The pregnant 'woman' and the Jynx had already given up on this random event. Aside from Caleb himself, the group of elderly, weak, sick, disabled, pregnant, and young now only consisted of an old man, a sickly person, and a dog...
At the mountain peak, Mamoswine halted its steps, its massive body lowering to the ground.
Caleb and Terrence slid off its back, standing side by side on the snow as they waved and said, "Goodbye!"
Mamoswine grunted, turned around, and soon disappeared into the vast expanse of white snow.
Terrence looked around and asked, "What now? Where do we go to find the quest target?"
Caleb tilted his chin toward a Snorunt not far away and said, "There."
Terrence didn't react at first, but was stunned for a moment before watching Caleb walk toward the Snorunt, pulling a Pokéblock from his inventory as he went.
Startled by the unfamiliar human approaching, the Snorunt panicked and hid behind a large tree, peeking out with half its face.
Caleb extended his palm and offered the Pokéblock. The Snorunt's gaze was immediately drawn to it.
So far, Caleb had yet to meet a Pokémon that could resist the temptation of a perfectly crafted Pokéblock.
This Snorunt was no exception... Faced with the crystal-clear cube, its eyes flickered with longing, hesitation, and conflict.
Caleb spoke up at the right moment, "Don't worry, I just want to ask you a question. I'm not here to catch you."
The Snorunt tore its gaze away from the Pokéblock and looked up at the human. It sensed a comforting spring-like kindness emanating from him.
A quiet atmosphere lingered in the air.
After a moment, the Snorunt released its grip on the tree trunk and shuffled to the left to fully reveal itself.
Caleb relaxed his expression, then stepped forward and crouched to place the Pokéblock in front of the Snorunt.
He then asked, "Have you seen a really strong Pokémon around here? One with wings that can affect the weather and attack enemies with ice shards?"
The Snorunt clutched the Pokéblock with its small round hands, thinking carefully before devouring it in a few bites. Then, it began leading the way ahead.
Caleb glanced back at Terrence and said, "It's guiding us. Let's follow it."
Terrence was stunned, "Bro, is this how you clear every Instance? Is the Viridian Power really that broken?"
"Mhm? What do you mean?"
Terrence gulped, "Do you realize how many detours you're skipping?"
Players without the Viridian Power couldn't communicate with Pokémon. For quests like this, they had no choice but to blindly wander around.
Terrence had never had it this easy before. In previous Instances, he'd had to stay hyper-vigilant in wild environments to avoid ambushes from wild Pokémon.
Caleb thought for a moment and replied, "Well, the ability does cost half the price of a World travel ticket... Anyway, hurry up and get ready for a fight..."
Terrence jogged to catch up, walking side by side with Caleb. He glanced at the kid's cool and adorable profile and couldn't help but say, "Hey, after this Instance, wanna team up? I've got a party item. We could tackle team Scenarios together later on."
Caleb: "Let's talk after we finish."
For now, he wasn't interested in teaming up.
Terrence sighed in disappointment but quickly added, "Well, at least let's add each other as friends after this, alright?"
Caleb gave him a hesitant look... 'Add friends? And reveal my identity? No way.'
Terrence grew uneasy under his gaze. He swallowed hard before asking, "You won't even add me? Can I at least ask what rank you are on the player leaderboard?"
Caleb thought of his own abysmal ranking, 35 298, and paused before casually making up a number, "Somewhere around two thousand? Haven't checked in a while, so I don't remember. As for adding friends… let's skip that. I prefer playing solo."
As they spoke, the Snorunt led them to a cliffside...
Suddenly, a sharp cry echoed from above. The two looked up to see a pale blue figure, its body shimmering with ice crystals, soaring overhead.
"Sh*t, it's Articuno!" Terrence blurted out.
Caleb quickly used Scout from a distance. The next second, the Articuno's information appeared before him:
[Articuno (Fake): Lv. ???]
[Description: Created by the Infinite World. Cannot be captured. Extremely powerful... proceed with caution!]
Terrence also saw the panel and frowned, "Another Level 100+ Legendary. How are we supposed to fight this?"
Caleb rubbed Dragonite's Poké Ball between his fingers and said, "We only get one shot. Make good use of your Focus Sash. Dragonite will carry you over. Don't drag this out. A prolonged fight means we'll probably lose."
Dragonite had a 4x weakness to Ice. In this freezing weather, getting hit by moves like Ice Beam or Blizzard was no joke.
"Got it." Terrence nodded solemnly.
Still, he couldn't help but feel nervous. This was his first real battle as a Pokémon... and it was against a Legendary, no less.
Caleb glanced at Smeargle's trembling legs and reassured him, "Relax. Dragonite won't let anything happen to you."
Terrence stubbornly retorted, "I'm not nervous! I'm just cold! Aren't you freezing?"
Caleb: "..."
"Alright, fine. It is pretty cold out here."
As he spoke, he released Dragonite. He rubbed its chubby cheeks with his hands which he had kept warm in his pockets, then gave the Dragonite a quick hug.
Terrence was moved by the sight and couldn't help but add, "Bro, I've only known you for three days, but I can tell you're a good guy. So, if something happens to me… I'd like you to release my Pokémon somewhere warm–"
Caleb cut him off with a deadpan look, still holding Dragonite's claws to warm them, "Sorry, but I'm not a good guy. If you die, I'm selling all your Pokémon in the commercial district for dirt cheap... two points each, like a bargain bin."
Terrence: "..."
"Enough talk. Time to move out." Caleb handed Dragonite over to Terrence and said, "Go. The plan is set... Dragonite will take you to Articuno. The rest is up to you."
"Wuuu!" Dragonite gave the weakling Smeargle a fierce yet adorable once-over before thumping its chest, as if to say, Leave it to me!
Now that he was a Pokémon, Terrence could understand other Pokémon's speech. He chuckled awkwardly and said to Caleb, "Huh... I didn't expect your Dragonite to be such a reliable big bro."
Caleb twitched his lips, instructing Dragonite to max out its Dragon Dances first before finally saying, "Alright, let's go!"