{T/N: Today is the last day of the poll. Tomorrow, I'll be implementing the winning option...
By the way, the '2 fixed daily updates' option is winning by 5:1...}
....
~Pastoria City Hotel~
The moment Caleb and Cynthia returned, the task completion notification came up:
[Unique Hidden Quest "Emergency Rescue" Completed!]
[Quest rewards have been sent to the player's Inventory!]
'Hmm? Weren't Mesprit and Uxie's gifts supposed to be Emotional Power and Wisdom Power?'
Puzzled, Caleb opened his inventory and scrolled to the bottom. Instead of the expected Emotional Power and Wisdom Power, there were ten coin-shaped unfamiliar items...
- Special Attack Boost (Lv.6): One-time use item. Greatly increases a Pokémon's Special Attack in battle for 12 hours...
'Well, this item isn't bad either.' he mused.
He didn't have an immediate use for it though. After all, Mimikyu, Dragonite, and Lucario were all physical attackers.
The red, yellow, and blue Lake Guardians finally reunited, hugging each other joyfully. However, Mesprit and Uxie had most of their energy drained by Team Galactic and were now exhausted. They soon fell into a deep sleep on the bed.
Seeing this, Caleb yawned. It was already late. He got up to take a shower, during which he heard two door sounds from outside but didn't pay them much attention.
When he stepped out wrapped in a bathrobe, he noticed Cynthia had already returned to her own room.
"Wuu!"
Dragonite, sitting by the bed, called out and pointed at the table, signaling Caleb to look.
He turned and saw a sky-blue gift box and a note on the table. He froze for a moment, then glanced questioningly at Dragonite.
"Wuu wuu~" (That girl brought it over~)
Dragonite replied.
"Cynthia? Why would she give me a gift?" Caleb didn't react immediately.
He took a lollipop from the drawer, unwrapped it, popped it into his mouth, then walked over and picked up the note.
Written in elegant, graceful handwriting were the words:
<...Happy New Year, little liar!..>
*Crunch!*
Caleb bit down on the lollipop, smiling slightly as he pulled over a chair, stepped onto it, and unwrapped the gift box.
Dragonite curiously leaned in to watch. Caleb rubbed its chubby little face, then lifted the lid of the box.
[Congratulations! Player Caleb Chase has received Cynthia's gift: Cherish Ball!]
«Cherish Ball: A somewhat precious Poké Ball with commemorative significance. Exclusive to Player Caleb Chase...»
Seeing the 'can be taken out of the Instance' note, Caleb breathed a sigh of relief.
If it had been some Pikachu plushie or ceramic figurine, he wouldn't have been able to take it with him.
On the other hand, seeing it was just a Poké Ball, Dragonite lost interest and turned to go back to munching on Pokéblocks with Mimikyu and Lucario.
Noticing this, Caleb quickly grabbed the chonky dragon and opened his inventory to use the Gacha opportunity. The familiar spinning wheel appeared.
Being held in place, Dragonite tilted its head in confusion: "Wuu?"
Caleb hugged Dragonite's paw. Though the chonky dragon didn't understand what its trainer was doing, it obediently extended its claw.
*Tap!*
The next second, the wheel spun wildly as if possessed.
Caleb watched while holding Dragonite's paw.
Soon, the wheel stopped, glowing with a golden light...
*Ding!*
[Congratulations! You have obtained the SSR item "Gardevoirite"!]
- Gardevoirite: A Mega Stone that allows Gardevoir to Mega Evolve when held alongside a Mega Bracelet...
"Uh..." Caleb didn't have a Gardevoir, nor had he encountered any Instances that could yield a Mega Bracelet.
"Wuu..."
Dragonite whined helplessly, wanting its paw back.
With no immediate use for it, Caleb tossed the Mega Stone to the bottom of his Inventory and released Dragonite to go rest.
Just as he was about to sleep, Terrence woke up...
Rubbing his empty stomach, he emerged from his Poké Ball, about to speak when he spotted the red, yellow, and blue Lake Guardians lying side by side on the bed.
"What the–! What's going on here?!" he rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked at Caleb, "You can catch Legendaries now?"
Caleb twitched his lips, pulled out some food from his inventory, and tossed it over, "How can you sleep for so long?"
Terrence sat on the table, eating as he asked, "So, did you really catch these three?"
Caleb shook his head, "No, it's just a hidden quest. They're only staying here for the night and will probably leave tomorrow."
"Damn, Terrence bro!" Terrence couldn't help but give a thumbs-up, "You've really changed!"
Caleb: "..."
He placed Smeargle's Poké Ball on the table and handed him an 888 Pokédollar red packet.
"I'm going to sleep. If you get bored later, you can go out for a walk. Oh, and we're in Pastoria City."
Terrence had no plans to go out. He was afraid of being captured by some wild trainer... and besides, this carefree life of eating and sleeping suited his lazy player nature just fine.
As he ate, his gaze wandered around the room until it landed on the note on the table.
He read it aloud word by word: "Happy New Year, little liar..."
"New Year? What New Year?"
Caleb burrowed into his little blanket and explained, "Today is probably New Year's Day in our world, the one outside the Infinite World. The system even released a special event quest, but you slept through it."
Terrence gasped as he caught the key detail, "Wait!"
"What?"
"So this is from Cynthia?" Terrence's eyes widened.
He knew only Cynthia called Caleb 'little liar'... But how did she know it was New Year?
A horrifying thought suddenly struck him. He turned to Caleb in disbelief, "Did you tell Cynthia about the Infinite World?!"
Caleb rolled his eyes and replied, "Do you think I'd still be lying here and chatting with you if I had?"
"Then how did she know?!"
Caleb shrugged, "She figured it out herself. Cynthia is much smarter than you think."
"You must've hinted at it!" Terrence recalled what happened in Snowpoint City and couldn't help but say, "You're playing with fire, man! Aren't you afraid the system will detect it and kick you out?"
Caleb: "I didn't say a single word."
Terrence gulped, looking at him with admiration and giving a thumbs-up, "Damn, bro! You're on another level! I bet no other player in the entire Infinite World has the balls to do what you're doing!"