In the real world, people everywhere were also shocked by Red's words.
The Rainbow Rocket… was composed of the leaders of villainous organizations from six parallel worlds?!
Moreover, these villain leaders had already ruled their respective worlds!
Red and his allies were fighting one against six!!
The opponent had six parallel worlds as their backing—no wonder Red lost. But…
[Lance]: How could such a thing happen? Six parallel worlds where the villains succeeded? Shouldn't good triumph over evil?
[Giovanni]: Like I said, you're naive, Lance. Since ancient times, it's not that good triumphs over evil—it's that history is written by the victors. If I rule the world and declare myself righteous, who can refute me?
[Lance]: …
Indeed, if Giovanni truly won, he'd never write himself as the villain in history.
Except for those involved, future generations would likely be kept in the dark.
This was the privilege of the victor.
But… Lance couldn't accept that.
He firmly believed justice would always defeat evil!
Even though Red lost in the Black World, he hadn't completely failed!
Didn't Red say there was still hope for a comeback…?
[Professor Oak]: So many questions… How did the villain leaders in those worlds rule their worlds?
[Professor Oak]: Logically, six parallel worlds against one makes victory easy.
[Professor Oak]: But further back, how did the villains of those six worlds defeat their Leagues and counterparts of destined individuals like Red?
[Cynthia]: And… what Red said caused many people's covers to be blown! Think about it—Sinnoh's wealthy businessman, Cyrus!
[Diantha]: Mr. Lysandre… no, Lysandre! I never expected you to be the leader of Team Flare!
[Professor Sycamore]: Mr. Lysandre… why?
[Lance]: Ghetsis… Ha! You're still preaching about equal coexistence between humans and Pokémon in Unova. What a joke—you're actually Team Plasma's leader!
Compared to the yet-to-occur invasion, the exposed leaders of these six organizations drew more attention.
On the surface, only Archie and Maxie were openly known villain leaders. The rest… all had covers!
Giovanni, the Viridian Gym Leader.
Cyrus, a wealthy Sinnoh businessman who even donated to poor children.
Ghetsis, promoting human-Pokémon equality in Unova.
Lysandre, who had ties with professors and even Champions in Kalos.
These four had legitimate fronts!
If not for Red's exposure, the regional Champions might still be in the dark!
Archie and Maxie were even more bewildered.
So… they were the only honest ones?!
The other regional leaders were all hidden within society with legitimate identities!
Frankly, if not for the exposure, even in ten years the League might not have found them!
[Ghetsis]: Hah, nothing to do if we're discovered~ But since I rule an entire world in another timeline, it means I have a chance to take this one too!
[Cyrus]: Exposed by a fellow 'Red,' huh? Never mind—I didn't plan on keeping this identity much longer. I truly didn't expect the League to be so useless.
[Lysandre]: A pity. My cover was nearly flawless. I didn't expect the livestream to reveal it so quickly.
[Alain]: Mr. Lysandre! You… you're the leader of Team Flare?! Why… why?!
Alain was a researcher at the Sycamore Institute, Professor Sycamore's right-hand assistant.
He knew Lysandre well and could never imagine that kind man was Team Flare's founder—a notorious organization in Kalos!
Unthinkable!
[Professor Sycamore]: So… Mr. Lysandre approached me and funded my research to collect Mega Evolution data, right?
Before Mega Evolution was revealed in the livestream, Lysandre had supported Sycamore's theoretical research.
Most didn't believe a stage beyond final evolution existed, but Lysandre did.
Sycamore considered him a rare confidant.
Now it seemed… all nonsense! Lysandre's funding was likely for Team Flare's world domination plans!
[Lysandre]: What a pity. Had I known, I'd have asked for the Mega Evolution research before the livestream exposure.
Despite his words, Lysandre had no regrets.
Exposure was exposure. With the knowledge of Mega Evolution and Sycamore's previous research data, his own institute could research it and find clues to Kalos's Legendary Pokémon!
Thus, the real world descended into chaos following Red's words.
Knowing the villains hidden in each region, how could the League sit idly by?
These villains differed from the "honest" Archie and Maxie.
While those two were openly known, their assets were developed secretly.
The other three leaders had legitimate identities and substantial open assets!
If the League didn't act before they transferred their assets, when would they?
Meanwhile, in the Black World, Red's story continued.
…
In the Black World —
"Brother Red… did I hear correctly?"
Red shook his head.
"Six world-ruling villains gathered… and even acknowledged Giovanni as leader? How?! How did they take over their worlds?!"
Ash's mind was reeling.
Forget how they ruled their worlds—why would they follow Giovanni after ruling them?
Each was a world ruler—who would willingly submit?
Why follow Giovanni?
Was Giovanni superior?
"I don't know how they came to rule… but they did acknowledge Giovanni as Rainbow Rocket's boss."
"Giovanni has a Dark Mewtwo… Even my MEGA Mewtwo was no match. Its strength likely surpassed Ultra Beast level… reaching Creation-tier!"
Ultra Beast… Creation-tier… What levels were these?!
Wasn't the highest Legendary-tier?
Red looked at his increasingly translucent palms, knowing time was short, so he spoke faster.
"Ultra Beast is the level above Legendary-tier. My regular Mewtwo had reached Ultra Beast level. After Mega Evolving, it was among the top Ultra Beasts."
