Virus Evolution: Pokémon, Marvel & Beyond

[The Cosmic Primal Force is formless and omnipresent, permeating every dimension of the universe. Different strands of this force require distinct methods of perception and acquisition.

[Broadly speaking, it can be obtained through the following means:

[Cultivation techniques from higher planes of existence, such as the Heart Sutra of Prajñāpāramitā, Essence of Creation Arts, or The Emerald Codex;

[Artifacts capable of concentrating Cosmic Primal Force, such as the 'Tesseract', the 'Ark of the Covenant', or the 'Taiji Diagram';

[Gifts from others;

[Trade;

[Seizure by force, and the like.]

Hss—

Lucius paused, momentarily stunned by the answer.

This tone… is way off.

So many of these names were oddly familiar.

The Heart Sutra of Prajñāpāramitā, a legendary scripture recording a dialogue on the nature of all things between Avalokiteśvara and Śāriputra, disciples of the Buddha Śākyamuni, with the Buddha's own praise woven in.

The Emerald Codex, a grimoire authored by none other than Isaac Newton, the Gravity King and scientific prodigy, who turned to dark sorcery after maxing out the scientific tech tree and spent his remaining life honing forbidden arts.

The Tesseract, a Marvel artifact of immense power, housing the Space Stone, capable of bending space and opening portals.

The Taiji Diagram, an innate divine relic in Daoist myth, said to be the personal artifact of the Supreme Elder Lord, Lao Tzu.

If these were being listed, then that meant the "Celestial Council" spanned all major worlds, including the Immortal-Demon Realms and the Marvel Universe?

That could only mean that to obtain the Cosmic Primal Force, one had to reach into these other dimensions.

After all, just staying here... there wasn't even anyone around worth stealing from.

Of course, the idea of stealing was mostly theoretical. If this involved the immortal cultivation realms, just one passing celestial being might casually obliterate an entire planet. Even in the Marvel Universe, he wasn't sure he could withstand the Snap.

Having sorted through these thoughts, Lucius decided not to join the Celestial Council just yet. The Ultra World had only recently been created. Too much was still unready. Jumping in prematurely would invite unnecessary risk. Better to build his foundation first.

Thanks to the presence of the Ultra Wormhole, resource transfer between the two worlds had gone incredibly smoothly. Lucius abandoned his earlier colonization plan and switched to a Clone Initiative.

Apart from large-scale energy firms and industrial conglomerates building infrastructure in the Ultra World, native residents of the original world were prohibited from crossing over.

Instead, the population of the Ultra World would be created from scratch, via biotech companies executing the Clone Initiative.

To build up his assets, Lucius harnessed cloning technology and, in just two years, erected multiple megacities and seeded nearly 200 million cloned inhabitants across the Ultra World. These people were crafted from carefully curated gene sequences.

"High quality" here didn't mean intelligence, it meant specialization. It resembled something out of the Kryptonian system from DC Comics.

Before each child was born, their genetic profile was pre-coded: engineers were bred for technical aptitude, soldiers for combat talent, men for masculinity, women for femininity, ensuring optimal societal balance.

Meanwhile, the original world continued progressing as it always had.

Two societies. Two distinct developmental paths. Lucius wanted to see which would prove more efficient.

For ease of governance, Lucius renamed the original world to Leviathan Imperial Planet, and the Ultra World became the Leviathan Federal Planet.

He also created a small continental landmass in the Federal Planet, roughly the size of Hoenn from the Imperial Planet.

Upon this new land, he deployed 300,000 gene seeds collected from various dimensions, creating new life.

Some non-hostile species, those unlikely to conflict with the world of Pokémon, were relocated across the two federal continents as part of an ecological transfer.

As for creatures utterly incompatible with the Pokémon ecosystem, like the gold-furred, four-clawed beast with a humanoid face and single horn, or the bipedal humpbacked creatures resembling dino-humanoid hybrids, and even the angelic being with brilliant white wings...

These entities either possessed human-level intellect or exhibited abilities outside the defined mechanics of Pokémon typing and traits.

In short, they were unsuitable for large-scale introduction into a world of humans and Pokémon.

Over these past two years, aside from constructing the Federal Planet, Lucius had also tracked down Zacian, Zamazenta, and Eternatus back on the Imperial Planet.

Each slumbered in its own subspace. While they had sensed the prior war, it ended too swiftly for them to intervene.

Among them, Eternatus stood out, with power nearly on par with the fused Original Dragon formed by the trio of Tao dragons. Arguably the strongest mythical Pokémon beneath Arceus itself.

But even Eternatus couldn't resist the combined suppression of the World Will and the apocalyptic force of the Old One Virus.

...

Imperial Planet, Kalos Region, Desierto City.

A humanoid form, born of the Old One Virus, stood amid the boundless desert. In its hand it held an unusual vessel, a long-necked crimson urn with a round, hollow core.

This was the Prison Bottle, used to seal away the Djinn of Destruction, Hoopa Unbound.

The bottle was originally crafted by Ghris, utilizing energies from Arceus's Water, Fire, and Ground plates. It could contain Hoopa's powers and prevent it from moving freely between portals. Its purpose: to punish Hoopa.

Later, Ghris had taken the bottle to live in the Arche Valley, passing down the tale of Hoopa to his descendants.

It had been nearly a century since Hoopa's sealing. According to canon, Ghris's great-grandson Baraz would retrieve the cursed bottle in two years, seeking to restore Hoopa's true power, eventually crossing paths with Ash Ketchum during his journey through Kalos.

But that version of events would never unfold.

Two years ago, the New Empire had crushed the Pokémon League, forever altering the balance of the world. The ripple effect was catastrophic, irreparably changing the fate of everyone in this dimension.

And so, the Prison Bottle fell early, into Lucius's hands.

His current world occupation had surpassed 99%. All that remained was to either infect or slay Hoopa and seize the final authority of this planet.

Doing so would grant him full dominion, officially recognizing him as a Planetary Ruler.

And a Planetary Ruler is automatically granted a seat at the Celestial Council.

Lucius was ready.

He uncorked the bottle.

A surge of blue-violet energy exploded outward like a hurricane, coalescing into a mountainous giant.

It hovered in midair, six muscular arms each adorned with a golden ring. A massive braid shot upward from its crown. Its two horns had lengthened into vicious spikes. Its powerful tail whipped through the air, tearing the atmosphere with every swing.

This was Hoopa's true form, Hoopa Unbound.

Seeing the terrifying giant emerge, the smaller Hoopa floating near Lucius immediately recoiled in terror, hiding behind his shadowy form.

That movement did not go unnoticed.

The giant's disembodied arm, thick and monstrous, lunged toward the smaller Hoopa.

BOOM—!

A sandstorm erupted.

The giant Hoopa was smashed into the desert floor by a colossal black hand made of writhing shadow.

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