Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

Just as Xia Chen's doubts arose, the woman explained, "My name is Mi Ling. You are currently in an open-world virtual game we are developing called 'Original Realm.' In addition to introducing you to the original scenery of our world, more importantly, we can communicate without barriers here."

Barrier-free communication... This must be some kind of cutting-edge technology that I'm unaware of.

Xia Chen did have a vague recollection of this woman's name.

She appears to be a member of an organization called [Ultra Survey Team] that travels from Ultra Metropolis to the Alola region for assistance in the game.

Thinking this, Xia Chen smiled and replied, "It would be best if we could communicate smoothly. To be honest, your technology is far superior to that of our world... Oh right, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Xia Chen, and I am a trainer from another world."

…………

After they officially met, the two walked and talked along the river in the virtual world.

Xia Chen was the first to ask: "So, how did your world become the way it is now?"

After a moment's thought, Mi Ling explained, "In our world, there exists a powerful Ultra Beast named Necrozma. It possesses unparalleled strength, but it has one very peculiar characteristic: it needs light as its energy source to move. Without light, it cannot move."

Xia Chen nodded silently; this feature was exactly the same as the mule and horse he knew from the game.

"Originally, the light energy of the entire world was more than enough for Necrozma and other creatures, namely us humans, as well as the countless Ultra Beasts living in this world. Although Necrozma would occasionally go berserk and lose control, we could deal with it using technological means."

"But after a solar eclipse more than a hundred years ago, everything changed. The light pouring down from the sky became less and less, and Necrozma went berserk more and more often. What's worse, Necrozma gradually lost its dependence on light. Its body grew larger and larger, and its temperament became more and more violent."

"Later on, even the originally docile, or rather, not so brutal, Ultra Beasts were affected by it, becoming irritable and extremely aggressive. Our human activity range shrank more and more, and in the end, only the Ultra Metropolis remained as a place of hope."

More than a hundred years of history slowly unfolded before Xia Chen's eyes as Mi Ling spoke. There were many things he didn't understand, and they differed considerably from the history of the Ultimate Space in the games or anime he knew.

Of course, he has even greater respect for the history of this world.

"So... the solar eclipse was the turning point for everything?"

Xia Chen frowned and asked.

The so-called "celestial dog eating the sun" is quite simple to explain. When the moon is between the earth and the sun, it blocks the incoming light, resulting in a solar eclipse—a simple astronomical phenomenon.

How could such a drastic change have occurred in the Ultimate World?

Mi Ling shook her head and said, "That period of history remains an unsolved mystery, which is why we haven't been able to regain the light. But one thing is certain: the key to the problem lies with Necrozma. If we can solve it..."

At this point, Mi Ling looked at Xia Chen with anticipation in her eyes.

Xia Chen: "......"

Let me deal with the corrupted Ultimate Necrozma?

Xia Chen felt like he was a scavenger sent on the mission of "eliminating Tang Sanzang and his disciples"!

If I had that ability, I wouldn't be wasting my breath talking nonsense with you. I would have twisted that BYD into a pretzel, stuffed it into an Ultra Ball, and played ping-pong with Sylveon!

Xia Chen rolled his eyes and said, "Can we get down to something more practical?"

Mi Ling sighed, looking genuinely disappointed. "Alright, let's talk about this later."

Xia Chen's face darkened. Even after all this, you still haven't given up on this idea. You're something else, you ultimate metropolis person!

…………

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Xia Chen said seriously, "I need a detailed map of the ultimate world. In addition, I want to know where enough Paper Swordsmen live and gather. Finally, I want to ask you about a few people from the same world as me."

Mi Ling nodded slightly, muttering to herself, "Although they're all informational matters, there are still three requirements..."

Xia Chen immediately understood what she meant and quickly tried to shut her up with a reward: "I have a tool that, if used properly, can help you tame Ultra Beasts."

The tool he was referring to was, of course, the Ultimate Ball he brought from that world.

Xia Chen remembered that although Ultra Metropolis was technologically advanced, it surprisingly didn't have Poké Balls, and its relationship with Pokémon was very simple.

They are either simple enemies or simple servants.

Unlike the original world, the current concept is "humans and elves coexisting in harmony and creating a better tomorrow for Earth," which is far ahead of Metropolis by more than one version.

In the game, the Ultimate Survey Team did indeed show considerable interest in and even high hopes for the Ultimate Ball.

While this doesn't solve the most fundamental problem, it could still play a significant role in the next Ultra Beast invasion of Metropolis.

Of course, the only thing that puzzled Xia Chen was that, given that this world's technology was far more advanced than the original world's, why hadn't they invented a small Ultimate Ball...?

Perhaps he'd gone astray in his technological development, or perhaps he'd never even considered it; he didn't know.

Xia Chen didn't think too much about it; he simply told Mi Ling about the function, usage, and significance of the Ultimate Ball. As expected, she showed great interest.

Mi Ling said seriously, "The importance of this item is beyond my control. I will report this information to the management committee and let them make a decision."

Seeing the hesitation in Xia Chen's eyes, she reassured him, "Don't worry, this item is much more important than the three pieces of information you need. I guarantee you'll get the answers you want."

Xia Chen nodded and thanked him, saying, "Then I'll trouble you."

Mi Ling smiled and said, "Alright, let's log off. I'll take you to the Metropolitan Tower."

Xia Chen asked somewhat awkwardly, "Uh... how do I log off?"

Mi Ling smiled slightly and demonstrated by calling out, "Exit the game."