"And Creation-tier… literally means comparable to Arceus's strength."
"Compared to Arceus, Giovanni's Dark Mewtwo only lacks the Plates' type immunities."
"That's likely why he leads Rainbow Rocket."
Everyone: …So hopeless!
How could they win like this?!
Ash currently had a Dark Lugia that just reached Legendary-tier, and now Red spoke of levels above that.
They thought they'd reached the world's peak, only to learn… there was a ceiling above the ceiling?
Absurd!!
"Arceus… couldn't it act during the crisis?"
Brock asked incredulously. If Arceus acted, even Creation-tier could be beaten!
As the Creator, Brock didn't believe Arceus would lose to Dark Mewtwo!
"Guess… where is Arceus in those six conquered worlds?"
Everyone: …
Red's words brought a moment of silence, followed by indescribable emotion.
More precisely, despair beyond despair.
Yes… in worlds conquered by villains, how could Arceus not act?
Yet those worlds were still ruled, meaning only one thing… Arceus was defeated!
If they could defeat Arceus in their own worlds, how could they not defeat Arceus in Red's world?
"As you imagine, Arceus in all six worlds was defeated."
Red confirmed their suspicions.
"And not just defeated… they became Rainbow Rocket's greatest weapons in conquest."
"They… them?"
Misty's hands holding Togepi trembled slightly, her lips forcing an ugly smile.
"Brother Red… you're joking, right? 'They'… can't mean Arceus, right?"
With Red's nod, even steadfast Ash almost slumped to the ground.
They… counting Red's world, meant at least seven Arceus!!
Seven!!
Damn it! How could they win?!
They couldn't see the slightest chance!
"Don't despair yet. The 'they' I mentioned is actually just one Arceus. However, that Arceus is a fusion of all Arceus from the parallel worlds."
"On Rainbow Rocket's side, it's no longer called Arceus, but… God of Chaos."
"The God of Chaos resembles Arceus, but its ring is purple, and its body darker… likely Arceus corrupted by darkness."
Good news: only one corrupted Arceus.
Bad news: it was a combined version!!
What was the difference?!
If Rainbow Rocket invaded their world and the God of Chaos came, their world's Arceus couldn't win either!
Even usually calm Ash felt panicked now.
Facing such an enemy, no matter how hard he tried, he felt only powerlessness.
Yet even feeling powerless, he had to fight!
He couldn't just abandon his world!
Seeing everyone's silent expressions, Red's plain voice sounded again.
"Didn't I say? It's not time to despair. Your world is different from ours."
"Rainbow Rocket now rules all parallel worlds except yours."
"Think carefully: given their ability to travel between worlds, why haven't they invaded yours yet? Though I don't know how long since my death, it's at least ten years."
"Why haven't they invaded in ten years?"
Without further suspense, Red gave the answer.
"Because they can't invade!"
"Can't?"
"Correct. Your world is the most special—its dimensional barriers are rock-solid. Not only that, your world has the strongest natural laws among all parallel worlds!"
"These two conditions create two restrictions for Rainbow Rocket."
Red slowly raised a finger.
"First, they cannot immediately open a portal to your world. Vicious is likely a special case. It will take them at least five more years to arrive."
Five years… Though they didn't know how Red knew, he had no reason to lie now.
But five years wasn't long!
"Second, due to your world's strong laws, power progression is relatively difficult. Simultaneously, beings from other worlds suffer varying suppression upon arrival."
"He, Vicious, is a mid-to-high-ranking Rainbow Rocket cadre."
"In our world-spanning war, I fought him multiple times. Though I beat him every time, his strength wasn't weak."
Red pointed at Vicious's Dark Lugia.
"In our world, that Dark Lugia possessed peak Legendary-tier strength, not far from Ultra Beast level."
"But in this world, its power was suppressed, nearly dropping below Legendary-tier."
"You can imagine this suppression's potency."
"I'm certain even their God of Chaos would be suppressed below Creation-tier here."
Everyone suddenly understood—no wonder Vicious's Dark Lugia seemed weaker. Its power was suppressed!
Ash noticed key words in Red's explanation: progression in this world was slower. He might not be far behind Red—just hindered by different world laws.
"But… this is only temporary. If we cannot oppose Rainbow Rocket in five years, the world ends."
"For this… Ash, you must stand up!"
Red's eyes fixed firmly on the bewildered Ash.
Though Ash always acted maturely, facing a world-ending crisis, any child under eleven would panic.
Why was it suddenly his turn to perform??
"Didn't you hear earlier? You are this era's Chosen One!"
"The so-called Chosen One, also known as the Protagonist—you are this world's Protagonist!"
Ash blankly pointed at himself, expression confused.
He… was the Protagonist?
"You possess most of the world's fortune, which is why Vicious wants to kill you."
"Killing you would greatly weaken the world, making Rainbow Rocket's invasion effortless."
"But… heh."
Red sneered with a neutral face, giving an eerie feeling.
"Since you're the Protagonist, how could you be killed so easily?"
"In my world, I was also the Protagonist gathering most of the world's fortune. Even after Giovanni killed me, various coincidences preserved my soul, allowing me to appear like this."
PS : Read the complete fic (soon all chapters will be added ), you can check out
my P@treon. -> patreon.com/Sagamaster789
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789