Caleb had never been one to personally handle gacha draws...
He pulled Dragonite's claw over and gently pressed it against the draw interface. In the next second, the colorful roulette began to whirl with a loud clatter.
Confetti burst from the screen, and the tiny pointer gradually slowed down from its rapid spin, giving off the distinct vibe of a cheap mobile game's gacha system.
Caleb winced, recalling some unpleasant memories with gacha. But then he reminded himself that this one was guaranteed to be SSS-grade. That thought reassured him a little. Plus, with Dragonite's luck backing him up, it couldn't possibly be too bad.
As he thought that, the pointer finally came to a stop, landing right on a pair of black-rimmed glasses:
*Ding!*
[Congratulations! You've drawn the SSS-grade item:
«Substitute Glasses: When worn, this item hides your identity and appearance. It also blocks one attack, functioning exactly like the Pokémon move Substitute.
- Cooldown: 1 hour...»
Staring at the suddenly materialized, painfully old-fashioned black-framed glasses in his hand, Caleb was momentarily speechless.
After a moment's hesitation, he put them on. Just as he was about to buy a mirror from the Shop interface, his Pokémon all froze, their eyes wide like they had just witnessed something unbelievable.
Dragonite was the most dramatic, his expression screaming: 'What just happened?! Who are you?!'
Pokémon identify humans by their aura and appearance. The Substitute Glasses altered both, which explained the strong reactions from Dragonite and the others.
To them, it was a completely unfamiliar human with a strange aura. Pokémon didn't overthink things, they just got confused by sudden changes. Especially naïve and innocent ones like Hydreigon and Celebi.
Among the six Pokémon, Mewtwo was the first to react. He didn't rely solely on aura to identify humans, he could sense Caleb's psychic signature on a deeper level.
No matter how much a person's appearance changes, their mental patterns remain constant. So even if Caleb transformed into another species, as long as he wasn't brain-dead, Mewtwo could always recognize him.
Lucario followed closely behind...
Seeing how startled the Pokémon were, Caleb had no choice but to take off the glasses.
After calming Dragonite down, he put the glasses back on and bought a mirror to check his reflection.
In the reflection stood a guy with painfully generic features, wearing a pair of outdated black-rimmed glasses. He looked about 1.7 meters tall and would blend into any crowd without drawing attention.
The look was plain, but Caleb was very satisfied, "Yes, with this item, I can roam freely again."
Fame brings trouble, and now that he was well-known in Infinite World, a bit of a disguise was absolutely necessary to avoid being targeted in future Instances...
…
Because the recent event instance had taken place between two regular ones, it had eaten up half of his rest days. So all told, Caleb only had three and a half days off this time.
Most of his time in that instance had been spent digging, farming, and grinding resource points. Add to that the constant harassment from other players, and Caleb had been mentally tense for a long time without proper rest.
So the moment he returned to Infinite Space, he collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep. He slept for an entire day...
....
Seeing that he'd slept for a full twenty-four hours, Caleb was a bit surprised. But after that brief shock, he dove headfirst into pure relaxation mode...
Aside from eating, he spent all his time gaming and watching anime with Mewtwo or Lucario.
The last instance had been a huge success, and Caleb's point balance had skyrocketed. Unable to resist, he spent tens of thousands of points buying out all the discounted games on Steam.
Looking at his overflowing game library, Caleb felt a strange sense of satisfaction...
With that feeling, he headed to the kitchen, grabbed a few bottles of 'gamer fuel' from the fridge, and prepared for an all-night gaming session. But when he returned to the living room, he was stunned by what he saw.
Mewtwo was playing Sekiro...
Caleb watched in disbelief as Mewtwo's character fought Genichiro in the prologue. He was so shocked, he stood rooted to the spot.
Soon enough, Mewtwo was killed by the scripted boss fight in two hit. Caleb let out a weird sigh of relief.
"You can actually read this?" Caleb asked.
Mewtwo handed the controller to Lucario and answered honestly: >..Mm. I've studied some human writing before..<
Caleb then watched Lucario open Human: Fall Flat, controlling a clumsy little character to move a block meant to block the path.
Caleb couldn't help but offer some advice: "Move it there. Step on it to climb over."
Lucario followed his instructions and quickly cleared the wall, reaching the next checkpoint..
Seeing how interested the two Pokémon were in gaming, he immediately bought two high-end computers from the shop and installed a ton of games for them. Pointing to League of Legends on the screen, he asked:
"You guys wanna try this?"
Mewtwo glanced down: >..I can try..<
Caleb noticed Mewtwo's hands... it didn't seem capable of pressing Q.W.E.R.D.F like a human.
But it turned out his concern was unnecessary.
After Caleb explained the game's mechanics and rules, Mewtwo used his psychic powers to control the mouse and keyboard.
Caleb: "…"
Finally reassured, he let Lucario and Mewtwo get familiar with the game, then happily queued up with them.
After a wild afternoon in the Pokémon playground, Dragonite and the others returned, sweaty and exhausted. Seeing the three inside gaming, they curiously gathered around.
The match was nearing its end.
With Mewtwo's Malphite landing a massive ult that knocked up five enemies, Caleb's Yasuo instantly followed up with his own ult. Their perfect combo turned a 2v5 into a clean sweep.
Meanwhile, Lucario's Ashe was still awkwardly last-hitting minions in the back.
With a loud team wipe, Caleb and Mewtwo pushed through the enemy base.
Seeing the word 'Victory' light up on the screen, Caleb could hardly believe he'd just played a game with Mewtwo... So for the rest of the three-day break, Caleb spent all his time hanging out with Lucario and Mewtwo.
When the next Instance notification finally sounded, he was reminded that he was, after all, an Infinite World player.
Reluctantly, he put down the keyboard, left the messy room to Gardevoir to clean up, and took his six Pokémon into the next Instance...