The three of them walked along the dim corridor to the staircase leading to the cellar...
Just then, Mimikyu, standing on Caleb's shoulder, suddenly turned its head alertly.
Caleb withdrew his gaze from Dmitri and Wang, his expression unchanged as he used the Viridian Power to ask Mimikyu, "What's wrong?"
Mimikyu: >..Someone is following us from behind..<
Hearing this, Caleb glanced back but, unsurprisingly, found nothing.
"Bro, what are you looking at? The door is open, come on down!" Dmitri, who had already gone down the stairs into the cellar, shouted up at Caleb from below.
"It's nothing, a rat just ran past," Caleb said casually, then nodded at Mimikyu and jumped down the stairs into the cellar.
Dmitri scratched his head, "A rat? Are there rodents in the Pokémon world?"
He mentally recalled Pokémon that fell under the rodent category in their species: Diglett, Cyndaquil, Minccino, Excadrill...
But their habitats probably weren't uninhabited, remote castles.
Caleb explained, "Besides Pokémon, this world also has actual animals."
Dmitri cheered, "That's great! I was worried I'd never get to eat cola chicken wings again after coming to this world!"
As the two spoke, Wang had already reached the heavy, large wooden barrels piled in the corner. He took off his suit jacket and casually draped it over his arm, then tapped on the large barrel in front of him.
*Thump thump*
A somewhat dull sound came from within. Seeing this, Wang's eyes lit up, "Come quick! There really is wine here!"
"Awesome!" Dmitri scurried over like an excited husky.
Caleb glanced around.
Besides the well-preserved wine barrels in the corner, the cellar also contained piles of ham and cured meat, even a few sacks of potatoes and millet.
He wasn't surprised that there was food in the castle. The Infinite World wouldn't set players an impossible Instance, nor would it let new players entering the Instance starve or thirst to death.
With a dull thud, a rich aroma of wine wafted through the air. The scent was mellow, sweet, and refreshing. Just smelling it made one unable to resist swallowing hard.
But, they had no glasses...
Seeing this, Caleb took out three ordinary red and white Poké Balls from his inventory and handed them over, saying, "Use these."
The two were overjoyed and immediately started chugging from them.
Caleb twitched the corner of his mouth. He stepped forward, filled a Poké Ball with wine, and took a symbolic sip.
Mimikyu looked over curiously.
Caleb asked, "Want a sip?"
He brought the ball close to Mimikyu. While Wang and Dmitri weren't looking, Mimikyu quietly reverted to its original form, extended a small black claw from its disguise, and took a few gulps from the Poké Ball.
Having spent so much time with Mimikyu, Caleb had come to understand this Pokémon a bit more. Its true body, which was hidden beneath the disguise, was somewhat similar to a gaseous body like Gastly's.
As for the rumor that seeing Mimikyu's true form would scare you into getting sick... honestly, Caleb hadn't experienced that.
He certainly hadn't gotten sick, and during his time in the Infinite World, he had even helped Mimikyu wash its disguise.
Although Ghost-type Pokémon mostly aren't very cute in appearance, like Spiritomb, Cofagrigus, or Dusknoir. Mimikyu, however, while being a Ghost-type, also possessed another type; the Fairy type.
Looking at Fairy-type Pokémon, like Sylveon, Primarina, Slurpuff, and Jigglypuff, their appearances are all filled with a different kind of 'cute' feeling.
And as a dual-type Ghost/Fairy Pokémon, Mimikyu's true appearance naturally wouldn't be as ferocious as Cofagrigus.
Caleb thought the reason people got scared and sick upon seeing its true form was because Mimikyu had a special ability; that being its true body could evoke the deep-seated fears within people.
Of course, this was all Caleb's own speculation, the actual circumstances were unknown...
...
Dmitri, who was drunk and hiccupping from the wine, held his Gloom and spoke of his lofty ambitions to Wang beside him, "Hey, let me tell you, I'm definitely going to take my Gloom and reach the pinnacle of the Pokémon-verse, just like Ash, and become the greatest Pokémon Master!"
"Me too!" Wang raised the Poké Ball in his hand, downing the wine inside in one go, "Bilibili, cheers!"
Dmitri clapped enthusiastically, "Cheers! Let's join hands and become the greatest men in the Pokémon world together..."
*Snore*
After saying that, he lay on the ground and fell into a deep sleep.
Wang leaned over and tapped his face with the Poké Ball. Seeing no reaction, he muttered something, then thumped onto the ground, falling into a deep slumber.
Caleb had only drunk half a Poké Ball's worth of wine, so he wasn't drunk yet and was still quite sober. He held Mimikyu, who had turned back into a Caterpie, in his arms.
Like someone who had drunk sleeping black tea, he leaned against a pile of provisions, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.
Simultaneously, he communicated with Mimikyu using the Viridian Power, "Activate the real-time recording function."
The abilities the high-tech battle armor gave Mimikyu weren't just flight and enhanced abilities. Besides those two, it also came equipped with a turbocharging system, nano-mimicry function, and a real-time recording function.
The turbocharging system enhanced Mimikyu's move power and speed in armor form, while the mimicry function allowed Mimikyu to customize its appearance and power level.
*Buzz*
A barely audible sound came from the eyes of the Caterpie that Mimikyu had transformed into.
Although the exterior had temporarily become a Caterpie, those eyes weren't its true eyes.
Mimikyu's thoughts appeared in Caleb's mind: >..Someone's coming!..<
Caleb immediately steadied his breathing and let his right arm hang limp by his side. His face was now flushed red, looking almost no different from being drunk.
'Is the person following us my supposed teammate, the other werewolf? Do they think the three of us, being new players, are easy targets?'
Caleb checked his killing cooldown; there was still a 10-hour countdown until the next kill...
Just as he was pondering the other party's purpose in his mind, the approaching footsteps halted.
It sounded like they had stopped right in front of him.
'They're here for me!' Just as this thought emerged in his mind, he suddenly felt someone touch his face.
His previously even breathing imperceptibly hitched for a moment.
But the person in front of him seemed not to notice. Their hand slowly moved down along his cheek, then lifted and pinched his chin.
Caleb couldn't keep up the act anymore. He roughly yanked the other's hand, then pretended to have just woken up, slowly opening his eyes.
It was No. 10.
Clara...