The visual impact of Draco Meteor was absolutely explosive!
With Cynthia's Garchomp kicking things off, the other players quickly snapped into action, commanding their Pokémon to charge forward...
Thanks to that devastating opening salvo, Caleb's name shot straight to the top of the points leaderboard:
[Points Leaderboard]
1. Caleb Chase – 35 points
2. Diego Brillante – 3 points
3. Kamil Szczyt – 2 points
4. Zhang Wei – 2 points
5. Zhang Wei – 1 point
...
Soon, players took notice of Caleb's name. One couldn't hold back a shocked exclamation:
"Sh*t! Look at first place! It's Caleb Chase! Caleb Chase is here!"
"Caleb Chase?! The achievement points legend?! The first person in the entire Infinite World to earn an SSS-rank title?!"
"Not sure! But look at how fast his points are climbing, I bet it's him!"
Players craned their necks, scanning the crowd for Caleb, eager to see what the man who had shaken the Infinite World looked like.
Caleb himself silently observed the commotion before turning to Dragonite, signaling it to use Dragon Dance, while simultaneously releasing Mimikyu and Lucario.
A Dragonite with six stacks of Dragon Dance, a Mimikyu with six stacks of Swords Dance, and a Lucario with six stacks of Swords Dance... together, they tore through Team Galactic's ranks like a hot knife through butter.
If this emergency event were an online game, then this first wave of Team Galactic grunts would be the lowest-tier experience-fodder mobs.
Thus, the players had no trouble wiping them out.
The airship above continued to rain down reinforcements.
There were too many... Caleb was certain that at least half of them were the Infinite World's doing... That is, they were virtual NPCs inserted into Team Galactic to enhance the players' event experience.
"Isn't anyone gonna take down that damn airship?!" a player who had transformed into a shiny Machamp bellowed after KO'ing a Golbat with Karate Chop.
There was...
The moment he spoke, several players with Flying-type Pokémon commanded their partners to soar into the sky.
Caleb and Cynthia frowned as they looked up.
'If the players can think of it, wouldn't Team Galactic anticipate it?'
Just as Caleb expected, the instant the Flying-types approached the airship...
*Whoosh!*
Metal tentacles lashed out, writhing wildly midair, making the entire ship resemble a monstrous steel octopus. The homing metal limbs struck with terrifying precision, smashing every last Flying-type out of the sky.
Not a single one escaped, all were pummeled into the ground, instantly fainting.
Cynthia watched the fallen Pokémon, her delicate brows furrowing in distress, "So this is what Team Galactic has been stealing Pokémon for..."
By now, the first wave of enemies had been mostly cleared. Dragonite, Lucario, Mimikyu, and Garchomp regrouped with their trainers.
Caleb explained, "Cyrus's goal is to summon the Temporal Pokémon Dialga and the Spatial Pokémon Palkia to destroy this world and create a new one."
This version of Cynthia who was not yet the Sinnoh Champion, and still carried traces of youthful inexperience, looked up at him.
Caleb met her gaze and continued, "Capturing Uxie is the first step in their plan."
This world's timeline had already been disrupted. Team Galactic was targeting Uxie before Cynthia had even become Champion.
Following this trajectory, Saturn, one of Team Galactic's commanders, would soon deploy a Galactic Bomb at Lake Valor to blast open a portal to Uxie's dimension.
"I understand." Cynthia swiftly composed herself, her expression smoothing over.
Seeing this, Caleb said no more. With Team Galactic's assault temporarily halted, he checked his Pokémon's injuries.
Dragonite's round face was smudged with dirt but otherwise unharmed... Mimikyu's Disguise had been broken... Lucario had sustained minor wounds, after all, it had only recently evolved. By human standards, it wasn't even five years old yet. It was basically still a baby.
Caleb wiped Dragonite's face clean with a tissue from his bag, straightened out Mimikyu's crumpled disguise, and used his Viridian ability to heal Lucario.
Cynthia watched silently as Caleb fussed over his Pokémon, her thoughts unreadable.
Caleb glanced up at Garchomp and asked, "Need healing?"
Garchomp shook its head...
Just then, the airship above stirred once more.
Everyone looked up to see a figure in Team Galactic's elite uniform sliding down a rope. Above his head floated a glaring red title:
[Team Galactic Elite (BOSS)]
«Note: To enrich players' Instance experience, the Infinite World has specially enhanced boss-level characters based on the Pokémon games...
Enhancements include:
- HP increased by 100x
- Special Attack, Attack, Speed, Special Defense, and Defense increased by 5x
- Unlimited PP...»
«Additionally, players who land the final blow have a chance to obtain rare items! Drop rates as follows:
1. New Year's Pikachu – 0.1%
2. New Year's Squirtle – 0.1%
3. New Year's Charmander – 0.1%
4. New Year's Gift Box – A special bundle containing various Pokémon World items (New Year's Event exclusive) – 25%
5. Prosperity Red Packet x1 – Grants 888 League credits – 74.7%...»
Caleb stared for a second before realizing that it must be New Year's in their original world outside the Infinite World.
Cynthia noticed his reaction, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Caleb shook his head, dismissing the panel, "After this event, let's treat our Pokémon to a feast."
Cynthia studied his wistful expression and smiled faintly, "Why the sudden urge for a feast?"
"Because..." Caleb mounted Dragonite, "It's New Year's in my hometown. Let's go, Dragonite!"
"Wuuu!"
Dragonite let out a spirited cry, wings beating as it surged toward the Team Galactic elite.
"New Year's..." Cynthia murmured, watching Dragonite's silhouette against the sky.
As if talking to herself, or perhaps to Caleb, she muttered, "Happy New Year..."
'To you, strange little boy from another world...'
From their time together, Cynthia had pieced together fragments of the truth... Caleb seemed to know her and the Sinnoh region far too well.
He even knew about her indecisiveness and her love for ice cream...