26
The heat radiating from Courtney's Camerupt was so intense it made the air at the Rusturf Tunnel entrance shimmer. Courtney herself stood perfectly still, her visor reflecting the holographic map in my hand.
"Calculation complete," she whispered, her voice a monotone chime. "The probability of you surrendering voluntarily: 0.04%. Initiating forceful retrieval."
"Wait, Courtney! Just look at the numbers for a second!" I shouted, stepping in front of May and the team. I didn't reach for a Poké Ball. I leaned into that Nat 20 Charisma, letting my voice drop into the calm, authoritative tone of someone who had seen the end of the world and survived.
The Negotiation: The Flaw in the Formula
"You're an Admin because you live by logic, right? You trust the data," I said, pointing toward the massive Devon tower in the distance. "But Maxie is giving you a skewed equation. You want more land for 'human progress,' but look at the Feedback Loop."
The Albedo Effect: "More land means more heat absorption. Without the sea to regulate the planet's temperature, you're not creating a paradise; you're creating a barren, scorched rock where nothing—not even humans—can survive."
The Primal Variable: "You think you can control Groudon? We just saw a Treecko nearly erase a forest just by touching a fragment of that power. Groudon doesn't want to build a continent for you, Courtney. It wants to reclaim its domain. It's not an architect; it's an extinction event."
The Human Cost: I looked at May. "You're hunting a girl who is a living part of this world's soul. If you 'calculate' her as just a battery, your math is already broken. You're trying to solve for 'Life' by multiplying by 'Zero.'"
Courtney's visor flickered. For the first time, her head tilted—a tiny, mechanical movement of confusion. "Data... conflicting. Lord Maxie states... expansion leads to evolution."
"Evolution requires a biosphere, Courtney. Fire doesn't evolve; it consumes until there's nothing left to burn. Is that the 'progress' you calculated?"
[Chat Log]
IceCreamQueen_C: He's actually doing it. He's talking a Magma Admin into a logic loop.
GymBro_Chuck: LOOK AT HER CAMERUPT! The fire in its humps is dimming!
SilentRed: [GIF: Logic Bomb]
The Sudden Rescue: "Surf's Up!"
The silence hung heavy. Courtney's hand twitched over her belt, her internal processors clearly struggling with the "Primal Variable" I'd just dropped.
"Error," she whispered. "Re-evaluating—"
"Hey! The vibes around here are getting way too heavy, dudes!"
A massive, blue-furred foot slammed into the ground between us. Brawly, the Dewford Gym Leader, had arrived, standing atop his Hariyama. They didn't come from the road—they had leaped down from the cliffs above.
"Training on the peaks, saw the smoke!" Brawly grinned, his surfboard strapped to his back. "Hariyama, Fake Out!"
With a thunderous clap of its palms, Hariyama sent a shockwave of air that knocked the Camerupt back. The distraction was perfect. Genji, the new Froakie, used the opening to unleash a Smoke Screen, cloaking the tunnel entrance in thick, grey mist.
The Escape: A Crack in the Visor
"Retreating," Courtney's voice drifted through the smoke. "Mission priority: Analysis of the 'Primal Variable.' Calculations... incomplete."
A burst of flame cleared a path for her as she mounted her Camerupt and vanished into the treeline. But as the smoke dissipated, I saw something on the ground where she had been standing. It was a small, electronic data-chip—her personal log.
I picked it up. The last entry wasn't a calculation. it was a single word: Why?
"You okay, little bro?" Brawly asked, slapping me on the back with enough force to send my Stamina: 0 soul briefly out of my body. "You were really laying down some deep philosophy there. Very 'Big Wave' energy."
May gripped her new Shell Bell, looking toward the forest where Courtney had vanished. "Jake? Did we... did we win?"
"We survived, May," I said, tucking the Magma chip into my pocket. "And I think we just started a fire in Courtney's head that Maxie can't put out."
[Chat Log]
PervySage: The 'Anomaly' strikes again. He didn't just win a battle; he won a debate.
Steven_Stone: Jake, get to the docks. Brawly can take you to Dewford on his boat. It's safer than the roads right now.