Mimikyu and Lucario stared at each other...
Neither of these Pokémon had particularly cheerful personalities, so neither made the first move to greet the other.
Hatsumi couldn't stand it anymore. She walked over holding two Poké Balls and said, "Here, your Big Dog and Second Dog!"
Caleb took them, speechless, "…What kind of terrible names are these?"
Hatsumi gestured toward Dragonite with her chin, "Look at it. Is there any difference between it and a Husky?"
Caleb seriously recalled the scene he had walked in on earlier...
'Yeah, there really isn't much difference.' he mused.
Caleb: "What happened in the Instance? Why did Dragonite suddenly become like this?"
"You'll have to ask Mewtwo about that. I don't know what Mewtwo said to it, but after their talk, it turned into this mess."
'No way… Mewtwo wouldn't be bored enough to scare someone else's Pokémon, right?'
Caleb was at a loss for words.
Hatsumi pointed toward the bar counter, "Want to go chat over there?"
"Sure." Caleb nodded.
He placed Mimikyu into Lucario's arms, then guided the bewildered Lucario and Dragonite to a dining table, sitting them down. From his inventory, he took out several PokeBlocks and freshly squeezed Berry Juice, then set them in front of the three Pokémon.
"Get to know each other first. I'll take you all back in a bit." With that, he walked over to the bar counter with Hatsumi and took a seat.
"What'll you have? Juice or a cocktail?" Hatsumi asked.
"Just an orange juice." Caleb had just come from home and wasn't particularly thirsty.
The Mime Jr. behind the counter happily turned around, took two cans of orange juice from the fridge, stuck straws in them, and placed them in front of the two.
Caleb: "How long did it take you to find that island?"
"Not long, maybe about half a day?" Hatsumi calculated before answering.
Caleb was stunned, "That fast? Impossible."
Hatsumi: "Of course it wouldn't be possible at normal speed. Luckily, Mewtwo was there."
"...You have no idea how terrifying the situation was. After you left the Instance, Mewtwo snapped out of it and realized you were gone. It rushed straight at me, demanding to know where you'd gone."
Caleb: "…What did you say?"
"I just told it you were from another world. No idea if it believed me, but after I said that, it used its psychic powers to teleport us across the ocean."
Hatsumi glanced at Caleb, then continued, "I think if you had stayed just a little longer, you might've broken through Mewtwo's emotional barriers, tamed it, and brought it into the Infinite World. Tsk tsk, what a shame. As far as I know, not a single player in the Infinite World has ever managed to capture Mewtwo."
Caleb: "…"
There was no point dwelling on regrets...
Caleb pushed the matter aside and pulled up his inventory to tally his current assets:
[Achievement Points Balance: 7]
[Points Balance: 2650]
[Technical Machines: Yawn x1]
[Items:
[Titles Obtained: Gigantamax Slayer...]
He showed the panel to Hatsumi and said seriously, "Thanks for this time. See if there's anything here you can use."
Hatsumi waved her hand dismissively, "No need for thanks. You helped me a lot too, didn't you? If it weren't for you, I probably would've failed my main quest this time…"
As she spoke, her eyes scanned down Caleb's inventory before stopping at the 'Gigantamax Slayer' title.
"Gigantamax Slayer…" Hatsumi murmured. She looked up at Caleb and asked, "A newly obtained title?"
Caleb nodded, glancing back at Mimikyu before explaining, "The effect increases all damage dealt to enemies larger than my Pokémon by 10%."
"10%?!" Hatsumi's voice sounded shocked, "You're not mistaken, are you?"
Caleb found her reaction strange, "What's wrong? Is there something off about it?"
"Of course there is! I remember the top-ranked title on the leaderboard only increases the power of Fire-type moves by 5%!"
As she spoke, Hatsumi seemed to suddenly remember something. She reached out and pulled up a panel from thin air:
«Player Title Rankings»
1. Gigantamax Slayer, SSS, Owner: ???
2. Fire-Type Training Master, SS, Owner: Yegor Ignatov
3. Combat Specialist, SS, Owner: Babu
Hatsumi pointed at the top-ranked title, "So… this is you?"
Caleb thought for a moment, "If titles can't be duplicated, then yeah, that's definitely me."
Hatsumi looked like she was questioning reality. Logically, players who made it onto the rankings shouldn't be able to hide their real names.
The only reason a row of question marks would appear like this was if the player hadn't unlocked the ranking system yet, meaning their name couldn't be displayed.
Hatsumi: "So you really are just a newbie who's only been in a few Instance runs?"
Caleb nodded honestly, "Including Deserted Island Survival, I've only been through three Instances so far."
"What exactly did you do in that last Instance?" Hatsumi couldn't help but ask.
Caleb thought about it, then replied, "Not much, really. Mostly, I was misled by the clues the Instance gave me."
He explained all the ways the Deserted Island Survival Scenario had tried to screw players over.
After listening, Hatsumi's eyes widened, "And then you just casually took out those max-level Gigantamax Pokémon?"
Caleb corrected her, "Not casually. I couldn't beat them. I had to trick them into fighting each other. I didn't expect the Instance to count their defeats as my doing when calculating rewards."
Hatsumi: "…"
She didn't know what to say. She just felt inexplicably exhausted.
Caleb noticed her expression and stood up to leave, "You should get some rest. I'll head back first. Message me if you need anything."
"Wait!" Just as Caleb was about to turn away, Hatsumi stopped him.
She took out a red sash from her inventory and handed it to him, "Focus Sash. It's a drop I got in the last Instance. I don't need it, so it's yours."
Caleb didn't refuse. Both Mimikyu and Lucario could make good use of it.
After a moment's thought, he took out the Yawn TM from his inventory and tossed it to Hatsumi, "Here, a gift in return."
Hatsumi chuckled, "You really are… something else."
"See you around." Caleb turned and led Mimikyu, Lucario, and Dragonite back to his room.
It was clear Dragonite was completely exhausted from the Instance. The moment they got home, it flopped straight into its little nest and fell into a deep sleep.
Seeing this, Caleb felt a pang of concern. He asked Gardevoir to scan Dragonite's condition.
"Don't worry, Master. It's just extremely tired. A good night's rest will be enough," Gardevoir reassured him.
Hearing this, Caleb relaxed slightly. When he turned around, he saw Lucario sitting stiffly on the sofa.
Mimikyu took out its treasured PokeBlocks and offered them to Lucario.
Lucario pursed its lips and silently accepted the treats. It had never seen food like this before.
And so, Lucario hesitated, unsure how to even begin eating them...