Then, the woman's figure abruptly turned into data and disappeared.

Xia Chen found it very novel, feeling as if he were playing Sword Art Online, and he also summoned a virtual screen to exit the open-world game called "Original World".

Before leaving the room, he glanced at the device with a hint of regret, thinking that if the game console weren't so big, he would definitely take it back with him to play.

Chapter 516 The Only Hope, Nihilego

Once they were out of the game, Xia Chen and Mi Ling had nothing to say to each other again.

The main reason was the language barrier; Xia Chen still managed to ask Mi Ling many questions through telepathy.

such as--

"Without sunlight, how will you ensure your most basic survival?"

"When the Ultra Beasts invaded, did you fight them using only firearms or lightsabers?"

"Why didn't your world have a profession like Trainer even before the Dark Ages?"

Such as these.

Rather than asking questions, Xia Chen seemed to be talking to himself, because these questions were clearly not ones that could be answered simply by nodding or shaking his head.

People on the streets of the metropolis would occasionally cast strange glances at Xia Chen, who followed behind Mi Ling and whose skin color was distinctly different from that of the locals.

Occasionally, people who knew Mi Ling would strike up a conversation, and during these conversations, their eyes would still occasionally drift towards Xia Chen.

Clearly, their conversation revolved around this visitor from another world.

Xia Chen wasn't shy at all; sometimes she would even smile at them, making some of the metropolitan people look embarrassed.

He used this to further confirm that the humans in this world, both in appearance and in nature, could be considered the "other self" of Earth's humans.

The Ultimate Metropolis wasn't actually that big. Xia Chen estimated that its area was about the same as his own Yuanling Island. In just over ten minutes, he followed Mi Ling to the Metropolis Tower.

As the last hope for humanity in the ultimate world, the defenses here are clearly a level above.

Therefore, Gu Leton, this seemingly dangerous big guy, was not allowed to enter. Xia Chen thought about it and realized that his current superpowers were close to the level of the Elite Four, which was enough to protect himself. So he recalled his bodyguard Gu Leton into his Poké Ball.

The few metropolitan residents who witnessed this scene were dumbfounded. The Poké Ball, which is a common thing in the original world, is a real piece of cutting-edge technology in the Ultra World.

Following Mi Ling to the top floor of the Metropolitan Tower, Xia Chen met the leader of this City of Hope, the chairman of the Ultimate Metropolitan Management Council, Theonella.

A middle-aged man with a neat little mustache.

Xia Chen also had some impression of Theonila, who served as the captain of the Ultimate Investigation Team in the game.

So all of these guys ended up leading the charge and running off to the Alola region?

This level of understanding far surpasses that of Zhang Beihai, the fugitive from The Three-Body Problem...

Thinking this way, Xia Chen began to have some respect for the somewhat comical-looking middle-aged man in front of him.

…………

"Welcome, guest from another world."

Thanks to the information Xionila had just gathered about Xia Chen in the game, she now only needed a convenient simultaneous interpretation tool to communicate with him.

Xia Chen nodded, and without much small talk, placed an empty Ultimate Ball on the table and said, "Let's get straight to the point. I'm sure Mi Ling has already communicated my request to you, right?"

Theonila put away the brand-new Ultimate Ball. Without saying a word, she slid her finger across the table, and a pale blue virtual screen appeared in front of Xia Chen.

He couldn't understand the text, but the images and numbers were very clear; it was an electronic map of the ultimate world.

Xia Chen noticed several thumbnail images of Ultra Beasts in the lower right corner of the screen. He tried tapping the Paper Sword, and the electronic map then changed into a Paper Sword distribution map.

"The green dot is our location, which is the Ultimate Metropolis, and the area highlighted in red is where the Paper Mighty Swords are distributed."

Cionila said, "The darker the color, the more paper swords there are in the area, and the stronger they are."

Xia Chen nodded in understanding, then scanned the distribution map. According to this pattern, the most likely location for the Paper Sword capable of cutting out the Ultimate Hole was in a valley in the northeast.

Before the Dark Ages, the place was also known as the Valley of Imperial Swords, which sounds quite like a martial arts story.

Xia Chen didn't look at it closely anymore, but asked, "Can this thing... be transferred to my phone's Rotom?"

Cionila paused for a moment, then asked, "What is a Rotom cell phone?"

Xia Chen then remembered that there was no Rotom in the Ultimate World. He took out his phone and showed Rotom, then thought for a moment and briefly introduced it: "It's roughly... a kind of smart communication device inhabited by electronic ghosts?"

Theonila examined it for a while and laughed, "I think I understand now. This electronic ghost is more interesting than the artificial intelligence we developed, but the hardware is a bit outdated, almost like the old antiques in our museum collection."

Xia Chen was speechless. His world's most advanced smartphone was being called an old relic... Fine, what can you do when you've leveled up your technology so high?

"If you need it, I can help you modify it."

Cionila suddenly said, "I dare not say much, but at least... it can make Rotom's vessel jump from museum level to the previous generation."

Xia Chen found it interesting and nodded, saying, "Okay, thank you in advance. How long will the modification take?"

Cionila replied, "At least three to five days. Our guests can stay in the metropolis first. We can also use these days to study the Ultimate Ball. If there's anything you don't understand, I hope you can answer it."

Answer? I didn't invent the Ultimate Ball...

Despite his inner complaints, Xia Chen still agreed.

He may not understand the knowledge of making Poké Balls, but Rotom, whose mind is filled with countless knowledge, does.

…………