- Toxic: A Poison-type move that inflicts a Poisoned state on the opponent, with poison damage increasing over time...
Grass-types have a double weakness to Poison. Using a Poison-type move against that Dark Celebi would be twice as effective, not to mention Toxic is such an annoying move.
As long as the opponent successfully becomes badly poisoned, Caleb could simply take Celebi to the edge and wait it out. Victory would just be a matter of time.
Hearing this response, Celebi let out a confused hum, fluttered its transparent wings, and lightly landed on Caleb's shoulder.
The surrounding players who saw this immediately showed expressions of envy.
They whispered among themselves:
"Look, it's Celebi! Who's that guy?"
"As far as I know, the number of players in the Infinite World who own a Celebi can be counted on one hand. Considering that person's appearance and demeanor, I think the answer is pretty obvious," a veteran player said seriously.
The passerby standing next to him widened his eyes in disbelief and asked, "The one who caught Mewtwo?"
The veteran player nodded emphatically, his gaze fixed on the handsome young man over there, and said, "The first Mewtwo in the entire history of the Infinite World."
The passerby asked, "Has no one ever caught a Mewtwo before?"
The veteran player shook his head, "Sadly, no."
The passerby then thought of the Achievement notifications that had flashed across the sky over the years and murmured, "So, what exactly did he do in that Instance…"
The answer to this question was destined to remain unknown to the world...
…
Caleb browsed around the commercial district. He saw quite a few TMs for Substitute and Protect, but he didn't see a single one for Toxic...
He regretfully bought all the Substitute and Protect TMs available and was just about to check elsewhere when he received a message from Yuna:
{Yuna: I have one.}
Before Caleb could reply, a notification popped up:
[Your friend is inviting you to her home. Accept?]
'Yes!'
Everything before him changed rapidly. With a flash of dazzling white light, when Caleb opened his eyes again, he was already in Yuna's home.
Without a word, Yuna tossed over a purple disc-shaped item.
[You have received a gift from a friend: Toxic.]
Caleb stored it in his inventory and asked, "How many points? I'll transfer them to you."
Yuna waved her hand, leaning lazily on the sofa while holding a Flareon, and said, "No need! Consider it my farewell gift to you!"
Caleb paused and looked up, "You're leaving?"
Yuna hummed in agreement, then took out a ticket printed with a red and white Poké Ball pattern from her inventory and said with a smile, "I'm tired of this Instance-running life. It's time to settle down and enjoy my retirement."
Caleb was somewhat puzzled, "But didn't you say yesterday that you were going to participate in the battle royale event?"
"But I can't get first place... I've seen the outcome of that event," Yuna explained, "Besides, I've already saved up enough points to buy the World Residence ticket long ago. Players of my caliber don't lack points."
Here, she paused, then looked up at Caleb and said, "The number one player on the leaderboard receives a monthly reward of 50 000 points from the Infinite World. Players at the Master rank in the Battle Arena also get 50 000 points each month."
Hearing this, Caleb remembered what Hatsumi had once said... Indeed, the difference between people was stark.
Poor Hatsumi had been here for so many years and only managed to save a few hundred thousand points.
'Is this the gap between high-level and low-level players? No, I need to check out the Battle Arena later, raise my rank, and strive to save up enough points for retirement sooner...'
But before that, he had to deal with the first-floor boss of the Extreme Realm.
After saying goodbye to Yuna, Caleb teleported back home.
After using the Toxic TM on Celebi, he once again entered the Extreme Realm Instance with Celebi.
The eighth challenge officially began!
Following the same route as last time, Caleb quickly arrived at the shrine where the Dark Celebi was.
There, he instructed Celebi to use Toxic. As a deep purple glow merged into the Dark Celebi's body, and upon being activation, the Dark Celebi also fell into a badly poisoned state.
Caleb quickly commanded, "Retreat!"
"Bi!" Celebi immediately turned around and flew into the surrounding forest at high speed.
Once again, the Dark Celebi was kited. However, unlike last time, it now had the Toxic debuff on it.
Everything proceeded according to plan, orderly and methodical.
Same route, same turning point. For the second time, the Dark Celebi failed to dodge in time and crashed headfirst into a large tree, sliding down from it.
Having done this before, Celebi's battle experience had clearly improved. Facing the stunned Dark Celebi, it directly used Ancient Power to sneak in damage.
Soon, the forest once again emitted an eerie hum. Countless branches and vines flew in from all directions, layer upon layer, encircling the Dark Celebi like a suit of armor.
"Create distance, don't get drawn into a fight!" Caleb commanded sternly.
"Bi!" Celebi's little heart was also tense at this moment. It responded and swiftly turned around, fleeing in another direction, soon disappearing from sight.
The Forest Giant, having suddenly lost its target, could only wander aimlessly like a zombie, causing destruction across this fragmented Forest Map.
In an inconspicuous dark thicket in a corner, Caleb and Celebi lay in ambush, only their eyes visible as they observed the situation outside.
Celebi, having successfully escaped, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. A battle of this intensity had strained its spirit to the extreme. It nervously watched the movements of the Forest Giant.
One minute passed, two minutes passed, three minutes passed.
Time slipped away unnoticed.
The air was very quiet, so quiet that Caleb could hear the beating of Celebi's tiny heart.
As time went on, the movements of the Forest Giant gradually slowed down.
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. In fact, it was so long, that Caleb's arm had gone somewhat numb. At that point, the giant's massive body finally fell to the ground with a thunderous crash...
*Ding!*
[Extreme Realm 'Hell Chapter' Tier 1 cleared. Opponent successfully defeated.]
[Time taken: 20 minutes 18 seconds.]
[Rewards:
"Finally!"
Seeing this, Caleb and Celebi exchanged a look of tacit understanding and both let out sighs of relief.
Their highly strained spirits finally relaxed at this moment. Celebi's entire body went limp as it slumped to the ground from exhaustion, but following that was a sense of exhilaration from overcoming a powerful enemy.
Celebi, who had always loved peace and hated fighting, even felt like doing it again at this moment...