Today marked the fifth day since the deserted island survival Instance opened...
The further along they progressed, the more difficult the players' circumstances became... No food, harsh living conditions.
The enemies were too strong, with no supplies or healing available. Even if all seven players cooperated, it would be nearly impossible to defeat so many powerful Gigantamax Pokémon in succession.
Thinking this, Caleb couldn't help but feel a sense of confusion. He vaguely felt that he might have misunderstood something. Aside from punishment Instances, the Infinite World would never throw players into a Scenario where the difficulty vastly outstripped their capabilities.
Gigantamax Pokémon didn't appear during the day, so Caleb waited until nightfall before heading to the southern zone with Dragonite.
Before he even reached the area, an earth-shaking roar erupted from below. To avoid repeating yesterday's mistake, he didn't charge in recklessly. Instead, he immediately used Scout on the colossal creature below from the air...
[Dynamax Tyranitar: Lv. 100]
'Perfect...'
He silently turned around and left the southern zone with Dragonite, flying toward the northern area instead.
Atop the volcano standing at the center of the northern zone, a massive, crimson Pokémon with countless legs lining its sides crawled out from the molten depths.
[Gigantamax Centiskorch: Lv. 100]
Caleb: "..."
Without hesitation, he departed the northern zone and returned to the western area to find Luna.
Luna had taken off her shoes and was playing in the water barefoot with Pachirisu. Seeing Caleb return so soon, she blinked in surprise and glanced behind him, "Where are the allies?"
Caleb parted his lips slightly, thinking to himself that even if he had brought Ursaring and the others, they'd just be cannon fodder against max-level Tyranitar and Centiskorch.
He had initially thought Gigantamax Butterfree was already the pinnacle of this Instance's difficulty. Yet the other two zones' Gigantamax Pokémon turned out to be even more absurd.
Seeing his expression, Luna vaguely realized something was wrong. A sense of foreboding washed over her as she asked nervously, "Did the allies refuse to come?"
Caleb shook his head and said solemnly, "No. I just went to scout the other two zones... The Pokémon occupying the southern and northern areas are a max-level Dynamax Tyranitar and a max-level Gigantamax Centiskorch."
Hearing this, Luna felt her vision go white. She asked in disbelief, "Are you sure you didn't misread?"
"Of course." Caleb directly pulled up the Scouting logs as proof.
Luna took one look and immediately summoned her panel to confirm if she had really entered a standard survival Instance, not a punishment Instance meant for penalizing players.
Caleb remained relatively calm and could still think rationally.
Expression unchanging, he opened the clue fragment he had obtained from Dynamax Mamoswine.
[Clue Fragment 2 - Time Limit: ?, Gigantamax Pokémon]
Lost in thought, he suddenly asked, "How did you say you obtained your clue fragment?"
Luna had been mentally cursing the Infinite World for glitching. Hearing the question, it took her a moment to react before answering, "From a hidden quest with a Roserade."
'Case closed.'
Caleb decisively overturned his previous speculation regarding the meaning of 'Gigantamax Pokémon' in the clue fragment...
If the clue fragments weren't hidden on other Gigantamax Pokémon, then what did these five characters signify?
Luna also saw the Clue Fragment 2 that Caleb displayed and grew even more despairing: "I know what it means... it's telling us that in order to complete the main quest, we have to defeat the Gigantamax Pokémon on this island!"
As she spoke, Luna was so furious, she nearly passed out on the spot: "This isn't a quest we can possibly complete! Stupid Instance! Stupid quest! Stupid Gigantamax!"
Caleb: "..."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Actually, we still have a chance."
Luna immediately turned to look at him.
Seeing this, Caleb continued, "Let's make a bold conjecture... what would happen if two Gigantamax Pokémon encountered each other..."
The Gigantamax Pokémon here lacked self-awareness, rampaging purely on instinct.
Under such circumstances, if two Gigantamax Pokémon met, it would inevitably trigger an all-out war.
Luna's eyes lit up, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?"
Caleb nodded, "You could say that, but I think it's more like 'two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away with it'..."
Luna took a deep breath, then said, "Let's do it! If this works, I'll call you Papi!"
Caleb: "...That won't be necessary."
Luna was puzzled, "Why not? Don't guys like being called Papi by girls?"
Caleb choked slightly and said helplessly, "Where did you hear that..."
Luna replied, "A friend who's been in a relationship told me!" She suddenly grew interested, "Hey, why don't you be my boyfriend?"
She looked Caleb up and down... His appearance and physique perfectly matched her standards for an ideal partner...
She continued earnestly, "I've never been in a relationship before. Want to give it a try? That way, even if we fail the main quest and get stuck in this Instance forever, at least we won't have regrets in life."
Caleb corrected her, "Your life, not mine. My other Pokémon are still waiting for me outside... Also, rather than wasting time on this, we should focus on figuring out which two Pokémon to lure together so we can finish the quest and leave sooner."
Luna stared at him in disbelief, "You're seriously such a blockhead? Am I really that ugly?"
Caleb was confused... what did this have to do with looks? He obediently took a good look at Luna...
She had fair skin, delicate features, and radiated youthful vitality... She was the very image of a campus belle that anyone would fawn over.
But when it came to relationships, chemistry mattered most. Without that spark, even the most breathtaking beauty wouldn't stir his heart.
Luna felt a little hurt. Over the years, she had never lacked male admirers, but had never accepted any of them. Now, when she finally met someone decent, she got rejected outright.
She sighed and said, "Forget it, forget it. Let's talk about the main issue..."
Caleb nodded and said seriously, "Currently, there are three Gigantamax/Dynamax Pokémon on land; Dynamax Tyranitar in the south, Gigantamax Centiskorch in the north, and Gigantamax Butterfree here."
Luna composed herself and began analyzing earnestly, "I think we should lure Centiskorch here first. Its typing counters Butterfree. Then we can draw Tyranitar to Centiskorch's location. Oh, can the Lapras in the ocean come ashore?"
Caleb had the same idea...
After a moment's thought, he said, "It should be possible. I'll go try talking to it later. But right now, the priority is dealing with these three on land."
Lapras wouldn't come ashore for now, so it posed no threat to the wild Pokémon living on the island...