*Ding!*
«Congratulations to player Caleb Chase for obtaining the Achievement:
-Explorer (Gold)!...»
The achievement thunderclouds gathered in the sky began to retreat in all directions after this announcement.
On the central square, a group of players strolling around looked somewhat unaccustomed to this scene and asked:
"Did I hear correctly? He only got one achievement this time?"
Another player thought for a moment and guessed, "Maybe, perhaps because his performance in this Instance wasn't very good?"
But before his words finished, another strange change occurred in the sky above...
A myriad of golden rays descended from above, forming the shape of a huge plaque.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a line of text slowly appeared on that golden plaque:
*Ding!*
[Congratulations to player Caleb Chase for ascending to the top of the leaderboard, obtaining the title 'Extreme Realm'!]
«Extreme Realm: King title, exclusive to the player ranked first on the leaderboard. Players equipped with this title can enter the Extreme Realm for special training once a month...»
Hearing this announcement, all the players didn't react at first, but dazedly stood in place, looking at this scene with disbelief.
"???"
Someone murmured, "What the hell, did he capture Arceus or something? That's so outrageous!"
"If I remember correctly, someone specifically looked for his name on the leaderboard not long ago; it was over 20 000."
"Skipping over 20 000 people to reach first place in one go, is this person a monster?"
"No." A player looked at the player leaderboard in shock.
At this moment, the first position was already occupied by the name Caleb Chase, while Ye Fan and others were pushed down one place in order.
But this wasn't the main point. The key was the Pokémon team displayed next to the name.
That player said with a trembling voice, "The first Mewtwo in the entire Infinite World has appeared..."
"There's also a new title on the title leaderboard; The Flower Planter, an SS-grade rare title."
"Oh my God! Is this guy a monster?" someone murmured.
...
Meanwhile, at a famous bar somewhere in the entertainment district, Ye Fan looked grimly at the text on the panel:
[Your current leaderboard ranking is: 02.]
[The top-exclusive title 'Extreme Realm' has been revoked!]
At this moment, the flame of jealousy burned fiercely in his heart...
...
"Ye Fan's first place was taken?" Gyeol's eyes sparkled with excitement. She licked her plump red lips, "Things are starting to get interesting."
Although they weren't teammates, she still knew something about Ye Fan. If she had to describe him in two words, the only ones Gyeol could think of were 'scheming' and extremely 'vindictive'.
Coupled with the incident during the Mythical Pokémon Contest, new and old grudges combined, Ye Fan was probably ready to smash Caleb's skull in hatred.
But...
Gyeol looked at the name that stood next to Caleb's.
"Mewtwo?"
For a veteran player who had experienced many Instances, although Legendary Pokémon were strong, they were not unbeatable. As long as one prepared in advance and brought Pokémon that countered its attributes.
Moreover, besides type advantages, she had several trump cards that could be used against Mewtwo.
As for Ye Fan, Gyeol believed his trump cards wouldn't be fewer than hers.
The leaderboard ranking only considered the overall strength of the Pokémon, but did not factor in the trainer's own strength. Not to mention, players also possessed various extraordinary items with different functions.
While it was certainly impossible to completely disable Mewtwo, it was possible to weaken it somewhat..
"I wonder if Caleb will participate in this upcoming Battle Royale..."
'But for an event with no penalties and offering rich rewards, probably no player could refuse, right?'
If that were really the case, then this season's Battle Royale would be interesting.
...
In Yuna's room, Fumitaka looked at the newly updated leaderboard and exclaimed in shock, "Look! Yuna-senpai, he captured Mewtwo!"
Kamala also seemed to think of something and asked in disbelief, "The friend he mentioned, could it be this Mewtwo?"
Yuna smiled helplessly and said, "I don't know either. You can ask him yourselves; he'll be here soon. Oh, look, he's already here..."
Before her words faded, a figure appeared out of thin air in the living room.
Caleb's gaze swept over the three faces, nodded slightly in greeting, then turned his attention to Yuna.
