This was an endless, boundless grassland...
Above, the night sky was adorned with countless stars, while the fields around them bloomed with a variety of pale wildflowers.
Caleb remained in his crouched position, the kinetic assault rifle he had taken from the old woman still strapped to his back, and Dragonite's Poké Ball clutched in his left hand.
He stood up and surveyed his surroundings...
No neon-lit skyscrapers. No futuristic airships. No blaring sirens or the relentless chatter of gunfire. Clearly, he was no longer within Rocket City's borders.
Without a map, he had no way of knowing his exact location, or where the Escape Rope had transported him.
Gardevoir stood silently beside him, "Master, what should we do now?"
Caleb fell into thought.
The main quest of this Instance was overwhelmingly difficult. With just his own strength, there was no way he could overthrow Team Rocket, which now ruled the entire Kanto region.
And this was an era where even elderly women could wield firearms with deadly efficiency.
'Can Pokémon withstand attacks from high-tech weaponry?'
He didn't know. But based on the clues he had gathered so far, the relationship between humans and Pokémon in this world had drastically changed compared to seventy years ago.
From the moment he entered this Instance until now, aside from the Farfetch'd that had been thrown onto a grill, he hadn't seen a single wild Pokémon.
Was this normal in the Pokémon world? Of course not...
Where had all the wild Pokémon gone? How far had Team Rocket progressed? What level had this world's technology reached? Who was the true mastermind behind this version of Team Rocket?
To find the answers to these questions, Caleb had to return to Rocket City. But before that… he needed to get some sleep.
So he pulled out a travel tent from his inventory, set it up on the ground, and crawled inside.
The night passed without incident...
....
The next morning, Caleb was awoken by gunfire...
He opened his eyes, momentarily disoriented... as if he'd somehow been transported to a warzone in Syria.
As a domestic service robot, Gardevoir didn't need sleep, so Caleb had entrusted her with night watch duty.
In a flash of white light, Gardevoir materialized inside the tent. She still had the same cold and domineering persona. Said persona was also efficient and ruthless.
"Someone's coming," she said.
Caleb's senses sharpened, and he quickly snapped into full alertness. He got up, packed away the tent, swapped Gardevoir for Dragonite, and took to the skies to survey the situation below.
The gunfire grew louder...
Soon, he saw heavily armed humans advancing like a net closing in, sweeping across the land. Ammunition belts hung from their waists, their hands gripping futuristic firearms of varying designs.
And ahead of them was a panicked herd of wild Pokémon; Tauros, Sunflora, Breloom, Deerling…
Gun barrels spat fire.
The 'hunters' followed at a leisurely pace, as if this were nothing more than a casual sport. Every gunshot meant another Pokémon fell.
This wasn't a hunt... It was a massacre.
The desperate cries of Deerling echoed across the plains. Seeing their companions gunned down, the groups of Breloom stopped in helpless grief, trying to drag the wounded to safety, only for searing steel bullets to pierce their skulls the next second.
The hunters laughed wildly, their eyes alight with bloodthirsty excitement, utterly reveling in the carnage.
Some were amateurs, their movements clumsy. Others were seasoned killers, their actions smooth and practiced.
But one thing was clear... this wasn't their first time playing this game...
Rage burned in Caleb and Dragonite's eyes.
"Use Draco Meteor, at full power!"
Caleb's brows furrowed sharply as he activated a Special Attack-boosting token.
- Special Attack Boost (Lv. 6): A one-time-use item that greatly increases a Pokémon's Special Attack in battle.
- Duration: 12 hours...
The sky turned molten red in an instant.
A scene straight out of the apocalypse unfolded over the endless plains. Thick and oppressive Draconic energy condensed into meteors above.
The hunters on the ground stared up in shock, their faces frozen in dawning horror. They would never have imagined that this would be the last sky they ever saw.
And then...
The meteors fell.
The world shattered.
The apocalypse descended.
Caleb watched coldly as the devastation unfolded below.
A few lucky survivors saw their comrades being reduced to pulp, and lost all courage. They dropped their guns, scrambling away in sheer terror.
"Kill them. Don't let a single one escape."
Caleb released Mimikyu and Lucario, then mounted Dragonite, charging toward one of the fleeing men.
One man collapsed in fear as Dragonite landed before him.
"Y-you… What are you?!" he stammered.
"Answer my questions, or die," Caleb said, his tone ice cold.
"I-I'll talk! I'll tell you everything I know!" The man's eyes darted to the gathering flames in Dragonite's maw.
Caleb's gaze was devoid of pity.
"Where is this place? Who are you people?"
"T-this is Paradise! We… we're just ordinary citizens of Rocket City!"
Caleb glanced at the man's high-end gear, each piece worth a small fortune.
*Click*
In silence, he shouldered the rifle, loaded a round, and pressed the barrel to the man's forehead.
"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" he asked.
He had seen the so-called 'ordinary citizens' of Rocket City yesterday.
The man's eyes darted nervously.
He had already sent a distress signal through his smart bracelet when he started running. All he had to do was stall until backup arrived.
"I'm not lying!" He raised his hands in surrender, "I came here with a rich friend! I've never been to a place like this before!"
An ordinary person might have pressed further. But Caleb wasn't ordinary. He had no patience for liars...
His finger squeezed the trigger. He never planned to let this man leave alive anyway.
*Bang!*
Silence reclaimed the land.
Mimikyu and Lucario had dealt with the remaining enemies, returning to their trainer's side.
Caleb turned his gaze to the wild Pokémon that had managed to escape into the distance.
Then, his eyes fell upon those too injured to flee.
'If I could save even one…'
With that thought, he led Dragonite, Mimikyu, and Lucario to a badly wounded Deerling, its breathing shallow.
Sensing movement, the Deerling struggled to lift its eyelids, its eyes filled with despair and terror.
Ignoring its bleeding abdomen, it tried to crawl away, but after barely two meters, it collapsed from blood loss, slipping into unconsciousness...