"Your father was an incredibly brave man. Back on the battlefield, he risked his life to infiltrate enemy lines to rescue a group of captured soldiers..."
"The soldiers were saved, but he never made it out. And I was one of those soldiers." Morris let out a soft sigh before continuing, "Call it repaying a life debt... So after his death, I sought out your mother. This was before Lily-chan was born."
"...When she heard the news of your father's sacrifice, the grief was too much. She passed away shortly after giving birth to Lily-chan."
What followed was predictable, Morris couldn't bear to see two newly orphaned children sent to an orphanage. Gritting his teeth, he took them in as their uncle.
From Kanto to Hoenn, from a young man in his twenties to a middle-aged man pushing forty...
Caleb wasn't the original owner of this body, so he couldn't fully empathize, but he couldn't help feeling a pang of sorrow for Morris.
His only reason for digging into this backstory was to increase the Instance exploration rate for better end rewards.
Though Lily didn't fully grasp the weight of these words, she sensed Morris' sadness and comforted him: "Uncle Morris, it's okay! Don't be sad!"
Morris smiled, then ruffled her hair and said, "Uncle is not sad, Lily-chan. Just lamenting how quickly time flies."
A heavy silence settled over them.
After a long pause, Morris turned to Caleb: "So? Will you enroll in the Pokémon School? I heard from Felix-kun about your recent battles. You single-handedly defeated all this year's rookie trainers! That's really impressive!"
Caleb pretended to consider while checking his achievement points' panel. His earnings from the newbies had reached 308, still far from the 999 target...
After some thought, he asked, "Where's the school located?"
"Slateport City. The semester starts in half a month. If you decide now, I'll book some boat tickets there," Morris replied.
'Half a month... That should be enough time.' Caleb mused.
He agreed decisively, "Alright. Thank you so much, Uncle Morris."
"Thank you, Uncle Morris!" Lily echoed.
The rugged man felt oddly flustered hearing such earnest gratitude from the children.
Scratching his nose, he chuckled awkwardly and said, "Then it's settled! Get some rest you two. I'll start preparing what you'll need for school!"
....
~The next morning~
Caleb and Felix stood together on Route 101...
The newbie players attempting to detour to Routes 102 and 103 for grinding found their path blocked by Felix.
Caleb surveyed them before asking, "So? How many League Credits did you earn yesterday?"
The newbies answered naively, "Not many. Those Youngsters are so stingy... They only offered 100 Credits per win."
Caleb nodded, "In that case, I'll only charge 100 per battle too."
With that, he released the green chubby Dragonite from its Poké Ball. It stretched its wings and hovered beside him.
The newbies stared blankly: "Boss... what are you doing?"
"Simple. Pay up!" Caleb feigned innocence.
After two days of trials, most newbies' Pokémon had reached around Lv.20, an overpowered level for a starter town Littleroot Town. Yet, none could overcome Caleb's hurdle.
By noon, dozens of rookies had been cycled back to Professor Birch's lab, with their freshly earned Credits drained instantly.
Several girls burst into frustrated tears. Caleb pretended not to notice though...
By midday, his points had skyrocketed to 438. After scanning the rookies, he announced: "Alright, you get half a day off. We continue tomorrow morning!"
Only then did the players realize they'd been farmed like livestock.
A few angrily stepped forward: "This is too much! We're all players... how could you do this to us?!"
Caleb raised an eyebrow, deadpanning, "I kindly helped you grind so you could steamroll Gyms later. And this is how you repay me? Besides, I wasn't that harsh. If I truly wanted to screw you over, I could've blocked all paths and drained your Credits to force mission failure."
At this, the group fell silent. They reflected on Caleb's actions these past days...
Though he had put them through hell, they had also learned much from his battles and gained valuable intel about the Infinite World.
"Actually... If you think about it, Boss has been pretty good to us," one player admitted, eyeing his Swellow who was now at LV. 26.
Another nodded in agreement: "Yeah. He must have his reasons. No need to waste time on rookies otherwise."
"Blocking us is probably his main mission. Nobody wants to fail that. Given the circumstances, he's done more than enough."
In their minds, Caleb's image became vividly three-dimensional.
"Oh! So Boss is actually warm-hearted, kind, and inexpressive... yet also strict underneath that cold exterior!"
Overhearing the whole thing, Caleb was at a loss for words. This batch of players truly had unparalleled imagination...
....
In the following days, the rookies endured bittersweet torment in Littleroot Town, the starter-town.
Some even lucked into hidden side quests. This continued until half a month later...
By then, the players had scavenged all resources around Littleroot and Oldale, even driving off several Youngsters.
Caleb checked his points. He now had an extra 1082 points.
Extremely satisfied, he addressed the rookies: "Alright, let's begin!"
Eager players jostled for position.
But after one battle, they stared confusedly at the "fainted" Mimikyu who was clearly play-acting...
The victorious player had a look of disbelief on his face as he stammered, "I... passed?"
Caleb coughed lightly and said, "Go forth, young one. Begin your new journey!"
(What he really meant was: Move aside, next sucker please!)
The first rookie who passed teared up, "Boss, I'll miss you. Will we meet again?"
Caleb: "..."
He strongly suspected these guys had developed masochistic tendencies.
And so, these first-time Pokémon world travelers departed the city they'd grown to love and hate.
With their now-powerful Pokémon, they headed for Rustboro City to challenge their first official Gym...