Professor Oak was adjusting a set of soil samples under a microscope when the alert chimed—not a Lab comm or a landline, but his rarely-used email inbox.
He blinked.
Email?
The system was barely kept alive, maintained mostly so he could exchange data with other Professors in Kalos and occasionally Unova. No one else really used it. Hell, most trainers didn't even know he had an address.
He swiveled his old office chair around and tapped at the faded keyboard, expecting a routing error or perhaps a test ping from Professor Sycamore's tech team.
Instead, the screen flashed open with a subject line:
[System Broadcast] Pokenet:Online Invite
Please Make an Account to Continue.
Greetings from Cerulean City.
A distributed forum system is now online. For the purpose of exchanging information, an inter-regional cooperation.
This node has been activated in your region. You are now connected.
If you're reading this, Professor Oak, I felt the need to invite you personally. There is no ulterior motive, the goal is just to create a way for everyone to message, exchange training tips, and further cooperation between regions.
Explore. Contribute. Teach. Or just read.
Yellow
Founder, Instinct Archivist, System Admin
"Electricity and trust."
Oak stared at the screen, then slowly reached for his coffee, forgotten and half-cold. "Instinct…" he murmured. "They were all but scattered after the GO Disbandment Act…"
He opened the attached link.
A terminal interface flickered to life. It was simple, stark black on gray-blue, the kind of thing only a serious user would navigate. A flashing line at the bottom prompted a login or guest access.
Oak typed in a pseudonym he hadn't used since the Mew expedition in '68.
The forum opened.
[General Discussion – Kanto Hub]
[Trainer Logs]
[Pokedex Questions]
[Route 12 Rumors]
[Bug Report: I think my Rotom is possessed]
He scrolled silently. Thousands of posts. Hundreds online. Users from Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kalos—using their own salvaged tech, jury-rigged PokéComms, even apparently modded Pokédex terminals.
It was the most organic network he'd seen in thirty years. Not corporate. Not League-regulated.
Wild. Alive.
He tapped on one post. It opened a long thread about a rare migration pattern spotted near Fuchsia, complete with photos and a map overlay—user-uploaded. Real-time fieldwork.
He leaned back, exhaling deeply.
"This changes everything," he whispered.
===
Koga – Fuchsia City, Kanto
At first, Koga dismissed the chirp of his PokéNav as another League message. But when he saw the topic—"Status Effects: Poison Meta"—he stopped walking.
Someone had built a forum dedicated to poison tactics?
He read quietly.
They knew some of the tricks. But not all.
He smiled thinly.
"There are things even toxins cannot teach you," he typed. "But I will."
===
Misty – Cerulean City, Kanto
Her PokéNav beeped three times, then flashed blue.
[New System Request]
You have been invited to Pokenet:Online – Water-Type Gym Leader Category
Estimated Influence Score: High
Click to verify profile
Misty blinked. "What... Poké-what?"
She tapped the screen cautiously, frowning as it pulled up a sleek interface and asked for her battle records. There was a faint feeling of being watched.
"Okay, who's running this thing? And why do they know I'm a Gym Leader?"
Brock – Pewter City, Kanto
Brock was feeding his Golem when the PokéNav buzzed. The screen went dark for a moment before displaying:
Pokenet:Online Beta
"You are listed as a Rock-Type Authority. Claim your position."
Suggested Thread: 'Defensive Rotations in the Pewter Gym Style'
He stared. "I didn't install anything…"
He tapped it, slowly. Then raised a brow as the loading screen formed a symbol resembling a Poké Ball with a stylized 'N'.
"…What kind of network knows my gym tactics?"
Erika's PokéNav lit up gently, in greens and soft pinks. It was elegant—too elegant for a government patch.
"Pokenet:Online invites you, Erika of Celadon, to the Garden Thread."
"All growth begins with knowledge. You are a seed."
Her lips parted slightly.
"…That's poetic."
She hesitated for a long moment before pressing the stylized leaf icon. Her screen filled with profiles. Research papers. Forum boards. Plant biology. Pollen charts.
Who made this?
Sabrina – Saffron City, Kanto
Sabrina felt the PokéNav's signal before it arrived. A pulse—not quite psychic, but close. The kind of structured logic that moved through code the way thoughts moved through minds.
She glanced at it from across the room.
"Sabrina. We see the mind behind the power."
"Pokenet:Online has opened the Psychic Alignment Board."
"Accept your presence. You were inevitable."
She didn't touch it. She answered it, through her mind.
And the PokéNav opened anyway.
Blaine – Cinnabar Island, Kanto
The volcano had nothing to do with it—his PokéNav still overheated when the message arrived.
"Pokenet:Online—Cinnabar Island Authority Detected"
"Flameboard Beta-Access Code: INFERNO"
"…Access code?" Blaine muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.
He keyed it in with an old researcher's caution. A holographic interface projected out from the PokéNav, flickering, but detailed. He saw names—young ones. Old ones. A few he recognized from journals that had never been digitized.
His grin returned.
"Now this is interesting."
Whitney – Goldenrod City
"Ugh, another dumb pop-up—wait, what is this?"
"Pokenet:Online has detected Emotional Power Level: High."
"Normal-Type Leaders are now tracked under the Axis Board."
"Miltank Spotlight Thread: Unrivaled Momentum"
Whitney blinked. "Is this... flattery? I didn't sign up for this!"
She tapped the Miltank thread anyway.
Clair – Blackthorn City
A dragon symbol burned onto her PokéNav screen.
"Clair of Dragons. Your Line is Known."
"Thread: Legacy, Bloodline, and the Draconic Bond"
She scowled. "Only the Dragon Elders know that phrase…"
====
Cynthia was in the Celestic Town ruins again—one of the few places she could get peace. The PokéNav buzzed softly in her coat pocket, but she ignored it. She was busy brushing away dust from an ancient inscription, her heart focused on history, not tech.
The device buzzed again. And again.
She sighed, finally pulling it out.
At first, the screen was black.
Then, in elegant, serifed text, it lit up with unsettling familiarity:
"Champion Cynthia. The Pokenet Online is open to you."
"Thread: Huisi - the legends of Great Sinnoh"
"Subforum Access: Mythology, Memory, and the Weight of Time."
Her breath caught.
This wasn't a random message. It knew. Not just her title. Not just her region.
It knew what she cared about.
She tilted her head, brushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she stared at the screen. There was no sender, no network name. It wasn't routed through standard League channels. No visible origin tag.
"This is interesting," Cynthia murmured.
She sat down on a worn stone step, letting the ancient dust settle beside her, eyes flicking over the strange interface.
The thread title glowed slightly—"Huisi" wasn't a term used in public records. It was ancient, pre-Sinnohan even. Oral tradition. Something she'd only encountered in one preserved tablet… locked in private museum storage.
She tapped into the thread, slowly.
There were only three posts so far—one from someone called Admin_Instinct, outlining the purpose of the board: to unify knowledge, to preserve truth in the face of time and loss.
Another from someone claiming to be from Kalos, posting theories on the link between Xerneas and the rejuvenation myths found in southern Johto.
And one more. A reply. Simple.
"We remember what others forget."
Cynthia sat back, quiet for a long moment.
Then, without a word, she began typing.
Username Created: ChampionOfMyths
Replying to Thread: Huisi – The Legends of Great Sinnoh
"If you know the name Huisi, then we need to talk. There's more buried under Sinnoh than people realize.
And I suspect this platform… this Pokenet…
…is about to change everything."
She hit "Post."
And the ruins felt a little less quiet.