Yuna stood up, pulled up her panel, and scanned his face.
The next second, Caleb received a prompt:
[100 000 points received from player Kozuki Yuna.]
"I just sent it over, did you receive it?" Yuna asked.
Caleb nodded, "Yes. See you later."
He had come in a hurry. After teleporting back to his room and just releasing the Pokémon from their Poké Balls, he had rushed over to collect the bounty.
After saying that, Caleb was about to teleport away, but Fumitaka called out to him at this moment, "Hey hey, wait a second, wait a second!"
Caleb paused, turned back, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fumitaka tentatively asked, "Did you really capture Mewtwo?"
"Mm." Caleb nodded.
"Then can we see it?"
Mewtwo was an icon of a generation. When the movie 'Mewtwo: The First Movie' came out, this Legendary was crowned the strongest Pokémon.
Although many others like Arceus and Giratina came later, Mewtwo remained an enduring belief for some.
Caleb looked at the other's fanboy expression, thought seriously for a moment, then nodded and said, "I'll invite you to my place in a bit."
Hearing this, Fumitaka's face showed a delighted expression.
Caleb smiled and directly teleported back to his room, then chose to invite friends to enter.
With three flashes of white light, Fumitaka and the other two appeared in the living room.
Caleb said, "They should all be playing in the Pokémon Paradise right now. Do you want to go there to take a look or wait here for a while?"
The warm-hearted Dragonite and Mimikyu had pulled Mewtwo along when they returned to show it around all the facilities at home and introduce it to its future home.
Fumitaka couldn't hold back and said, "Let's go to the Paradise! I've never ran into Mewtwo in an Instance before!"
"Alright, come this way." Caleb skillfully led the way, he three guests close behind.
He opened the door to the Pokémon Paradise and was about to speak when he heard a cry of pain from behind.
Fumitaka, who had stepped on something and fell flat on his face, wiped himself as he stood up. He held the culprit that had tripped him and said, "What is this? It hurts so much..."
Caleb looked back and apologized, "Oh that, that's my Pokémon's toy. Usually, no one comes here, so it's messy. Please watch your step!"
'Toy?'
Fumitaka looked oddly at the familiar fiery red, glass ball-like object in his hand. He had seen an object exactly like this in an Instance before.
If he wasn't mistaken, Team Magma used this thing to control the ancient Pokémon Groudon!
'He calls this a Pokémon's toy?' He looked at Caleb in disbelief.
Caleb also felt it wasn't good to leave things lying around randomly. He thought for a moment, walked over, squatted down, and pulled out several items from under the table, behind the cabinet, and beside the sofa.
Along with the one in Fumitaka's hand, he threw them all into Dragonite's dragon nest.
Fumitaka simply felt like questioning his life, 'Am I seeing things?'
Those were the Hoenn region's treasures, the Red Orb and Blue Orb! And not just one pair!
He initially thought Caleb was showing off to him, but soon he realized the other had no such intention, because Caleb treated the orbs like ordinary glass marbles!
Fumitaka suddenly felt that if Caleb got hold of a championship trophy, he would fill it with soil and use it to grow flowers.
"What's wrong?" Caleb turned around, somewhat puzzled at seeing the others hesitate.
Kamala finally reacted at this point. She pointed at the two pairs of red and blue orbs and muttered, "That..."
Caleb took a glance and immediately understood what had happened.
Dragonite and Hydreigon usually liked to roll them around on the ground to play, causing him to also treat these two pairs of orbs as ordinary toys for Pokémon entertainment. He truly hadn't realized how ordinary players would feel upon seeing them.
He said without changing his expression, "Those are the Hoenn region's orbs. I obtained them in an Instance once."
"Then what about that?" Fumitaka pointed at the black, cube-like object on the table.
If he wasn't mistaken, that seemed to be the Spear Key used to open the Spear Pillar in the Sinnoh region. Although it wasn't in its key form now, Fumitaka still recognized its identity at a glance.
Caleb took a look and introduced, "That's the Spear Key. I also brought it out from an Instance."
