Mew—a Legendary Pokémon!"
"Show us a picture! What does Mew even look like?!"
"You're missing the point! The game is based on the Legend of Red—which means… Mew actually exists!"
"MT. MOON!!! The hidden storyline is at Mt. Moon!"
"Has any speedrunner reached Mt. Moon yet?!"
"Wait—did they say a single trainer broke through 60+ Team Rocket elites and saved Mew?!"
"WHO WAS THAT HERO?!"
Iono herself was completely overwhelmed.
Her mouth hung slightly open in shock.
After a long moment, she finally found her voice.
Her tone trembled with disbelief.
"S-Salted Fish… Mew… does it… really exist?"
"Yes. It exists."
Rei Akagi's calm reply came through the headset.
"I can guarantee that with my reputation."
That simple confirmation ignited the livestream again.
Mew.
A Legendary Pokémon never confirmed by science.
A creature that existed only in ancient texts and myths.
And now—
Confirmed to be real.
Possibly appearing in the game.
Possibly meeting players.
Possibly even forming a bond with them.
"Legends… really do exist!"
"I found records! Mew is small and pink! It's said to be the genetic ancestor of all Pokémon!"
"Small… pink… wait… I feel like we're forgetting something…"
"MT. MOON! CHARGE! FOR MEW!"
"That's… that's incredible—!"
Iono finally shouted in excitement, her voice overflowing with anticipation.
"Salted Fish! Let's go to Mt. Moon right now!"
"We'll stop Team Rocket's evil plan! Save the beautiful—uh—save Mew! Then we'll form a bond! Hehehe… Mew-chan… my Mew-chan~"
"Iono."
Just as she was completely immersed in her fantasy, Rei Akagi's helpless voice interrupted.
"It's still daytime."
"Huh?"
Iono blinked blankly, confused.
She clasped her hands together and turned toward the camera in a pleading gesture, asking the chat for help.
The chat burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHA—"
"I can't breathe! Salted Fish is savage!"
"He means stop daydreaming, Iono!"
"Peak comedy!"
Seeing the brutal truth in the chat, Iono's cheeks instantly turned bright red.
She puffed her cheeks and muttered into the microphone.
"Salted Fish is so mean… you couldn't just humor me a little? Let me dream…"
"Hm? Did you say something, Iono? My signal cut out—I didn't hear."
Rei Akagi asked innocently.
"N-No! Nothing! I didn't say anything!"
Iono instantly straightened her posture, her voice jumping an entire octave.
Even her Magnemite hair ornaments nearly stood straight up.
"Oh… alright."
Rei Akagi found it slightly strange but didn't press the matter.
Instead, he shifted the topic and looked down toward the brightly lit exhibition hall.
"See those two massive Pokémon skeletons in the center of the hall?"
"They're fossils from ancient Pokémon."
"In terms of rarity and research value, they're not much less important than Legendary Pokémon."
Relieved that Rei Akagi hadn't heard her muttering, Iono secretly sighed in relief.
She looked toward the center of the hall.
Two enormous Pokémon skeletons stood there.
Even reduced to bones, they radiated an overwhelming aura of ancient power and majesty.
Then Rei Akagi spoke again.
"Iono."
"While I can't guarantee you'll form a bond with Mew…"
He paused deliberately, building suspense.
"But I can help you form a bond with those ancient overlords."
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