By dinnertime, Archie finally woke up...
Meowth was the first to find Caleb sitting by the river and informed him of the news.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!" Archie glared warily at the trio and the cat before him.
James didn't answer but instead asked, "Should we gag him?"
Caleb quickly reviewed his earlier plans in his mind. Now that he had the SSS-tier Reverse Clock, Archie had become expendable.
He shook his head and said, "Just keep him tied up for now."
"Got it." James hummed.
Being ignored, Archie's face twisted with humiliation. He stared at Caleb's face, feeling a vague sense of familiarity.
When the green Dragonite and Mimikyu flew in together, with their claws linked, realization struck him instantly. His pupils shrank involuntarily as he exclaimed, "It's you!"
Though Caleb hadn't been in this world for long, every move he made had been earth-shattering enough to shock entire regions...
Bombing Team Rocket, kidnapping Mewtwo, indirectly causing Team Rocket's downfall…
The title 'The Man with Dragonite' had trended online for nearly half a month, fueling countless clickbait articles.
Under such circumstances, it was impossible for Archie not to know.
But…
He raised his head and scrutinized the handsome young man before him before asking in shock, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
Caleb glanced at him, a faint smirk playing on his lips as he replied, "Yeah, but how could I rest in peace when you're still alive? So, I crawled out from the grave to take revenge!"
Archie, a towering and burly man, couldn't help but shiver at those words.
It suddenly occurred to him that Giovanni, Cyrus, Maxie… all these once-unrivaled regional overlords had met their end shortly after crossing paths with the young man before him.
So… who was next?
Archie, who had never believed in ghosts or gods, now felt a deep, primal fear... the fear of death itself.
After thoroughly terrifying Archie, Caleb and James turned to leave the room. Before they exited, Meowth somehow produced an old-fashioned iron lock and secured the door tightly.
"Isn't that a bit much?" James said, exasperated.
"Better safe than sorry," Meowth replied while winding the chain.
For dinner, Jessie had prepared curry chicken cutlet rice. Perhaps because the day's operation had gone smoothly, she even made strawberry-sauce-drizzled milk ice cream for everyone, humans and Pokémon alike.
'Cynthia likes this flavor of ice cream too...' The thought popped into Caleb's mind unbidden.
"A toast to the official formation of our squad today! Cheers!" Jessie grinned, her red lips glistening under the white light.
"Cheers!"
Thinking of the item he had just obtained, Caleb felt his mood lift as he clinked glasses with the others.
After a few rounds of drinks, Meowth was visibly tipsy. He lounged lazily in his chair, his cheeks flushed, and using his fluffy paws to rub his round belly.
Mimikyu, having devoured its ice cream at lightning speed, seemed to be in a milk-induced daze. It wobbled over to Caleb's lap, wrapped its tiny claws around him, and nestled its head against his stomach.
Caleb glanced back at Lucario and Dragonite, then stealthily slid his untouched ice cream toward Mimikyu, whispering, "Here, don't let them see."
Mimikyu's eyes sparkled as it looked at its trainer, its face lighting up with joy. It gingerly took the ice cream and settled on Caleb's lap to eat.
Meowth noticed and couldn't resist poking Caleb's shoulder, whispering, "You've been caught nyaa~"
Mimikyu: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ
Caleb turned to see Dragonite staring at him innocently, its mouth smeared with white traces of ice cream.
Keeping a straight face, Caleb beckoned the chonky dragon over, pulled out a tissue, and wiped its mouth.
"Wuu…"
Dragonite narrowed its eyes and glanced down at the ice cream in Mimikyu's claws.
Caleb: "…"
Mimikyu, ever considerate, voluntarily handed over its half-eaten treat.
Dragonite wasn't actually angry... it saw itself as the big brother of the team and believed looking after its 'younger siblings' was its duty.
So, Dragonite promptly placed the half-finished ice cream into Lucario's hands and patted its shoulder approvingly.
Lucario, stared at the ice cream: "…"
Caleb looked at Jessie, who immediately understood and went to the kitchen to bring out extra servings of ice cream.
"Only two servings each, got it?" Caleb reminded them.
"Wuu~"
Dragonite nodded cheerfully, grabbed its ice cream and headed outside, having noticed that the moon was out tonight.
Before leaving, the chonky dragon scooped up Mimikyu from Caleb's lap and dragged Lucario along...
With dinner over, it was finally time to discuss serious matters. Caleb glanced at the empty plates on the table and asked, "If you had one chance to start your lives over, what would you do?"
Hearing this, the trio didn't answer immediately, each lost in thought.
Assuming that this was just post-meal chatter, Meowth thought of his past, back when he learnt human speech to woo Meowzie.
A nostalgic expression crossed his face as he said, "If I could start over, I'd never join Team Rocket, nyaa!"
Jessie and James exchanged glances before sighing softly.
Jessie: "If I could start over, I'd probably still go to Pokémon Medical School."
James: "I'd become a Pokémon researcher."
"But none of that is possible now, nyaa…" Meowth said gloomily.
Caleb listened silently before pulling out a golden card from his inventory before saying, "Actually, it is possible."
The trio instantly looked up...
Meeting their gazes, he explained, "This card item is called Reverse Clock. It can reset everything back to the beginning."
Though he hadn't explicitly stated his identity, the trio weren't fools... They had pieced together clues from his strange items.
Yet, even the usually composed James couldn't help widening his eyes in disbelief, asking, "You can really go back to the past?"
Caleb nodded slightly, then suddenly remembered something. He said, "We can go back, but I don't know if you'll retain your memories after the reset."
Jessie asked with a frown, "Then… will you exist in that reset world?"
Caleb nodded, "Yes."
This world's ruin had begun with a player, and now he was ending it. In a way, it was a fitting conclusion.
Hearing this confirmation, Jessie's expression grew conflicted.
After exchanging glances with James and Meowth, she made a request, "Could you… do us a favor?"