At Hatsumi's shop, Caleb glanced her and Terrence, then said, "I'm leaving."
Terrence nearly choked on his drink, "What the– already?!"
Hatsumi glanced at the splash on her clothes with mild annoyance, then turned to Caleb, "You saved up enough points?"
Caleb nodded, "I made a little extra in the last event Instance. I came today mainly to say goodbye."
Terrence looked stunned, "So… does that mean we'll never see you again?"
"Maybe not," Caleb said quietly.
A heavy silence followed...
Hatsumi sighed softly. She had noticed something was off with Caleb from the moment he walked in.
"Did something happen?" she asked.
"In my exclusive Instance, Lance died," Caleb said plainly.
He had told them about his exclusive Instances before, so they understood what that meant.
Terrence's jaw dropped, "Significant NPCs don't die in regular Instances, right? Was it a scripted death?"
Caleb nodded, "It's due to my influence. Because of me, Giovanni killed him."
"So you're going back to save him?" Hatsumi asked, referring to him using Celebi to travel through time and rescue Lance.
"I don't know," Caleb shook his head, "Maybe."
But even if he went back and saved Lance, it would only create a new timeline where Lance survived. In the original timeline, Lance would still be gone.
Terrence and Hatsumi exchanged glances. After a long pause, Hatsumi said firmly, "Then go for it!"
Terrence clapped Caleb on the shoulder, "It sucks, but I hope you succeed.. Good luck, bro!"
Caleb looked at them both and nodded. He had already purchased the ticket. He could leave Infinite World and enter that world at any time.
Hatsumi smiled gently, "Before you go, let's have one last meal together. You've never actually tasted my cooking, right? Today, I'll show you what I can really do!"
Terrence sniffed, "Don't we eat here all the time though?"
"Dummy!" Hatsumi smacked his head, "Those have all been made by the housekeeping robot!"
With that, she headed into the kitchen.
For this farewell dinner, Hatsumi had hung a 'Closed' sign outside. The large restaurant was now occupied by the three of them and Caleb's Pokémon.
The two Mewtwos sat by the window, pretending to look outside while secretly monitoring Caleb through telepathy.
Mimikyu and Celebi playfully circled Hydreigon's three black heads. Hydreigon sat stiffly, too scared to move. The young dragon knew it couldn't beat Mimikyu in a fight.
Lucario watched silently, his expression unreadable.
Dragonite had been pulled aside by Terrence. The two were sharing a quiet, final goodbye.
Caleb stood for a moment, then walked to the kitchen and leaned against the doorway, watching Hatsumi cook.
She glanced back and playfully said, "You must really be starving~"
Caleb shook his head and asked, "How many points have you saved up?"
Hatsumi paused, surprised by the question. Then she smiled, replying, "Thanks to you, I've got 680 000."
Caleb did a quick mental calculation, then asked, "You've been saving up to go back and see your son, right?"
Hatsumi's hands stilled. She looked over her shoulder and chuckled softly, "You still remember that?"
Caleb just shrugged.
A mix of longing and warmth filled Hatsumi's eyes...
"Of course I want to go back. He was only two and a half when I died." She drifted into memory, then chuckled fondly, "He was such a sweet kid. He never made a fuss at bedtime. When I cooked, he'd sit quietly on the couch playing with his toy cars. I wonder if he'll grow up to love Pokémon like his mom… If a mother can't watch her child grow up, she'll regret it for the rest of her life."
"Then I hope you and your son reunite soon," Caleb said, then transferred all his remaining points to her.
After buying the ticket, he still had over 200 000 points left. But once he left Infinite World, they'd be useless.
Hatsumi froze when the transfer notification popped up. Her first instinct was to refuse such a huge gift.
But when she looked up, Caleb was already walking away.
"Goodbye," he said.
Hatsumi's eyes instantly welled up.
She used to think lines like "Life is a train... People get on, people get off. No one stays with you till the end" were overly dramatic.
Now, she realized that they were painfully true...
...
In the dining area, Terrence stared wide-eyed at the item in his hands.
[Rewind (S-grade): A miraculous item with save/load functionality. Players may create a checkpoint at any moment, automatically recording all Pokémon statuses and inventory contents. At any later point, the player may reload this save, reverting everything to its prior state.
- Usable once per Instance...]
"This… you're really giving this to me?" Terrence asked in disbelief.
Caleb nodded, "You heard right. It's yours."
Truth was, when he bought the ticket, a notice had appeared: [Certain Infinite World items will become nonfunctional upon migrating to the Pokémon world.]
Rewind was one of these items. After all, real life wasn't a game. There was no 'save' and 'load' in real life.
Terrence was overwhelmed, "I… I…"
Caleb could tell he was about to tear up and hug him, so he joked, "Well… you did serve as my dog for three years in that Instance. Consider this your payment."
Technically, he was a Smeargle.
Terrence's emotional buildup instantly deflated. He looked exasperated. But in the end, he still gave Caleb a hug, "Take care, brother. May we meet again!"
"May we meet again," Caleb said, patting his shoulder.
...
After the meal, Caleb said his final goodbyes and teleported home with his Pokémon.
He pulled out the ticket. The familiar system voice rang in his ears:
[Permanent Residency Ticket verified! It is detected that the player already possesses an Exclusive world. Enter this world?]
[Warning: Upon confirmation, this world will be permanently sealed from the Infinite World. No other players may enter for quests.]
"Yes," Caleb said.
[Activation successful!]
[Binding player identity to world...]
[Binding complete!]
[Transferring items…]
[Transfer complete!]
[Upon entry, all Infinite World functions (leaderboards, friends list, etc.) will be disabled. Only inventory functionality remains.]
[Transferring Pokémon Paradise…]
[Transfer complete!]
[Spatial folding successful!]
[Please select settlement location!]
"Sinnoh Region, Celestic Town."
[Sinnoh Region, Celestic Town selected...]
"Confirm."
[Confirmation successful! Farewell, Player Caleb Chase. We wish you a pleasant journey!]
As the voice faded, the view outside his window shifted rapidly. Moments later, all system notifications vanished...
...
A warm beam of sunlight streamed through the window. Caleb opened it and saw three Starlies perched on a branch.
Startled by the sound of the window, the birds scattered into the sky.
A gentle morning breeze blew in, and in that moment, everything in this world felt real and clear...