In the year 2077 of the Pokémon League calendar, Vermilion City was wiped off the map overnight, leaving behind only a massive crater as if struck by a meteor...
The crater connected to the sea, and surging seawater poured into it, forming a vast natural lake.
No one knew what had truly happened in Vermilion City that day.
Three days after the city's disappearance...
After delivering Reika and the others to the Resistance base in the Johto region, Mewtwo left alone.
The next day, news broke that Team Rocket's headquarters had been razed in a bloodbath.
Dealt another heavy blow, Giovanni flew into a rage and engaged Mewtwo in a final decisive battle in Rocket City.
Mewtwo abandoned its previous combat style, ignoring the Deoxys and going straight for Giovanni, who was commanding from the rear.
A tsunami of psychic energy erupted, instantly crushing Giovanni's mortal body into dust... In his final moments, Giovanni activated the orbital weapon once more.
The next second, the entire Rocket City was engulfed by a milky-white hemisphere of light... The once-prosperous metropolis, along with tens of thousands of its inhabitants, was buried under that terrifying radiance.
Bathed in the almost holy white light, Mewtwo did not evade. It raised its head, its eyes reflecting something akin to liberation.
The sins and punishments it had borne over the years were finally released in this moment...
....
In Dialga's temporal dimension, the concept of time did not exist. Through the time rifts scattered around, one could travel to any point in time...
But with Dialga and Palkia critically injured, those rifts suddenly morphed into pitch-black vortices, swirling violently.
"To be precise, this is the temporal prison Cyrus used to exile criminals," Ash said with a helpless shrug.
He couldn't remember how long he'd been trapped here. Maybe it had been days, or maybe centuries.
'Well, it seems that at the critical moment, Dialga had sent me here...' Caleb thought for a moment, then looked up at the grown version of Ash before him.
Through their earlier conversation, he'd learned why Ash was here and had also revealed his identity as someone from the future.
Ash wasn't surprised by this. He only asked, "Did we win?"
Caleb opened his mouth, recalling what the Team Rocket trio had told him, and shook his head, "No."
Compared to the Ash from the anime, this Ash was far more mature and composed.
He didn't show any visible emotional reaction to this answer, only a hint of unwillingness as he pressed on, "Then... can you tell me what the world is like in your time?"
Caleb thought for a moment and answered truthfully, "A living hell. But we're still fighting."
Ash: "..."
He pressed his lips together, fists clenching involuntarily.
Ash fell silent, while Caleb stood up to search for a way out.
Though this was Dialga's temporal dimension, Dialga itself wasn't here.
Caleb wandered around cautiously, afraid of accidentally stepping into an unknown point in time.
As he moved, he also noticed several newly refreshed notifications:
[Congratulations! You have successfully liberated Dialga! Quest progress +1!]
[Reward: SSS-grade Item Fragment x1!]
[Congratulations! You have successfully liberated Palkia...]
[Congratulations! You have successfully liberated Uxie...]
[Congratulations! You have successfully liberated Mesprit...]
[Congratulations! You have successfully liberated Azelf...]
Caleb froze for a second before quickly realizing: With Cyrus dead, the Red Chain on him was naturally destroyed, freeing the Temporal and Spatial duo, as well as the Lake Guardians, from its control.
Liberating five Legendary Pokémon at once netted him five SSS-grade item fragments.
Combined with the ones from Mewtwo and the Aura Guardian quest, Caleb now had a total of seven SSS-grade fragments...
[You have collected six SSS-grade item fragments. You may now synthesize an SSS-grade item. Proceed?]
"Synthesize!"
*Ding!*
[Synthesis complete!]
[Congratulations on obtaining the SSS-grade items
[The Book of Answers (SSS-grade): The player may silently ask a question in their heart, and after one second, open the book to see the answer to the question. Permanent item.
- Limited to three uses per Instance.]
[Warp Beacon (SSS-grade): The player may freely teleport to unlocked map locations.
- Current world: L000... Cannot travel across Instances.]
«Unlocked Maps»
- World B612: Kanto Region [Click for details], Hoenn Region [Click for details], Sinnoh Region [Click for details], Alola Region [Click for details]
- World C384: Kanto Region: Deserted Island, Vermilion City...
- World L000 (Collapsed World): Vermilion City, Pallet Town, Rocket City, Mt. Moon...
After reading this, a bold guess formed in Caleb's mind.
To test it, he took out The Book of Answers and silently asked in his heart:
'Are all the Instances I've experienced part of the same world?'
One second later, he opened the book.
The page read:
{..No. When a player enters an Instance, the Infinite World automatically records the affinity of major NPCs toward the player.
When affinity reaches a certain threshold, the player's next Instance will automatically take place in that world.
If three major NPCs' affinity for the player exceeds 50, that world Scenario will become the player's dedicated world. Subsequent Instances will then refresh within that world..}
Caleb understood... 'B612 is my dedicated world!'
In his first Instance, 'Infernal Affairs', Lance remembered him, so his second Instance, 'Bug Catcher', still took place in that world.
Judging by the regions listed under B612, it wasn't hard to guess that the 'Transformation and Substitution' Instance also happened there.
Which meant... he could still meet Lance, Steven, and Cynthia again!
Caleb's fighting spirit instantly reignited... Though right now, the most important thing was to escape this place.
Normally, without Dialga here, there would be no way to leave voluntarily. But Caleb wasn't an ordinary person. He was a player from the Infinite World, armed with special abilities.
Whether it was the Escape Rope or the newly acquired Warp Beacon, both could get him out.
Ash, who had been silent until now, finally snapped out of his thoughts and noticed Caleb's excited expression, his head tilting in confusion.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Caleb remembered Ash at that moment. After a moment's thought, he took out his last Escape Rope and handed it over, saying simply, "Use this to leave."
Ash: "???"
"Just pull it, and you'll be out," Caleb explained, assuming Ash didn't know how to use it.
Though the idea of escaping a temporal prison with a rope sounded absurd, Ash's instincts told him this wasn't a joke.
He didn't try it immediately... instead, he looked up and asked, "What about you?"
"Don't worry, I can leave too." Caleb said, already thinking about the situation outside.
Ash's mind was still a mess. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask more about the future, but for some reason, the words that came out were: "We will succeed, right?"
Caleb was taken aback...
But Ash grinned slightly, "That's good... Everyone is still fighting. Thank you, Caleb!"
With that, he pulled the Escape Rope. The next second, he vanished from the temporal prison...