After finishing lunch, Caleb and his Pokémon snuggled on the sofa to watch a movie, then he dove back into the Battle Arena to continue his grind to climb up the ranks.
He didn't have much time. There was only a day and a half left before the start of the Battle Royale event. The event would last for three days, and once it ended, it would be time to enter the next Instance.
Caleb had to take advantage of the time now to quickly rank up and secure the Master Ball tier's monthly reward of 50 000 points.
Since he needed to rank up quickly, Caleb didn't continue using the time-consuming strategy from the morning. Instead, he directly brought out Mewtwo.
Once the Pokémon was confirmed, the matchmaking officially began...
Because Caleb himself was unranked, the opponents he matched with were also all unranked.
Most players at this tier were novice trainers who had recently just gathered six Pokémon and unlocked the Battle Arena. Facing them was practically no pressure at all.
As for whether using Mewtwo in the Battle Arena was honorable... What was honor? Weren't points more important?
After swiftly defeating his first opponent, Caleb received a prompt for rank promotion:
*Ding!*
[Congratulations on accumulating 100 Battle Points. You will now proceed to the promotion match. If you win, your rank will officially advance from unranked to Poke Ball Tier 5!]
[Players at Poke Ball Tier 5 can receive a monthly rank reward of 500 points!]
Caleb skimmed through the message, closed the panel, and continued matchmaking for his next opponent.
Whether it was because players in the Poke Ball tier were generally new or because Mewtwo's strength was too overwhelming, every subsequent battle could be described as a crushing victory.
Caleb smoothly advanced all the way to Great Ball Tier 1, accumulating 100 Battle Points. Winning just one more match would promote him to the Ultra Ball tier, bringing him one step closer to the Master Ball tier.
He checked the time. Unknowingly, he had spent over six hours in the Battle Arena. It was already 7:00 PM.
Seeing this, he said to Mewtwo, "This is the last match. After we finish, we'll go home and rest."
Mewtwo naturally had no objections. These opponents were far too weak for him...
...
Meanwhile, in a livestream titled <..Sniping Caleb Chase..> in the player forum's streaming section:
"Is anyone still watching?" the streamer, Rafael Sotto, adjusted his microphone and asked.
Since he hadn't matched with his target all afternoon and had been surrendering repeatedly, the viewers' enthusiasm had waned significantly.
As soon as he spoke, he saw a string of listless comments floating across the screen:
{..I can hear you..}
{..I'm here early, watching from the front row!..}
{..Streamer, you've already dropped to Ultra Ball Tier 5?..}
{..New here, has Caleb been matched with you yet?..}
Rafael glanced at the comments and replied, "Not yet. Did anyone match with him this afternoon? Are you sure he was still in the Battle Arena this afternoon?"
{..I'm sure. A friend of mine ran into him today and got wrecked..}
"That's good. Alright, alright, let's keep queuing!" With that, Rafael stepped onto the trainer platform on the battlefield.
Matchmaking officially began.
Soon, he received a notification that he had matched with an opponent.
With a flash of light, a handsome black-haired young man appeared on the opponent's trainer platform.
[Your opponent for this match is 'Caleb Chase' (Great Ball Tier 1)!]
"Finally!" Seeing the name, Rafael's mood instantly surged with excitement. He said to his viewers, "Everyone, watch closely! This is probably the only chance I'll get!"
For this battle, he had specifically chosen several Fire-type Pokémon from his roster that were relatively effective against Celebi.
Seeing this, the previously disinterested viewers immediately became excited:
{..Streamer, go for it!..}
{..Destroy him! If you win, I'll send you a rocket!..}
{..It's starting, it's starting!..}
The battle officially began.
Rafael sent out his first Pokémon, a sharp-eyed Blaziken.
This Blaziken had accompanied him through countless Instances and was even capable of Mega Evolution. It was undoubtedly his ace Pokémon.
Using it to battle a Grass-type Celebi, Rafael was absolutely confident of victory.
Some viewers watching this asked:
{..Streamer, did you forget that besides Celebi, he has several other Pokémon?..}
{..I remember he has a Dragonite, a Lucario, and a Mimikyu. In terms of type matchups, the streamer doesn't seem to have an advantage..}
{..A player who got wrecked this morning here to explain... Caleb told me he would only use Celebi in battle. If he lost, he would surrender immediately..}
'He'll only use Celebi?' Seeing this comment, Rafael grew even more confident. With that in mind, he looked up at his opponent.
It was at this moment that players who had been crushed by Mewtwo that afternoon remembered the livestream. They entered the stream one after another, intending to issue a warning, but when they saw the streamer's confident and determined expression, they hesitated.
The thought, 'No, I can't be the only one who gets wrecked,' prevalent on their minds.
So those players gave up on warning him and instead found a good spot to enjoy the show while snacking...
Caleb found his opponent's behavior somewhat strange, but he didn't dwell on it. He directly threw Mewtwo's Poké Ball.
With a dazzling flash of white light, a figure familiar to all players in the Infinite World appeared on the battlefield.
It was Mewtwo!
Rafael: "???"
'What's going on? Why is he using Mewtwo??'
His eyes widened, and he quickly whispered to his viewers, "Didn't you guys say he would only use Celebi?"
A string of comments swiftly floated by:
{..I never said that..}
{..Wasn't me..}
{..Hahaha, time for a good show!..}
Rafael became pissed off at the comments, but suppressed the urge to vomit blood. He took a deep breath, looked up, and instructed, "Blaziken, Mega Evolve!"
'Hah, so what if it's a Legendary? If Red could defeat Mewtwo with his Mega Charizard, I can definitely do it too! After all, how can Mewtwo possibly surpass the powerful bond between me and my Pokémon?'
The Mega Bracelet activated. The Keystone embedded on Blaziken's wrist emitted a dazzling colorful light.
Bathed in that light, Blaziken gradually transformed into a new form... Mega Blaziken!
{..Wow! The streamer is full of surprises! Go, go! Let me witness the power of Mega Evolution!..}
{..This makes my blood boil! This is Mega Evolution? So cool! I wonder when I'll get my own Mega Evolution Pokémon!..}
'Hmph! A bunch of trash viewers!' Rafael curled his lip and looked up at his opponent...