"Alola?" Caleb asked.
Lorelei nodded and said, "It's a region made up of islands," As she spoke, she seemed to recall something, then looked over, saying, "If I'm not mistaken, you went to Alola once before, didn't you?"
Caleb nodded. That time, he had gone to Alola to fulfill Amber's final wish, and hadn't stayed there long.
"Exactly…" Lorelei nodded, "A previously unknown Pokémon was discovered there, and all the regional professors were alerted. Professor Oak even boarded a plane overnight to Alola, wanting to see Mewtwo with his own eyes."
Caleb became interested and beckoned, "And then?"
Lorelei replied, "That Mewtwo didn't seem to like humans very much. It used psychic powers to drive away the professors who tried to study it… But strangely, even so, it didn't leave that place. It was as if it was guarding something."
Caleb paused and asked, "Was it the cemetery on the eastern outskirts of Hau'oli City?"
"How did you know?" Lorelei raised an elegant eyebrow, looking at him in surprise.
Caleb said, "Just a guess."
Of course he knew... that was the resting place he had personally chosen for little Amber.
Lorelei didn't care about the answer to that question. After all, this young man carried too many unknown secrets, and one more didn't make a difference.
She had come to understand through their previous interactions what kind of person Caleb was. She trusted his character and believed he wouldn't do anything to harm Pokémon or the Kanto League.
Lorelei felt that knowing this was enough. As for everything else... Did it really matter? Clearly not.
And compared to that, she was more curious about why he had summoned her. Thinking this, Lorelei asked directly, "Did you call me here for something?"
Caleb shook his head, "No."
He mainly wanted to test the effect of the 'Friend Out of Thin Air' skill.
Lorelei: "…"
She said, a little speechlessly, "Then why did you summon me…"
Caleb looked at her innocently. He thought for a moment, then said, "This thing isn't something I can control."
'Come to think of it, this skill could even summon Giovanni or Cyrus.' He mused.
Lorelei picked up on the key detail, and recalling the disappointed look on his face when she first arrived, she said, "So you didn't know who would show up?"
Caleb nodded and added, "But the target has to be someone I've interacted with." He paused for a moment, then said, "The summon lasts for one day. After 24 hours, you'll be able to return."
Lorelei: "…"
She really wanted to know what the other three Elite Four would look like when they realized she had vanished for 24 hours and couldn't be found anywhere in the world.
'That would be… far too entertaining!' Thinking of this, a smile curled at the corner of Lorelei's lips.
The busy Ice-type Elite Four of the League finally had a full day off. Lorelei's mindset shifted quickly. She decisively treated this trip to another world as a vacation.
As the two chatted, time quietly passed...
Caleb was just about to ask about the current situation in Kanto and Johto when he received a notification that construction was complete.
Two Machamp wearing safety helmets carried a pile of leftover planks over to him and chattered away.
Although Caleb couldn't understand them, it was a game, so their words were automatically translated and displayed on the panel:
Caleb nodded and casually dispatched the two resident NPCs to the nearest resource point to gather wood before heading over to inspect.
The two Machamp pulled the cart without complaint and left. Lorelei watched with wide eyes and asked, "What are they doing?"
Caleb wasn't sure how to explain. He thought for a moment and said, "This is a game. You can think of them as virtual characters made from data."
"Game..." Speaking of games, Lorelei suddenly remembered something. With a faint smile, she said, "Last month, a new game called 'Pocket Monsters' suddenly appeared on the market. It's only been out for less than a month, but it's already gone viral across the entire Johto region. Did you know about this?"
"Do I know?" Caleb tilted his head, "You don't know?"
Before leaving last time, he had asked Lorelei and Lance to help look after Lily. After all, he wasn't comfortable leaving that girl alone in this era.
Lorelei chuckled and said, "Lily told me it was your idea."
'No, I just plagiarized it...' Caleb didn't say that aloud. Instead, he asked, "How's Lily doing lately?"
Lorelei replied, "She's doing quite well. The game's popularity has made her game studio incredibly profitable. As for her personally, she's now the current Gym Leader of Mahogany Gym."
Pryce's sudden betrayal had left the Johto League severely understaffed. The current Johto trainers were all too young, lacking both experience and strength to take on the role of Gym Leader at Mahogany Town.
As for Lily's strength, Lorelei and Lance had some idea. With Caleb's backing, the two of them worked together to persuade her to take the position.
Actually, they had a little ulterior motive... They hoped that through Lily, they could keep Caleb in the Kanto League.
A talented trainer is a resource every league wants. And Caleb was one of the best.
Initially, Lorelei hadn't been anxious. But after hearing that Caleb had teamed up with the Sinnoh Champion to eliminate Team Galactic from the Sinnoh region, she immediately worried that their star trainer was about to be poached.
Caleb didn't notice her momentary distraction. Thinking about Lily's situation, he relaxed and said, "That's good."
Lorelei snapped back to reality, looked at the backs of the two Machamps, and asked, "Can I go with them to take a look?"
[Support character Lorelei requests to join the gathering team. Accept?
If you accept, this resource point will yield an additional 500 units, and the gathering time will be reduced to two hours!]
Caleb was stunned for a moment, then said, "Of course you can!"
"Then, see you later!" Lorelei said.
"See you later," Caleb replied, watching Lorelei escort the gathering team as they departed.
"So that's how support characters are used?" He lowered his head and asked the nearby NPC butler, Meowth, about it.
Meowth quickly answered, "Support characters can escort gathering teams to protect them from wild Pokémon and raids from other territories, nyaa! In addition, they can help guard your territory and lead troops to attack other territories, nyaa!"
Caleb nodded thoughtfully. He didn't dwell on the topic and turned to the barracks that the two Machamps had just built.
- Barracks (LV1): A magical facility that can recruit soldiers from other worlds. When the territory level reaches Lv2, the Level 2 Barracks will be unlocked. Level 2 Barracks can accommodate more soldiers and summon higher-tier units...