When Caleb returned to his territory, the Council Hall, which was required to unlock the friend feature, was finally completed...
Caleb opened the friends interface, only to find that Hatsumi and Terrence's avatars were grayed out. This was probably because their territories hadn't reached level three yet.
After pondering for a moment, Caleb closed the panel and headed with Giratina and Arceus to a grassy field behind the Lord's Hall.
Both Arceus and Giratina were simply too massive for any human-built structure to accommodate them, so Caleb had no choice but to host them outdoors.
Neither Arceus nor Giratina minded such trivialities...
It was already noon, and the Pokémon teams that had gone out to gather resources were gradually returning.
Afternoon sunlight illuminated the place, and a gentle breeze brushed over the soft grass.
Mimikyu and Celebi played and frolicked together, while Dragonite and Hydreigon lay sprawled on the ground, muttering quietly to each other about who-knows-what.
Lucario and Mewtwo sat on either side of Caleb, gazing tenderly at the peaceful scene.
Caleb loved this relaxed, carefree feeling... But sometimes, it unexpectedly struck him as unreal, almost dreamlike.
The Pokémon that had once existed only in fictional materials were now running and playing right before his eyes.
After all, who hadn't fantasized of such scenes as a child?
Still, if someone had told him ten years ago that he'd one day end up in the Pokémon multiverse, Caleb would've thought they were completely out of their mind. Yet now, it was all undeniably real...
He couldn't help but feel a touch of wistfulness. He'd always been a materialist; someone who cherished dreams but clearly distinguished fantasy from reality.
Feeling at ease, Caleb lay back on the grass and gazed up at the clear blue sky. But just a few seconds later, two shadows fell over him, blocking the sunlight.
Mimikyu and Celebi, worn out from play, wobbled over and flopped down beside Caleb's head, leaning against his shoulders with exhausted little cries:
"Bii!"
"Kyu!"
"Tired already?" Caleb chuckled. Even during battle training, he'd never seen them this worn out.
"Bii!"
"Kyu!"
The two little ones pouted adorably.
Then, like a magician, Caleb pulled out two cups of refreshing juice from thin air (inventory).
Aside from basic Poké Balls and items, his inventory was packed to the brim with all kinds of food; everything from Pokéblocks for his companions, to human snacks like nuts and dried fruit.
With so many Pokémon to feed, he had no choice. Without these supplies, they'd probably starve during Instance runs and quests.
Nearby, Arceus and Giratina watched the scene with gentle amusement. In their world, humans and Pokémon lived on separate continents, rarely interacting or interfering with each other's affairs.
Even the Alpha Pokémon found this harmonious gathering remarkable.
Pokémon of wildly different temperaments and diets had come together because of one human; choosing to live side by side, even forsaking their familiar habitats.
And it was all because of a single human.
Just one human...
Arceus glanced toward Caleb, hesitant... wondering whether it should ease its restrictions on humanity in its own world. After all, judging an entire species based on the actions of one or two individuals would be profoundly unfair to the rest.
Unaware of Arceus's inner thoughts, Caleb rested on the grass for a while longer before getting up to continue his ambitious construction efforts across the territory...
...
By midday, the city walls, watchtowers, and farm plots had all been upgraded to level three. The barracks were progressing more slowly, however, and wouldn't finish until the next morning.
Though the pace was slow, Caleb wasn't in a hurry. Carrying the 280 gold coins he had acquired from Ewan, he walked down the straight main street and arrived at the market.
The shop hadn't refreshed yet, so the items for sale were exactly the same as last time:
- City Defense Token
- Concealment Charm
- Map
- Bountiful Harvest Token
- Resource Conversion Card
Thanks to Ho-Oh's presence, Caleb immediately ruled out the Map. And with his Flower Planter title, which already granted 24-hour resource collection, he also dismissed the Bountiful Harvest Token without hesitation.
That left only three items...
The City Defense Token would render his territory invincible for 24 hours, making it immune to enemy attacks.
The Concealment Charm would hide his territory entirely, making it undetectable to enemies.
And the Resource Conversion Card allowed equal conversion between Food, Stone, and Wood resources... all for a mere 10 gold coins per card. With this card, he could drastically cut down on resource-gathering time.
Without a second thought, Caleb exchanged for eighteen Resource Conversion Cards. He used the remaining 100 gold to purchase the City Defense Token.
After completing his purchases, Caleb recalled his stone-gathering teams, opened the map, and quickly located the nearest gold mines, immediately dispatching his teams there.
The Glazed Volcano terrain map had a limited number of gold mines. There were only twelve in total: six at level 1, four at level 2, and just two at level 3.
After assigning Heatran and Tyranitar to mining duty, Caleb moved over to the farm plots, pulled a folding lounge chair from his inventory, and settled in to work.
Whether it was due to a bug in the Infinite World system or not, the Resource Conversion Cards in this Instance had no upper limit on how much they could convert. That meant a single card could transform five million Food units into equivalent amounts of Stone or Wood resources.
While Caleb worked, the quiet-natured Mimikyu and Celebi played nearby, while the restless Dragonite and Hydreigon eagerly volunteered to go out exploring.
Since the area posed no danger, Caleb let them go and casually assigned the two dragons a gold-mining task.
As for Giratina and Arceus, they began exploring this strange new world, which was so different from their own.
Caleb could have recalled them into some Poké Balls for rest, but seeing their curiosity, he didn't bring it up.
That night, however, before going to sleep, he did recall them into a pair of Poké Balls stored them in his inventory.
He had worried they might struggle to sleep in an unfamiliar place. But when he checked the panel, he found Giratina already snoring loudly, having devoured every drumstick in his inventory for dinner.
Caleb: "..."
Arceus was a bit more composed. It seemed to sense Caleb's gaze and even looked up in his direction.
Caleb smiled softly and said, "Goodnight, Arceus."
Arceus replied gently: >..Goodnight, Caleb..<