"Oh, I see." Fumitaka nodded dazedly, clearly looking greatly shocked.
The three silently followed Caleb to the Pokémon Paradise. As the Paradise's owner, he had the authority to locate specific Pokémon.
He glanced at the panel, then used points to buy four of the cheapest mechanical Tauros to serve as transportation.
On the way, Yuna suddenly asked, "Are you participating in this upcoming Battle Royale event?"
Caleb was replying to messages from Terrence and Hatsumi. Not long ago, Hatsumi had created a small chat group for all three of them.
Hearing this question, he nodded, "I'm going."
Yuna asked again, "Have you found a team yet?"
"Yes, but there are only three people now. The team isn't full yet."
"Oh." Yuna nodded, "That's a shame. I was going to invite you to join ours."
Caleb smiled and didn't say anything.
Although Terrence and Hatsumi had some gap in strength compared to Yuna's team, in the early stages, Hatsumi and Terrence had provided him with a lot of help and information. He wasn't the kind of person to forget favors.
Moreover, Caleb didn't believe he had no chance of winning. At worst, he still had an aid card that could summon Giratina.
The moment he displayed his team, Caleb had already prepared himself mentally for being targeted.
Giratina was the big surprise he had prepared for those players. And his Mewtwo was not just any Mewtwo.
It was an experienced Mewtwo that had lived for nearly two hundred years. Additionally, it possessed the ability to Mega Evolve on its own.
To be honest, Caleb also couldn't quite gauge Mewtwo's strength now...
The notification he received upon leaving the Instance had truly shocked him. Adding one Mewtwo directly pushed his ranking to the top; it was simply frightening.
Thinking this, he glanced at the crystal-clear blue heart in his inventory.
[Mewtwo's Heart: Mythical item, condensed from Mewtwo's emotions. This item allows Mewtwo to freely switch between Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y Forms and increases the duration of both forms by 100%. Exclusive to player Caleb Chase.]
Without a doubt, with this, Mewtwo's strength would ascend to another level...
Later, he would find a Twisted Spoon that could increase Psychic-type moves by 20% for Mewtwo. That would truly make his companion a devastating force.
At this moment, Caleb suddenly felt he was unworthy of being Mewtwo's trainer. But he indeed didn't treat Mewtwo as his Pokémon.
Compared to Dragonite and the others, Mewtwo was more like a human. Because of this, Caleb couldn't view it as a pure Pokémon.
Compared to a Pokémon, he felt Mewtwo was more like his friend, a comrade who had fought together and slept in the wilderness.
Soon, the four rode Tauros into a lush forest. At the entrance, they dismounted and proceeded on foot.
The wild Pokémon living here sensed Caleb's presence and poked their heads out of the grass one by one, greeting him in their own ways.
Even a soft Vulpix jumped out of the grass and affectionately rubbed against his's calf.
Caleb squatted down, picked up the little guy, and stroked its soft fur.
Fumitaka felt something was off. He looked around and found many Pokémon lurking in the grass, watching them.
He was stunned for a moment and asked, "Are these all your Pokémon?"
There were so many! From the moment he entered the forest until now, he had seen at least dozens.
The forest was so big, and if there were this many just in this area, then the total must be even more!
But Caleb shook his head and said, "No, they are just wild Pokémon who are living here for the time being."
"How is that possible?" Fumitaka subconsciously wanted to refute, "They are so close to you..."
Hearing this, Caleb looked up at him and said, "The relationship between humans and Pokémon is not limited to just trainer and partner."
Fumitaka then realized his misconception...
In the Pokémon-verse, besides the partner relationship between trainers and Pokémon, there were also friends, companions, and family living together.
He embarrassedly smiled and said, "Then since they are so close to you, you must be a very good friend to them, right?"
Caleb shook his head and said, "No, to them, I might be considered their benefactor."
He had used his Viridian Power to sense these Pokémon's thoughts before, and they indeed held a special feeling of gratitude and thankfulness toward him.